Ecocity Cleveland November 1995
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Volume 3, Number 8 November 1995 Editor/writer: David Beach Inside The right priorities for transportation planning o Our lam), our food: , Eating sustainably in the region WITHOUT o Where we live: Our list of b(oregional names . o GRO H New. county visions from Lorain and Medina counties o Enviropmental education o Sprawl pressure points . 0 Good words Humans, like aU otber creatures, must m ake .a difference; otherwise, they cannot live. But unlike other creatw'es, humans must make .choice as to the kind and scale of difference they make, If they choose 10 make . Here is one simple fact that tells a lot about the too small a difference, disturbing direction we're headed as a region: they diminisli their humanity. Between 1980 and 2010 the five-county region is If tbey choose to make too, great a difference, expected to lose three percent of its population while they diminish nature, and narrow their occupying 30 percent more residential land, subsequent choices; ullimately, they diminish Thus, we have sprawl without growth, We have a or destroy themselves, relatively stable population (and employment) base in Nature, then, is not only our source but also our limit and measure . the region, yet we are spreading out - Wendell Berry overmore and more of the landscape, . See pages 4-6 HOME AT ECOCITY Mission The state's role EcoCity Cleveland is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, educational organization : Thr~ugh the publication of the EcoCity Where YJe live The State of Ohio plays a major role in detennining where development Cleve'land Journal imd other programs, it will stimulate occurs. It builds roads and other infrastructure, gives tax breaks and grants, ecological thinking. about the Northeast Ohio region' More'than two years ago, we began our first Erie/Ont(lrio Lake Plain North Coast·Bioregion ig"nores the need for ~egional land use planning, and generally p.romotes (Cuyahoga Bioregion), nurture an EcoCity Network among issu~ of EcoCity C/~veland with the Euclid Creek .Watershed Nuclear Lakeshed sprawl at the expense of the cities. local groups working on urban and environmental issues, following words: Flatlands of the West Bioregion Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor How should the state change? Here "are five principles to stress at the state and promote sustainable \;Vays Fragmented Mesophytic Forest Old Growth Suburb Bioregion Start by erasing the artificial lines level, with an emphasis on transportation investments: to meet basic human needs for food, she1ter. <! Frontier of Sprawl Bioregion On the Portage Escarpment 'on th~ map. Block out all the • We Deed developmenf, not growth. We need to develop and improve productive work and stable communities. G,eauga Highlands Pesticide-Free Bioregion human-drawn boundaries-----city Ohio in rna~y ways, but we should not do so by constantly expanding the. Glacial Moraine Bioregion Post-Glacial Woodlands Bioregion Board of Trustees limits, county lines, census tracts, Glacial Potholes Bioregion . Proliferative Building Bion!gion geographic spread of highways and other infrastructure. We should become David Beach, EJfrector, Ecopty Cleveland roads. Then look at what's left- the Glaciated Great Lakes Plain Rocky River Watershed .better and more efficie,nt, not bigger. Sturui Greenberg, Environmental Health Wa~ch · Ianc~, water, plants, wildlife, Glaciated Plateau Bioregion Semi-Urban Suburb Bioregion • .Place matters. State transportation investments should support Phil Star, Center for Neighborhood Development, CSU people-:-and think ~gain about Grand .River -Headwaters Severance Asphalt Bioregion development, but it matters where that development occurs. All land in Ohio Chris Trepal, The Earth Day Coalition where you live. What is your horne Grand-Chagrip Bioregion Shaker Lakes Bioregion is not equal. The present goal ' Carl Wirtz, Hausser + Taylor territory on the planet? What's your Great Black Swamp Bioregion . Shale Beds Depot of state transportation bioregion? Great Lakes Basin Shoreway/Salt Mines Bioregion policies, however, is to open Advisory Board Deborah Alex-Saunders, Minority Erivironmimtalksoc, ; Since then, we· have been asking Hawthorn Heaven Bioregion Snow Belt Bioregion . up every acre of the st~te to Thomas Bier, CSU Housing Policy Research Program subscribers to include their bior~gional Height's Edge Bioregion South Erie Shore development. James Bissell, Cleveiand Museum ofNatural History name on their subscription coupons. (We Hiram Lobe Bioregion Suburban Forest Bioregion • Rural land co,!ld Diane Cameron, Natural Resources Defense COUI/cil . then put it on mailing labels so they actually Hockhocking Rainforest Suburban Sprawl Bioregion (should?) remain rural. Anne CIUlka, Union a/Concerned Scientists ·get mail addressed to their ~ioregion . ) Holden Arboretum Subregion Tallgrass Prairie Bioregion Rural land should not be seen Edith Chase, Ohio Coastal Resource Mgt. Project Periodically, we like to publish the list of. Homo Sapien High Density Bioregion The Planet Earth Sandie Crawford, Tri-C Center jor Environmenfpl Education as an empty place "needing" these bioregional names. We-think the Inner-Ring BurbsBioregion The Water Planet and Training Lake Effect Bioregion Third Planet from Sol development. In most -cases, names tell a lot about life in Northeast rural areas serve many vital functions-agricultural, ecological, Lee DeAngelis, Environmental Careers Organization Lake Erie Ancient Shore Bioregion Three Rivers Bioregion John Debo, Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, Ohio. Some of the names are serious; others ' recreation~l-which should be preserved and enhanced. We should focus Lake Erie Bioregion ' Tinkers Creek Gorge Highlands Lois Epstein, Environmental De/e7l$e Fund are whimsical or sarcastic, Some define large-scale development in existing urban areas. With our stable population; Lake Erie Bluffs Bioregion Transit Frie~dly Bioregion Soren Hansen~ InterGraphic EngineeringServices . very small areas (the creek in the backyard); Lake Erie Lacustrine Plain Trumbull-Mahoning Bioregion therels no reason to -keep tearing up the countryside. Rick Hawksley, Fuller Design Group and Northeast Ohio others names are expansive (the Great . Little Creek/Big Creek/Cuyahoga River Turtle Island Bioregion • Job migrati.on is not job creation. Too ~ften, the. state. promotes the Land Trust Coalition . Lakes basin). But whatever the motivation, Little Cuyahoga Valley Unrealized Potential Bioregion migration ofjohs from the cities to the suburbs and then c~unts these as Kim Hill, Sierra Club each name is a personal declaration of Lorain Clay"Bioregion Upper Cuyahoga Bioregion lt Robert Jaquay, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission "new jobs created. This is the trag~c result of most Enterprise Zones in what's special about this place on the planet. Lorain Lakesho're Bioregion Urban Oasis Bioregion Ohio. State development officials need to change how they measure success, Da,:,id Knapp, United Labor Agency Susan Lacy, WE·CAN! Here are some of our current favorites: Lower Great Lakes Region Urban-Cement Bioregion s~ they are not rewarded for ~oving employment away from urban areas . Mahoning Valley Bioregion UrbanlRural Symbiot Zone Craig Limpach, Wildlife biologist 950 Feet Abov~ Sea Level where jobs are needed most. It is ludicrous, for example, to invest state gas Mentor Mar,sh Bioregion And the one with the tulip trees, trillium <pld Elaine Marsh, Friends a/the Croqked River Amishturf Bioregion . taxes in access roads for new industrial parks in Streetsboro. 'This just wastes ¥ountains Meet the Plains Bioregion wild ginger! 0 Mary OIShea, The Food Co-op ;.., Appalachian Escarpment tax money on. a zero-sum game. Noonan Robbins, CWRU Program/or the Environment Appalachian Plateau Bioregion • Think long term. In many cases, it ~ay be more challenging to Kathleen Tark, CitY Architecture Asphalt-Forest Edge Sioregion i)(Ac.. IAv II) I . redevelop existing urban areas than to develop greenfields, but we need to Jerome Walcott, Commission on Catholic Community Action Beech-Maple Forest Bioregion accept that challenge and work for the long-term future of our cities. The I Roberta Wendel, Friends ofthe Black River :,10 .'l oA1!:..'V"1L. ') . Big Creek Watershed cL \ v':L 'fwR.. future of Ohio depends on the future of its cities, and successful, livable and Organizafions liSled (or identification only. Articles in EcoCfty(.'/l!vl!/otJddo not nooessarily rcllectlhe views of board Black River Watershed fIYl.'l '~ \ 1 )')vL 010 ~v~1J'.I'VL\r> sustainable cities of the 21st century will be compact, not sprawling. Sprawl Brown Squirrel Bioregion members, althou~ the~s a goOd chance tiley _do; IL I "I DI.J«.\,J(. \f\L'<:-'> "wo-R.\c creates short-term economic· gain for a few speculators while imposing long • Buckeye & Lilac Bioregion tenn costs on the rest of society. EcoCity Cleveland Journal By-the-Lakes Bioregion ':> \\-vf') \.\:fllL. I \ \I\oVl,I'" 'i 0 I.J 2841 Scarborough Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44I 18 In general, state policy needs a drastic overhaul so that it stops promoting Canesadooharie Bioregion \f..',rJi.l/lP A.. C"MI-'\V...J1Q..uL . Cuyahoga _Bioregion " Center of the Heights Bioregion destructive sprawl. Telephone and fax: (216) 932·3007 Central Ohio Farm/Wilderness Area lbu{C 0£'> WSLL..\v TDI<-,(O) E-mail address: ecoc1eveJand@igc,apo.org 26<}, YA,z[)u(':vc!O H RD Thanks . • Chagrin- River Watershed \-\e\c\cA \ \)0 o)A.'(A ~ \'-1'010 Many·thanks to the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District for Crooked River Bior:egion Published monthly. e)(cepl for a double issue in July/August. Unless f\\j( y..of·t "s,l'-ow'>" C,u.v tLAVi) \-*-\(,\\1\) otherwise noted, all articles and photographs an~ by David Beach, Cuyahoga Bioregion So fNl... honoring us_with an "Outstanding Contribution to the Cause of Conservation I I . Submissiol"ls from others are weloome, hut please call first. We cannot be Cuy·ahoga River Watershed · () \-\ cJ.<+ ~ Award" at the districtls recent annual meeting. responsible for unsolicited materials. ~f}cLlE ru..~ \0 II %, I'M. Cuyahoga-Mahoning Summit v'A Readers are encouraged to usc the infoffilation in FA:oCilY Clel'eland.