Want More Transportation Options in Ohio? Let ODOT Know in this Survey!

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is currently writing its long-term transportation plan called Access Ohio 2040. You can participate in their stakeholder engagement process by going to this link and clicking “Take the Access Ohio Survey.” Let them know your priorities for transportation in Ohio!

At Greater Ohio, we support investing in fix-it-first strategies for Ohio’s existing transportation infrastructure and finding more sustainable funding sources for our public transit systems.

By increasing our state’s transportation options with increased bus, rail, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, we can reduce our dependency on and need for new and expanded roads. Not only will a comprehensive transportation system limit the cost of infrastructure to taxpayers in the long term, but also decrease traffic congestion, fossil fuel consumption, and health issues related to inactivity. Building more robust public transportation systems will also help create jobs and boost economic development in the state, because people and businesses want to locate in areas that are accessible by more means than just cars. As the price of fossil fuels continues to escalate, it's time that as a state, we build a more sustainable system of transportation.

You can help make a difference for the future of transportation in Ohio by taking this survey and letting ODOT know your priorities for transportation in Ohio.

Sprawl costs Ohio families and regional economy, new report shows

By Smart Growth America

The twelve counties that make up Northeast Ohio are home to a community that prides itself on its public art, theaters, parks and hiking trails, and home-grown businesses. Now, a new vanguard of engaged residents are working with a local organization to make Northeast Ohio even better.

The first step in this process is to examine what’s working in Northeast Ohio’s communities, and a new survey from the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) does just that. NEOSCC released its Conditions & Trends platform on Tuesday, during the Consortium’s monthly meeting in Youngstown. The extensive inventory of Northeast Ohio’s assets, challenges and year-over-year trends provides a comprehensive assessment of how the region could improve. Prominent among the findings is the fact that Northeast Ohio has spread out over the past several decades, and that this trend is damaging the region’s economy. Between 1979 and 2006, the average number of people per acre of developed land in Northeast Ohio declined by 22.96% with population shifting from urban areas like Cleveland and Akron to more sparsely populated ones.

The region’s economy has faced challenges as a result. Cities and towns in the region are struggling to support the cost of roads and sewers in this sparse development, as these expenses have far outpaced public revenues from employment growth, per capita wage growth, and property value increases. The region’s housing market is weak, as supply exceeds demand and many homes stand vacant. Yet there’s a shortage of housing that meets the needs of people with disabilities and elderly residents, and the area’s sparse population distribution makes public transportation difficult to support. In addition, as many residents move to the suburbs low-income families who cannot afford to move are often left in areas that now struggle to afford public services. All of this weighs on taxpayers. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer explained, the region’s development strategy of recent decades has imposed “higher costs of living on Northeast Ohioans through longer commuting distances to work, gas taxes, user fees, sales taxes and other outlays.”

These findings are meant to inform the region’s planning, and the NEOSCC’s platform also provides a way forward. The platform encourages visitors to weigh in and discuss the issues online, and provides space for visitors to comment on each of the substantive issues areas.

NEOSCC’s work is made possible by a Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s grant program is part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaboration between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate federal spending in smarter ways, to bring local government spending under control and to help regions understand the true cost of long-term decisions on where development should occur.

Urban Attraction in Ohio

The recent upsurge in demand for rental properties in Columbus’ downtown neighborhoods has gained increasing exposure in news sources. The Columbus Dispatch article “Urban Renewal” notes that, “The urban-living renaissance is real” and that

“more and more people, especially young singles, have come to demand the benefits that only city life can bestow: restaurants, entertainment, parks and workplaces within walking distance; a lively atmosphere; and plenty of other young professionals as neighbors.”

These trends are also apparent in U.S. Census data: between 2000 and 2010, the City of Columbus grew in population by 10.6%.

National trends, cited by the likes of LOCUS President Chris Leinberger and the Urban Land Institute, have suggested that both Baby Boomers and Generation Y are moving back to inner cities to take advantage of the many available amenities and walkable communities. At Greater Ohio Policy Center, we were interested in finding whether these trends held true for Ohio’s eight largest cities.

An upcoming GOPC report will explain the trends for Baby Boomers and Generation Y living in and around Ohio’s major cities. The graphs below present a preview of some of our findings:

Figure 1. The above chart compares the percentage of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1965 for this study) and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 2000 for this study) in the City of Columbus and the surrounding metropolitan area between 1970 and 2010. There was a 6.04% growth of Generation Y in City of Columbus from 2000 to 2010. Source: U.S. Census.

Figure 2. The above graph shows the general decline in the percentage of Baby Boomers in Ohio’s eight largest cities from 1970 to 2010. Source: U.S. Census.

Figure 3. The above graph shows the change in percentage of Generation Y in Ohio’s eight largest cities between 2000 and 2010. Source: U.S. Census.

What do these trends mean for Ohio’s major metropolises?

Columbus Dispatch article “Rush to rent, and build apartments,” Columbus Underground post “Neighborhood Launch to Break Ground on New Apartments and Condos in 2012,” and NPR piece “Rust Belt Reboot Has Downtown Cleveland Rocking” call attention to the developers who are struggling to keep up with the demand for rental residences in walkable urban communities in Columbus and Cleveland, respectively. This demand for walkable neighborhoods with nearby amenities may increase as Baby Boomers age and desire more convenient lifestyles as well as proximity to their children and grandchildren.  As for retaining these populations, especially Generation Y, in urban areas—thereby helping to decrease our collective fossil fuel consumption, urban vacancy and blight, health issues related to inactivity, and greenfield consumption—our cities will have to compete to provide employment, quality schools, and world-class amenities.

GOPC’s upcoming report will further explain what these and other trends mean for Ohio’s major cities, and what policy drivers and incentives can be offered to attract and retain our country’s two largest demographic groups: the Baby Boomers and their children.

Kasich Signs Bill with Clean Ohio Funding

On Monday, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 487—also known as the Mid-Biennial Review Bill [MBR]—including a $42 million allocation for the Clean Ohio Fund. Greater Ohio would like to thank the General Assembly and Gov. Kasich for supporting the Clean Ohio Fund, which contributes to the quality of life and economic development of many Ohio communities.

The MBR, subtitled the Management Efficiency Plan (MEP), is a new effort by Gov. Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly to evaluate and refine Ohio’s $55.7 billion budget at the midpoint of the two-year budget cycle, as opposed to solely at its conclusion. The stated purpose of the MEP is to “streamline operations, reduce costs and improve delivery of services for Ohio taxpayers.” The Governor used his line-item veto authority multiple times, but he kept appropriations for Clean Ohio Fund intact.

The Clean Ohio Fund is a state fund authorized by Ohio taxpayers in 2000, and again in 2008, to support brownfield revitalization, farmland preservation, green space conservation, and recreational trails. The allocated $42 million will be shared between Clean Ohio’s Green Space Conservation and Farmland Preservation programs. Communities can apply for the Clean Ohio funding, which requires a private match of 25-50 percent, and then applicants are scored and peer reviewed in a competitive process so that only the most qualified projects are ultimately funded. Private organizations and local communities become the owners of the projects and they are responsible for ongoing maintenance and improvement costs. Since the upfront cost of land is often prohibitive, the Clean Ohio Fund allows communities to protect land that they might not have been able to otherwise. Funding for Clean Ohio Fund’s Brownfield Revitalization Program has been retained (likely at $42 million).  However the specific design of the Brownfield Revitalization Program is still under discussion at JobsOhio, which will be administrating brownfield revitalization.

Ohio voters overwhelmingly support all programs in the Clean Ohio Fund (70 percent/30 percent in 2008 in all 88 counties) because they contribute to economic and community development. Clean Ohio helps support economic development and job creation by making our communities more attractive to businesses and individuals looking for a high quality of life. We are grateful to the Governor and General Assembly for approving this program.

Greater Ohio scores a good win with HB 436, just signed by Governor Kasich

By Gene Krebs HB 436 creates a one stop site for economic development professionals to use to find the attributes of various physical locations around Ohio, and develops the criteria.  Greater Ohio was able to suggest an amendment to the bill that encourages ODOD to include quality of life and community issues, which now elevates those issues as a development criteria, which now places them on equal footing as interstate interchanges.

The bill allows the site to take into account certain quality of life indicators.  This is a good thing. 

Greater Ohio is grateful to Representatives Grossman and Anielski for allowing the amendment, and to the Governor for signing the bill.

ULI Columbus Presents: Columbus 2050

ULI Columbus and their partners present Columbus 2050, a strategic vision on how we will LIVE, WORK and PLAY in Central Ohio by the year 2050.

Columbus 2050 Description

Over the past 40 years, the population of Central Ohio has grown by 707,000 people, adding 235,900 between 2000 and 2010 alone. If the region grows at even half the rate of the past ten years, 604,000 will be added to the area by 2050. Absorbing a population that equates to the entire city of Boston will take some planning.

In furtherance of its mission to promote the responsible use of land, ULI Columbus, in partnership with the City of Columbus, Franklin County, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and The Ohio State University Knowlton School of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning, has developed a strategic vision that explores where and how we will Live, Work and Play in Central Ohio in the year 2050. This strategic vision is focused around eight themes: Metro Metrics; The City Wild; Water, Power, Light; Getting Around; Whole Buildings; Full Spectrum Housing; Plan it. Build It; and Click, Learn, Go, Get.

To download the full Columbus 2050 report, click here.

The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods

By John Gardocki, GO Intern

In a New York Times article by Chris Leinberger, President of LOCUS,   convenient, walkable places are in demand.  Different cities throughout the U.S. are reaping benefits from making their cities walkable, friendly environments. Leinberger provides many examples of the demand for walkable cities including Columbus, OH, Denver, CO, and Seattle, WA.  Leinberger stresses the integration of developers and investors to work towards walkable communities.

Leinberger uses a tool he calls the walkability ladder, a step by step analysis rating least walkable to most walkable.  This tool can be used to evaluate the strength of the city. As a neighborhood moves up each step of the five-step walkability ladder, the average household income of those who live there increases some $10,000.  Leinberger’s article finds that on average, each step up the walkability ladder adds $9 per square foot to annual office rents, $7 per square foot to retail rents, more than $300 per month to apartment rents and nearly $82 per square foot to home values.

In a study by Brookings Institution, completed by Mariela Alfonzo and Leinberger about the effect walkability has on commercial and residential real estate, many walkable communities are seeing postive changes to property values.  Brookings found:

1. More walkable places perform better economically
2. Walkable places benefit from being near other walkable places
3. Residents of more walkable places have lower transportation costs and higher transit access, but also higher housing costs
4. Residents of places with poor walkability are generally less affluent and have lower educational attainment than places with good walkability

Walkable communities are especially important to the younger generation.  According to Brookings, young families want the advantages of walkable urban life, but also high-quality suburban schools.  This trend is about the revitalization of center cities and the urbanization of suburbs. Brookings reports that in Columbus, the highest housing values recorded by Zillow in 1996 were in the suburb of Worthington, where prices were 135 percent higher than in the struggling neighborhood of Short North, adjacent to the city’s center.  Today, Short North housing values are 30 percent higher than those of Worthington, and downtown Columbus has the highest housing values in the metropolitan area.  The Short North and downtown have become more walkable with the revitalization of the area by the artistic and LBGT movements.  The Short North Arts District lists many of the galleries, retail, and dining along High Street which makes up the Short North

Grandview Heights is a great example of a suburban enclave that is taking urbanization to heart.   Grandview is already a walkable city with access to bike paths and the COTA system.  The Mayor of Grandview talks about future plans to make the community even greater in this Columbus Underground article.  A major goal of this city is the development of mixed-use which requires walkability to be a high priority.  Making housing affordable is also a challenge the Mayor wants to address because some families are being pushed out of this neighborhood.

To articulate the effect walkability has played in this study, Ohio cities should take a new perspective at improving the sense of walkability in their communities.  Cities working together with business associations like the Short North Arts District can help improve the way residents and visitors interact with the city form.

Bike to Work Day May 18th

Don’t forget that Friday, May 18^th, is National Bike to Work Day! According to the 2010 Census, over half a million people in the United States ride their bikes to work.  In Ohio, 3.8% of workers in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo ride their two-wheelers to their jobs.

In Ohio, multi-modal streets (meaning streets that can handle a range of traffic besides just cars) and dedicated, non-motorized, bike paths are two important ways bicyclists can safely travel to work.  These safety amenities are important elements to making our metros attractive places to work, play, and live in.  As quality of life factors, bike lanes and multi-modal streets make it easier to exercise, but they also reduce car traffic, which in turn reduces the “wear-and-tear” on our roads that costs taxpayers so much.

Columbus, Ohio makes one “best biking cities” list and we know that Dayton, Cleveland and Cincinnati are focusing on improving their biking ecosystems.  With many of Ohio’s railroad lines now decommissioned, dozens of rail lines are being converted to trails with the advocacy efforts of “Rails to Trails.” Rails to Trails has dozens of trail maps for Ohio—see if there is one near you!

Check out this link for the different ways you can participate in National Bike to Work Day.  Hope to see you out there!

The Global Cities Initiative

Our long-time partner, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, in joint partnership with JP Morgan Chase, is sponsoring “Going Global: Boosting the Economic Future of Ohio”- a Global Cities Initiative Forum, to be held in Columbus on May 9th.  Hosted by The Ohio State University, this unparalleled event will feature former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley; the Honorable Peter Ammon, Ambassador of Germany to the United States; an interview of Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase by David Gregory, host of NBC’s Meet the Press; and representation by Ohio business leaders and policymakers.

Going Global: Boosting the Economic Future of Ohio

Bruce Katz: In the aftermath of the great recession we must pursue a different growth model; the next economy will be metropolitan in form and function; metros are driving innovation in practice, policy and global trade links.

Bruce Katz delivered the featured speech from Columbus, Ohio, at "Going Global: Boosting Ohio's Economic Future," the second in a series of domestic and international forums being convened this year by the Global Cities Initiative. The forum, hosted by the Metropolitan Policy program at Brookings and JPMorgan Chase on May 9, explored how metropolitan-led economic growth—including global trade and investment—are important for job creation, and how Ohio can leverage its position in the global market. For more about this event, click here.

Sustainable Communities Funding Passes Senate Appropriations Committee

Thank you GO supporters who contacted Senator Brown’s office and asked him to support funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities in the FY 2013 Federal Budget.  As a member of the Senate Appropriation Committee’s Senator Brown voted YES on the proposal to allocate $50 million to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Initiative.  The Bill passed the Appropriations Committee and will soon to the Senate floor. We have sent a letter to Senator Brown thanking him for his committee to healthy, sustainable communities and encourage you to do the same.