This document summarizes a report by the Greater Ohio Policy Center on legacy cities in Ohio. It discusses indicators used to measure the strength of 18 legacy cities, and finds that some cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore have shown signs of regeneration since 2000 while others like Detroit and Cleveland have continued losing population. It also examines strategies that have helped legacy cities leverage assets like focusing investment in viable neighborhoods and downtown areas. Critical challenges discussed include rising inequality, the need for stronger regional cooperation between cities.

1. L AV E A B R A C H M A N
J U LY 4 2 0 1 4
L A F A B R I Q U E D E L A C I T E
- I N T E R N AT I O N A L
S E M I N A R

2. ABOUT GREATER OHIO POLICY CENTER
A non-partisan NGO based in
Columbus, Ohio that
champions revitalization and
sustainable redevelopment in
Ohio through policy and
practice:
• Revitalize Ohio’s urban
cores and metropolitan
regions
• Achieve sustainable land
reuse and economic growth

3. GREATER OHIO’S RECENT REPORTS

5. LEGACY CITIES
Formerly industrial cities that have
experienced significant population
and/or job loss since 1960

6. LEGACY CITIES UPDATE: MIXED RETURNS
18 cities with population of at
least 50,000 in 2010 & loss of at
least 20% from peak
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
1,800,000
Population Change 2000-2010
2000
2010

7. INDICATORS OF RELATIVE STRENGTH
Indicators used to rank relative strength of the 18 selected
legacy cities:
• Unemployment rate
• Percent with BA/BS degree or higher
• Crime rate
• Percent foreign born population
• Population loss from peak to 2010
• Population change 2000-2010
• Percent of population in poverty
• Household dependency ratio
• Median house sales price
• Change in median house price 2006-
2010
• Mortgage ratio
• Housing vacancy rate
• Grad students as percent of city
population
• Total research funding
• Change in number of jobs 2002-2009

8. -50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
Detroit
Cleveland
Buffalo
Birmingham
Pittsburgh
St.Louis
Philadelphia
Baltimore
TOTAL
25-34
CITIES FOLLOW DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES
Some legacy cities showing signs of a
turnaround,
including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore,
and Syracuse. (2000-10)
• Can we identify the
factors that have led to
greater regeneration in
some cities?
• Can we apply lessons
of success (or failure)
elsewhere?
• What can cities do in an
age of limited state and
federal support?

9. OPTIMIZING ASSETS IN THREE AREAS TO
CREATE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Downtown Mansfield, Mansfield Ohio
from http://www.hivelocitymedia.com/cities/Mansfield/
Physical Assets
Institutional and
Economic Assets
Leadership and
Human Capital
Assets

11. LEVERAGING ASSETS: STRATEGIES THAT ARE
MAKING AN IMPACT
• Target resources in viable neighborhoods
• Focus on rebuilding the downtown
• Repurpose vacant land for new uses
• Leverage economic assets to build competitive
advantage

12. VACANCY RATES STILL INCREASING
9.0%
9.5%
10.0%
10.5%
11.0%
11.5%
12.0%
12.5%
13.0%
13.5%
2007 2012
Akron, OH
Cincinnati, OH--
KY--IN
Cleveland, OH
Dayton, OH
Detroit, MI
Toledo, OH--MI
Housing Vacancy Rates in Legacy Cities

13. ENCOURAGING STATE POLICIES
• Brownfields Cleanup Fund
(grants/loans)
• Land banks
• Expedited foreclosure
• New Market Tax Credits/State historic
tax credits

14. TARGET RESOURCES IN VIABLE
NEIGHBORHOODS
Maximizes the impact of available scarce resources.
Over-the-Rhine
Cincinnati, Ohio
Slavic Village
Cleveland, Ohio
Green and Gold Asset and
Place-Based Investment
Strategy
Dayton, Ohio

15. TARGET RESOURCES IN VIABLE
NEIGHBORHOODS
• Cincinnati Center City
Development Corporation (3CDC),
a non-profit that is leading
revitalization of the area
• Acquiring and rehabilitating
abandoned properties within 110
square blocks of Over-the-Rhine
• Over 90% of the rehabilitated
residential and commercial spaces
are now occupied. Over-the-Rhine
Cincinnati, Ohio

16. TARGET RESOURCES IN VIABLE
NEIGHBORHOODS

17. TARGET RESOURCES IN VIABLE
NEIGHBORHOODS
Slavic Village Recovery Model – a holistic redevelopment
approach
1. Select properties for demolition and rehab in target areas
through a thorough property analysis.
2. Complete a critical mass of renovations and demolitions, one
block at a time, to shift the market on that block.
3. The sale price of the initial homes reached the target amount
of approximately $60,000, received an appraisal value above
the sale price, and sold quickly.

18. FOCUS ON REBUILDING THE DOWNTOWN
Washington Avenue
Downtown St Louis MO
Many downtowns have success stories…

19. FOCUS ON REBUILDING THE DOWNTOWN
Many cities are seeing downtown population growth
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Baltimore Cleveland St.Louis Cincinnati
2000
2010

20. POPULATION
CHANGE IN
ST. LOUIS
2000-2010
Downtown
St. Louis
University
Barnes Jewish
Hospital
NORTH
SOUTH
CENTRAL
FOCUS ON REBUILDING THE DOWNTOWN
Many cities are seeing growth around major
universities and medical centers

21. Historic Building in the West End, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photo from http://www.hamiltoncountylandbank.org/portfolio-items/1201-linn/
Hamilton County Land Reutilization Corporation currently accepting
redevelopment proposals for the space.
RE-PURPOSE VACANT LAND FOR NEW USES
- Alternative/green
uses
- Brownfields to
productive reuses
- Landbanks hold
properties and clear
delinquent taxes,
liens

22. LEVERAGE ASSETS: ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS
DRIVE MUCH LEGACY CITY REGENERATION
Wayne State University Detroit
University Circle Inc. Cleveland

23. LEVERAGE ASSETS TO BUILD COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
University Circle
Cleveland, Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio Dayton, Ohio
Uptown Consortium Dayton Tech Town

24. University Circle in Cleveland, Ohio:
• Anchor district in Cleveland, Ohio with over
26 anchor institutions
• $1.1 billion investment in the neighborhood
leading to a 30:1 return
• 5,000 new full-time jobs since 2005 (15.5%
increase). An additional 8.6% increase
expected by 2015.
• $14 billion in overall annual economic
output, according to University Circle Inc.
• 11% population growth in University Circle
while there was a 17% decline in overall city
population
Anchor District = vibrant city center, strong
anchor institutions, multi-anchored district,
community service corporations
LEVERAGING ASSETS TO BUILD
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

25. Uptown Consortium in Cincinnati, Ohio
• 6 anchor institutions
• Established in 2004 and in 10 years has:
• leveraged +$400 million in private
development
• Induced +$1 billion in development
• Generated 3,300 jobs
• Created and retained ~400,000 sq. feet of
office and retail space
• Developed 500+ residential units
• 10% of Consortium members’ workforces live
in Uptown
LEVERAGING ASSETS TO BUILD COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE

26. CITIES ARE EXPLORING OTHER ECONOMIC
ENGINES
ENTERTAINMENT
AND TOURISM
TECHNOLOGY
What potential do these
sectors have to generate
job and business growth
in legacy cities?

28. WHILE THERE HAS BEEN OVERALL POPULATION
LOSS IN OHIO’S LEGACY CITIES…

29. LEGACY CITY POP GROWTH IS LARGELY DRIVEN
BY THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
Baltimore Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
City share of state
population
City share of 25-34
year old college
graduates
City share of 2000-
2011 INCREASE in 25-
34 year old college
graduates

31. OPPORTUNITY TO LEVERAGE & ATTRACT THIS
POPULATION
• Some legacy cities are attracting increasing
numbers of Millennials
• Ohio’s cities will need to do more to attract this
population in order to compete
• What are the barriers? What still needs to be done?

32. CRITICAL CHALLENGES
Equity
Solving the regionalism conundrum
• Rising legacy costs, declining tax base
• Aging infrastructure

33. LEGACY CITIES HAVE AN INCOME/POVERTY GAP
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Camden
Cleveland
Detroit
Gary
SanFrancisco
Seattle
Portland
Boston
% below poverty level
% more than 2X poverty
% of population
below poverty level
compared to % of
population in
households earning
2X poverty level

34. RACIAL DISPARITIES IN INCOME ARE GROWING
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Baltimore Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh St. Louis
White median
Black median 2000
Black median 2011
Median income
Of African-American
Households as a
Percentage of white
Non-Latino median

35. WHY REGIONS MATTER FOR ECONOMIC
REGROWTH
• Cities and their regions are
economically interdependent
• Collaborations and new governance
structures can increase fiscal
efficiency and economic attraction.

36. TOO MUCH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADDS TO
RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS
86% of states have fewer governments per 100 square miles than Ohio
Source: Greater Ohio Policy Center, Census of Governments; Government Organization, 2007
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16 14 12 11 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 <0
NumberofStates
Number of Governments per 100 miles
Ohio
Less than Ohio (43)More than Ohio (6)

37. Cleveland
Akron
Canton
Youngstown
Lorain
Northeast OHIO:
five legacy cities
embedded in a
single region of
over 5,000 mi2
NEED FOR GREATER REGIONALISM
Urban centers are embedded in larger regions

39. CRITICAL NEXT STRATEGIES
• Use economic growth to increase community and
resident well-being
 overcome forces leading to increased economic and
racial inequalities?
• Build stronger local governance and partnerships
 create multifaceted public/private partnerships capable of
driving sustained regeneration?
• Increase the ties between cities and their regions
 build effective regional linkages to foster stronger
economic growth throughout the region?

40. CRITICAL NEXT STRATEGIES
• Make change happen through strategic incrementalism
• taking incremental steps grounded in a coherent vision of
the future
• Consider a special paradigm for smaller/medium-sized
cities:
• Distinguish between those that are too big to fail and others

41. Lavea Brachman,
Executive
Director, Greater
Ohio Policy
Center
lbrachman@greaterohio.org