More Sustainable Cities - Panelists Interview

Green Leaders: Interviews with For the Greener Good Panelists

Interview with Sten Nordin, Mayor of Stockholm, Sweden
Interview with Cassio Taniguichi, Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil
Interview with Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Representative of Oregon's 3rd District

As a struggling city such as Cleveland searches for ways to recruit from the international talent pool as well as ways to recruit businesses for said talent to find employ at, one discovers that the creation of "green" and "sustainable" urban enclaves find themselves very attractive to the next generation of job seekers.

What makes sustainable urban initiatives work? Where does the capital investment come from? How does one garner the federal or government funding? How does a governing body receive community support? What are the reasonable and easy "first steps" to implement larger plans and reach larger goals?

Cleveland is attempting to find the right track and undoubtedly has the backing of the population of Cleveland to invest in walkable, bike-able and public mass transit infrastructure. It is being implemented bit by bit (granted the Euclid Corridor Project is a rather large bit) and even the city fabric is beginning to reflect the reinvestment and anticipated rebirth of downtown.

I suppose one could argue for a bit of patience to see what develops however I would rather argue that the city should strike now while the iron is hot (or at least sort of warm) and develop downtown strategies for cyclists (move ahead with the cycle parking spaces and perhaps even allocate a cycle station similar to Chicago as well as more bike lanes and even training programs for cyclists and drivers to learn the rules of the road).

Even an added influx in public transportation monies (at least to cover rising fuel costs and to keep the system running normally) would do well to bide people over until the corridor project can be proven and/or enough citizens move to using public transit to remove all stigma and ingrain its usage into everyday life.

A third suggestion would be directly in line with the first two in designing streetscapes around pedestrian movement including proper orientation of commercial and residential entries, street scale and the reintroduction of neighborhood or community based development similar to the intents of the tenants of new urbanism but thoughtfully applied to the specific location in question.