About Us
Who We Are
Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC), a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Columbus and operating statewide, develops and advances policies and practices that value our urban cores and metropolitan regions as economic drivers and preserve Ohio’s open space and farmland. Through education, research and outreach, GOPC strives to create a political and policy climate receptive to new economic and governmental structures that advance sustainable development and economic growth.
What We Are Doing
GOPC achieves our goals through advancing legislative changes, leading non-partisan policy initiatives that span different gubernatorial administrations and providing thought-leadership. Respected for blending data-driven work and bipartisan policy advancement efforts with stakeholder outreach, GOPC is unique for linking policy development with local and regional needs and practices -- using innovative projects, research, educational initiatives, policy advancement and unique partnerships to move our agenda. Building on the comprehensive and influential “Restoring Prosperity” state policy agenda issued with the Brookings Institution in 2010 that identifies our cities and metros as our key economic drivers, GOPC’s work falls into three priority policy areas.
Urban Core and Neighborhood Redevelopment. As our core issue, GOPC has become the “go to” organization for these issues in the state and established a national reputation for our work developing policy and practical solutions to the challenges faced by our depopulating “legacy” cities. Our work in this area includes:
- Advancing state level solutions that create value in markets that attract new development and generate redevelopment opportunities by combating the vacant and abandoned properties crisis; stemming the tide of blight from spreading to further neighborhoods and communities; and developing “anchor institution” (“eds & meds”) policies that link JobsOhio regional partners with anchor-based economic growth and development.
- An Ohio Properties Institute to provide training techniques, tools and strategies—such as, acquisition tools, land banks, code enforcement, property information systems and demolition—for local leaders from municipalities and nonprofit community development organizations across the state.
- Shaping two national “Legacy Cities” projects, in collaboration with national partners (German Marshall Fund and Center for Community Progress) that examine, collect and disseminate best practices and policies for old industrial cities. Outcomes include white papers, study tours, peer networks, local/state policy change.
Regional Governance Reform. GOPC has launched a statewide “regional governance initiative” to advance regional economic growth and build a coalition of local officials from around the state to reform local governance structures. This initiative is intended to link new governance structures with land use planning to make our regions more economically competitive. Our innovative approach to regionalism provides the connective tissue to which regions from around the state can hitch their region-based needs and strategies. In order to advance governance reform, this initiative blends legislative advocacy, public education, and technical assistance. We work with regional partners, such as in Northeast and Southwest Ohio, to knit together novel approaches to regional growth tailored to their areas; while at the state level, we develop and advance legislation to promote regionalism, such as permissive city-county merger legislation.
Transit-Oriented Development and Sustainable Growth. This area of our work encompasses increasing transit options for our cities and metros to make energy efficient and environmentally sound and sustainable growth more likely. Our transit work focuses on diversifying transit funding sources at the state level, with benefits like linking people to their jobs in a cost effective manner, and promoting policies that would fund fixing existing infrastructure first (“fix it first” strategies) and leverage our existing public investments, before building new.