City of Cleveland Property Inventory - 2023

Most parcels in Cleveland are occupied structures. This includes single-family homes, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, schools, and hospitals. As compared to 2015, the proportion of vacant structures fell from 8% to 5.7%. Much of this reduction in vacant, hazardous structures is attributed to ongoing demolition and neighborhood stabilization efforts.  

As a result of demolishing vacant structures, the proportion of vacant lots increased. More than 20% of Cleveland parcels are vacant lots. 

94% of occupied structures are in the “A - Excellent” to “C - Fair” condition. This is a decrease from 98% in 2015. As occupied structures continue to age, without significant amounts of reinvestment and reinvigorated code enforcement, this trend is likely to continue.

52% of vacant structures are in “D - Deteriorated” to “F - Hazardous” condition. Less than 6% of occupied structures are “D - Deteriorated” or “F - Hazardous”. As Cleveland’s housing stock ages, actively supporting homeowners and renters to maintain their homes can prevent more homes from needing serious rehabilitation or demolition in the future.  

With this data, the city of Cleveland, Cleveland City Council, and neighborhood CDCs can target and tailor outreach to residents. “A - Excellent” and “B - Good” may receive outreach aimed at helping maintain their homes. Residents with “C - Fair” and “D - Deteriorated” may receive more significant outreach aimed at restoring or rebuilding their homes. Structures with “F - Hazardous” grades can be targeted and prioritized by the city for potential demolition.

• No visible signs of deterioration 
• Well maintained and cared for 
• New construction/renovation 
• Historic detailing, unique 

• Needs basic improvements 
• Minor painting required 
• Removal of weeds 
• Cleaning necessary 

• Some cracking of brick or wood 
• Major painting required 
• Deteriorated cornice 
• Crumbling concrete 
• Cracked windows or stairs 

• Major cracking of brick, wood rotting 
• Broken or missing windows 
• Missing brick and siding 
• Open holes 

Lead-contaminated dust and paint chips from nearby structures can settle in nearby vacant lots. Environments with ample grass, trees, and shrubs can catch and filter lead particulates, keeping them from accumulating in bare soil or from continuing to blow around in the air.

When children go look for places to play with relatively clear sight lines and close to home, a neighborhood vacant lot can be an appealing spot. Lead-placarded properties and peeling paint close to vacant lots with bare soil can pose a danger to children playing in the dirt.

Vacant lots can be community and public health hazards or  community assets . Vacant land in the City of Cleveland is disproportionately concentrated in communities where  racially discriminatory practices, including historical redlining and predatory lending , have led to a heightened concentration of foreclosures, abandonment, and blight. Those same neighborhoods experience significantly lower tree canopy coverage than wealthier communities, greater air pollution, and the urban heat-island effect that cause high chronic disease and other dangerous health impacts on residents. Poorly maintained vacant lots can attract illegal dumping that are public health hazards, reducing the perception of a safe and well-maintained neighborhood.

Repurposing vacant land benefits entire neighborhoods. When vacant lots are made into clean, safe public spaces, neighbors enjoy improved landscaping, a greater sense of community pride, space for outdoor recreation, improved mental wellbeing and sense of dignity and safety, and more opportunities to build social connection.

Recent studies  (University of Pennsylvania ,  CWRU ) found that greening plays a supportive role in nourishing environments that narrow health disparities as well as reduce violent crime. 

Surveyors observed that 17% of vacant parcels were in an enhanced condition. Improvements can be urban agriculture, fencing, landscaping, a pocket park, public art spaces, tree plantings, side yard expansions or other creative ways to improve vacant spaces.  

Taking ownership of the vacant parcel adjacent to your home like  acquiring a side yard  restores life to formerly vacant parcels by giving the appearance of a cared-for and well-maintained lot. Side yards improve community cohesiveness and empower homeowners to care for their new lot and the greater neighborhood. Side yards can create an aesthetic upgrade in targeted dumping zones, create a physical barrier between the vacant lot and bad actors, take parcels out of the land bank inventory, and reduce the City and County’s maintenance burden. In the Land Conservancy’s dumping inventories, the study observed a reduction in the instances of dumping or excessive littering on vacant lots that received cleanups and greening interventions.

If you are interested in a side yard, see who owns the parcel  here . If it belongs to the Cuyahoga County land bank, follow the steps  here  (search for your own address, and then look on the map for the 8-digit ID# of the parcel next to your property). If it belongs to the Cleveland Land Bank, follow the steps  here . If you need  support completing your application , you can contact Khalid Ali  kali@wrlandconservancy.org .  

Move the slider to the left to see vacant lot hot spots.

Move the slider to the right to see vacant lot locations.

"Hot Spots" are shown in green. These represent high concentrations of vacant lots in close proximity to each other.

"Cold Spots" are shown in grey, and represent areas of sparse vacant lots.

Hot Spot Methodology:  Getis-Ord GI* 

"To be a statistically significant hot spot, a feature will have a high value and be surrounded by other features with high values as well." In other words, hot spots are created when vacant lots are closely surrounded by other vacant lots.

Move slider to the right to see 2015 vacant lot hot spots

Move slider to the left to see 2023 vacant lot hot spots

The number of vacant land parcels in Cleveland increased  21.5% from 2015  to 2023. This suggests that demolition activity has removed a significant number of distressed structures.

Between 2006 and 2019, Cuyahoga County has secured a little over $224 million through the Neighborhood Initiative Program, Moving Ohio Forward, and the Cuyahoga County Demolition Bond (Frangos, G. and Rokakis J.,  The Land Bank Revolution , Appendix A).

Areas with clustered vacant lots create opportunities for creating more pedestrian connections between neighborhoods, park spaces, memorial spaces, public art spaces, and other community-centered land uses.  

Vacant land in the City of Cleveland is disproportionately concentrated in communities where racially discriminatory practices, including historical redlining and predatory lending, have led to a heightened concentration of foreclosures, abandonment, and blight. Vacant structures or buildings and vacant lots can attract illegal dumping.  

While the citywide percentage of parcels experiencing illegal dumping is 4%, some areas of the city experience more dumping than others. In Ward 4, nearly 10% of parcels experienced illegal dumping. Ward 1 and Ward 2 experienced the most dumping by total number of parcels. Dumping often occurs in vacant areas, and bad actors will bring their waste from other areas of the city or nearby suburbs into areas with high vacancy and poor sight lines.

"High-Scoring" walksheds are classified as areas that score 30 or higher in the 15 Minute City Index.

16% of the city’s vacant lots fall in a high-scoring walkshed. This is an opportunity to create walksheds that have pillars of living, working, supplying, caring, learning and enjoying. With this data, city planners can better strategize about where to attract new housing developments, revitalize existing housing, restore park spaces, and create and enhance recreation spaces, grocery stores, and libraries.

In addition to grading properties, assessing vacancies, and recording land use, the inventory recorded the condition of additional city assets. The inventory assessed the presence and conditions of sidewalks, tree lawn, and truncated domes (an Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] textured sidewalk structure).  

Within high-scoring walksheds, 79% of sidewalks are in satisfactory condition. The city can use this data to target sidewalk improvements to support greater walkability and pedestrian infrastructure in 15-minute walksheds, allowing all residents regardless of age or ability to access amenities within their neighborhood without relying on an automobile.

Example of Poor Condition: Spalled Blocks

Example of Poor Condition: Heaved Blocks

In January 2023, the  Bibb administration  and  City Council  revived the Cleveland Tree Commission as the  Urban Forestry Commission .  Urban Forests  improve public health, provide environmental benefits, and add aesthetic value to urban areas. Establishing and preserving tree canopies is a key component of equity-centered climate resilience. The data collected from the inventory will enhance information available to the City administration, City Council, the Urban Forestry Commission, the Cleveland Tree Coalition, and other stakeholders to prioritize tree preservation, planting, and tree care activities in formerly redlined neighborhoods to address heath inequities exacerbated by climate change.

Planting trees on vacant lots on their own, or in combination with additional creative community uses of vacant lots (park spaces, memorial spaces, public art spaces, urban micro forests, etc.) are a nature-based climate change solution that provides additional value to Cleveland households by lowering utility bills, increasing home value, and absorbing storm water.

More than 80% of vacant lots in the city have no trees in the tree lawn. The volume of vacant land (1/5th of the city) presents an opportunity to plant trees to support reaching the Cleveland Tree Coalition's 30% tree canopy coverage goal by 2040.