May 30th, 2013
Today at 10am, Executive Director Lavea Brachman was featured on WOSU’s All Sides with Ann Fisher in a discussion about the state of Ohio’s infrastructure.
Lavea was joined by Patrick Natale, Executive Director of American Society of Civil Engineers, Robert Lawler, Director of Transportation of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, and Barry LePatner, construction lawyer and author of Too Big to Fall: America’s Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward.
Click here to listen to the podcast:
Infrastructure: Are we making the grade?
“The recent collapse of the I-5 bridge in northwest Washington State shined a spotlight on the country’s aging infrastructure. Since the recession, funding for bridges and tunnels has dropped steeply, and fixing them would cost an estimated $20 billion. This hour, we’ll discuss the balance of safety and spending, and how long our functionally obsolete structures will stand.”
Tags: American Society of Civil Engineers, Barry LePatner, Infrastructure, Lavea Brachman, MORPC, Robert Lawler, WOSU
Posted in On The GO | No Comments »
March 29th, 2013
Expert panel (from left): Alan Mallach, Brookings Institution; Lavea Brachman, Greater Ohio Policy Center; Thorsten Wiechmann, TUD professor; and Ian Beniston, YNDC.
On March 28th, Greater Ohio Executive Director, Lavea Brachman, traveled to Youngstown, Ohio for the workshop “Policies and Strategies in Shrinking Cities: The Case of Youngstown, Ohio,” hosted by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) , German Marshall Fund (GMF) and Technical University of Dortmund, Germany (TUD). The workshop included site visits, an expert panel in which Brachman participated, and a presentation by the urban planning students of TUD on ideas for the regeneration of Youngstown’s riverfront and neighborhoods.
The Business Journal cited Lavea Brachman:
Lavea Brachman, executive director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center, said the city is pursuing the right course in its neighborhoods through organizations such as the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., targeting those areas that stand the best chance of turning around in the near-term.
“It’s important to look at our redevelopment strategy,” Brachman said. “One of the things we’re talking about is a master plan for certain key neighborhoods, such as Wick Park, that provides a plan for the future and some comfort for investors.”
Much of the redevelopment in the Ruhr Valley, Brachman noted, emphasizes the region’s industrial heritage while at the same time brings to life new cultural amenities. “They used these old coal and mining facilities and they’re now beautiful cultural designations.”
It’s an example from which cities such as Youngstown can benefit.
“That goes back to building on our assets,” Brachman said, citing a tour of industrial sites she took just that morning. “They have fantastic beauty, and Youngstown should be capitalizing on that.”
The following articles cover the workshop:
Vindy: German Students Propose Improvements for Youngstown
WKBN: German Students Offer Revitalization Ideas for Youngstown
Business Journal: German Students Offer Fresh Perspectives on Redevelopment
Tags: German Marshall Fund, Ohio, Policies and Strategies in Shrinking Cities: The Case of Youngstown, Technical University of Dortmund, The Business Jounral, Youngstown, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation
Posted in Cities in Transition, On The GO | 2 Comments »
January 25th, 2013
On our journey from Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland for the joint ULI/GOPC/LOCUS event series, “Advancing Ohio’s Urban Agenda: Walkable Communities for Globally Competitive Cities,” trends amongst the three cities became apparent as participants engaged in the dialogue about addressing the market demand for walkable development in Ohio. We were able to capture some of these trends in both text and film (yes, videos are coming!) form and would like to share some of the key highlights with you.
Highlights from the Events:
Tags: Christopher Leinberger, LOCUS, ULI, Walkable Development
Posted in Infrastructure, On The GO, Quality of Place, Smart Growth, Transit | No Comments »
January 18th, 2013
In Ohio and around the country, real estate developers and investors are recognizing pent-up demand for and a market shift toward sustainable, walkable urban places. Despite this paradigm shift and change in market momentum, many local, state and federal policies currently in place distort development incentives and hamper efforts to create the development consumers want and that support strong local economies. Urban developers and real estate and land use experts can align to provide state and national policy makers with expert advice on current consumer demand and the many benefits of urban and metropolitan growth strategies.
Over the past few days—January 16th and 17th—Greater Ohio traveled to Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland to co-host events with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) district councils of Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, as well as LOCUS to host “Advancing Ohio’s Urban Agenda: Walkable Communities for Globally Competitive Cities,” an exclusive series featuring Christopher Leinberger, President of LOCUS—a national network of real estate developers and investors that advocates for sustainable, walkable urban development in America’s metropolitan areas.
These first-of-their-kind events in Ohio provided a forum to connect developers from urban centers across the state to discuss the demand for sustainable communities. The gatherings were a critical first step toward identifying ways to inform policymakers and ultimately help more communities across Ohio develop in ways that are sustainable for the environment, the people living in them, and their bottom lines.
Click here to read Mark Ferenchick’s Columbus Dispatch article on the Columbus event: “Walkable urban development will keep younger professionals in Columbus, expert says”.
Posted in Events, Infrastructure, On The GO, Quality of Place, Smart Growth, Transit | 1 Comment »
December 27th, 2012
On December 11, 2012, Greater Ohio Policy Center’s Executive Director Lavea Brachman joined a panel of urban experts at the “Revitalizing the Legacy Cities of Upstate New York” convening. The panel held at Syracuse University, opened the two day event, discussing shared challenges and new strategies “legacy cities” can utilize to become globally competitive, build a world class innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and be more innovative with vacant property and land.
Brachman stressed the importance of collaboration between legacy cities in disseminating best practices and new polices. Brachman also spoke of the need for cities to work more regionally and convince people of the center city’s connectedness to a region’s strength.
For more information about the event, visit the SyracuseU Live twitter feed.
Posted in Cities in Transition, Innovation, On The GO, Quality of Place, Vacant and Abandoned Property | 1 Comment »
November 8th, 2012
This week, Greater Ohio Policy Center presented at a Heritage Ohio workshop, “Combating Vacant Property” that provided ideas and strategies to local communities on ways to manage vacant properties. Heritage Ohio, Inc is Ohio’s official historic preservation and Main Street program organization. Greater Ohio outlined the costs of vacant residential and commercial properties and discussed successful strategies that have overcome common barriers to sustainable property management and redevelopment.
Other presenters included a lawyer who has worked with community development corporations and municipalities to bring nuisance abatement actions against problem properties in Cleveland and city officials from the city of Sandusky and city of Painesville, which both have vacant property registries.
The problem property crisis impacts every community in Ohio. Greater Ohio continues to measure the impact of vacant properties, and research policies and programs that can mitigate the effects of these properties by turning them into assets for redevelopment opportunities. Check our website regularly as we update our research and policy recommendations.
Posted in Best Practices, On The GO, Vacant and Abandoned Property | No Comments »
October 15th, 2012
This past weekend, the Greater Ohio Policy Center gave the closing lunch address at the Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists Annual Meeting, held at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. Speaking to undergraduate and graduate students, academic faculty and researchers, GOPC presented an overview of our current policy agenda and described the ways we work to move this agenda at the Statehouse.
Greater Ohio Policy Center also raised several ideas on how the policy center could partner with Ohio’s college and university classrooms and centers. One potential research project received a lot of interest and once it is further developed, GOPC will put out a call so that all higher education centers across the state have an opportunity to participate.
Posted in On The GO | No Comments »
October 8th, 2012
On October 3, 2012, Greater Ohio Policy Center spoke at the Central Ohio Association of Government Accountants about the potential for service sharing among local jurisdictions and the importance of such collaboration in paving the way towards local governance reform and regional economic development.
Joined on the panel by Hugh Quill of Public Performance Partners and Steve Campbell, Director of Regional Growth Initiatives at the City of Columbus, Greater Ohio spoke to the benefits of shared services and other collaborative relationships, such as increased service delivery, lower costs and the creation of a more regional culture throughout Ohio.
Greater Ohio Policy Center strongly believes that Ohio must reduce duplication within our local government activities—in a thoughtful and strategic way. In streamlining how local government delivers services, natural regions can form among former local competitors and excess funds can be direct back into our communities and schools.
As one important route toward sustainable statewide prosperity, reforms among local governance structures and regional approaches to economic development must occur if Ohio wants to compete in the 21st century.
Posted in Economic Development, On The GO, Regionalism | No Comments »
September 18th, 2012
Greater Ohio’s many partners from across the state and nation host innovative and thought-provoking events throughout the year to discuss issues concerning the prosperity and future of Ohio. The Council of Development of Finance Agencies will be hosting the 2012 CDFA Ohio Financing Roundtable Conference: Innovation, Energy, and Infrastructure in Columbus, September 25, 2012. Please visit CDFA to see the conference’s schedule of events and for registration information.
Join CDFA on September 25, 2012 for the fourth annual CDFA Ohio Financing Roundtable Conference focused on “Innovation, Energy, and Infrastructure” finance in the Buckeye state. This can’t-miss event will feature economic development finance experts from around the state discussing emerging financing models and creative projects in early-stage seed/venture capital and innovation finance, clean-tech and renewable energy development, and creative infrastructure financing mechanisms like P3s and TIF. The conference will take place at the Fawcett Center in Columbus and is supported by nearly a dozen of the state’s finest development finance leaders, including the Ohio Department of Development. Register today to ensure your spot at the 2012 CDFA Ohio Financing Roundtable Conference.
Posted in Events, On The GO | No Comments »
August 7th, 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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: EcoSummit 2012
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