'Jobs Sprawl' Plagues Cleveland Commutes

Despite all we hear about a return to density, research from Brookings shows rising distances between people and their jobs. And Cleveland, Ohio seems to be having the most difficulty containing 'jobs sprawl,' the suburbanization of employment. From 2000 to 2012, Northeast Ohio suffered an average of -26.5% job access, defined as percentage of jobs that can be reached in a typical commute.

From the article: "The worst was felt by the city of Cleveland (-26%), but the wave has hit the suburbs in Cuyahoga County and the western half of Lorain County as well (-22.9%). Job sprawl was particularly bad for areas below poverty level (-35%) and in 'majority-minority' areas of the region (-28%). Jobs leaving the metro region totaled 18% in that period."

So far, attempts to ameliorate this problem have been abstract, as in regional plans. Marc Lefkowitz writes, "Ideally, as Ohio promises to better align its transportation funding with performance metrics, it will look at jobs/transit access as one of the areas of improvement."