(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - A proposal to use public money to help pay for upgrades at Quicken Loans Arena has stirred debate over whether more money should be invested in downtown when neighborhoods around the city are grappling with crime and poverty issues.
But data from the city suggests that those neighborhood wards are dependent on revenue generated from two wards - downtown's Ward 3 and Ward 6, which encompasses the hospitals at University Circle.
Outside of downtown, the neighborhoods are recipients of about 90 percent of spending in the city's $600-million budget, said City Council President Kevin Kelley.