Posts Tagged ‘Ohio’
A Pioneering Approach to Bring a Legacy of Quality, Affordable Housing to Communities
Communities nationwide struggle with inventories of properties that are causing harm—properties that are vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD). Often these properties are concentrated in areas where an intentional history of racist policies resulted in disinvestment and denied homeownership for many Black families—a loss of wealth that has compounded across several generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these racial disparities and community destabilization. While much is still unknown…
Read MoreSmall scale, big results: Asset-based micro-planning in Youngstown, Ohio
What if the next big thing in blight elimination is to think small? Staff at the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) think that just might be the case. They have even coined a new term to describe their strategy: asset-based micro-planning. “We made the term up,” said YNDC Executive Director Ian Beniston about micro-planning. YNDC…
Read MoreHow the Cuyahoga Land Bank is helping refugees “Discover Home”
Land banks can work in concert with a whole host of private, public, and nonprofit partners, using those creative partnerships to help the communities they serve. An example of one such partnership is the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation (Cuyahoga Land Bank)’s Discovering Home program–described in Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are…
Read MoreHardest Hit Funds demolition policy change on track to become a boon for distressed communities
This article was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Breaking Ground, our quarterly newsletter. To receive Breaking Ground in your inbox, please join our email list. For an update on the latest round of Hardest Hit Fund allocations in April, 2016, click here. In February 2010, President Obama unveiled the Hardest Hit Fund, a…
Read MoreNew release! Guide to redeveloping vacant commercial properties
There’s a new resource available for communities tackling a challenging subset of blighted properties: commercial vacant properties. Redeveloping Commercial Vacant Properties in Legacy Cities: A Guidebook for Linking Property Reuse and Economic Growth is available to download for free. Greater Ohio Policy Center developed the free guidebook – the first of its kind – in…
Read MoreCan Youngstown Make It On Its Own?
Originally posted on the National Housing Institute’s Rooflines blog Youngstown is a small city in the hills of northeast Ohio, once famous for steelmaking; and sadly, if famous for anything today, for economic distress and population loss. From a peak population of about 175, 000, it’s down today to maybe 65,000. In any event, last…
Read MoreJust released! Our new report shares stories of placemaking in Legacy Cities
Today marks the release of our latest publication: Placemaking in Legacy Cities: Opportunities and Good Practices! The impetus for the report began with a question: how does placemaking apply to Legacy Cities — those former industrial hubs that are rich in historic, institutional, and other assets, but are grappling with sharp population declines? Are there good…
Read MoreWhat we’re thankful for today
If there’s one thing we’ve learned in this line of work it’s that, all over the country, there are thousands of talented, passionate leaders doggedly fighting the good fight to reclaim their communities from the scourge of blight. And, in the face of challenges that can seem insurmountable, these leaders are succeeding. In fact, if…
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