Cleveland is designating 2017 as the “Year of Vibrant Green Space.” This is the seventh year of Mayor Frank Jackson’s “Sustainable Cleveland” initiative, a 10-year effort to make the city more environmentally friendly.
The “Year of Vibrant Green Space” is aimed at creating more parkland, boosting urban farming and planting green roofs. Nearly 30 vendors and experts in the field filled City Hall’s rotunda for the kickoff. One of them was West Creek Conservancy, an organization that purchases land for parks. Project manager Peter Bode says parks are more than just recreational space.
“You’re house value goes up if you’re 500 feet within a park. One thousand feet within a park, even a quarter mile within a park it goes up a certain percentage. So we’re trying to take a view of house value, economic value, personal value, and the vested interest in pride in your neighborhood.”
Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability says about 80 percent of city residents are within a 10 minute walk of some green space, and the goal is 100 percent. Last year’s theme was sustainable transportation.
