Who Wants to Lead America’s Poorest Big City Out of a Pandemic?
Justin Bibb and Kevin Kelley are vying to become the next mayor of Cleveland, a tough job with a sweetener of $511 million from the American Rescue Plan.
Cleveland mayoral candidate Justin Bibb.
Photographer: Daniel Lozada for Bloomberg BusinessweekWhen Monique Jones moved from Atlanta to Cleveland last year to care for a sick family member, she was shocked by the poor condition of the roads and that she couldn’t get high-speed internet at home. “It’s like they’re back in the past here,” says Jones, 47. “Atlanta is just so far ahead. This city has a lot to deal with.”
By U.S. Census Bureau figures, Cleveland is the poorest big city in the U.S., with 30% of residents and 46% of children living below the poverty line. Its digital divide is one of the country’s worst, with 30% of residents lacking reliable high-speed internet. The city has lost 6% of its residents since 2010, and its current population of 372,624 is the lowest since the 1800s. The post-recession recovery that’s lifted other Rust Belt and midsize cities seems to have bypassed Cleveland altogether, even as several wealthy suburbs surrounding it in Cuyahoga County have thrived.