Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is the most populace city in the state of Ohio. Part of the "Rust Belt", the city was exceptionally prosperous for many years due to the automotive and steel industries. After decades of population decline and shifting industries, Cleveland is now known most for healthcare, with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital systems.
Speech Relevance
Reagan speaks of Cleveland in both versions of 'A Time for Choosing', discussing the troubles with the over-reach of [eminent domain].
From 'A Time for Choosing':
Private property rights are so diluted that public interest is almost anything that a few government planners decide it should be. In a program that takes for the needy and gives to the greedy, we see such spectacles as in Cleveland, Ohio, a million-and-a-half-dollar building completed only three years ago must be destroyed to make way for what government officials call a "[Eminent Domain|more compatible use of the land]."
From 'A Time for Choosing-Prepared Version':
Private property rights have become so diluted that public interest is anything a few planners decide it should be. In Cleveland, Ohio, to get a project under way, city officials reclassified eighty-four buildings as substandard in spite of the fact their own inspectors had previously pronounced these buildings sound. The owners stood by and watched 26 million dollars worth of property as it was destroyed by the headache ball. Senate Bill 628 says: "Any property, be it home or commercial structure, can be declared slum or blighted and the owner has no recourse at law. The Law Division of the Library of Congress and the General Accounting Office have said that the Courts will have to rule against the owner."
The project being discussed was called the Erieview Project and was one of the country's largest projects under the federal urban-redevelopment program. 118 buildings were demolished and 84 (the number Reagan cites) were classified as sub-standard. According to a Cleveland Plain Dealer article from July 2, 1963, only "24 of the 118 buildings were sub-standard because of building deficiencies which could not be corrected by normal maintenance."
