As the pandemic faded, the U.S. housing market took an interesting turn. Property values in metro areas in the West and Southwest declined while values remained stable, if not increased, in the eastern states. Some of the most resilient metro areas were in the Great Lakes region and Northeast, among them Greater Cleveland.
There are a lot of factors to explain that contrast, including the rise of remote working, but another factor in this shift of fortunes is climate change. Climate-related costs, like higher insurance and utility rates, are burdening property owners, noted a March 2022 Forbes article “The Impacts Of Climate Change On The Real Estate Market” by Los Angeles-based author Ari Chazanas. “We’re seeing these costs rise in real time, right now,” he writes. Dallas-based Reventure Consulting In a recent Twitter thread, CEO Nick Gerli was more outspoken, claiming “There’s a big migration shift taking place in America right now that no one is talking about. It’s an exodus out of the western half of the country into the Northeast/Midwest. (It’s) basically a complete reversal of the previous 30 years of migration trends.”
Our region’s infrastructure was built for a mother city having nearly 1 million people as it did in 1950 — not the nearly 368,000 it has now. It has wide streets and highways, a rail-based rapid transit system, top-notch healthcare services and a water distribution and sewer network to handle many more people.
But what is it lacking to accommodate growth and to enable us to live less carbon-intensive lives? Roland Anglin, dean of the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, says the region needs policies to promote urban density with walkable mixed-use neighborhoods so we can link people with services and jobs and not flood the city with cars. The goal is to put more destinations within a 15-minute walk, bike ride or transit trip of home.
Creating a “15-minute city” has gained traction with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. “Discouraging single-occupant auto trips is going to be hard in a nation where the auto is revered,” Anglin says. “Public transportation is critical. Without dense availability and ease of access, automobile use won’t decrease.”
“The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has really suffered over the last few decades, and I think it’s worth it for city and county leaders to take a look at some kind of levy for GCRTA,” says Angie Schmitt, owner of 3MPH Planning and Consulting, which seeks more pedestrian safety. “GCRTA is an amazing asset to the region, especially our rail lines. I think we really take that for granted.” Anglin also points to the 2013 Sustainable Cleveland Municipal Action Plan.
In addition to more bike infrastructure, plus dense, mixed land uses near transit, the plan also recommends more broadband connectivity to encourage telecommuting, energy-efficient building retrofits, 100% renewable energy platforms like wind and solar and increasing the availability of electric vehicle charging stations. “This region is way behind on EV charging infrastructure, and major employers should offer free charging to employees as a perk,” Schmitt says. “Big employers like the Cleveland Clinic can impact their emissions by incentivizing employees to choose sustainable modes of transportation, especially at its main urban campus.”
She notes that Seattle’s Childrens Hospital manages transportation demand with money-saving policies that offer employees free transit passes or a small financial incentive for biking to work. “You’re not going to convert every employee, especially the ones who commute long distances. But if you can convert some, it can lead to big savings because parking garages are mega expensive.”
Jon Utech, senior director of sustainability at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio’s largest non-governmental employer, says the Clinic is starting down that path. “Cleveland is high on the list of climate-safe cities. A good environment makes people healthier.” The Clinic uses a green accounting system to measure its carbon footprint and the energy its facilities and employees use. Overall, the Clinic has reduced its carbon footprint 24% in the past decade. He says the Clinic charges a lower parking rate to employees driving fuel-efficient vehicles, gives free parking to carpoolers and offers incentives to purchase electric vehicles with more charging stations coming. The Clinic does not, however, offer free transit passes or incentives to buy bicycles.
Utech says that the lower cost of transit and biking was its own benefit. “NOACA (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency) has a visionary transit plan in our eNEO2050 long-range plan that connects across four counties,” says Grace Gallucci, director of NOACA, which distributes federal funds to transportation and clean air projects in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties. That plan includes autonomous, on-demand bus shuttles, expansion of bus rapid-transit to six urban-core routes and expansion of the rail rapid-transit system into a four-county network.
Dan Whalen, a Willoughby native and vice president of design and development at Chicago-based Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors, points to his company’s Intro development in the Ohio City neighborhood as an example of a climate-friendly future. The nine-story building is one of the tallest mass-timber structures in the country. The development used less carbon in manufacturing and continues to emit less pollution. It was built next to a GCRTA Red Line rail station, multiple bus lines and the West Side Market, plus is an easy walk to many stores and restaurants.
In 2025, construction is due to start on the Lorain Avenue Cycle Track, from West 20th to West 65th streets. GCRTA also hopes to start construction on 25Connects, a bus rapid transit line on West 25th Street from Detroit Avenue south to near MetroHealth Medical Center and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. With all of the walkable destinations, safe bike routes and transit services, Harbor Bay leased out the building before its ribbon-cutting ceremony last August.
Nathan Kelly, president and managing director of Cushman & Wakefield — CRESCO Real Estate, says Greater Cleveland needs to take a cue from such developments. “An idea is to stop asking questions like ‘what should we do to attract more businesses and residents to Cleveland,’ and start asking the question, ‘how will we be ready for the people and businesses that are going to be moving to Cleveland because of water and climate?’” he says.
