Common Place   /   April 30, 2014

Silver Bullets: Cyclical Efforts to Bring the Private Sector "Back In"

Brent Cebul

The timeline below explores the history and development of the Euclid Avenue corridor on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. Euclid Avenue and its surrounding neighborhoods have experienced the full complement of federal and local "development" programs and offer a window into both the intended and unintended consequences of elite-led development programming. As a result, the story of Euclid Avenue resonates far beyond the city of Cleveland. While city planners and their allies across the public, private, and voluntary sectors often enthusiastically touted the latest development plan for struggling neighborhoods, this  history suggests that officials have in actuality drawn upon a narrow menu of policies and initiatives. This story also conveys a rather constricted vision for urban thriving, both in terms of paths forward and of the constituencies included.