Join us online every Thursday for #GOPCThreads, showcasing the research and expertise of Greater Ohio Policy Center.
The City of Newark Has Good Ideas!
Last month, we added a new page to our website that is a repository of good ideas and programs happening around Ohio. This month we have added the City of Newark’s Downtown Revitalization project to the list. This project is an excellent example of leveraging an otherwise traditional infrastructure project into a transformative placemaking opportunity and economic generator for the city by creatively designing the project to be eligible for multiple funding sources.
Ohio State Resource Network Informational Webinar August 20, 2019
Yes, Millenials are Leaving New Jersey
GOPC Launches Online Toolkit for Smaller Legacy City Revitalization
Press Coverage of "Revitalizing America's Smaller Legacy Cities"
Last week Greater Ohio Policy Center, in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, published our latest report, “Revitalizing America’s Smaller Legacy Cities: Strategies for Postindustrial Success from Gary to Lowell”. In the report, GOPC’s Torey Hollingsworth and Alison Goebel examine the trajectories of 24 smaller legacy cities across 7 states from 2000 to 2015 and identify strategies that are contributing to progress in these small to mid-sized legacy cities.
Since its release, the report has garnered attention from media outlets, city practitioners, and fellow researchers alike. Below is a wrap-up of the media coverage of the report to date.
Press Coverage:
Report Looks at Revitalization, Reinvestment Strategies for Smaller Legacy Cities
Hannah News Network 9/6/2017
The Overlooked Cities of the Rust Belt
CityLab.com 9/5/2017
State of Labor: Compared to nation, Ohio jobs grow more slowly
Dayton Daily News 9/5/2017
3 Keys to Revival in Small Cities
RIS Media 9/4/2017
Report: Lancaster city's revitalization is model for other small cities
Lancaster Online 9/1/2017
Report Outlines Ways for Smaller Legacy Cities to Grow
Builder Online 9/29/2017
Albany a post-industrial success story, study finds
Albany Times Union - 8/29/2017
How the Economy Has Changed in 24 Small Legacy Cities in the U.S.
Next City - 8/29/2017
Report lays out strategies to revitalize smaller legacy cities
Business Insider - 8/29/2017
Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Jeopardized
As you may know, the Ohio Senate has unveiled a proposal to put a 2-year freeze on Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit projects beginning this July. The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit has been an important tool in revitalizing Ohio’s communities and strengthening our metro economies. We need to keep this going to create jobs and vibrant communities in which people want to live and work. Why is the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits program good for Ohio?
1. Job Creation. Since the start of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program in 2007, more than 21,000 permanent jobs and more than 20,000 construction jobs have been created.
2. Economic Development. Every $1 of Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit will leverage at least $6.71 in investment. This proposed moratorium will kill major revitalization projects that are already in the pipeline and underway but not yet complete and it will put the entire program in jeopardy.
Please email your senator TODAY and tell him or her why this moratorium is a bad idea for your community and for Ohio and ask the committee to remove the proposal from the Senate Budget Bill. You can find your senator’s contact information here: http://www.ohiosenate.gov/senate/members/senate-directory
GOPC Releases Study on Ohio's County Land Banks
The Greater Ohio Policy Center’s latest report, “Taking Stock of Ohio County Land Banks: Current Practices and Promising Strategies,” places land banks in the larger context of community revitalization, and highlights promising county land bank programs that have the potential to greatly contribute to sustainable economic and community redevelopment throughout Ohio.
Lavea Brachman Featured on NPR
This past Friday, Greater Ohio's Executive Director Lavea Brachman was featured on the WXXI Rochester NPR station's "Innovation Trail" program on the topic of her recent report, "Regenerating America's Legacy Cities." Lavea co-authored the report with Alan Mallach for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Below is an excerpt from the interview:
“As cities lose extensive populations, public sector capacity gets lost to address these problems, but that’s not impossible to turn around, and that kind of vision is critical. We talk a lot in that report about strategic incrementalism, which is forging a shared vision about a city’s future as a starting point for change. And it is about coming to some common understanding about where to target resources. And it is about being incremental and strategic. You have to make change, starting perhaps with downtowns as the source and then looking at these emerging neighborhoods.But public policy is a double-edged sword… so, for instance, if you’re dealing with a housing crisis, which many of these cities are, it’s more likely you’ll be able to shorten or expedite the foreclosure so these properties get back on the market or make some changes on how banks handle abandonment…, and while these seem like small changes they are the kinds of changes that can really make a difference in a neighborhood. So we may not be able to see huge subsidies or public investments going to new infrastructure quite yet.”