Tag: planning

Categories
Business Development News

Connect with fellow urbanists at Soapbox’s panel discussion on urban pioneers

Urban neighborhoods often suffer before they ultimately make a triumphant comeback. Whether the neighborhood is Brooklyn or Over-the-Rhine, urban neighborhoods rely on critical populace that is willing to take a chance when others are not. These people are what we call urban pioneers.

This scenario is the topic of Soapbox’s next speaker series event to be held at the Niehoff Urban Studio in Corryville. Urban Pioneers – The Cult of Personality will gather four of Cincinnati’s most relevant urban pioneers who have helped to transform once downtrodden neighborhoods like Mt. Adams, Northside, and Over-the-Rhine.

Organizers say that guest panelists will include Neil Bortz, Matthew Wirtz, Maureen Wood, and Terry Chan who will discuss what it takes to succeed in bringing a vision to reality by revitalizing parts of a city one building at a time. The discussion will be moderated by the former director of UC’s School of Architecture & Interior Design Michaele Pride.

While organized by Soapbox Cincinnati, the speaker series is sponsored by the Niehoff Urban Studio and heavily attended by the those involved in the Urbanist movement in Cincinnati. Founder of the Cincinnati Urbanist movement and poltics teacher at UC’s School of Planning, Terry Grundy, further explained the intricacy of urban pioneers to UrbanCincy.

“Someone — though more generally a small group of people — has to take a chance on a fine old neighborhood with lots of potential that’s lost population and become poorer over many decades,” Grundy explained. “Call the people who do this urban pioneers if you will but, whatever you call them, they’re the people whom we look back on years after a neighborhood has been turned around and say, “They’re the ones who got it all started.”

Grundy says that these initial urban pioneers are often followed by a group of “semi-pioneers” who move in before the neighborhood has fully turned around, but only after the initial risk was taken away.

“This second wave of people who come into rebounding neighborhoods is almost always made up of the key demographic groups that are attracted to urban life and are remaking older American cities: young professionals, the group we call the Bohemian Cluster (gays and lesbians, artists, musicians, true bohemians), empty nesters, and New Americans (immigrants from other countries). Some resurgent neighborhoods have a strong showing of members of one of these groups while others have a mixture of two or more. We know, for instance, that young professionals often enjoy living in neighborhoods with a strong contingent of the Bohemian Cluster.”

Urban Pioneers – The Cult of Personality if free to attend, but organizers are requiring reservations be made online in advance. The event will take place on Wednesday, October 27 from 5pm to 7:30pm at the Niehoff Urban Studio (map).  Registration and happy hour will begin at 5pm.

Categories
Business Development News Politics

Hamilton County leaders eye land banking as potential cure for area’s housing woes

Our nation’s housing crisis and subsequent economic recession has led to an enormous increase in housing vacancy, abandonment, and foreclosures across the country. Hamilton County is no exception; the crisis has left many in the region homeless and has put a fiscal burden on local governments across the region, leaving them with the multifaceted challenges associated with widespread vacancy.

In many cases, property vacancy creates a domino effect that leads to further desertion and vacant properties within a neighborhood. This not only results in less tax revenue for cities; vacant property can also lead to increased rates of crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution, and arson. Because vacant property damages are so extensive, it is becoming more and more important for a metropolitan area to have a mechanism in place to transfer vacant property to owners who can/will pay taxes and redevelop the property.

A land bank is a tool that is growing in popularity, and on Tuesday morning local governmental and nonprofit leaders met to discuss how a Hamilton County land bank should be formed, funded and operated.

In April, Ohio Sub House Bill 313 was passed, enabling Ohio counties to create a Land Bank/County Land Reutilization Corporation (CLRC). The purpose of the CLRC is to facilitate the acquisition, reclamation, rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant, abandoned, tax-foreclosed, and other real property. While there are still many steps that need to be taken before the CLRC is fully functional, county officials are hoping to have the land bank chartered by the end of the year.

Although no specific funding decisions were made at the meeting, there are multiple ways the CLRC can be supported fiscally. For example, the treasurer could recapture penalties and interest on delinquent taxes and assessments on behalf of the CLRC, the group could generate revenue from the resale of rehabbed property, and/or the CLRC could be authorized to issue bonds, accept gifts, and apply for grants. The recently announced NSP3 dollars can also be used to acquire homes for the CLRC.

Not only will the land bank help to address vacancy problems regionally, it will also give local CDCs and nonprofits a chance to obtain blighted property before private out-of-town investors. With a broad jurisdiction, the CLRC will be able to acquire both mortgage foreclosed and tax foreclosed properties. Moreover, the legislation allows land banks to waive delinquent taxes owed in order to clear the title on the property. This tax abatement component is crucial because often the taxes owed on abandoned property are more than the property’s actual market value.

At Tuesday’s meeting, there was a clear consensus that the land bank not just be a pilot program, but instead be a comprehensive and wide-ranging tool that helps to alleviate one of our region’s most pressing problems.

“The Board of County Commissioners want to ensure that the way this is set up is consistent with the community’s vision,” Assistant Hamilton County Administrator Jeffery Aluotto stated on Tuesday. “Land banking holds a great deal of promise as a means of addressing the increase in vacant housing stock we have seen since the recession, and the direct impacts that those vacancies have on the quality of life and economic vitality of our communities.”

With successes in Cuyahoga County and Gennessee County, Michigan, local leaders have high hopes for the potential impact that the CLRC can have on our region.

UrbanCincy will continue to follow this story as it progresses in the coming months.

Categories
Business News

UrbanCincy programming note for rest of 2010

For nearly three-and-a-half years I have worked to grow UrbanCincy while also growing myself both professionally and personally. Early rants have turned into breaking news and what I hope is unique insight about Cincinnati’s urban core. Over that time there have been other changes including the site’s contributing members, the amount and quality of content, and the location in which I have run things.

Since June 2009 I have been living full-time in Atlanta where my full-time job is also located. This lesser known fact was not meant to be secretive, nor was it meant to be advertised. It simply was what it was.

Now, however, another change will be taking place. Over the next two months I will be living and working in Seoul, South Korea full-time. This new job assignment will keep me extraordinarily busy between now and mid-December, and will also keep me away from UrbanCincy to a certain degree. Fear not, as UrbanCincy’s contributing members have been rallied and intend on keeping the site active and interesting during this time.

During this time I hope to occasionally poke my head in and share some profound wisdom, or simply share something interesting from my urban experience in Seoul and elsewhere.

This news does not mean I will be completely absent from the site and its material, but it will mean the amount of content may decrease over the next two months. The whole point of writing this piece is to let you know that there is nothing to be concerned about as UrbanCincy will be back to its normal, and hopefully better, operations by the start of 2011. In the mean time enjoy the contributions from UrbanCincy’s highly capable team of writers and photographers.

Those needing to reach me should contact me by email at rsimes@gmail.com. For immediate needs please contact either contributing editor Travis Estell [travis.estell@urbancincy.com] or staff writer Jennifer Kessler [jenlkessler@gmail.com]. Thanks again for reading UrbanCincy and supporting Cincinnati. Cheers.

Categories
Development News Politics

Cincinnati to host form-based code webinars at City Hall

Cincinnati leaders are hosting five webinars sponsored by PlaceMakers to give local residents a chance to learn more about the implementation of form-based codes. The sessions are intended to compliment the city’s ongoing effort at developing a form-based code.

According to Vice Mayor Qualls’ office, the webinars will take place on the third Thursday of each month starting October 21, 2010 and running through February 17, 2011. Each training opportunity will have its own unique focus led by specialists in that area.

On October 21, Ken Groves and Chad Emerson will look at the Montgomery case study. Dan Slone will then discuss how to integrate a form-based code with an existing code on November 18. The webinar on December 16 will include a discussion about SmartCode calibration basics led by Susan Henderson. At the second-to-last webinar Galina Tachiva will look at how to repair sprawl development patterns, and the final event will look at the Miami case study with the help of Marina Khoury.

The 75-minute webinars will be held at 2pm at City Hall (map). Those interested in attending the free sessions are asked to contact Jennifer O’Donnel at jennifer.o’donnell@cincinnati-oh.gov.  City Hall is accessible by Metro bus service (plan your trip), and free bicycle parking is available in the immediate surroundings.

Categories
Business News

Cincinnati conducting public surveys about city’s business climate

City leaders are looking to gather public opinion about how Cincinnati performs economically. In two concurrent surveys the city is asking residents and business owners about the economic climate here, and what can be done to improve that climate.

The Cincinnati Business Survey takes approximately five to ten minutes and asks business owners and managers about the greatest challenges and opportunities presented to them by doing business in Cincinnati. The survey asks about everything from quality of life, education and recreational opportunities, workforce, and even the region’s transportation and utility infrastructure.

The Cincinnati Community Survey, meanwhile, is open to all residents in the Cincinnati area and takes roughly five minutes to complete. In this survey, respondents are asked about why they have chosen to live in the region, what its greatest assets are, and what are the greatest challenges facing the region as it moves forward.

Cincinnati’s interim economic development director, Patrick Ewing, says that the two surveys will remain open through Wednesday, October 13 and will help guide elements of the Economic Development section of Plan Cincinnati – the city’s new comprehensive plan.