OSU Architecture Students Tackle Ohio Economy

Greater Ohio recently collaborated with a class of Architecture students at Ohio State (we wrote about this in our May newsletter).  The students examined the evolution of Ohio’s economy and considered how restructuring the economy to be more export-driven would impact Ohio’s built environment.  A few weeks ago, the students presented their final work to Greater Ohio and several faculty members.  Below are a few of our favorite examples of their work. The following image depicts the evolution of Toledo’s manufacturing base from light bulbs to solar panels over the last 130 years and illustrates how modern economies often have their roots in our industrial past.

As shown in the following image, the students also recommend that in looking toward the future, we should not completely turn our backs on the past.  They identified the enormous potential that the vestiges of the industrial economy offer and suggest that old warehouses, for example, could be used as resources in our transition to modern economy.  We like the idea that what are often perceived as eyesores could, with some tweaking, become the venue for a return to economic prosperity.

There are still a lot of remaining questions about what a transition to a new economy means for places in Ohio, but we enjoyed tackling this interesting and important question with the OSU students and look forward to continued collaboration.

Moving towards Regionalism: Greater Ohio visits the Dayton region

Earlier this month Greater Ohio went to Montgomery County to participate in a day-long program: Developing the Miami Valley Region Together.  Sitting on the “The Current and Future State of Regionalism” panel, Greater Ohio discussed the recent history of Ohio’s governance and taxation structures and how these systems have given rise to fragmented and—at times—duplicative, costly governments.  As we pointed out in the discussion, excessive government layers often encourage urban sprawl, by seemingly making the edges of the metro cheaper.  Looking at a region—like the Dayton metro—as a whole, however, shows that sprawling infrastructure and governments weaken the overall economic power of the core and its suburbs.  Regional approaches, such as sharing service responsibilities between jurisdictions (such as using one parks and rec supervisor for two villages instead of each hiring their own), or even consolidations (as might happen among the city, county, and township fire departments) can reduce costs, maintain the same level of service, and encourage jurisdictions to more thoughtfully consider the addition of any new government layer on the edge of the region.

Greater Ohio was pleased to be invited to this public forum, as all of the day’s discussions sought to explain the different ways government cooperation can work, and what the benefits and disadvantages are to moving to more regionalistic structures.  As we recommended in our April Budget Analysis, budget cuts at the state and local levels must be accompanied by legislation and administrative policies that help smooth the belt-tightening transition by enabling and making permissive regional solutions.  The discussion underway in Montgomery County signals to us that local leaders have a real desire for governance reforms that will help them build strong metros in the future.

Greater Ohio, Buckeye Institute, Center for Community Solutions Call for Tax Reform

A recent collaboration between Greater Ohio and two other high-profile research organizations, the Buckeye Institute and Center for Community Solutions, reaffirmed the old adage about “strength in numbers.” By joining forces to help spread our message about the critical need for tax reform in the state, we attracted the attention of numerous state and national media. They reported on our efforts, which included sending a proposal to and meeting with state administrative and legislative leaders. We called on them to create a bipartisan State and Local Tax Study Commission to analyze the current tax structure and initiate efforts to make much-needed state and local taxation reform in Ohio a reality.

Our group message – and a recommendation of Greater Ohio for some time – is that without change, the prospects for positioning Ohio for regrowth in the future are greatly diminished.

Coverage included articles and editorials in The Columbus Dispatch, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Dayton Daily News, The Akron Beacon Journal, The Toledo Blade, and USA Today.

To read what the press had to say about our recent initiative, click on any of the links below:

USA Today

The Columbus Dispatch - Editorial

The Akron Beacon Journal - Editorial

Dayton Daily News - Editorial

The Columbus Dispatch

The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dayton Daily News

Toledo Blade

The Examiner

My Month with Greater Ohio Policy Center

By Gina Volpe, Greater Ohio Intern. When I walked into a brick office building off Main Street on a sunny Tuesday, I had no idea what to expect.  I waited outside only to be greeted by a man about two times my size, as I introduced myself while he opened the door. After learning the history of the mattress factory Greater Ohio is housed in, I walked into the world that is Greater Ohio.

From the very first day, I was immersed into public policy. As an outsider looking in, it was a little difficult (and still is) to keep up with a conversation filled with acronyms like TID and CDAT. I had to Google “anchor institution” a few times in order to fully understand what it is. Slowly, but surely, I began to realize some of the major issues our state is facing, whether it be land use, transportation, or the budget crisis. I learned the processes of our government and how both branches of our legislation coincide to produce intricate bills that affect our lives in thousands of ways.

What surprised me the most was how the rest of society not living within a block of the statehouse is oblivious to how much effort and time goes into changing even the smallest portion of the law. And what is even more surprising is how the media barely covers what is actually happening. It’s almost like the statehouse is inside a snow globe, and as hard as you shake it, you will never be able to grab the information on the other side of the glass. Unless you’re fully enveloped in the culture of the statehouse, it’s hard to be acquainted with everything that is going on.

My question is "Why?". Why is there not more coverage on the state budget in the media? Why don’t citizens know the name of their district representative? Why was I, an almost graduate of high school, overwhelmed as I just scratched the surface of our entangled and complicated government? I feel like there are so many topics to discuss, but there is so much more to discover. I can’t thank Greater Ohio enough for showing me the innerworkings of our government, and I wish more people would have the opportunity to not just see the effects of our government, but to witness the causes of change and why they are important. Who knew an old mattress factory could teach me all that?