Registration Eligibility
members and non-members
Start Date
06/26/2025
End Date
06/26/2025
Description
This engaging, multidisciplinary event explores the intersection of architecture, urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, and public health by challenging participants to assess and navigate the built environment of Downtown Cleveland—on a self-selected path from the banks of the Cuyahoga River to the emerging public realm at North Coast Yards on the Lake Erie shoreline. The event is a result of Mayor Bibb's Shore to Core to Shore Initiative, rebranded as Cleveland to Coastland. The initiative is intended to create better connections from the city's downtown to its two waterfronts.
Designed for architects, landscape architects, urban designers, and urban planners, Cleveland to Coastland: The Coast to Coast Great Race integrates applied learning with collaborative fieldwork to assess urban connectivity, walkability, human-scale design, and the cultural and environmental history of the city. This framework supports critical elements of Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) by addressing physical and mental well-being, user safety, and equitable public access through design.
The course unfolds in four parts:
Preparation & Contextual Learning: Participants will review the historical evolution of Downtown Cleveland’s built environment through a preparatory lecture and materials, and an architecture specific scoring matrix based on best practices in building facade and frontage design, ensuring an informed analysis of urban form and its legacy.
Urban Exploration & Field Assessment: In a timed “race” format, teams will chart their self-selected paths through Downtown, analyzing and documenting real-time experiences of the urban environment. In addition to the best practices for good streetscapes, they will also look for public art, historic architecture, signage, and seek direct public engagement—assessing how urban form affects quality of life.
Data Synthesis & Collective Mapping: Upon arrival at North Coast Yards on Lake Erie, teams will share and visualize their findings through interviews and a large-scale collaborative map. Participants will reflect on and score their routes based on walkability, safety, comfort, and environmental responsiveness.
North Coast Yards Site Tour & Design Discussion: The event concludes with a guided exploration of the North Coast Yards—an experimental public space on Cleveland’s historic docks. Participants will analyze temporary design interventions and best practices in active and passive public space programming, considering how future lakefront development can serve the public good.
Learning Format: Live in-person course with fieldwork, guided tour, and peer collaboration and discussion.
Location
Cleveland, OH
Distance Learning
No
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Accessibility / ADA
Urban Planning & Design
Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Hours
3.50
Learning Outcomes
Learning Objective #1 Identify hazards and barriers along urban pedestrian corridors, including blank walls, excessive curb cuts, or auto-oriented features that compromise walkability, user safety, and equitable access.
Learning Objective #2 Evaluate temporary public spaces like North Coast Yards for effectiveness in supporting public health, safety, and welfare through inclusive programming, passive/active recreation, and resilient waterfront design.
Learning Objective #3 Interpret how landscape features and public art contribute to safety and social wellbeing, including placemaking elements that encourage lingering, social gathering, and orientation without compromising visibility or access.
Learning Objective #4 Understand how zoning and land use codes shape building types, setback relationships, and street interaction, affecting walkability and public safety within downtown Cleveland.
Learning Objective #5 Compare pedestrian vs. automobile ground-floor treatments to determine their effect on mental and physical health, evaluating mitigation strategies like landscape buffers and pedestrian-scale signage.
Instructors
Scott Skinner, President and Executive Director of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation
Course Codes
ASLA.OH
Provider
Ohio Chapter of ASLA