Sprawl, Inequity and Economic Opportunity in Ohio Jason Reece, AICP Senior Researcher Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity The Ohio State University Presentation to: The McSweeney Ohio Land Use Conference The Ohio State University Extension Land Use Team September 14th 2007

2 Today’s Discussion ► How does land use and sprawl impact inequity in Ohio? ► What is the societal cost of inequity and poor land use decisions in Ohio? ► Urban and rural Ohio  Shared challenges and linked fates ► Producing Change  Regional equity, cooperation and opportunity

3 What’s at Stake Ohio is at a crossroads: it can either embrace a bold new commitment to regional cooperation, sustainable land use policy, fairness, and opportunity for all, or continue on a path of inequitable growth— and risk being left behind in the 21st century global economy

4  Unemployment rate is sixth highest in nation  Significant job loss  Ohio leads the nation in foreclosures and is second in personal bankruptcies ► Population in poverty increase from 12% to 17% ► Ohioans receiving food stamps rise 29% ► Economic growth rate ranked 45 th in the nation The State’s Economic Challenges: 2000 to 2005

5 Comparative Regional Socio-Economic Health: Great Lake States Ranking calculated from a 8 indicator index measuring various economic, population and socio-economic conditions for the metropolitan regions. Many Ohio regions fare poorly in respect to socio-economic health when compared to other large Midwestern regions. Index Factors: Business Starts, Job Change, Poverty, Educational Attainment, Unemployment, Population Growth, Housing Development, Vacancy

6 Urban Ohio’s Problems are Everyone’s Problems ► The health of Ohio is intricately tied to the health of its metro regions & rural areas ► ….and the health of its regions and rural areas are impacted by sprawling land use patterns and racial/social inequities ► The fate of all Ohioans are linked together and we must collectively address Ohio’s urban challenges  We will not have a healthy Ohio without equitable and vibrant cities/regions and sustainable rural areas ► You can not save Ohio’s farms without saving its cities

How does land use and sprawl impact inequity in Ohio?

8 Land Use and Inequity ► What is sprawl?  Uncoordinated, disjointed, low density and inefficient development/land use policy ► Sprawl is not natural but a reflection of poor and outdated policy  A disorganized movement of the state’s investment from existing communities to a few select communities ► The favored quarter  A government subsidized/supported redistribution of Ohio’s wealth and resources

9 The Side Effects of Sprawl ► Sprawl has many documented side effects  Environmental degradation  Displacing agriculture  Quality of life impacts  Segregation and inequity ► By pushing good jobs, stable housing, and educational opportunities further into the suburbs, sprawl creates segregated, impoverished areas

10 Segregation, Inequity & Sprawl ► Sprawl actively works to disconnect marginalized communities from opportunity  Pushing limited resources away from existing communities  Segregating people from opportunity ► “Space is how race plays out in American society-and the key to solving inequities in housing, transportation, education, and health care…Sprawl is the new face of Jim Crow.” -- john powell  This is not a natural phenomena or just the free market in action, it is a result of policy

11 Policies Enforcing Inequity: Historical Government Role “If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is necessary that properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes. A change in social or racial occupancy generally contributes to instability and a decline in values.” –Excerpt from the 1947 FHA underwriting manual

12 Policies Enforcing Inequity: Contemporary Government Role ► The exclusion and segregation produced by sprawl is not natural or neutral; it results from government policies, such as:  Zoning laws prevent affordable housing in many growth areas  Housing policies concentrate subsidized housing  Municipalities subsidize the relocation of businesses out of the city  Transportation and infrastructure spending favoring highways, metropolitan expansion and urban sprawl  Court decisions prevent metropolitan school desegregation  School funding is tied to property taxes ► These factors support racial/social segregation and isolation from opportunity

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14 Why Care About Segregation? ► Because neighborhoods conditions impact our lives in significant ways… ► Where you live is more important than what you live in…  Housing, in particular its location, is the primary mechanism for accessing opportunity in our society  Housing location determines the quality of schools children attend, the quality of public services, access to employment and transportation, health risks, access to health care and public safety  For those living in high poverty neighborhoods these factors can significantly inhibit life outcomes

15 Housing location determines access to schools….

16jobs…

17 neighborhood amenities…

18 How Does Sprawl and Segregation Impact Marginalized Populations? ► Sprawl and segregation cause detrimental impacts to urban marginalized communities in multiple ways  Education  Disinvestment & neighborhood quality  Economic Opportunity ► Producing opportunity deprived neighborhoods

19 50 years after the Brown Decision, America’s schools have re-segregated into affluent white districts and poor under-funded African American and Hispanic districts Sprawl Produces Dysfunctional Schools Segregation Sprawl, Inequity & Education

20 Economic Segregation and Racial Segregation in Public Schools: Cleveland and Akron High Poverty Schools (Red and Yellow) are Concentrated in African American Neighborhoods (Areas in Gray)

21 Cycle of School Segregation Lower Educational Outcomes for Urban School Districts Increased Flight of Affluent Families from Urban Areas Neighborhood (Housing) Segregation School Segregation (Economic)

22 Sprawl and Disinvestment in Urban Communities ► Decades of suburban flight have drained low income inner city neighborhoods of people, business and investment ► High vacancy rates and poor investment harms the quality of life for inner city residents and limits the resources (tax base) for low income communities

23 Sprawl without Growth ► Ohio is developing rapidly without the population growth to justify the rapid expansion ► This creates too much surplus housing and further exacerbates the vacancy problem

24 Measures of Ohio’s sprawl

25 Disinvestment and Abandonment ► In Ohio’s 6 largest regions the average African American neighborhood has approximately 2x the amount of vacant housing than the average white neighborhood

26 Jobs have moved away from the labor pool in many metropolitan areas, making connecting job-seekers with jobs a challenge which is compounded by poor public transportation ► 40% of all suburban jobs cannot be reached by public transportation ► Public investment disproportionately favors highways over public transportation ► Over half of the African American population is physically segregated from employment opportunities Sprawl, Inequity and Economic Opportunity

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28 Projected Job Growth Franklin County Area

29 Quantifying and Mapping Communities of Opportunity ► We understand what is indicative of a high quality community or neighborhood  Employment opportunities  Stable, safe environments  Good schools ► We can also look at this with data and map out areas of high and low opportunity in our State

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31 Similar Trends Can Be Seen in the Columbus Area

What is the cost of inequity and poor land use policy in Ohio?

33 Inequities Impact Everyone ► The health of our cities, the sustainability of the regions/rural areas, and the wellness of its people are all related ► Gaps in educational attainment impair the State’s competitiveness in the new global skill-based economy  Unjust policies and racial and economic isolation deplete opportunities for residents in our cities  The competition between cities and suburbs produces an economically dysfunctional State

34 Inequities Impact Everyone ► How do disparities harm our State?  Wasted Creative Capacity. The wasted creative capacity associated with a lack of social, economic and educational opportunity drags down the competitive strength of the entire State  Fragmented Economic Voice. To attract investment in the global economy, regions/States must act collectively to promote themselves, and they must align key infrastructure and assets to be more innovative, efficient and competitive

35 Inequities Impact Everyone ► How do disparities harm our State?  Paying for Exclusion. The residential segregation in our metropolitan regions is fueled by exclusionary housing policies, but these policies come at a price for all residents  Inefficient Infrastructure and Government Services. Regions that are highly fragmented into hundreds of local governments are often inefficient with respect to infrastructure and government services

36 Inequities Impact Everyone ► How do disparities harm our State?  Sprawl and Quality of Life. As the State becomes more polarized between opportunity-rich and opportunity- poor communities, residents keep moving in order to chase the elusive opportunities left in the State ► The environmental impact of greenfield development, and increased traffic congestion (and fuel cost) impairs the quality of life for everyone in the region  The Central City’s Untapped Potential. Urban areas are often our cultural, educational and medical centers and a signpost of regional health and identity

Urban and Rural Ohio: Shared Challenges and Linked Fates

38 Rural and Urban Ohio ► Rural and Urban Ohio  Different symptoms, shared challenges ► Urban communities are not the only areas dealing with disinvestment or being disrupted by the dynamics of sprawl (examples)  Growing rural areas which are being disrupted by growth and development  Rural areas facing disinvestment and limited access to opportunities such as: jobs, high quality education, infrastructure ► This presents a unifying theme to build coalitions to address the State’s dysfunctional land use and development patterns

39 Shared Challenges: Viewing Areas of Educational Opportunity in the State of Ohio The following map presents areas of high (dark colors) and low (light colors) educational opportunity in the State. (Based on index of school quality and assessment of barriers to educational attainment). Note that many rural and urban communities face similar education challenges. Map Prepared by the Kirwan Institute for The Ohio State Economic Access Initiative

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41Education ► Better educational attainment can benefit all Ohioan’s by increasing the state’s ability to attract and retain economic investment and spurring innovation from Ohio’s population  Structural impediments (funding, concentrated school poverty) reduce the educational outcomes for many Ohio students, impacting the entire state ► A diverse coalitions will be needed to create the political will needed to reform Ohio’s educational structure

Producing Change: An Opportunity Oriented Model of Land Use Policy and Community Development

43 What is the Alternative? ► A number of policies and models could improve the future of Ohio by addressing racial/social inequity and guiding growth and development  Expanding our view of the problem ► Understanding the linkage between Ohio’s urban and rural areas ► Understanding the “linked fate” of all Ohio communities ► Looking at factors outside of land use (ex. Education)  Regional cooperation and regional equity  An opportunity oriented model of development

44 ► Regional efforts must be fair – advocate for equitable investments in all people, in all communities  Combat segregation, isolation, disconnection from opportunity ► Regionalism does not require regional government (municipal consolidation) but requires regional foresight and cooperation  What is the “opportunity cost” of doing nothing? Continued sprawl, disinvestment, economic and educational disparities – all of which make our State unattractive to knowledge workers and companies Regional cooperation and growth

45 Principles for Equitable Regionalism ► The success of equitable regionalism for Cleveland rests on the following principles:  Create and grow communities of opportunity in distressed areas  Work to reduce the destructive, inefficient competition among communities in the State  Cooperatively manage sprawling development so as not to subsidize dysfunctional growth patterns  Improve the educational outlook for all of the State’s children

46 Examples of Smart Growth or Regionalism that Promotes Racial and Regional Equity (1) ► Housing Initiatives  Inclusionary zoning, opportunity based housing, workforce housing ► Growth Control Initiatives  Growth management (that preserves affordable housing in areas of opportunity) ► Tax Sharing Initiatives  Tax base sharing, income tax strategies ► Public Infrastructure Initiatives  Reinvestment in existing communities  Removing subsidies associated with sprawl

47 Examples of Smart Growth or Regionalism that Promotes Racial and Regional Equity (2) ► Transportation Initiatives  Equitable transportation spending, public transit investments ► Public Education Initiatives  Regionalized school districts, economic integration, magnet schools, school mobility  Reducing reliance of property taxes for schools ► Inner City Redevelopment  Land bank programs, increasing homeownership, minority and small business development

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