Collinwood: Dismal in Appearance but Hopeful in Spirit

Collinwood: Dismal in Appearance but Hopeful in Spirit

By Christopher Kolezynski

In my last report on Collinwood I had focused for the most

part on a different time for the city. Different

circumstances both economic and social made up the times

when Collinwood was known as Bomb City, USA. While the

nickname in itself leads one to ask how could it be worse,

it just is. The once flourishing Collinwood no longer has

the resources and employment opportunities it once did. No

longer do the railroads run as heavy as they once did nor

will they probably ever again. All in all my point is

Collinwood has changed with the times and due to its visible

blight in both residential homes and industry its hard to

argue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Collinwood

is clearly broken. Determining a boundary for such an area

can be difficult as the resident population is sprawled and

automobile access is clearly disproportionate to population.

If it weren’t for the amenities offered by the city finding

a central area would take more than a few visits and would

most likely involve participant observation. As witnessed

before with Sudhir Venkatesh, these types of studies about

understanding impoverished urban areas can take years to

complete and I sense Collinwood would be no different. The

themes that stood out to me when visiting Collinwood were

the common themes associated with impoverished areas. The

decline of the built environment both commercial/industrial

and residential, the economic strain on businesses and

residents, and fortunately on a more positive note well

maintained city amenities.

In regards to the boundaries I observed the city is clearly

divided both by man made structures such as the railroads

and zoning for single use development with very few mixed-

use zones. It was especially quite easy to see the division

of residential and industrial/commercial areas though one

thing both had in common was a low density population. Due

to this, I found few high-density areas besides at locations

for city amenities. Even in the five points shopping area

most of the people I witnessed were students from the nearby

Collinwood Junior High School and because the railroad

tracks clearly divided North and South Collinwood I felt it

best to find a central place for each area. Not much to my

surprise in both these areas the central places were city

amenities. What was unique and interesting is that the

tracks did not divide the poverty as is typically seen in

other areas, which led me to wonder, which side of the track

is the wrong one or if this common saying even applies to

Collinwood? The central location I observed in North

Collinwood was the Collinwood Recreation Center and in South

Collinwood the Collinwood Junior High School, both were

public amenities with nearby commercial businesses of a

mostly retail and service oriented nature.

16300 Lake Shore Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44110

Collinwood Recreation Center in North Collinwood is clearly

more maintained than its surrounding residential areas as

seen above. There was noticeably more activity within this

area than other parts of the city. The parking lot was

approximately half full when I arrived at about 2 pm on a

Tuesday. In comparison, further down Lakeshore the nearby

shopping plaza had approximately half a dozen vehicles in

its lot. Further out past this shopping plaza residential

areas slowly emerged continuing into the nearby Bratenhall

area, home to a yacht club. It was Cleveland’s own version

of Favela’s next to Luxury Resorts. Quite disheartening I

might add but too often a reality we must deal with.

Due to the nearby Bratenhall area I would have to say that

following Lakeshore Blvd and continuing past where it turns

into East 152nd Street and down until the Lakeland Freeway

forms the most rational western border of North Collinwood.

The nearby housing east of Lakeshore Blvd up until Dalwood

Drive seems to be a fitting residential portion of

Bratenhall as it is located next to the Northeast Yacht Club

and consists of mostly lakeside housing, typically more

expensive because of the “view.” This coincides with the

census tract, yet one major difference is the census tract

stops before East 152nd Street begins at Parkgrove Avenue. I

disagree with this as I spent much time in the area south of

Parkgrove Avenue and much of that area had similar

residential housing in regards to blight and value. Waterloo

Rd. was under major construction at the time and despite the

continued residential blight the surrounding area certainly

had a brighter side. The building art and unique housing in

the area did seem to establish a sense of neighborhood

identity and pride despite the area’s visual decline. It is

through this one theme of place that I can understand why

the census stopped before it reached this artistic area.

However, in consideration of zoning and economic/demographic

observations there still wasn’t much change besides one or

two mixed-use areas by Waterloo Road. If it were left up to

me I would have extended the southern border of the study

area to include the arts district and all areas east of it

up until 177th Street as this area was still primarily

residential housing. Northern Collinwood’s southern border

seemed to stop just before Lakeland Freeway and S Waterloo

Road, which is largely an industrial area next to the

Collinwood Rail Yards.

The residential and sometimes mixed-use zoning continued

east up until E 177th Street before Nottingham Road. After E

177th Street the quality and style of the area began to

change. Noticeable differences included cul-de-sac housing

and much more green space. Due to this observation,

beginning at E 177th Street and Waterloo Road and continuing

up until Nottingham Rd. forms the first part of the eastern

border of the area. Heading west down Nottingham Rd then

continuing up Magnolia Drive forming the other portion of

the western border I observed. The area just east of

Magnolia Dr. consists of largely green space and the public

Memorial-Nottingham Library. This strongly suggests that

Magnolia Dr. is part of the eastern border separating North

Collinwood from Nottingham Village. The census tract also

coincides with this observation. The northern border of

North Collinwood can best be described as including

amenities such as Cleveland Lakefront State Park and nearby

multi-family housing units including a mobile home park that

are just north of the Collinwood Recreation Center. This

area is commonly referred to as Euclid Beach yet considering

its public nature and other surrounding amenities I’ve

included it in my observed neighborhood boundaries. The

northern border continues until Villa Beach Road then begins

forming the western border as it moves down Villa Beach Road

and continues west down Lakeshore. The slight portion that

is separated seems to be due to the inclusion of green space

and lakefront housing that is most likely a portion of the

Bratenhall area, the affluent neighboring village I

previously mentioned.

South Collinwood, or the other Collinwood, was clearly

separated by the rail yards. As I journeyed down E 152nd

street and crossed the bridge over the rail yards I was

offered an astounding view of the magnitude of the

Collinwood Rail Yards. It was of course impressive to read

about its history but an entirely other thing to see it. As

I got close to the Five Points Shopping Center I journeyed

down St Clair taking me right through the middle of South

Collinwood, oddly enough only to discover most of the same

conditions I saw previously in North Collinwood. As I

continued through the city it was again mostly residential

however featured more industrial/commercial areas than North

Collinwood. The visual blight I saw didn’t stop at these

residential areas. Further down St. Clair towards Nottingham

Road the industrial areas were visibly abandoned, openly

vacant and featuring many broken windows. After exploring

the area I saw two areas where I felt people commonly

concentrated. Of course there was the Five Points Shopping

Area but most of the people I saw seemed to come from the

neighboring high school. My observations led me to keep

Collinwood Junior High School in mind as a possible central

place in the area. Just like in North Collinwood the

population seemed widely disbursed but as I was around the

industrial area I took note of one local business with a

completely filled parking lot. This was hard to find in

South Collinwood at least from my perspective. The local

business was the Soul Deli next to the United Methodist

Church and it seemed to me a possible central area. In

comparison to Collinwood Junior High School though there was

still a notable difference in population density. After

reviewing the South Collinwood area I decided on the central

location of Collinwood Junior High School located at 15210

Saint Clair Avenue.

Collinwood Junior High School at 15210 Saint Clair Avenue.

As I moved down St. Clair there was a slow but noticeable

shift from the school and other public amenities to an area

consisting of service and technical businesses such as auto

repair, a medical center, and residential housing. These

observations lead me to believe this area is zoned for

mixed-use development. Around the Royal Road and St. Clair

intersection there seemed to be a brief but noticeable shift

in the quality of housing suggesting a possible rehab

project by the Land Bank. Since the area also contained

multiple similar homes across approximately a two-block area

this suggests to me that this development may have been

acquired through strategic assembly. This is a common

technique used by community land banks to attract developers

to the area. The mixed-use development continued down St.

Clair until London Road where there was a noticeable shift

towards industry suggesting different zoning regulations for

the area.

Businesses like Utilities Supply Co. seemed to be active but

certainly not thriving. Other parts of the area were clearly

being redeveloped and/or demolished. This industrial

development continued past E 168 and St. Clair. The census

tract for the area stops however at E166th street and begins

its eastern border. I could not see any reason for this, as

there was no noticeable change in the economic conditions or

land use. As I continued further down St. Clair I was not

convinced of any zoning or economic difference. One well-

maintained and seemingly significant building was the

Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center. Not sure if this was

an education building or a research and development center

but I took note of the structural quality and focus on

industry. As noted previously, this also suggests the

northern border of the census tract should have continued

well past E 166th Street. Furthermore, the area after the

CIIC shows mixed-use development and industry

characteristics as well. Approaching Nottingham on St. Clair

at the Syracuse Ave intersection is where I had noticed Soul

Deli and its completely filled parking lot, an unusual sight

in the area. Upon reaching Nottingham I noticed a clear

boundary as I was approaching the Nottingham Village area.

Though the mixed-use development continued into the village

it would be hard to argue that the census tract should go

passed a city border or an area without industry, as this

was a common theme of the South Collinwood study area. After

turning right onto Nottingham I began to make my way back

through South Collinwood for a second review.

The area beginning on Nottingham Road was clearly

residential as well as the immediate area around Melville

Road and Ironwood Avenue. It wasn’t until by E 185th Street

and Redwood Road that I had observed large warehouses

suffering from industrial decline and open vacancy. This

abandoned industrial area was not far from the residential

area and seemed to have a contagion effect on nearby

housing. This contagion effect resulted in slum areas, my

observation was that blight was most severe in the

industrial core and declined outward in a centrifugal

manner. It would be safe to assume this type of abandonment

was due to the manufacturing decline as seen in other legacy

cities. Making my way back up to St. Clair I felt I had

observed the area adequately and felt convinced of the

northern and eastern border of my neighborhood boundary.

Through general observation of the area by Larchmont and

Clermont Road I felt the study areas southern border should

line along the single rail track, which creates the most

rational manmade southern border of the area. The census

tract suggests a western border along N Noble Road and

continuing up E 152nd Street to St. Clair. I agree with this

based on its inclusion of more industrial space before

reaching the five points shopping area. Much of the South

Collinwood study area was industrial and residential space.

I believe it is through these observations of consistency

that the census could develop a more accurate tract for the

neighborhood.

The areas I have selected contain a larger portion of their

respective cities and may require more resources to

evaluate. Regardless, the factors that make up neighborhood

boundaries stayed consistent. Whether economical,

demographical, or structural there was not much separation.

Blight continued despite zoning and only varied largely in

its intensity. Economic factors such as low auto access and

empty retail space stayed consistent, again varying only in

the amount of closed businesses and the amount of vehicles

visible. The four indicators that followed this same

consistency included mostly economic factors such as the

blight and vacancy of the built environment and the income

of the people. Well-maintained public amenities such as

schools and community centers seemed to counter this

economic reality while building art in North Collinwood

directly contradicted the neighborhoods visual decline

suggesting a strong effort towards economic revitalization

of the area. Despite the cities best efforts economic

decline was indicated through the condition of decay and

vacancy of the building stock.

The U.S. census coincides with these observations in regards

to residential housing in Collinwood. The total number of

housing units in North Collinwood is 2,268, of those 325 are

vacant. (U.S. Census, 2013) This amounts to about 1 vacancy

per 7 homes. Taking into consideration the margin of error,

the lowest to highest vacancy rates range from approximately

one in thirteen to one in five vacancies per housing units.

Further data shows that of these 325 vacant units 26 of them

belong to individuals with a different current residence

pointing to possible walkaways. (U.S. Census, 2013) It

should also be noted that the housing tenure of this area is

largely rentals. There is almost three times the amount of

renters to owners. (U.S. Census, 2013) This type off extreme

tenure and turnover is typically a result of downgrading as

suggested by the suburban neighborhood life cycle model. In

this case according to the same model the neighborhood is

well past these stages and is in the thinning out stages. In

summary, I think it is agreeable that even the low-end range

of vacancy data is concerning. Urban decay and decline are

quite visible throughout the whole area, which I believe is

due to the vacancy rates. This is described in urban

geography as the contagion effect. Below is a close up photo

of a residence located on the Corner of East 160th Street

and Trafalgar Avenue. This home has reached the scavenging

stage due to its clear open vacancy. Below the first photo

is the image of another blighted home, though it hasn’t

seemed to reach the same state as the previous photo.

Corner of East 160th Street and Trafalgar Avenue.

361 East 161st Street North Collinwood

I feel that I must say, as it is often a misconception by

especially suburbanites, that the quality of these homes

does not necessarily represent the quality of the character

of its residents. Keep in mind the unemployment rate of this

area is an estimated 14.7 percent and 36 percent of the

population including with benefits has an annual household

income of less than 10,000 dollars. (U.S. Census, 2013)

More than half the population of North Collinwood makes less

than 15,000 dollars a year, well below the poverty line.

(U.S. Census, 2013) Due to this, maintenance on a home is

not affordable; a major repair may cost a 1/3 of a person’s

annual income. This is not a new struggle however.

Throughout the entire history of cities there has always

been poverty and as we know limited resources often

constrict an otherwise good persons effort to maintain and

care for their home and neighborhood. My primary and

secondary data coincide with each other in regards to this

low income and visual decline and I am sure they both as

well share a causal relation in this neighborhood. Despite

the neighborhoods challenges there is one confliction to the

visual condition of the neighborhood. This is the building

art.

If having just read the data regarding vacancy and blight in

Collinwood, the last observation you would expect to make

about the built environment is these gorgeous works of art.

It could even be argued that despite vacancy data, lack of

homeownership rates, and blight that the building art

overshadows the poverty through its uniqueness. Some may

even go so far as to argue that the art is inspired by this

poverty. Although my observations of visual decline are

accurate the entire neighborhood does not consist of slum

appearance. It is the art that contradicts my observation of

urban decay. Therefore, I believe the character of the

neighborhood is best represented by its artistic efforts.

This is clearly an area with limited economic resources but

they are certainly not short in creativity. Amazing building

art such as the one below at 15605 Waterloo Rd, Cleveland,

OH 44110 and other nearby art (second photo) brings life to

an otherwise dismal appearance, reinforcing neighborhood

identity and pride, an important part of all revitalization

efforts.

15605 Waterloo Rd, Cleveland, OH 44110

Other Nearby Building Art

Artistic re-use of a residential home. Located at 442 East 156th Street.

These economic problems can be further indicated by

automobile access in the area. It is true that Collinwood

Rec Center had signs of significant activity. Yet, the

observation I made regarding the parking lot however was in

comparison to other areas within the neighborhood. When

compared with normal urban or suburban areas the vehicle

activity would seem below average at best. The data on the

North Collinwood census tract shows that the majority

(54.5%) of occupied housing units did not have vehicle

access and 37.4% of housing units had access to only one

vehicle. This coincides with my observation of automobile

access in the area. Below is a photo taken at Collinwood Rec

Center, you can see that there is activity and an average

amount of vehicles. However, for the highest density area I

found this is again quite low in comparison to other cities.

Collinwood Recreation Center. View of parking lot activity.

The second area within South Collinwood that I observed as a

central place had similar indicators to North Collinwood, at

least in an economic sense. The total population was

similar, the numbers of vacancy rates were high, and housing

units were mostly rented. The school looked well maintained

from the outside, there was urban decay or visual decline in

the residential areas, a seemingly low access to vehicles,

but most unique about this portion of the Collinwood area

was the industrial abandonment, vacancy, and blight.

According to the census data on income, the annual per

capita income of residents in the census tract is 12,412

dollars. (U.S. Census, 2013) This is well below the poverty

line also but still better off than a large portion of North

Collinwood residents whose income was below 10,000 dollars

annually. (U.S. Census, 2013) This was reflected in the

residential blight and industrial abandonment. While most

individuals were employed in the education, health, and

social field, the second most employed industry was that of

manufacturing at 10.8%, suggesting not all industry had been

abandoned. (U.S. Census, 2013) Poverty affected 36.9% of all

people in the last year; significantly lower than in North

Collinwood while unemployment rates of civilians 16 and

older were 14%. (U.S. Census, 2013) South Collinwood seems

to be slightly better off but by no means is it a middle

class neighborhood. The industrial collapse looks to have

had significant impact on the area; many buildings were

closed, most abandoned and openly vacant. Below are photos

of this abandonment. The first two are in a similar area by

East 185th Street and the other is across town closer to the

five points area.

18599 Cochran Avenue. Openly vacant warehouse, notice brokenwindows and general decay.

1480 East 185th Street. Vacant security entrance leading to multiple vacant industrial buildings and warehouses.

Located by Euclid Avenue and Ivanhoe Rd. Notice the faded appearance and browning landscape.

As you can see, it is evident that most industry has left

this city leaving behind their footprint on the built

environment. This observation coincides with the employment

and occupation data I had referred to previously. It is

clear why only 10.8% work in manufacturing, as most of these

buildings are vacant. I had hopes that the above General

Electric building was still active, as I couldn’t see the

entrance area. Upon further research I discovered it was an

appliance repair building and obtained the number. I called

to make sure and low and behold just as my original logic

had suggested the line was not in service. I came to this

conclusion after a high-pitched tone irritated my ears like

nails on a chalkboard; surely enough this building was

vacant as well. With the majority of employed residents

working in education, health care, and social assistance

fields the city has seemed to move on.

This is represented further by thriving local businesses

such as Soul Deli near St. Clair and Nottingham. Soul Deli

pictured below had a filled parking lot in an otherwise low-

density area. The neighboring church made me wonder if this

was a common gathering area for local families. Of the total

1,122 households 629 of them are family homes and the family

lifestyle fits the characteristics of this specific area,

both the nearby United Methodist Church and Local Diner

reinforce this observation.

18416 St Clair Avenue. High-density diner near local church.Family Lifestyle?

As I was driving past Collinwood High School classes were

letting out. From the appearance of things the school

enrollment seemed pretty significant as students

transitioned from the sidewalks to the streets blocking

traffic in large numbers. This bothered a local officer who

I had not even known was in front of me. What caught me by

surprise was the fact that his car looked like a dodge

charger, simple and plain. No lights were outside the

vehicle and no paint on the car showed he was an officer.

Due to the association of crime and poverty I assumed he was

undercover especially since his sirens were inside the car,

which was what most caught me by surprise. Regardless, my

observations of the amount of students conflict with the

data. My primary observation of the amount of students

seemed accurate with an estimate of 481 by the U.S. Census

but upon further evaluation of the data only 150 of those

students are grade nine through twelve. Zero percent of

which attend private school. (U.S. Census, 2013) This

suggests the student population for Collinwood Junior High

School consists of 150 students, which compared to the size

of the school and the amount of students I saw seemed to be

a very low student population. The data was not consistent

regarding this observation. The photo on page four of the

Collinwood High School shows three students near the

entrance however due to safety reasons I was unable to

capture the student population on the sidewalk and street.

This was visibly a much larger population spread across not

only the school sidewalk but also the street and opposing

sidewalk as well. At this moment I was much too concerned

about the safety of these pedestrians than my camera

unfortunately, the one photo I was able to capture was at a

brief stop while the local officer in front took a U-turn to

address the heavy pedestrian traffic. For further

observations the link below will provide a neighborhood map

I compiled based on the area and may help you further

visualize and understand the neighborhood as a whole. The

picture above this link is a simple snapshot of this map;

follow the link below for a more detailed version.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207687560601440344910.0004ebb838437af44cdef&msa=0

The research process for this neighborhood profile has been

a complex one. Despite the commonalities in the primary and

secondary data, their contradictions were unexpected. This

reinforces the importance of first hand observation when

conducting social or more specifically neighborhood

research. Quantitative data alone cannot accurately

represent a neighborhood as suggested by the behavioral

perspective. Studying places and people like all social

sciences demands qualitative research in addition to data.

The humanistic perspective recognizes the importance of this

assimilation of the two types of data, and my personal

experience also reinforced this perspective. I have long

been a student of sociology by choice and one of the most

important lessons I learned is that no research worth its

salt is ever always or all. What this means is that there

will always be exceptions. For example, if I had relied

simply on vacancy and income data I would not have known

about or expected for that matter the amazing building art I

witnessed through primary observation. The opposite applies

to the school enrollment population. If I had not obtained

the secondary data through the census on school enrollment,

I would have assumed a much larger school population. The

importance of data in situations of commonality lies in how

it reinforces the primary observation. This is of the utmost

importance especially when it comes to explaining your

observations. In a general sense, people treat numbers as

facts. Though most scientists would disagree with this

perception, it helps further convince the general public of

the accuracy of your observations. In that alone the

secondary data is a necessity to solving problems that

largely require public and political support as neighborhood

concerns often do. Collinwood like other urban areas is no

different in that aspect and like other urban cities is just

as resilient. The Collinwood neighborhood does not let

itself fall victim to its dismal appearance. That is what I

truly admired about the city, that like the people who live

there, it was and still is resilient. Secondary data alone

would convince you it’s a dismal place and nothing more, but

primary observation convinces you of its hopeful spirit.

Secondary data offers a reality. Primary data offers hope

for a new one.

References:

Knox, P., & McCarthy, L. (2012). Urbanization: An Introduction to Urban Geography. (3rd ed.). Glenview, IL: Pearson Education Inc.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Selected Housing Characteristics[Data File.] Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP04&prodType=table

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Selected Economic Characteristics [Data File.] Retrieved fromhttp://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03&prodType=table

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Vacant -Current Residence Elsewhere Characteristics [Data File.] Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_B25005&prodType=table

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Selected Economic Characteristics [Data File.] Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03&prodType=table

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). Selected Housing Characteristics[Data File.] Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP04&prodType=table

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013). School Enrollment [Data File.] Retrieved from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_S1401&prodType=table