Read the entire report (PDF)

Brookings Institution's study

The Brookings Institution ranked metropolitan areas based on the percentage of jobs located more than 10 miles from downtown.

Most job sprawl

Detroit 77.4%

Chicago 68.7%

Dallas 66.9%

Los Angeles 65.6%

Philadelphia 63.7%

Ohio areas

Cincinnati 52.3%

Cleveland 45.7%

Youngstown 45.6%

Columbus 35.7%

Akron 30.9%

Dayton 21.9%

Toledo 19.9%

The closer you live to downtown in Northeast Ohio, the farther you may be from a job, concludes a national study to be released Monday.

The Brookings Institution's "job sprawl" study lists three Northeast Ohio areas high among communities where jobs moved farther from city centers between 1998 and 2006.

The Cleveland area, including Elyria and Mentor, ranked 22nd worst of 98 large metro areas studied. Brookings classified the cluster as showing "rapid decentralization," referring to the movement of jobs located more than 10 miles beyond the central business district. The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area ranked third worst among 53 small metro areas, but the study said the spread of jobs had slowed. Akron, which ranked 15th among small metros, was shown as having "moderate decentralization."

Elizabeth Kneebone, the report's author, said many people realize that urban sprawl hurts the environment and the tax base of cities. "Now we must recognize what job sprawl means for the economic health of the nation," she wrote.

Robert Puentes, a Brookings senior fellow, added: "Allowing jobs to shift away from city centers hurts economic productivity, creates unsustainable and energy inefficient development and limits access to underemployed workers."

Cleveland Councilman Roosevelt Coats said some of these workers are residents of his South Collinwood ward. Many don't have cars to get to suburban jobs, or they face bus rides of nearly two hours to places like Solon. Long commutes with bus changes leave these workers vulnerable to fatigue and tardiness, which could cost them their jobs - especially in a recession.

The Brookings study assessed communities in three areas: jobs within three miles of downtown, those within three to 10 miles of downtown and jobs beyond 10 miles of downtown.

Nationally, only about one in five employees works within three miles of downtown in the largest metro areas, the study found.

The Detroit metro area, followed by Chicago and Dallas, led big city job sprawl. The metro areas with the least job sprawl were Virginia Beach-Norfolk followed by New York City and its suburbs, including Long Island and northern New Jersey. Salt Lake City had the third least amount of job sprawl.

Residents in older cites have higher unemployment rates. For example, February's unemployment rates, the latest state figures available, show that while Cuyahoga's rate was 9.3 percent, Cleveland's was 11.5 percent, Mahoning's 12.6 percent and Youngstown's 13.7 percent.

The study doesn't say job sprawl causes unemployment, but it suggests that the mismatch between where people live and where the jobs are plays a role in their ability to find work.

Larry Benders, executive director of the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board, which does job training and placement, has seen this first hand.

"We can invest in training and get the job seeker ready for work, but it often comes down to this question: "Can the job seeker get to the workplace?"

Coats, chairman of Council's Employment, Affirmative Action and Training Committee, said public officials have to work harder at getting companies to create jobs in Cleveland and better enforce laws requiring companies that receive subsidies to hire city residents. He said RTA needs to find more efficient routes between Cleveland neighborhoods and suburban jobs.

Joel Freilich, RTA's assistant director of service management, said the agency already has programs in place. The work access van service picks up riders at their jobs when there is no bus service and carries them to an RTA connection. It provided 30,724 passenger trips in 2008.