Thursday, October 8, 10:15 pm.............I just arrived home. After dinner with my family in the Short North for Kate's 23rd birthday, I rode home through a light rain. I'm disoriented by the day's events and trying to get my bearings.
I spent the afternoon at the Greater Ohio/Brookings Institute "Restoring Prosperity to Ohio" Steering Committee Meeting. As usual, I showed up in spandex to a meeting with 30+ suits and knew immediately I was out of place. I had reviewed the white papers that had been circulated in advance of the meeting and I figured this would be another "blah blah, blah blah, blah" discussion of how we might possibly reinvent and save Ohio. The white papers were sobering.......6 of the 7 largest cities in Ohio have lost significant population over the past 3 or 4 decades, e.g. Cleveland had 950,000 in 1950 and has 395,000 today (and Cuyahoga County has lost 19% of its population since 1970). The median sales price of a home in Cleveland has declined from $62,000 in 2007 to $15,500 in 2008.
Greater Ohio/Brookings is recommending that our 6 great, declining cities adopt a "shrinking city" strategy to "right size" these cities for their declining populations. This involves demolishing homes and neighborhoods and creating green space and urban farms and community gardens to take up the vacant space. This is probably the right, and perhaps only, thing we can do but it is very sad.
At the beginning of the meeting, everyone stood and introduced him/herself. When it was my turn I stood and said, "I'm Doug Morgan, an attorney with Calfee Halter. I've been car free for 7 years and believe that if we all still lived within biking or walking distance of where we worked and went to school and the market we wouldn't be here today." There were lots of good "practical", "finger in the dike" ideas at the meeting, but no bold ideas that might get us back on track. My suggestion for a constitutional convention to eliminate the multiplicity of governmental and pseudo-governmental subdivisions and thereby save money which could be spent on fixing our urban schools and/or lowering our taxes did not get a helluva lot of support.
After the meeting, I joined Beth, Brandon, Kate and Corey at a local restaurant for Kate's 23rd birthday. Looking at my kids, I felt for the first time that I couldn't in good conscience ask them to "take one for the team" and remain in Ohio. I have little confidence that our political system is capable of providing the leadership to move our state forward. And I am at a loss to find this leadership anywhere else. I hate to say it because I love Ohio, but i wouldn't blame my kids for leaving for greener pastures.
Maybe when I get on my bike tomorrow I'll feel better........I usually do.
I wouldn't blame them for heading somewhere else either, but one thing to consider is water resources. Most of the fastest growing areas over the last decade are coming up against a huge limiting factor - Water. The southwest will continue to face water shortages and if the models are anywhere close to correct the southeast will also face more droughts like the one a couple of years ago. Business and industry needs access to plentiful, clean water. Ohio just happens to have significant water resources, though the models also show some threat to them. I believe that in the next 10-15 years Ohio will see a resurgence in population growth from other areas if we take care of our water and protect it.
The shrinking of some of our cities with efforts to reclaim river and stream corridors for public space and greenways restoration will go a long way to improving and protecting this resource while at the same time highlighting one of our greatest natural assets for outdoor recreation. Something many young people are looking for. We have the potential to be the biking and canoeing/kyaking capital of the US.
If you get the chance read Robert Glennon's "Unquenchable: Americas water crisis and what to do about it."
Posted by: David Rutter | October 09, 2009 at 07:37 AM
The mission of America is comfort.
Not meaning. Not sustainability. Not legacy. Not environment. Not progress.
We talk about those noble ideas, but -- when you look at the choices we (including I) make -- it appears that much of that talk is the servicing of lips.
We know for what we stand. Or sit.
For comfort. And, maybe, for entertainment, but that's just a form of comfort.
So, Mr. King of Hearts, your ideas are not gaining much traction. More's the pity.
I, for one, am behind you. (But, because you ride so fast, I'm quite a'ways behind you.)
Posted by: Artie Isaac | October 09, 2009 at 09:35 AM