What the most recent census told us about North Shore Collinwood By Brian A. Friedman

As you may have seen in various news outlets recently, the total population in the City of Cleveland dipped just below 400,000 people living within Cleveland’s borders according to the 2010 United States Census. Various news outlets have also widely reported that the city’s total population of 396,815 represents a loss of 17.1% of the city’s total population since the 2000 US Census. The media has reported less on what occurred in individual neighborhoods. Therefore, this article informs the Observer readership about what the 2010 US Census told us about the City of Cleveland neighborhood of North Shore Collinwood.

According to the 2010 US Census, the neighborhood of North Shore Collinwood now boasts a total population of 16,761 individuals. This population count is a 15.5% reduction in population from the total population of 19,828 counted in the 2000 US Census. Where did the reduction in population come from? There are two major factors that impacted the population in the neighborhood. The first factor is several large multifamily structures were demolished over the last year. Over the last decade, 351 housing units were demolished. The other significant factor is vacant properties. Due to the foreclosure crisis, the number of vacant residential units in the neighborhood spiked over the last ten years. In 2000, the neighborhood of North Shore Collinwood had 908 vacant housing units. In 2010, that same figure was 1,617 which is an increase of 78.1 percent. Combined, these two significant changes represent the greatest portion of the 3,067 decrease in population over the last decade.

How does our population loss compare to other city neighborhoods? As already noted above, the neighborhood’s population loss (-15.5%) was below the city’s population loss (-17.1%). In the entire city, only two neighborhoods actually gained population over the last decade. Both Downtown and the Central neighborhood experienced +52.7% and +5.2% population gains respectively. Meanwhile, some noteworthy neighborhoods experienced much less population loss as a percentage than North Shore Collinwood. The neighborhoods of Ohio City (-1.1%), Old Brooklyn (-4.5%), Kamms Corners (-6.7%), and Puritas (-7.8%) all experienced smaller population losses than North Shore Collinwood. North Shore Collinwood’s population loss was relatively even with neighborhoods such as Euclid-Green (-13.7%), Stockyards (-14.5%) and Tremont (-15.3%). North Shore Collinwood fared slightly better than University Circle (-16.5%), Detroit Shoreway (-17.6%), Buckeye-Shaker (-22.4%) and Collinwood (-26.7%). The neighborhood of North Shore Collinwood experienced much lower population loss than some neighborhoods such as Fairfax (-31.2%), Glenville (-32.3%), Union Miles (-33.6%) and Slavic Village (-38%).

How does our population loss compare to our neighboring communities? While North Shore Collinwood lost 15.5% of its total population, the City of Euclid dipped to 48,920 in 2010 from 52,717 in 2000 which is a population loss of 7.2 percent. The Village of Bratenahl reported a total population of 1,197 in the 2010 US Census and 1,337 in the 2000 US Census. Therefore, the Village of Bratenahl lost 10.5% of its population over the last decade.

Northeast Shores already is diligently working on various housing and neighborhood marketing initiatives to ensure that the 2020 US Census reports a total population higher than the 16,761 reported in 2010. Many of these initiatives have opportunities for volunteers to get significantly involved. If you are interested in helping, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at bfriedman@northeastshores.org or call me at (216) 481-7660 to discuss how your interests, talents and time may benefit the entire neighborhood.

Brian A. Friedman is the Executive Director of Northeast Shores.