In September of 2024, Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration announced the 311 website for Clevelanders to place non-emergency requests for service. Since then, some of the most common requests, online or by phone, are regarding potholes, vacant properties and waste carts.
How does 311 work?
Elizabeth Crowe, director of the city’s Office of Urban Analytics and Innovation, has played a major role in re-shaping 311. The city invested $4 million in federal pandemic aid on retooling 311.
“It’s becoming a front door for the city,” Crowe said. “Service requests are streamlined directly to the appropriate departments, with a relatively quickturn around.”
Signal Cleveland is in the process of interviewing residents about their experiences with 311. During our Elections Unfiltered event last month, residents of Wards 1 and 2 said some of their online 311 requests have gone unanswered. What do you think of 311? If you have an experience you would like to share, shoot me an email at [email protected]g
Since last fall when the 311 website was announced, Cleveland residents have lodged about 42,000 service requests as of this June. Complaints are organized by service type, with requests that have been fulfilled marked as “closed” and requests that have yet to be taken care of marked as “open.” Service requests may also be marked as closed without action being taken by the city, if it is deemed that it is not a city-owned property or an inspection was completed but the scheduled work has not yet started.
Those who prefer can still call in a service request at 3-1-1 (within the city limits) or 216-664-2000 (from anywhere).
“Our operators are spending more time on the phones than before. Some of the service requests can sometimes be complicated,” Crowe said.
“Say, for instance, someone calls to report a pothole on I-480. That is not a city matter — that is a matter for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). However, if it is reported to 311, the city will make ODOT aware of the issue.”
What are the top service requests?
The top three service requests across all 17 Cleveland wards are related to waste carts, missed/refused waste pick up and illegal dumping. See how the city tackles illegal dumping in the video below:
How to submit a 311 request
All online service requests require residents to create an account, but you can choose to submit some online requests anonymously. If you do, you will not be able to track the status of the request or receive status updates via email, but you will receive a reference number. Multi-lingual support is available.
Need help submitting a request?
The City of Cleveland partners with the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) to help residents navigate the 311 website. Library staff can assist with submitting a service request or answering general questions.
To check the status of a service request, residents may log into their account on the service request portal or call 216-664-2000.
For a brief 311 tutorial, check out the video below:
