Should Cleveland Heights and University Heights merge?

Well-maintained streets free of potholes, reliable refuse and recycling, responsive emergency services, robust parks and recreation are all services residents expect from their municipal government. These services, however, come at a cost to taxpayers. The costs and ultimately the tax are determined by so many factors, but for “bedroom” communities without much industry, like Cleveland Heights and University Heights, the most important factor is population.

U.S. Census Bureau data estimates that University Heights has had a 5.1% population loss, and Cleveland Heights a 3.1% loss, since April 1, 2020. Between the two cities, there are estimated to be 2,119 fewer residents in just the last three years. This doesn’t consider the 3,018 population loss in both municipalities since 2010. Every resident is bearing an increased cost for providing municipal services and a loss of services which the municipalities can no longer fund or for which revenue cannot be raised.  

This is not a problem unique to the Heights. A Brookings Institute study notes that “older suburbs . . . no longer attract new development or new residents.” As Cuyahoga County continues to lose the greatest numbers of population in the state, the idea of competing for new residents is a fool’s errand. As Deborah Van Kleef and Carla Rautenberg noted in the June Heights Observer, quoting Joanna Ganning of Cleveland State University, “[P]opulation growth is the wrong goal . . . For Cleveland and other Shrinking Cities, improving the quality of life for the people who have chosen to live here has to take priority.”

In 2017, the Manhattan Institute issued a report entitled “Mergers May Rescue Declining Suburbs" and in 2019, a Cleveland Plain Dealer article reported on the advantages merging the city of Cleveland with Cuyahoga County. Columbus began its recent growth with mergers of close cities and suburbs which provided efficiencies enabling it to be a city with actual population growth outpacing the national growth rate in the last three years.

It is time to consider whether a merger between Cleveland Heights and University Heights would “improve the quality of life for the people who have chosen to live here.” A merger would remove duplicative services, allow for more efficient use of tax dollars, increase our population in a way that allows us to compete for federal dollars, and provide enhanced parks and recreation experiences. 

Time has come to go beyond a shared school district and library system. Time has come to have a robust discussion about whether merging will give our cities a competitive advantage and improve the quality of life for each resident.