Planetizen is reference that Greater Ohio uses to keep abreast of the latest developments in urban planning, design, and development from across the globe.  Recently Planetizen listed their picks for the Top Twitter Feeds on Urban Planning.  For those of you interested in urban planning and involved in the twitosphere, check out their recommendations.

And if you want to stay up to date with all of Greater Ohio’s latest developments, follow Greater Ohio’s twitter feed @GreaterOhio.  You can also stay in the loop by following Associate Director Dawn Larzelere’s twitter feed @GO_DawnL.  And the newest addition to Greater Ohio’s twitterers includes Co-Director Gene Krebs @GO_GeneK.  Check them out!

And if you’re on facebook, become a fan of Greater Ohio Policy Center’s facebook page too!

Greater Ohio Policy Center was pleased with the recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation that as part of its new proposed guidelines for funding mass transit projects, the DOT will place a higher priority on livability issues, such as how mass transit can promote economic development and make a community a better place to live.  In the past, the main criteria has focused mainly on the project’s overall cost and commute time saved.

This announcement fits into the federal Sustainable Communities initiative, which has worked to better coordinate federal transportation and housing investments and identify strategies to give American families more choices for affordable housing near employment opportunities and more transportation options, to lower transportation costs, shorten travel times, and improve the environment.

Greater Ohio is pleased by this new direction at the federal level and is optimistic that it is a start to looking at funding decisions in a more holistic matter.

Redevelopment and smart growth recommendations made

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Cities Task Force, a 29-member group representing Ohio leaders from a variety of sectors, today announced a blueprint for redevelopment and smart growth in Ohio. Included in the task force’s recommendations were a number of policy and legislative initiatives that focus on strengthening Ohio’s urban centers. Specific recommendations were split among the following categories: land use; development; transportation; workforce and quality of life; and regionalism.

Led by State Rep. Mike Foley and vice chair State Rep. Sandra Williams, the committee also included Lavea Brachman, co-director of Greater Ohio and a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution. “Greater Ohio was excited to be part of the task force, because its mission is consistent with our organization’s goal of finding innovative ways to restore prosperity in Ohio through smart growth. We strongly endorse the task force’s foremost conclusion about the importance of regionalism to achieving a ‘new economy’ in Ohio.” Brachman said.

Ohio Speaker of the House Armond Budish called for creation of the task force last spring. Entrusted with 10 specific responsibilities, including providing innovative strategies to address housing, mass transportation, infrastructure, environmental, and labor force challenges facing Ohio’s cities; and identifying and classifying incentives and disincentives to urban economic development, the committee developed 20 specific recommendations. Those include passage of House Bill 313, which would allow for the creation of 28 additional county land banks in the state; House Bill 3, the Ohio Foreclosure Prevention Act; and House Bill 323, legislation to address toxic titles and nuisance properties and to empower local land banks.

The report also calls for public hearings regarding a Greater Ohio proposal that recognizes the importance of anchor institutions in the health of Ohio’s urban cores and metropolitan regions. Anchor institutions are place-based entities, such as universities and hospitals, which are permanently rooted in specific locations. These community anchors generate jobs, create local business opportunities, and contribute in significant ways to the development of human, social and cultural capital.

Greater Ohio is enthusiastic about the potential the recommendations represent for Ohio in the future. “These recommendations symbolize the thoughtful and innovative outcomes that can be achieved when a broad cross-section of individuals come together,” Brachman stated.

Greater Ohio (www.greaterohio.org) is the state’s “smart growth” organization. We promote – through research, public education and grassroots advocacy – public policy to grow Ohio’s economy and improve the state’s quality of life through intelligent land use. Toward this end, Greater Ohio works to advance policies and programs that revitalize urban and metropolitan areas, strengthen regional cooperation, and protect Ohio’s open space, natural resources and farmland. We are non-partisan, non-profit, and foundation–funded. Greater Ohio’s office is located in Columbus, Ohio.

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Check out Saturday’s article in the Columbus Dispatch on Land Bank Legislation.  Greater Ohio’s Associate Director, Dawn Larzelere is quoted.

Now is the time to start telling your state senator all the reasons you support this legislation!