Many people are not shy in expressing disdain for the kind of photography that has been branded as “ruin porn.” Though I have to say—as a Clevelander inundated with vacancy to the point one becomes forced to create a new perception of decay else shrink into a corner — I don’t get too moved by the critiques.

Why?

Well, let’s get the name thing out of the way first, because if the practice of photographing industrial and urban ruins was simply Ruin Photography as opposed to Ruin Porn then much of the debate wouldn’t exist. But it does. And we have the word “porn” to thank for it.

I just got done reading this article: Gov. John Kasich Fires Back at Cleveland Leaders Fuming at His Administration’s Shortchanging of Bridge and Road Projects, Plain Dealer. And it didn’t leave me feeling too optimistic about the future of the state of Ohio.

To summarize, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has put off funding the second phase of Cleveland’s Innerbelt Bridge — a vital and decrepit passage to downtown Cleveland — until 2023. Also in jeopardy is funding for Cleveland’s West Shoreway highway-to-boulevard project, which is considered by Cleveland’s regional chamber of commerce to be the most important project to Greater Cleveland’s economy.

The Kasich Administration is strapped. No one is denying that.

This is a popular concept. You hear it about Detroit most often. Detroit, laid low by population loss and poverty, is a breeding grounds for experimentation.

Everyone is waiting for someone — just anyone — with a good idea that will change the whole dynamic there. Often the trial solutions tend toward almost utopian — urban gardens, artist settlements, etc.

I have been slowly coming of the opinion that this is wrong on a few levels. Hear me out.

I’ve touched on this before in other posts, but it is worth highlighting again. The great move from the city to the suburbs has been attributed to various factors: changing lifestyle preferences, the automobile, subsidies to sprawl, urban industrial pollution, etc. While there is probably truth in all of these, possibly the most powerful of them all is greenfield economics.

What is greenfield economics? This is simply the set of conditions that flow from building on new territory or exploiting new markets vs. redevelopment of old places, organizations, etc.

Buffalo has a unique opportunity to recapture a share of the middle class and become a thriving city once again. It’s not terribly difficult, it’s happening already, and the benefits could be enormous. It just needs to market itself to the retiring baby boomers as a place to retire.

Yes, I know that everyone’s grandparents couldn’t wait to leave the ice and snow for sunny Florida. But there are certain demographic tides that even the most cynical of people cannot ignore. According to the LA Times, “This year, the oldest of the 78 million people born from 1946 to 1964 are turning 65 and becoming senior citizens. Because of the immense size of this baby boom generation, the number of senior citizens will more than double between now and 2050, from 40 million to 89 million.

As you may have heard, Detroit’s excitedly awaited Woodward Light Rail was nixed last week by Mayor Bing and Federal Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood in favor of a 110-mile regional Bus Rapid Transit System. Officials expressed concern that the original 3-mile light rail plan wouldn’t connect Detroiters with suburban jobs, which is odd because the original proposal (which was awarded federal funding) wasn’t about connecting people with suburban jobs at all. It was about holding a carrot out to private developers so as to develop Midtown Detroit into a truly urban neighborhood. It wasn’t about connecting what already exists, but about building the transportation framework for what could be.

Cleveland’s beloved “working-class intellectual” Harvey Pekar said these words in the late 1990s, but they are equally relevant today. Not much has changed with respect to the state of our central city and suburban attitudes about regional cooperation. Imagine if we had heeded these words more than a decade ago, how much different things might be for this region now. This is especially important as the region — finally — embarks on a regional planning effort thanks to the $5 million grant from Obama’s Sustainable Communities Program. Northeast Ohio needs to be bold and unselfish. It is fighting for its life.

Thirty years ago, I took a trip with my dad and brother to downtown Cleveland to watch two old buildings get blown up. The event was billed as a momentous milestone, but to me it seemed more like a natural disaster. A tsunami of dust swept towards us and, within seconds, I lost them in the crowd.

It’s been twenty-two years since I moved from the Rust Belt to West Palm Beach, Florida. Born, raised and schooled in Michigan, I was in a relationship at the time and it seemed that all we talked about was where and when we were going to move out of the state. Being 28 years old, I was at a point in my career as an urban planner where the grass really did seem like it was greener someplace else. I had tired of the challenges associated with economic restructuring and decline. Enduring the cloudy, wet
and cold winter months was another factor which contributed to the desire for a warmer climate. As it turned out, a series of events conspired to make a move possible. Since then, it’s been quite the roller coaster ride which leaves me now contemplating either a move back or taking on more work in the area.

To hear some conservative commenters tell it, Indiana should be wiping the floor with Ohio and Michigan.

Afterall, Detroit’s fundamental problem is its liberalness, according to the Wall Street Journal. And Ohio Governor John Kasich, he’s busy curing all the state’s ailments with “business friendliness.” Ditto goes for “open for business” Wisconsin.

It’s difficult to say whether Indiana is truly more economically healthy than its neighbors to the northeast and east. But one thing is clear, while Ohio and Michigan residents might be racing for the door, they’re not tripping over eachother at the Indiana border.