Code,951004
Subject,Hunter Morrison
Date,7/21/2006
Interviewer,Sandra Storey
Abstract,"Hunter Morrison, Director of Youngstown State University's Center for Urban and Regional Studies, served as Cleveland City Planning Director throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  In this 2006 interview, Morrison describes his work as a city planner in Cleveland and offers his view on Cleveland's needs for the future. After detailing his early work as a planner in Kenya, Morrison discusses the development of the Euclid Avenue Corridor plan. Much of Morrison's work in Cleveland focused on updating the 1949 General Plan for the city, aligning the physical layout with new economic and social realities. He describes how this led to the Civic Vision 2000 plan in the early 1990s. Morrison also gives his opinion on public transportation, Public Square, the convention center, and the lakefront, before ending by emphasizing the importance of improving public education and attracting newcomers in revitalizing Cleveland."
Special Notes,"city planning and urban issues, public square, transportation, lakefront, convention center"
minutes:,
951004A,
0,Intro; growing up in Shaker and Pepper Pike
1,"College in Yale, studying city planning and political science; work in Nairobi, Kenya for Peace Corps as town planning officer; graduate school in Harvard and MIT"
2,Works in Nigeria for planning and engineering firm after graduate school
3,"Returns to Cleveland 1976, works with Hough Area Development Corporation, becomes Planning Director in 1980"
4,"[3:40] Work in Africa helped his work in Cleveland; ""tribal"" nature of Cleveland City Council politics"
5,"British town planning system used in Nairobi stressed physical planning, as opposed to social planning"
6,
7,Differences between social planning and physical planning
8,How Norman Krumholz's tenure as City Planner differed from Morrison's: a shift away from social planning (in response to the consequences of slum removal)  to physical planning
9,
10,History of Euclid Avenue development projects; subway proposed
11,"_______ [10:50] Halpern Plan of 1975: ""dumbell,"" Playhouse Square and Public Square proposed to be connected by a trolley"
12,"In late 1970s, Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency (NOACA) begins region-wide analysis of rail extensions"
13,"Connection between Downtown and University Circle is deemed important; RTA's Rapid Red Line, built through depressed industrial areas, had declined"
14,"In early 1980s, Mayor Voinovich picks ""dual-hub"" (Public Square and University Circle) corridor as place for transportation improvement, as well as a southeast extension"
15,
16,NOACA's role and function
17,Alternatives analysis for dual-hub corridor project is done by City Planning Commission
18,
19,[18:50] Euclid Avenue during the city's founding and its subsequent development and collapse
20,
21,"Consensus emerging that development of Euclid Avenue should""build off of cluster of educational and healthcare institutions"" that have grown along the street"
22,[21:45] Physical challenges to redevelopment on Euclid; positive example of redevelopment of Prospect during Gateway construction
23,"Euclid Avenue development could ""change peoples' perceptions"" of the street and lead to investment"
24,"""Doing [development] incrementally doesn't work;"" ""tech corridor"" as the future of Euclid;"" The Arcade is Morrison's favorite building on Euclid"
25,
26,Morrison's role in Playhouse Square redevelopment; saving Allen Theatre from destruction
27,Description of the job of city planner
28,_________various projects planners work on
29,
30,"Brief history of Hough, Morrison's family history there"
31,
32,"Work with Hough Area Redevelopment Corporation, ""Homes for Hough,"" new, unsubsidized housing in the neighborhood"
33,[32:50] Contributions of Fannie Lewis in redeveloping the neighborhood
951004B,
0,"Civic Vision 2000: mission to update 1949 General Plan, scope, funding"
1,"1949 General Plan: fit to city with large population, industry, no highways"
2,"by 1980s, city was very different place: suburbanization, malls, highways, urban renewal, bussing, etc…"
3,"updated goals, new opportunities"
4,"zoning code: ""dated to 1929"", couldn't address modern needs"
5,"Highways, cleveland area: traffic is ""very manageable"" compared to other urban areas"
6,"new plans for ""replacement and realignment"", previous mistakes"
7,"Detroit-Superior Bridge: history, redesign"
8,"Memorial Shoreway: history, planned redesign"
9,"Public Transportation, cleveland area: some areas/populations are underserved"
10,"Bridges, cleveland: historical bridges served railroad"
11,"cleveland bridges ""combine an elegance of design with an elegance of engineering"""
12,"[11:45] maintaining, renovating, and expanding area bridge network"
13,"Public Square [12:50]: viability of redesign/reconfiguration, history"
14,"[13:45] problems with current configuration of the square (buildings, stores, land use)"
15,"""there are no front doors on the [square]"", comparison to boston square"
16,technical limitations that prevent a new plan
17,need for commercial and domestic residencies
18,failed renovation projects
19,"Convention Center: location, access to services"
20,convention industry
21,
22,other proposed sites (tower city center)
23,"I-X Center, most conventions are unprofitable for the city"
24,"Lake Front: history, need to ""tame the freeway"" allowing better access to lake"
25,"NorthCoast Harbor redesign, existing plans for lakefront redevelopment"
26,"Cleveland, urban issues: overdevelopment, Group Plan"
27,
28,"too many parking lots/garages, transportation routes limit access to lakefront"
29,Chicago urban renewal projects
30,"Playhouse Square, succesful renovation"
31,"[30:50] Gateway Complex, need for unified comprehensive urban revitalization plan"
32,[31:40] Regionalism and other possible solutions to urban decline
33,"Memories of Cleveland, creating new memories"
34,"deindustrialization/global economy, need to restructure the city"
35,
36,economic/population base (of both ohio and cleveland) needs to be restored
37,concentrated poverty
38,"comparison to New Orleans, Ohio's unconstitutional educational system"
39,Cleveland's image problems
40,college graduates as an asset: many stay but few come from outside the region
41,Cleveland's image problems
42,"cultural assets, medical industry, higher education is underfunded and overpriced"
43,Planning Department's role in local educational system
44,integrating educational institutions with urban environment
45,Saint Ignatius High School and W.25th Rapid Station
46,planning issues and considerations
47,need for further interaction with students
48,end