Cleveland, Ohio and Baltimore have a lot of similarities. Both were successful industrial towns after WWII. Both have been losing population since the 50s as jobs left with the decline of heavy industry. They both now have crime, vacant housing and poor school performance.
Baltimore and Cleveland have used some of the same failed approaches to turning their cities around. For example they both have sued banks because of the high foreclosures and both have high taxes.
Drew Carey Saves Cleveland
Drew Carey has made a career about being from Cleveland where he grew up. He loves Cleveland and wants to see it prosper again. So Drew approached the people from the Reason Foundation to go to study Cleveland to see what they could do to help. Reason.tv now has a 10 part series (short videos) on You tube.
If you are interested in politics or urban development, I think you will find these videos fascinating as I did. They give good examples of what works and what doesn’t work. Like the city council member who was proud that he got a permit through in 18 months for a constituent, contrasted to Houston, TX where a permit can be had in 1 day. Which city do you think has better economic growth?
Here is the Drew Saves Cleveland intro video
Go here to see entire save Cleveland series. John Stossel did a show with Drew using some of the same footage . Watch the Stossel Cleveland show on Reason.tv or on Hulu.com. Both are excellent and worth watching.
Mayor pay attention, Baltimore can use these tips
Baltimore can benefit from the same common sense approaches to growth and government that are recommended for Cleveland. These have been shown to be successful in Houston and around the country. Baltimore and the entire state of Maryland are both in a bad fiscal cycle. In good times they spend money like drunken sailors and in bad times the struggle to pay bills and raise taxes. Little thought is put to the long term consequences to policies put into place.
Happy viewing Mayor, apply these tips and you will be a hero.
Ned
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12 responses so far ↓
1 Why Now Is Not The Right Time To Invest In Baltimore | Real Estate Investing News Watch Blog Aggregator // May 2, 2010 at 10:01 pm
[…] from the same approaches used in Cleveland and poses the challenge to present Cleveland leaders. Click Here or click the image to read the rest of this […]
2 Tweets that mention Mayor Rawlings-Blake, Drew Carey has a Message for You: via -- Topsy.com // May 3, 2010 at 12:59 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by clyde leverett jr. clyde leverett jr said: Mayor Rawlings-Blake, Drew Carey has a Message for You: http://bit.ly/9UWDgu via @addthis […]
3 Home Mortgage Kansas (4 comments.) // May 6, 2010 at 6:22 pm
There is much to be gained for a lot of cities in what Drew Carey presents. Thanks for sharing, I will pass this along to some city officials where I am at!
4 Ned // May 6, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.
>I will pass this along to some city officials where I am at!
Yea, good luck with that. 🙂
5 Holly Jahangiri (2 comments.) // May 8, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Lots of cities could use a little Reason and help!
.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..My Books Won Awards, and My Publisher Threw Things at Me!? =-.
6 Ned // May 8, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Hey Holly, thanks for stopping by. – Ned
7 Holly Jahangiri (2 comments.) // May 8, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Pleased to return the favor! I started to comment the other day, then got sidetracked by videos and posts, then got called back to work… 😉
.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..My Books Won Awards, and My Publisher Threw Things at Me!? =-.
8 Bilgefisher (1 comments.) // May 9, 2010 at 11:27 am
Ned,
I enjoyed the series. Drew Carey makes good points in the series. The key is to figure out how to convince those entrenched in the cities to adopt some of those ideas. I am encouraged to see folks out there trying to make a difference though.
Jason
9 Noel (1 comments.) // May 9, 2010 at 10:00 pm
I never knew Drew Carey came from Cleveland. We see quite a bit of him on TV here in New Zealand. A funny guy – I’m sure he’s a great ambassador for the city and state.
10 Ned // May 10, 2010 at 11:38 am
Noel,
thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Jason,
Exactly, how do we encourage them to make the changes. The councilman in Cleveland really thought he was doing a good job.
11 Dan (3 comments.) // Jun 1, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Personally Ned, I think you should step up to be the Baltimore Drew Carey. Keep it in the name!
I can see it now, “While Drew Carey works to save Cleveland, another Carey has stepped up to the plate to save Baltimore: Ned Carey!”
.-= Dan´s last blog ..If I Were to Start in Real Estate Today Pt 1 =-.
12 Ned // Jun 4, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Thanks for the vote of confidence Dan. But I don’t think even I can save the city. 😉