Cleveland’s Greater University Circle Initiative

The Greater University Circle Initiative sought to reweave community networks, in part through community engagement, to improve the quality of life in surrounding neighborhoods, and to give residents a greater voice and connection to the resources of the anchor institutions. This case study shows how the Greater University Circle Initiative achieved this coordination among three large anchor institutions located in Cleveland’s park-like University Circle area—almost one square mile of world-class educational, cultural, and health institutions. This initiative networked and deployed its resources in a powerful challenge to the persistent poverty and disinvestment in seven surrounding neighborhoods. Where once a major institution might only seek to gentrify its surrounding area by pushing out impoverished residents, this strategy seeks to improve the prospects and income of the people who live in these neighborhoods.