The Cleveland Foundation contributed $300,000 to the $1 million cost of updating what was then Cleveland’s last citywide plan, completed in 1949, and its last downtown plan, completed in 1959. Unveiled in 1988, “Civic Vision 2000” was the culmination of two years of studies and dozens of community meetings conducted under the leadership of city planning director Hunter Morrison. Morrison, who had city planning degrees from both Harvard and Yale, had worked for the Hough Area Development Corporation before taking the planning chief’s job in 1980.

Civic Vision affirmed the importance of neighborhood redevelopment to the city’s future, presenting detailed land-use plans for each residential area of the city. Adopted by the City Planning Commission in 1989, Civic Vision influenced the direction of downtown redevelopment, calling for continuous public access to the waterfront, a pedestrian-friendly city center and the development of a critical mass of attractions to lure tourists and residents. The plan received the 1992 American Planning Association National Planning Award for Comprehensive Planning.