A city planner is running all of Cleveland's streets. Here's what he's learned so far

Nearly every weekend for the last four years, Phil Kidd has laced up his running shoes and woven his way through the streets of Cleveland.

The city planner is on a mission to run all 1,300 miles of Cleveland's streets.

"It combines two passions, which is running, but also, as a city planner, just really intimately learning the details of the city from every facet, from history to looking at the public infrastructure to meeting cool people, trying new businesses," Kidd said.

Kidd began his runs in 2020, years before even joining the city of Cleveland. The Pittsburgh native was working for what is now the Northwest Neighborhoods, a nonprofit community development corporation that serves West Side neighborhoods including Cudell, Edgewater and the Detroit Shoreway, home to the Gordon Square Arts District.

Kidd meticulously documents his runs on his website, Every Street Cleveland, cataloging the history, architecture, current street and sidewalk conditions of each neighborhood. He said he spends about 20 to 30 hours researching the areas for each post, which includes pictures from his runs.

But now it's more than a personal project. Kidd currently oversees the city’s Complete and Green Streets initiative, which works to expand pedestrian and environmentally friendly transit options. He said being physically present on each street has been "extremely relevant" in his current role.

"Whenever we're talking about a project that we're doing in the neighborhood, if I've ran that area, it's like seeing the matrix... I completely understand the context of that area," Kidd said. "It helps me inform... decision making on design and why it's important."

He cited the Lee Road project in Cleveland's Lee Harvard neighborhood. It's part of Mayor Justin Bibb's sweeping Southeast Side initiative, which aims to revitalize historically low-income and disinvested neighborhoods using $15 million in federal stimulus funds.

"I had not run that area before we started getting into that roadway project, and then I did run that area and learned every conceivable thing historically about that area," Kidd said. "And now that project to me personally takes on so much added importance."

Kidd tries to intersect his work with other city departments and projects. For example, he said he tries to document "problem" properties owned by absentee landlords as the Department of Building and Housing cracks down with their newly adopted Residents First policy or highlight areas where sidewalks are in disarray or tree coverage is lacking as the city works to reverse canopy loss.

"When you're running through these areas you can see where there's low tree canopy cover on parts of the East Side and it overlays with the redlining maps," Kidd said. "It's all related."

Bibb even joined him on a recent run through Mount Pleasant, the neighborhood where the mayor grew up.

So far, Kidd has covered about 800 miles and said he has no plans to stop until he's cataloged every street in the city.