On October 24, GOPC’s Executive Director and Manager of Research and Policy served as panelists at the 2017 Glenn College Leadership Forum. Speaking about the importance of smaller legacy cities to Ohio and the strategies and policy recommendations to strengthen these places, Goebel and Hollingsworth were joined by John Begala, Emeritus Executive Director of the Center for Community Solutions and Ned Hill, Professor at the Glenn College.
While the data Goebel and Hollingsworth presented made the quantitative case for the importance of these places, a simple survey during the question and answer session confirmed how important these places remain. Over 75% of the conference attendees in the breakout room were from a smaller legacy city or hub town, or hold one of these places close. Although this survey wasn’t scientific, it did affirm that a broad swath of Ohioans are invested in and care about the future of the state’s smaller communities.
In 2018, GOPC will continue to convene smaller legacy city champions in order to press for needed state policies and reforms that will further accelerate the stabilization and revitalization of Ohio’s towns and villages.