The Hard Truths behind Elyria’s decline and what must be done to turn the city around
The evidence shows Elyria is in decline
Yet, City leaders’ actions show they are content with merely managing the decline
New schools, new library, new sewers, and some companies are hiring; yet our friends, neighbors, and major companies are leaving Elyria like never before. Their departure tells us they are tired of watching Elyria continue to slide further behind neighboring communities.
Until recently, Elyria families and companies had few local relocation options. As nearby communities emerge, families and companies have more options. Our flaws are more obvious and the exodus from Elyria is now accelerating.
Elyria has gotten a reputation of being impoverished, where illegal drugs are easily available, and random crime persists. As a result, many area families and companies in the market to relocate will not consider Elyria. Those who do, do so because property is much less expensive.
In Elyria’s history, only four major companies have moved to a neighboring community. Moen, in 1994, was the first to do so when they built a new headquarters in North Olmsted. It took 20 years before this happened again and it’s happened three times. 2014, Equity Trust moved to Westlake. 2017, Riddell moved to North Ridgeville. 2022, Bendix moved to Avon.
It can’t be over emphasized, the departure of these three major companies to neighboring communities over the past nine years is a clear signal Elyria is being viewed as unworthy of major investment.
Among the negative effects of Elyria’s post-World War II industrial boom was 20 years’ worth of haphazard construction. Many of those structures are undesirable by today’s standards and contribute to Elyria’s blight.
That boom generated thousands of houses of which many have fallen into a level of disrepair that has influenced houses around them to fall into disrepair, and so on. Owner occupancy rates are declining, our population is getting older and poorer, and crime dominates Elyria’s news coverage.
Among the consequences, families and companies who have financial options are increasingly leaving Elyria. Many are moving to Avon, North Ridgeville, and Sheffield. The numbers confirm what we observe. Percentage of persons in poverty (child poverty in parenthesis), for Avon is 4.5% (4.7%), North Ridgeville 5.8% (7.6%), Sheffield 5.3% (5.1%), and Elyria 20.3% (34.4%).
Elyria City School District is rated as one of the lowest performing districts in Ohio. School rankings out of Ohio’s 607 districts for Avon is 13, Midview 93, North Ridgeville 134, Sheffield 182, and Elyria 534.
These conditions are feeding off each other in negative ways for Elyria and over the past ten years it is accelerating.
For Elyria to thrive, we must make improvements that wow!
New schools in Elyria are important but will not provide the competitive advantage necessary to reverse Elyria’s decline. Every community around us has new schools.
Elyria’s most visible areas of blight are in the Downtown, Cleveland Street, parts of Middle Avenue, and the Midway Mall area. These areas require City intervention.
The only reasonable way for these areas to reach their potential is if the City intervenes in ways that include the large-scale purchase of real estate. Once these parcels are in the City’s possession, sound planning for their reuse can take place then developers can be recruited to implement Elyria’s plan.
Elyria has many wonderful homes that are still desirable to families with options. To protect the value of these homes, Elyria must provide enough incentive to make the neglected houses more desirable and worthy of owners spending their time and money to improve.
Elyria must provide community amenities that are better than those in nearby communities. Elyria must have the best parks, the best family recreational facilities, the best school system, the smoothest streets, the safest neighborhoods, and downtown must have the amenities to make it once again the vibrant heart of Elyria.
Additionally, we must look objectively at ourselves through the eyes of visitors and prospective investors. Objectivity will show Elyria has too much blight. Elyria has an overall appearance of a worn-out city with low expectations, desperate to hang on. We need to set our building standards to show we take pride in Elyria and are worthy of the quality private investments we desire.
If we do not substantially improve the quality of Elyria; companies like Equity Trust, Riddell and Bendix will continue to leave, replaced by companies with lower paying jobs, housing conditions will continue to deteriorate, owner occupancy rates will continue to decrease, property values will continue to lag behind nearby communities, crime will continue to increase, and our income tax rate will continue to increase, like the .5% increase in 2016, just for ordinary expenses.
With the right plan, we have the capacity to reclaim Elyria’s standing as a city that families and companies desire to call home.
