Moving Ohio Forward Demolition Activities Underway

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine wrote an Op-Ed in the Dayton Business Journal on his innovative Moving Ohio Forward Program, highlighting efforts already underway in Fayette, Licking Mahoning, and Richland Counties.   The MOF grant supports Ohio’s communities undertaking activities to demolish abandoned and vacant residential properties. It is estimated that 100,000 residential buildings across Ohio need to be demolished.  Abandoned and vacant properties often pose significant barriers to neighborhood revitalization and so, demolition funding from the Attorney General’s office will help encourage productive reuse of formerly vibrant properties in our cities, villages and townships. The Ohio Attorney General contracted with GOPC to provide technical assistance to southern Ohio counties on strategic planning. 

 Funding for the Moving Ohio Forward Program comes from a $25 billion national settlement with the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders and services over foreclosure abuses, fraud and unacceptable mortgage practices.

Ohio Cities Featured in "Rust Belt Rebound"

An article in The Architect by Christopher Bentley cites Greater Ohio in its examination of how urban re-development is contributing to the revitalization of  Ohio's three largest cities:

Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are rebuilding their urban cores to lure and retain young professionals. These cities are pursuing development strategies that reflect the distinct character of each place. Is it the beginning of a Rust Belt rebound?

Click here to read the full article

Greater Ohio is currently producing a report that will further evaluate demographic trends for Ohio's eight largest cities and offer recommendations for state level policy to further attract and retain Generation Y and Baby Boomers in these cities. Click here to learn more about this report and the research leading up to it.

EcoSummit 2012

Greater Ohio is pleased to present the following information regarding EcoSummit 2012, an international ecological science conference that will for the first time be hosted in the United States, and in Columbus in particular—making it a tremendous opportunity for Central Ohio.

International EcoSummits:

• Copenhagen, Denmark - 1996
• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - 2000
• Beijing, China - 2007
• Columbus, Ohio, United States - 2012

As an advocate for smart growth and development that protects greenspace and fragile ecosystems, Greater Ohio is supportive of the work that EcoSummit participants are engaged in and the goals they seek to achieve. By drawing the international community to Columbus, Ohio to talk about these issues, the EcoSummit can help to raise awareness locally and throughout the state about the importance of responsible land use and to catalyze positive change at the local, state, national and international levels.

Ecological Sustainability: Restoring the Planet’s Ecosystem Services

From September 30 through October 5 this year, the world’s preeminent leaders in ecological sciences will convene in Columbus, Ohio, for the international EcoSummit 2012. Their purpose: to present their cutting edge work and to lead symposia, workshops and discussion groups on the themes of sustainability and restoration of the earth’s ecosystem services. Already, more than 1,500 people from 75 countries, including ecologists, environmental scientists, engineers, policymakers and business leaders that provide ecosystem services, are registered to attend. It’s estimated that 40 percent of the world’s economy and 80 percent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources: plants, animals, and microorganisms from different ecosystems like deserts, wetlands, forests and coral reefs.

The richer the variety of those resources, the greater the opportunities for medical discoveries, economic development and adaptive responses to challenges such as climate change.  Rich biodiversity provides ecosystem services like the protection of water resources and soil, the breakdown of pollution, and climate stability.

And yet, human activity continues to cause major degradation of our ecosystems. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported that 10 to 30 percent of animal, bird and amphibian species were threatened with extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reports that 75 percent of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost, and that up to 70 percent of the world’s known species risk extinction if global warming continues. As a result of decreasing biodiversity, some 350 million people are faced with severe scarcity of water.

Many of the plenary speakers will drive home the message that there is a strong dependency between humankind and Mother Nature. Those speakers include two-time Pulitzer Prize winning biologist E.O. Wilson and Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond. The Honorable Olafur R. Grimsson, President of the Republic of Iceland, will address the conference about his ongoing efforts related to renewable energy and climate change.

Information regarding EcoSummit 2012, including the conference program, registration information and hotel accommodations, can be found by visiting the conference website at www.ecosummit2012.org.

Resources for Investing in Ohio's Future

This four-page guide from the Ohio Department of Development and JobsOhio provides a description of every economic development finance tool available at the state level. These finance tools include tax credits for job creation and retention, research and development, historic preservation, and more.  There is also a loan program that aims to help small businesses grow and expand. This catalog of resources is useful for communities that have catalytic projects that may be experiencing funding gaps. An easily accessible collection of resources available from the state can help communities identify economic and community development programs that can assist in the realization of these projects.

GO to provide Technical Assistance on Strategic Demolition to Moving Ohio Forward Applicants

Greater Ohio Policy Center will provide “Office Hours” to southeastern Ohio communities that have applied to Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Moving Ohio Forward Grant Program. GOPC staff will be providing one-on-one assistance to local governments and lead entities with specific questions they may have on implementing their demolition programs, including strategic planning and site eligibility questions. The Office Hours are free to all participants.

The Office Hours will take place August 9th, 2012, 12:30-4:00 at Ohio University’s Voinovich School in Athens. The meetings are located in Room 116, in Building 21. Please see the map for more information on directions to OU’s campus.

Each session will last approximately 30 minutes. Two Greater Ohio staff members will be available; each member has their own calendar (“Hours A” and “Hours B”). If your preferred time slot has been filled on one calendar, please check the other schedule.

Please click the Book Now button to schedule your appointment by Tuesday, August 7th at 5pm.

 

There are a limited number of parking passes available. Passes are on a first-come, first-served basis. There are also metered spots available near Building 21. Please contact Samantha Spergel for parking information and with any questions.

Visit our Moving Ohio Forward Page for more information on Attorney General's DeWine's program.

Revitalization through a Park

By Ezra Katz and Marianne Eppig

A Cincinnati neighborhood recently on a downward spiral is showing signs of revitalization. Over-the-Rhine, a historic district in Cincinnati famous for its Italianate architecture and proximity to the city center, recently re-opened its 150-year-old Washington Park after over a year and a half of renovations.

Over-the-Rhine, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been in a state of decline since WWII.  Anti-German sentiment following the war led city residents to “Americanize” the neighborhood’s German heritage, including German street names and organizations. The neighborhood attracted a lower-income demographic with its affordable housing and labor opportunities. With time the neighborhood went into decline, at one point becoming one of the poorest and most crime ridden neighborhoods in the country; the rate of poverty reached 58% and unemployment came just over 25%.

In 2003, the City of Cincinnati partnered with the city’s private sector to create the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) to help revitalize the area. 3CDC has focused on acquiring and leading the rehabilitation of abandoned properties within a 110 square block area of Over-the-Rhine. Among other initiatives, 3CDC, alongside the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Parks, helped to renovate Washington Park—an indication that Over-the-Rhine is making great strides toward revitalization.

The park has grown from 6 to 8 acres and includes some new amenities: a kids’ section, interactive water fountains, a dog park, updated restrooms, a concessions building, and a “civic lawn” that will host concerts and events. Neighborhood leaders are hopeful that Washington Park will serve as a civic center for Over-the-Rhine, fostering a sense of community and drawing people to public spaces that could attract future development for the district.

For more about the revitalization of Washington Park and Over-the-Rhine, visit these links:

The Park at the Forefront of Cincinnati’s Revitalization

Over-the-Rhine Blog

3CDC Website

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.