.Lake Erie is one of the greatest assets an area could have but it is greatly underutilized and its potential seems to be mostly unknown or not understood by the leaders and citizens of Northeast Ohio. Lake Erie could be the greatest economic development tool Northeast Ohio has.
There is a wide range of Lake Erie uses that provides exciting possibilities for our future:
COMMERCIAL USE - Port activties,water oriented businesses
RESIDENTIAL USE - waterfront living & development of lakefront communities
RECREATIONAL USE - boating,sailing,jet sking,beaches,festivals etc.
TOURISM - possible huge industry for us
MARKETING - a tool to enhance our image and to attract young professionals to Northeast Ohio
A few facts about Lake Erie:
1. It is the warmest of all the Great Lakes which gives us a large advantage over the other Great Lakes. The full range of water recreation activities are possible here such as swimming, jet skiing, diving, etc.
2. It is one of the best bodies of waters in the U.S. for boating activities and boat ownership. I have 29 years boating experience on Lake Erie and around the country, and I can tell you there is more to do on the Lake with a boat than almost any other body of water in the U.S. This is a mostly unknown fact.
3. 50% of all the fish in the Great Lakes is in Lake Erie.
In Chicago, one third of the city population is concentrated in lakefront neighborhoods. When Chicago opened up its waterfront, it created 3000 acres of parkland along 20 miles of the Lake Michigan shoreline which along with the City attracted 65 million visitors in 2006. These visitors came from around the nation and from abroad. Important fact - Lake michigan is too cold for the full range of recreational activities that are available on Lake Erie.
Potentially one of the most important uses for the waterfront and the Lake is in developing a "cool", fun image for Cleveland. We could rebrand our city as not an "old rustbelt town" but an exciting waterfront, beachfront community. This image is very important to make Northeast Ohio more attractive to young professionals here(to keep them here) and to young professionals around the country(to attract them here). We are in competition with the rest of the country for talented workers. Creating opportunities for jobs and advancement is critically important to this area, but so is having a"cool" image and being known as a fun, vibrant place to live to work and to play. Lake Erie could be one of our greatest tools in the economic development toolbox to help shape this new image.
Much, more coming on this later
