The Clean Ohio Report is now available!

The report, released by the Ohio EPA and the Departments of Development, Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Ohio Public Works Commission, documents the success from the first $400 million invested into the Clean Ohio Fund. The Report summarizes the funds granted and highlights projects completed through the Clean Ohio Brownfield Revitalization Program, the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program, the Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Program and the Clean Ohio Trails Fund. Greater Ohio is supportive of the Clean Ohio Fund’s efforts to revitalize old industrial properties in our urban cores. The program provides tangible examples that showcase the success of a state program that invests money in a very targeted, place-based way.

To access the Clean Ohio Report, go to: http://clean.ohio.gov/Documents/CleanOhio_Report.pdf

Lavea Brachman Participates in Panel Discussion about First Ring Suburbs

Last week, Greater Ohio’s Lavea Brachman was a guest panelist on a CET Connect (Cincinnati Public Television) panel discussion about first ring suburbs. The discussion followed the airing of Crack in the Pavement, the first in a two-part documentary, that follows the story of two public officials and their efforts to keep their towns stable and healthy despite difficult times to repair and improve infrastructure and lure businesses. The New Metropolis, a two-part documentary, produced by award-winning filmmaker Andrea Torrice, is the first public examination devoted to the issues facing many suburban towns. Considered embodiments of the American dream, the first suburbs blossomed after World War II, bolstered by economic prosperity and government support. Now, many struggle with the same challenges as urban centers -- growing poverty, white flight, crumbling infrastructure, abandonment and the continual lure of newer communities further from the cities.

We encourage you to check out the discussion and hear about some of the things that are being done throughout Ohio to rebuild first ring suburbs.

What Ohio can Learn from Europe

Post by: Lavea Brachman I just finished a week’s Study Tour of Berlin, Leipzig and Hamburg sponsored by the German Marshall Fund. Leipzig, a medieval city located in the former GDR (East Germany), hemorrhaged people and jobs from 1970 until 2005. Sound familiar? However, Leipzig is now growing its population and moving forward in recovery. One major historical difference that Ohio has not had to deal with is the dramatic drop-off in population and erosion of the business sector that occurred following the 1989 reunification of East and West, when the Berlin Wall fell and hundreds of thousands of people fled to the West seeking jobs and opportunity. But, like our Ohio cities, Leipzig had a strong industrial past and its industrial sector was steadily eroding under communist rule and continued to decline following reunification -- experiencing a loss of 80% of manufacturing jobs -- when industries moved to the West.

While the reasons for depopulation may differ between Ohio cities and Leipzig, the impact and implications for re-growth strategies are similar. During a phenomenally instructive visit with Leipzig’s director of planning, we heard that parts of Leipzig experienced up to 50% vacancy rates, but the city has been working to turn itself around with many of the practices that we have been touting for Ohio’s shrinking cities. And, more importantly, they have been successful! Working from a master plan developed in the early 1990’s for citywide redevelopment, Leipzig’s planner led a sustained and targeted physical rehabilitation strategy done on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, while tying physical reconstruction to job creation. They used a combination of neighborhood strategies: on the one hand, encouraging “urban homesteading” by artists and others to stabilize historic buildings and, on the other hand, undertaking extensive demolition of unattractive communist “pre-fab” buildings. The plan also:

• Created “pocket parks,” transforming side, vacant lots to “green” areas; • Invested in infrastructure which led to attracting new industry; • Remediated brownfields in key places; and • Leveraged their historic buildings with a walkable city centre.

The city's population has stabilized and is now attracting or generating 21st century business clusters. For instance, it is one of the leading photovoltaic producer in the world -- a natural outgrowth of the glass industry of the region. (Toledo, take note!)

Leipzig still has challenges though, and cities throughout Germany, including Leipzig, put up with much higher unemployment rates than we do in the States. (For instance, Leipzig’s unemployment rate currently hovers around 20% which is slightly above average for Germany.) However, the city is definitely on the upswing, and can be a lesson to Ohio as we draw immediate parallels from our common starting points – places with inherent place-based assets, including historic buildings, waterfronts and universities.

Suburbs Sprouting Corn and Lettuce?

Platte River Village, now building in Denver, is a new concept in fusing agriculture and suburbia. Matthew "Quint" Redmond is a farmer and developer who is building a 944 home project with 108 acres of backyard farms and 152 acres of larger community farms.

"He envisions a future where the nation's 31 million acres of lawn are converted to food production. He sees golf-course greens redefined with herbs; sand traps as "kale traps." He sees retirement homes engulfed by farms and office buildings where workers escape cubicles on farming breaks."

Full Story: Agriburbia Sprouts on Colorado's Front Range Source: Denver Post, October 24, 2009

Is Happiness Still That New Car Smell?

According to an article published in the New York Times, more people are choosing to live car free. Some do it to cut costs; others do it to help the environment. More and more people are ditching their cars and relying on public transportation, rental cars and car-sharing programs. For the full article, go to: http://bit.ly/3qXI1u

2009 Ohio Civic Health Symposium

Miami University Hamilton Center for Civic Engagement, Wilks LeadershipInstitute @ Miami and Ohio Campus Compact present the

2009 Ohio Civic Health Symposium

An event celebrating the release of the National Conference on Citizenship's Ohio report

 You are invited!

EVENT DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 10th TIME: 10:00am-2:30pm LOCATION: Ohio Statehouse Atrium Downtown Columbus

The focus of this meeting centers on dialogue, deliberation and action plans regarding civic health in the state of Ohio.  Students, faculty, staff, community partners and elected officials passionate about citizenship and civic life are encouraged to attend.

Register online at http://bit.ly/4iYdsE Cost: $25.00 (please inquire if needing assistance with registration fee)

 Schedule of Events

10am-10:30am: Release of National Civic Health Report Findings 10:30-11:00am: Release of Ohio Civic Health Report Findings 11:00am-Noon: Discussion on significance of findings to participants' communities Noon-1:30pm: Lunch and Discussion with Ohio senators and representatives 1:30-2:30pm: "Return on Investment" and action plan

Support From

Greater Ohio Policy Center The National Conference on Citizenship The Ohio Community Service Council

Questions regarding this event?  Contact: Annie Miller- mille152@muohio.edu Sarah Woiteshek- woitesse@muohio.edu Jen Gilbride-Brown- occjen@alink.com

Ohio Commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration Public Hearing

The Ohio Commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration will hold a public hearing on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. at the Engineer’s Club of Dayton located at 110 E. Monument Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45402. Parking options around the facility may be found on the Commission’s website at www.ohioreformandcollaboration.org.  This is the third of five hearings that will be held throughout Ohio seeking public input. Testimony and input is requested in three main areas:

1.) Recommendations that will encourage and incentivize local governments to collaborate;

2.) Identification of local and state tax structure changes which would encourage collaboration or improve service effectiveness; and

3.) Identification of current/alternative service delivery models.

If you are in the Southwest Ohio region and are concerned with the issue of local government efficiency we strongly encourage you to attend to ensure that your voice is heard. If you cannot attend this meeting, you might also consider preparing written testimony.

Greater Ohio and its partner the Brooking Institution have identified governance reform as an important issue to be considered as we work to restore prosperity to Ohio. Governance reform falls within our larger agenda that is charged with increasing Ohio’s economic competitiveness and quality of life by focusing on the four drivers of prosperity in the 21st century economy: innovation; human capital; infrastructure; and quality of place. Again, we ask you to voice your opinion if you feel, as we at Greater Ohio do, that regional collaboration and efficient governance structures are critical to building a more competitive and prosperous Ohio.

The Local Government Reform Commission is legislatively created and consists of 15 members ranging from local officials to business people. It is charged with researching and writing a report that recommends reform and collaboration measures in order to improve local government operations and service delivery to create cost savings for taxpayers

For more information about the Commission visit its website at www.ohioreformandcollaboration.org.

Forclosure crisis creating suburban slums?

Check out this the article in The Examiner titled Bedroom community blues: foreclosure crisis creating suburban slums. Chris Leinberger, a developer and scholar from the Brookings Institution, is quoted in the article. Greater Ohio has worked with Chris in the past and found his recommendations to be creative, innovative and in tune with Greater Ohio’s policy agenda.

Land Bank Legislation Jointly Introduced in the General Assembly

For Immediate Release:    Wednesday, October 21, 2009       MA#12-2009                                                                                                         

For Additional Information Contact: Amanda Ford at 614-258-6200 ext. 33 or aford@greaterohio.org

Land Bank Legislation Jointly Introduced in the General Assembly

Bi-partisan bills will expand land bank statute to 28 additional counties

COLUMBUS –With the support of key officials and numerous stakeholders throughout Ohio, State Senators Mark Wagoner (R-Toledo) and Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and Representatives Peter Ujvagi (D-Toledo) and Roland Winburn (D-Dayton) introduced Senate Bill (SB) 188 and House Bill (HB) 313 respectively that would lower the population threshold to allow more counties to organize a county land bank, providing a powerful tool for local governments to use in addressing the aftermath of the foreclosure pandemic that has swept the state and the growing number of vacant and abandoned properties.

The current land bank statute only applies to Cuyahoga County but this legislation focuses on providing counties of populations greater than 100,000 and those between 78,000 and 81,000 the option of organizing a County Land Reutilization Corporation (CLRC), or county land bank.  The bill would also increase the number of members that can sit on the CLRC from the current statutory requirement of five to nine, allowing for more local control and flexibility in designing a board that meets each county’s needs.

“Land banks provide an important tool for local governments to use in addressing the growing number of vacant and abandoned properties,” said Lavea Brachman, Co-Director, Greater Ohio & Non-resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution. “Greater Ohio has been pressing for changes to the land bank statute to allow more counties to strategically acquire properties, develop creative ways to use those properties, reduce blight, increase property values, support community goals and improve the quality of life for residents.”

The introduction of this bill is especially timely as Ohio continues to weather fallout from the foreclosure crisis. New data released last week by RealtyTrac Inc. shows that one out of every 171 housing units in Ohio is in foreclosure.

The bill also implements one of the key recommendations in a previously released Brookings/Greater Ohio report proposing a series of state policy action items to address Ohio’s foreclosure and vacant and abandoned properties crisis. In addition, when Greater Ohio and the Brookings Institution unveiled the draft Restoring Prosperity to Ohio policy agenda last fall before a crowd of 1,000 Ohio leaders, land bank reform was highlighted as a critically needed tool.

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How traffic jams help the environment?

A recent article from the Wall Street Journal got us talking in the office this week, and we thought we would share with you. How Traffic Jams Help the Environment talks about the upsides to traffic jams as it can turn frustrated drivers to different modes like transit, walking, biking and carpooling. Part of our agenda encourages the state to develop holistic transportation projects that are designed around transit, mixed-use neighborhoods and economic development. The General Assembly has responded and introduced bi-partisan legislation (House Bill 166 and Senate Bill 121) in both chambers that would create regional Transportation Innovation Authorities (TIAs) to encourage the investment of public and private resources in the planning and implementation of innovative transportation projects that would enhance the efficiency of Ohio’s transportation system. Unlike current funding mechanisms, TIAs would be unique in that they encourage multi-county participation. We are also encouraging the state to take these regional TIAs a step further and direct development of a “Complete Streets” pilot program where new and/or upgraded roadways would be designed to enable safe, attractive, and comfortable access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transit users. Complete Streets legislation is being considered at the federal level but Ohio could be at the forefront of this issue by acting first. To view the article, go to: http://bit.ly/6xENw