Welcome to Crain’s Forum, a monthly deep dive into intractable issues that intersect public policy and business.

The enormous volume of water in Lake Erie makes Northeast Ohio attractive to all sorts of industries. Leaders are making that pitch far and wide.

Northeast Ohio's most abundant resource draws variety of water-based industries

Cleveland Water Alliance's Lake Erie test sites draw worldwide attention

Opinion: Lake Erie is a test for Northeast Ohio and its neighbors; we can ace it

Opinion: Lake Erie Watershed's future depends on building public trust today

Opinion: Water is key to Northeast Ohio's economic future

The disparities between what white workers and Black workers are paid have persisted in the decades since the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Narrowing racial income, wealth gaps would accelerate Northeast Ohio's progress

Efforts big and small are needed to close the racial wealth gap

Opinion: A 3-prong strategy to help Black families build wealth

Opinion: For Black Ohioans, earnings gap drives wealth disparities

Opinion: Opportunity, cooperation can put Northeast Ohio students on path to success

State and local governments find themselves with too many needs for repair, rebuilding, renewal and expansion. More money is on the way, but how far can it go?

Investing in infrastructure critical to region’s growth

Water in, water out: Northeast Ohio faces sewer, pipe challenges

Roads: Communities focus spending on maintenance over expansion

Transit: Agencies focus on replacing aging systems, luring riders

Opinion: Clean water's future comes down to funding

Opinion: Cash flow, healthy partners key to financing work

Opinion: Public transit policy needs to be guided by the people of Northeast Ohio

Opinion: Funding to fix infrastructure is just the first step

Opinion: Ohio needs to stretch funding to meet its infrastructure needs

Opinion: Public-private partnerships can help stretch infrastructure funds

Recent efforts to reform policing in Cleveland and Akron have given activists, police and officials cautious hope.

Civilian police oversight provides hope for criminal justice reform

Advocates: New efforts, approaches needed for those in mental health crisis

Reform needs to go beyond police, judge says

Reform efforts may bring in new type of officer

Opinion: We need to do better rehabilitating juvenile offenders

Opinion: New police accountability board is democracy in action

Opinion: New law win-win for ex-offenders and workplaces

Efforts to reclaim the lakefront have been formed and reformed for more than a century. A current flurry of plans may be a sign that the communities along Lake Erie are ready to recapture their waterfronts.

A vision for Lake Erie

Efforts to improve Lake Erie access have sputtered for more than a century

Cuyahoga riverfront development spurs comparisons for lakeshore

Opinion: We can harness power of Lake Erie to be area's biggest asset

Opinion: Toronto a lesson in collaborative planning for lakefront progress

Opinion: Teamwork helps Lake County utilize our waterfront

Opinion: Momentum is building for progress along Lake Erie

Opinion: To see progress on lakefront, form an independent authority

Low wages, staffing shortages hinder growing need for more home health services

Caregivers in Crisis

Caregiver resources are a lifeline for families

Opinion: Aging in place will be harder without solutions for home care

Opinion: Support for caregivers should come from employers, friends, family

Northeast Ohio companies say flexibility has been key to building and keeping their workforce in a jobs market much different than they faced a few years ago.

Companies get creative

Program shows how to be an ‘employer of choice'

Op-ed: Everyday challenges can be big barriers to employment

Op-ed: Being a bad employer is never a competitive advantage

Op-ed: For workers, it's a ‘good job' that makes the difference

Op-ed: The talent pipeline is broken; how to find great people anyway

Enrollment declines, high costs and a robust job market are among the factors that have pushed Northeast Ohio students and schools to a turning point.

A complicated equation

College Credit Plus could be serving more students, report finds

Opinion: What Ohio can do to make education equitable and accessible

Opinion: Knocking down an affordability barrier to college

Opinion: Let's make higher education 'worth it' for everyone

In the economy of the 21st century, collaboration means thinking and working as a region. Nowhere is collaboration more important than in Northeast Ohio.

Struggling to find regional solutions

A bumpy road to regionalism

What can Ohio learn from Central Indiana?

Op-ed: How do you solve a problem like Northeast Ohio?

Op-ed:‘Vibrant NEO 2050’: Charting a collaborative regional vision

Gun violence is a public health crisis, a political crisis and, ultimately, an economic crisis. Not only is it costly in terms of law enforcement, physical and mental health care and other obvious expenses, it’s a threat to efforts by Cleveland, Akron and the state of Ohio to build back population and improve the environment businesses and people need to thrive.

A threat to all of us

The good gun fight

The gun deaths no one wants to discuss

Op-ed: We must act together to reduce the threat of gun violence

Op-ed: This is a public health crisis that deserves a public health response

Op-ed: Here’s an 8-point approach to preventing gun violence

We look at how businesses are struggling to fill jobs and the impact of continuing suburban sprawl has had in Northeast Ohio, where the number of jobs near the average resident has continued to fall.

Job sprawl spillover

Where Ohio stands with electric vehicle adoption

Solon official: ‘It was very eye opening for all of us'

Paradox Prize pilot programs aim to attract and retain employees

Shaker Heights firm rolls out car-sharing service

Op-ed: The value of people, the power of place

Op-ed: Working to support people with insufficient transportation options

Op-ed: Effective site selection strategy can help solve the no-car-no-job paradox

Op-ed: Connecting people to jobs requires good transportation — and then some