Panelists at Eviction CMC Discuss GOPC Co-Researched Report Findings on Housing Affordability Challenge in Central Ohio

By GOPC Project Associate Alex Highley Recently, Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) staff attended the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s (CMC) session Highest Eviction Rate in Ohio, Consequences?  During the luncheon panelists explored the topics of affordable housing and the high rate of eviction in central Ohio, often referring to research in “The Columbus and Franklin County Affordable Housing Challenge: Needs, Resources, and Funding Models”, a report GOPC recently completed in collaboration with the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio (AHACO). Panelists for the session comprised of moderator Dan Sharpe of the Columbus Foundation, Brad DeHays of Connect Realty Mid-Ohio Contracting Services, Elfi Di Bella of the YWCA Columbus, and Stephanie Hightower of the Columbus Urban League.

The luncheon began with Sharpe explaining that Franklin County is the state leader in evictions while discussing some of the community development efforts to support families who are at risk of being evicted. To provide context to the housing situation, Sharpe noted that according to the AHACO report informed by GOPC’s research, a household needs to earn $15.98 an hour or $33,238 annually, at a full-time, year-round job in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. With the rate of poverty population growth three times faster than the rate of overall population growth in Franklin County between 2009 and 2014, residents are finding housing costs increasingly burdensome.

According to the AHACO report, there is a glaring shortage of 54,000 affordable housing units in the region, which, as DeHays explains, is a direct contributor to the high rate of evictions in Franklin County. Often, the first step to an eviction is an unfortunate event such as illness or a flat tire, and then suddenly problems spiral out of control when bills rack up and families cannot pay their monthly rent. While Hightower was keen to stress that there are often a wide variety of reasons people are evicted, the root of the problem is that one in three families in Columbus live paycheck-to-paycheck, and therefore struggle to afford basic costs such as paying rent. 354 families are evicted in Central Ohio every week and to compound this problem, a portion of them may later end up homeless, often in part because of the stigma and barriers which a record of eviction brings to future housing opportunities.

In alignment with models analyzed by GOPC as part of the AHACO report, Hightower points to incentivizing developers to create units for low- to middle-income people as a potential tool for expanding affordable housing. Speakers at the session also suggested strengthening the Section 8 voucher program and simplifying the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, along with improving education for landlords and tenants. GOPC supports Hightower’s emphasis on the importance of building capacity of organizations currently working on affordable housing issues and minimizing duplication by coordinating efforts. With a large number of nonprofit, public, and private groups in Columbus working to expand affordable housing, it is important to maximize the work of leaders currently working in this policy arena and to ensure that future interventions are done collaboratively.

For more information, including GOPC’s exploration of affordable housing models from around the country, read the AHACO report: The Columbus and Franklin County Affordable Housing Challenge: Needs, Resources, and Funding Models

You’re Invited to See GOPC Speak at the Columbus Metropolitan Club on Ohio’s Smaller Legacy Cities!

On Wednesday January 11th, Greater Ohio Policy Center Executive Director, Alison D. Goebel, is speaking at the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s (CMC) forum titled Big City Problems in Ohio's Small Towns. Goebel will be discussing findings from GOPC’s “From Akron to Zanesville” report which details ongoing challenges, such as economic and population decline, that Ohio’s smaller legacy cities face. The discussion of the report, originally published in June 2016, will include updated data from the recently released American Community Survey. This presentation at the CMC forum is part of GOPC’s recently launched smaller legacy city advocacy and resource initiative.

GOPC will be joined by Tara Britton, director of public policy and advocacy at the Center for Community Solutions and by John Begala, retired executive director of the Center for Community Solutions. The session will be moderated by Karen Kasler of the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau.

Please join GOPC at the Boat House at Confluence Park for this forum that will go from noon to 1:15pm. Registration will close on Tuesday January 10^th, so be sure to register today!

We look forward to seeing you at the forum!

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

12:00 PM - 1:15 PM

The Boat House at Confluence Park

679 W Spring St, Columbus, OH 43215

CMC Forum Explores Urban Revitalization

By Alex Highley, GOPC Project Associate Last week, Greater Ohio Policy Center attended Columbus Metropolitan Club’s panel on the way cities are working to attract and retain talent, and thrive in today’s economy. The session was moderated by OSU History Professor David Staley, who asked questions to Lee Fisher, President of CEO for Cities and Steve Schoeny of the Columbus Department of Development.

Fisher began the session by declaring that in the coming years, urbanization will be the single most important demographic change in the coming years, with many people choosing to move to cities. Today many cities struggle to provide the vehicles to fully use their talent, despite there being plenty of talent available. Attracting new talent, however, can only happen if cities have the tools for people to collaborate. Moreover, Schoeny believes that retaining talent is a big challenge for cities, as many young, educated people will look to move elsewhere. Schoeny emphasized the need to create places that connect housing with jobs, because people often choose to where to live before they decide where to work. This idea reflects GOPC’s support for place-based investment, to build off existing resources, and the idea that players should take advantage of the assets that already exist in Ohio’s cities.

Schoeny believes that successful cities share three common features: they are dense, active, and connected. One key ingredient to all of these is having lively public spaces, such as parks and bike paths, where people can meet each other and share ideas. Fisher echoed this sentiment, declaring that active cities have at least 10 public spaces, which ultimately improve our health. Moreover, active communities, according to Schoeny, are incumbent on robust public transportation systems by expanding choices for everyone. GOPC concurs with this assessment and has been working in recent months to boost resources for multimodal transportation options.

Franklinton Residents Seek to Maximize Impact of Creative District Across Boundaries

By Sheldon Johnson, Urban Revitalization Specialist Last week a panel gathered at the Columbus Metropolitan Club (CMC) to discuss what Columbus Business First reporter Carrie Ghose called “a great urban experiment that is playing before us now.” The experiment she is referring to is the planned redevelopment of Columbus’ oldest neighborhood, Franklinton. The event saw lively discussion from Jim Sweeney, Executive Director of Franklinton Development Association (FDA), Dana Vallangeon, CEO of Lower Lights Christian Health Center, Nick Stanich, Director of Franklinton Gardens, and Trent Smith, Executive Director of the Franklinton Board of Trade (FBOT).

Franklinton was known for many years as an area struck by floods, disinvestment, and high rates of crime. The City of Columbus began a concerted effort towards redeveloping Franklinton in 2011 when then-Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced a partnership between the City of Columbus, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, a private developer called the Urban Growth Company, and the Franklinton Development Association (FDA) in his annual State of the City Address. Together these four partners sought to “market, incentivize, and build an affordable neighborhood tailored for live-work housing, for our city’s creative sector.” Mayor Coleman defined the creative sector as artists, designers, performers, media professionals, architects, engineers, techies, and marketers. In November 2012 the Columbus City Council adopted the East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan in order to direct the development of this affordable neighborhood for Columbus’ creative sector.

Nearly five years since Mayor Coleman announced his Franklinton plan, the neighborhood has seen the establishment of breweries, the Columbus Idea Foundry, bars, co-working spaces, and coffee shops. During her introduction to the CMC event, Laquore Meadows called Franklinton “the center of cool,” but reminded attendees that Franklinton was home to longtime residents prior to the influx of the creative sector. Can the new dawn of Franklinton be a rising tide to lift all boats? This question was at the forefront of the discussion among the three panelists at the CMC event. In response to a question about what additional investments should come to Franklinton, Stanich pointed out that the strong focus of economic activity pouring into the new creative district located east of State Route 315 was distinct from the largely residential area located west of the highway.

Vallangeon stated that the economic development occurring on the eastside of Franklinton presents an opportunity for more interest and good energy to be carried forward to the west side of the neighborhood. Smith expressed hope that events like the CMC panel will convince potential residents and business that the Real Franklinton is a great neighborhood to be in. Targeting resources in select areas in order to maximize impact is a key revitalization strategy that several Greater Ohio Policy Center partners are currently undertaking. The creation of intentional revitalization plans is key to the regeneration of many of Ohio’s urban areas.

Economists Believe 2016 Shows Promise for Ohio

By Alex Highley, Project Associate Panelists at the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Blue Chip Economic Forecast offered bright expectations for Ohio in 2016. Gazing into their crystal balls, economists Bill Lafayette, Founder of Regionomics, and Ben Ayers, Senior Economist at Nationwide expressed their beliefs that net job growth will remain on the uptick and that Ohio will reflect the national incline. Still, in this statistically-dense session, the pair identified some job sectors that likely will continue to struggle and acknowledged that many people around the state would have trouble obtaining jobs.

2015’s job growth proved even better than Lafayette had expected this time last year. 22,000 net new jobs were created in central Ohio and this is a trend Lafayette believes will stay on course. He expects the education and health care sector to continue to thrive. Currently, one in four new jobs is created in this arena. Ayers and Lafayette also believe housing, technical services, and corporate management will do particularly well this year.

While central Ohio will probably see continued population and job growth this year, the fruits of this development can be enjoyed throughout the metro area. Areas such as Lancaster, Chillicothe, and Groveport can benefit from successes of Columbus’ growth. According to Lafayette, the rest of the Midwest lags behind central Ohio because it relies so heavily on the manufacturing industry. While much of the Ohio economy is built around manufacturing, there is still potential for job formation in other sectors. As discussed in GOPC’s report Regenerating America's Legacy Cities, assets in the heart of downtown, such as universities, medical centers, and government offices, represent the economic engine of any city. These fundamental resources employ thousands, spur economic activity, and build on their successes in surrounding neighborhoods.

Both panelists acknowledged that people from the Midwest tend to be more risk-averse and that this fear of failure when thinking of starting a business is perhaps holding Ohio back. If this attitude can be overcome, Lafayette thinks more people will pursue self-employed businesses in Columbus and throughout the state and that Ohio would be closer to fulfilling its business potential. GOPC works to ensure that business-friendly environments are prevalent throughout the state and that business owners in all neighborhoods and communities thrive and have the community-based tools to be successful job creators.

Boston Professor Discusses Fundamental Importance of Affordable Housing

By Alex Highley, GOPC Project Associate Dr. Megan Sandel, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University spoke this week to the Columbus Metropolitan Club about the importance of housing as a solution to many health and educational concerns. Sandel and EJ Thomas, the chief executive of Habitat for Humanity MidOhio, spoke for about an hour underscoring the idea that access to affordable, decent housing is the most critical foundation for leading a healthy life and should be prioritized in discussions of solving related problems. At a time when many people are struggling to pay rent, Greater Ohio Policy Center recently studied national models emerging in Ohio that seek to rebuild neighborhoods tainted with abandoned homes. GOPC’s assessments of projects in Columbus’ Weinland Park and Cleveland’s Slavic Village show that Sandel and Thomas’ vision of rehabilitating blighted properties into safe and affordable housing can be successful.

Sandel explained that the link between housing and health is not at all a new concept; in fact, a report was published in 1911 confirming housing’s vital role as a basis for good health. In the modern era, this relationship still exists but historical worries such as fire hazards and threats of tuberculosis have subsided thanks to modern building codes. Instead, the affordable housing gap between wages and rents is the most pressing cause for unease. Even in a state where housing is generally considered cheap, a quarter of Ohio residents pay at least half of their income on rent alone. Moreover, of the 54,000 families in central Ohio, there are 1,500 people experiencing homelessness.

These stats make for grim reading but Sandel and Thomas believe pulling together ideas and resources from nonprofits, policymakers, and business leaders will allow communities to more successfully and cost-effectively identify housing needs and enable struggling families to afford a roof over their heads. GOPC’s report found that collaborative investments in Weinland Park totaling $80 million by philanthropy groups, government agencies, and other stakeholders have contributed to the area’s increased stability. In fact, housing values in Weinland Park are more evenly distributed between low and high prices than before intervention, while subsidized housing helps protect vulnerable residents from being priced out of the market.

During her talk, Sandel emphasized that interventions should embrace devoting resources to entire neighborhoods at a time, rather than individual homes. GOPC documented that the Slavic Village Recovery Project strategy targeted a “critical mass” of over 300 properties to renovate and demolish, which reflects Sandel’s more holistic approach to revitalization. Finally, Sandel said her response to people who are unconvinced that communities can afford greater investment in reasonably priced housing is: “can you afford not to?” As a result of shrinking availability of affordable housing, we are already paying too much in terms of health services, special education, and fighting crime.

Central Ohio's insight2050 Demonstrates the Significance of Regional Land Use

This past week, Greater Ohio Policy Center attended a Columbus Metropolitan Club event on insight2050 and the impact of land use decisions on our health, economy, environment, and mobility.

Here are some highlights from the panel, which were live tweeted from the event by GOPC:

• Yaromir Steiner: what are the infrastructure, health, social, environmental & fiscal costs of the way we develop? #Insight2050 answers this question
• Yaromir Steiner: land use is the critical determining factor for the success and quality of life of places.
• Yaromir Steiner: economic development is about creating places where people want to live.
• Steve Schoeny: we don't have enough #transportation options for downtown. This will take investment to change.
• Keith Myers: cities have been shaped by #transportation since the beginning. We need transportation options supportive of #development we want.
• Keith Myers: the transformation of cities requires political leadership & commitment

Click here to see all of our live tweets from the event on Storify.

About insight2050:

insight2050 is a collaborative initiative among MORPC, Columbus 2020, ULI Columbus, and a stakeholder committee consisting of public and private partners. The initiative aims to help Central Ohio communities proactively plan for development and population growth over the next 30+ years, which is expected to be dramatically different from the past.

The first phase of insight2050 is a regional analysis that provides data for decision makers to understand the impact of future land use policies on specific factors influencing the region’s quality of life. The Scenario Results Report is now available online at www.getinsight2050.org.

The regional growth scenarios that reflect different types of development patterns were informed by the latest data and projections and then compared utilizing a variety of metrics, such as land consumption, infrastructure costs, air pollution, household expenses for transportation and utilities, as well as public health and safety costs, to arrive at an assessment of their relative impacts.

The Importance of Regional Land Use

The scenarios developed through insight2050 lay out different ways the Central Ohio region can grow and the impacts those land use decisions have on the region’s future competitiveness, sustainability, and quality of life. The video above features Peter Calthorpe, whose firm developed insight2050, talking about the critical importance of land use.

Greater Ohio Policy Center is a firm believer in the immense significance of land use and will be addressing these issues of regional growth throughout the state at our upcoming Summit, Restoring Neighborhoods, Strengthening Economies. Click here to learn more about the Summit.