Ohio Metropatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability

Abstract:     
This research identifies the suburban typology of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown through a study of the social and fiscal disparities within these six Ohioan metropolitan areas. Municipal tax base and other demographic data, such as poverty rates measured at the school-level, are used to show wide variations in the capacities of suburban municipalities to provide local public services. The results show that 75 percent of residents in these six metropolitan areas in Ohio live in municipalities that either show clear signs of current fiscal and social stress or are at-risk of such difficulties in the near future. A range of regional fiscal, planning, and governance reforms are also evaluated.

Keywords: Ohio, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, Youngstown, metropolitan, land use, planning structural reform, polarization, governmental reform, regional equity, infrastructure, sprawl, transportation

JEL Classifications: E61, E62, H20, H71, H73, I22, J10, O10, O20, R10

Working Paper Series