Study looks at CWRU perceptions of East Cleveland

The community of East Cleveland frequently makes headlines in the local news, with the latest headline being murmurs of a merger between East Cleveland and the City of Cleveland. Rarely making headlines are East Cleveland’s exciting revitalization efforts that seek to building on proximity and partnership with Case Western Reserve University and University Circle. Equally important to physical revitalization is the development of positive institutional relationships between East Cleveland and University Circle intuitions, especially Case Western Reserve University. A study conducted last summer by professors at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences sought to determine a baseline of these relations, finding that CWRU faculty, students, and staff generally report that they have limited experience when it comes to their neighbor.



Findings suggest that the campus is split in terms of knowledge about East Cleveland with some reporting some or considerable knowledge (42% of survey respondents) and others reporting very little or none (41% of survey respondents). Perceptions about East Cleveland are also split: while almost half of respondents did not yet know enough to give an opinion on a number of questions on their perceptions of East Cleveland, those that did have a perspective were divided nearly evenly among positive, neutral and negative perceptions.

The most positive perceptions were about the sense of some improvements in the community. The most negative perceptions were about levels of safety. There was low awareness about the assets of the community. Most striking, the study found that respondents with more familiarity with East Cleveland, either who said they knew more or that they had direct personal experience or connections, often had more positive perceptions of East Cleveland that those who had less direct connections to East Cleveland.

Overall there is a sense that the University is quite disconnected from the East Cleveland, especially relative to other surrounding neighborhoods, with low mutual benefits from the existing relationship and environments that aren’t welcoming to each other.

Even with this sense of disconnect, there are clearly many points of connection between the CWRU and East Cleveland communities. Survey respondents outlined a vast array of engagement activities in East Cleveland and surrounding Cleveland communities: