St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church and Cleveland's Lower Buckeye Road Area

The changes occuring in the residential and retail populations of Lower Buckeye Road in the 20th century were not necessarily unanticipated or undesired by Cleveland city officials. While Cleveland's first zone map, adopted in 1929, supported the vibrant retail business district in Lower Buckeye that had been growing since the turn of the century, city plans subsequently adopted by the City in 1949 and 1991 did not. In the 1929 map (left), properties in Lower Buckeye colored black were zoned for retail business use, while properties colored with white backgrounds and black dots were zoned for industrial use. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church (shown on this map) is located in the middle of the retail business area.

In 1949, Cleveland's City Planning Commission adopted the City's first city plan. A portion of that map (left) shows that the triangular area formed by the tracks of the three railroads traversing Lower Buckeye was proposed for future re-development exclusively as an industrial district without either retail or residential uses. The properties colored in dark and light blue on the map formed the proposed expanded industrial district. The properties colored in shades of tan and green, generally to the right of this industrial district and outside of Lower Buckeye, formed the boundaries of the residential and retail districts. Note that St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church, located in the middle of the proposed expanded industrial district, is not even shown on this map.

In 1991, the City Planning Commission adopted another city plan, which it named "Cleveland Civic Vision 2000." This new city plan, insofar as it pertained to the Lower Buckeye Road area of Cleveland, was not very different from the 1949 city plan above.  In 1991, the City Planning Commission again proposed industrial development for most of the Lower Buckeye Road area. It also proposed some office use, but once again neither retail nor residential uses for the area surrounding St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church. The properties colored in light blue-green on this map form the proposed industrial district for the Lower Buckeye Road area, and those colored in pink the office district. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church is identified on this map as a dark green-colored property signifying "public use."