Cleveland Scene: For the Future Impact of Downtown Cleveland’s Shore to Core TIF, Detroit Offers Some Clues
Cleveland leaders are betting big on a controversial mechanism for economic development but as Cleveland Scene reports, it may be worth looking at how a similar project played out in Detroit:
“In a recent report commissioned by Detroit’s City Council, The Citizens Research Council of Michigan found the DDA delivered “marginal benefits” to the rest of the city.
“It is clear that investments in the downtown have not lifted the city to share in any levels of prosperity,” the report states. “Hopes that investments in downtown would lead to housing nearby and throughout the city have not been experienced except for anecdotal recent developments.”
Detroiters for Tax Justice, a nonprofit group which has long been an opponent of the DDA, estimated since 2014 it has taken $22 million away from Detroit Public Library and $83 million in funds from the Detroit Public Schools…
“It’s like taking money out of your back pocket and putting it in the front pocket,” Greg LeRoy, director of Good Jobs First, told Bridge. “It’s not benefiting public safety or education in neighborhoods. Disinvesting in public education in the name of economic development is wrong. The best thing a place can do to improve long-term living standards and personal income is to have people become more educated.”
Read the full story at Cleveland Scene.