There is a new initiative to take Cleveland from unsustainable, to one of the most sustainable cities in the U.S.
Friday, Cleveland’s Mayor and other city officials will launch the 2017 Vibrant Green Spaces Initiative and it’s necessary, considering many major studies claim Cleveland has a long way to go in order to make itself more sustainable.
In this study looking at the country’s greenest cities in 2016, Cleveland ranked 93rd out of 100. In this study, looking at overall sustainability, Cleveland didn’t even make the list. It was beat out by cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.
“We’ve lost half of our canopy since World War Two in the city of Cleveland. There are huge health impacts, huge property value impacts, many other things,” said Cleveland’s Chief of Sustainability, Matt Gray.
Gray insists though, in Cleveland, we are doing some stuff really right.
“There are areas I think we’re doing well in terms of local food I think we’re seen as a national leader and a lot of other cities come to us for our policies, a lot of our programs,” he said.
But clearly, according to national statistics, Cleveland is falling far behind.
“Other areas like trees, we are not a leader right now. We’re at about 19% canopy in the city, places like Pittsburgh are closer to 40%,” said Gray.
That’s where the city’s sustainability initiative, a ten year program with annual themes tackling tough issues, like in 2017, adding more parks and paths, will make a world of difference.
“We’ve turned over 100 vacant lots into vibrant green space over the years. So how do we really accelerate that progress?” said Gray.
The kick off for 2017’s Vibrant Green Spaces Initiative begins at 11a.m. Friday in Cleveland City Hall and runs till 2p.m. Anyone can attend and see some of the work the city will be doing to become more sustainable.
