Greater University Circle: Cleveland’s Urban Core
Launched in 2005, the Cleveland Foundation’s Greater University Circle initiative is an ambitious strategy to stimulate reinvestment in this vital urban area. Its focus is twofold: physical development and neighborhood cultivation.
At its center, University Circle is a cultural enclave boasting museums and institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art; Severance Hall, home to the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra; the Cleveland Institute of Music; Case Western Reserve University; and University Hospitals.
The Cleveland Foundation added “Greater” to include portions of the city’s Fairfax, Wade Park-Glenville, Hough, Little Italy, and Buckeye-Shaker neighborhoods, as well as the Cleveland Clinic and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Also included are public schools, such as the recently refurbished John Hay High School (home to the new Cleveland School of Science and Medicine), Cleveland Early College High School, and the Cleveland School of Architecture and Design.
We seek to connect these Cleveland neighborhoods with the city’s cultural epicenter, creating a thriving, competitive urban core teeming with tourists, students, workers, and residents. We envision a nationally recognized urban neighborhood; an internationally recognized center for research, education, medical care and culture; and a highly desirable place to live.
The foundation’s Greater University Circle initiative focuses on four areas:
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Housing – Creating a strong, standardized, centrally managed incentive program that provides mortgage and home-repair assistance to low- and moderate-income families.
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Education – Enhancing local school options.
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Economic inclusion
- Work force strategy – Providing job training and preferred access to jobs in Greater University Circle for qualified neighborhood residents.
- Purchasing and procurement strategy – Leveraging institutional relationships and identifying opportunities to purchase products and services from either neighborhood businesses or businesses that relocate to the area.
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Safety – Enhancing safety and security in neighborhoods.
Through continued, unprecedented collaboration among multiple groups, Greater University Circle is taking shape as a premier place to live, work, visit, or receive medical care in Cleveland.
Lillian Kuri
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Program Director for Architecture, Urban Design, and Sustainable Development
India Pierce Lee
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Program Director for Neighborhoods, Housing, and Community Development
Ted Howard
Steven A. Minter Fellow for Social Justice
Read GUC updates
Each month, our Greater University Circle Initiative team provides news and updates from this important Cleveland neighborhood.
Podcast update on Greater University Circle
India Pierce Lee and Lillian Kuri discuss the Greater University Circle Initiative and the Evergreen Cooperatives in this Cleveland Foundation podcast.