Restoring Prosperity
The Greater Ohio Policy Center Blog
Last month, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), proposed rules that would considerably weaken the regulations governing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
You may have heard the term “redlining,” a practice started in the 1930’s to describe the discriminatory act of marking off neighborhoods, using a red marker or pen on a map, where banks would deliberately avoid lending based on race, ethnicity, or religion. The results are unfortunately well known and are still with us today.
On November 25th, the City of Columbus and community partners announced the details of The 614 for Linden, a collaborative to advance the One Linden Community plan. The collaborative is named for six nonprofits partnering with four community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to have a positive and significant impact on one neighborhood.
Last week, Cleveland Development Advisors (CDA), an affiliate of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, announced they were the recipients of a $5 million grant from JPMorgan Chase to support development in the Cleveland neighborhoods of Clark-Fulton, Glenville, Buckeye-Kinsman, and their immediately surrounding areas. CDA has contributed a further $3.75 million to the project, taking the total commitment for the project to nearly $9 million.
Recently, conversations around the need for a property tax relief program in Ohio’s cities have become more urgent. GOPC has scanned different ways communities can lessen the burden on rapidly rising property values on long-time residents. GOPC is currently researching programs, or components of programs, which could be applicable in Ohio.
2019 has seen a number of important initiatives undertaken by the state to mitigate lead contamination in housing across the state. While programs have been available in the past, and a number of cities have undertaken their own initiatives, the state is now stepping-up with a number of new initiatives that seek to eliminate lead contamination in homes built prior to 1978.
