REGISTRATION OPEN! Vibrant NEO Workshops

A significant component of NEOSCC’s leadership are the four Metropolitan Planning Organizations in Northeast Ohio. What is a Metropolitan Planning Organization? You can find out in the following presentation – NEOSCC_Overview_101_What is an MPO.  Here is some quick background:   NEOSCC and the Vibrant NEO 2040 planning process includes the following MPO’s and their county jurisdictions: Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) – Portage and Summit Counties Eastgate Regional Council of Governments – Mahoning and Trumbull Counties Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Area (NOACA) – Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties Stark County Regional Planning Commission and the Stark County Area Transportation Study (SCATS) – Stark County The two other counties Ashtabula and Wayne County that are part of the Vibrant NEO 2040 effort are covered through Councils of Governments.  This is a topic that will be covered soon in the Vibrant Daily. As part of their planning process, the MPO’s…

  As a partner, supporter and/or member of NEOSCC, you have likely heard us mention our new Conditions and Trends Platform (CAT), an online tool designed to help Northeast Ohioans understand, talk about and contribute to the future of our region. We are very excited about the potential of this tool, and we need your help to make sure it gets seen and shared. We are relying on you and your fellow NEOSCC supporters to help spread the word about the Conditions and Trends platform to your colleagues, friends and family across the region. We’ve made it easy for you; in the attached Toolkit, you will find several components designed to help you talk about and share the Conditions and Trends Platform with your networks, in person and especially online.     Conditions and Trends Toolkit: What It Is and How to Use It NEOSCC’s Conditions and Trends Platform (CAT)…

AMATS, the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, is one of the four Metropolitan Planning Organizations involved in Vibrant NEO 2040 that we discussed in our post last week.  One of their many initiatives is the Connecting Communities program which “is designed to provide communities with funding to develop transportation plans that will lead to the identification of projects eligible for AMATS funds.” The Connecting Communities grant program was a recommendation from  AMATS’s Connecting Communities Planning Initiative (link is to a large pdf file) in 2010.   The purpose of Connecting Communities – A Guide to Integrating Land Use and Transportation is to promote a region that balances environmental, social and economic concerns by improving coordination between land use and transportation. Connecting Communities utilizes a regional planning process to explore strategies to increase transportation choices and accessibility, help communities make collaborative, informed decisions to coordinate development, reduce environmental impacts and improve regional connectivity….

The image above is part of the  Vibrant NEO 2040 presentation that will be presented today at the first in a series of meetings with Northeast Ohio’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations/Council of Governments Board of Directors.  This morning at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), we will be discussing the overall status of the project, the upcoming scenario planning process, project outcomes/products and engagement. This conversation will be followed by brief roundtable discussions on four of our work streams:  Economic Development, Environment, Connections and Housing and Communities.   Utilizing the findings from the Conditions and Trends Platform, we hope to engage local leaders in exploring the following: What do these findings mean to you and your community? What do these findings mean to the region? What else do you need to know about your community? What else do you need to know about Northeast Ohio? Over the course of the next…

Northeast Ohio has a story. Help us tell it. You are an expert on your piece of Northeast Ohio. No one else knows your experiences better than you. As part of the Vibrant NEO 2040 initiative, we want to tell stories about what makes Northeast Ohio such an extraordinary place to call home. Through these stories we can all have a better sense of what we need to create a more vibrant, resilient and sustainable present and future Northeast Ohio. MyVibrantNEO wants you! In fact, it IS you! What do you love about our region? What needs work? We started the MyVibrantNEO campaign to help connect Northeast Ohioans as part of a conversation about what makes each community great, and what could make each community better. Visit MyVibrantNEO to learn more.

Across the state of Ohio, communities are utilizing shared services to improve their operations and reduce costs. Learn more about these opportunities at the upcoming  Shared Services Expo on November 27 at Ideastream from 8:00 to 2:30. The program will highlight successful shared services programs and provide practical advice to those interested in collaborative shared service projects. Keynote speakers include Former U.S. Senator George Voinovich, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald and Controlling Board President and Policy Advisor Randy Cole. Interested in finding out what shared service collaborations are already underway in the region before the Expo? Check out EfficientGovNetwork, a sponsor of the Expo, for details. Preregistration required due to limited capacity. Registration is $50, and includes a continental breakfast, box lunch and conference materials. For more information What Can I Do Today? Act: Register to attend Countryside Conservancy’s Exploring the small farm dream Event on November 19 Act: Attend the Cleveland…

As a conclusion to the first half of our 12 Counties in 12 Months program, NEOSCC will be taking our board meeting to Summit County on Tuesday, November 27.  This will cap a six month tour of Mahoning, Lorain, Stark, Cuyahoga, Ashtabula and Summit.  To avoid potential weather difficulties in the winter months, we will be restarting the tour in April with the remaining six counties.  NEOSCC counts many organizations as part of our board member organizations: the City of Akron, Summit County, Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS), Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, Akron Urban League, Summit County Health District and NEFCO. Prior to the meeting, Summit County leaders will introduce NEOSCC board members to local assets and successful projects via a bus tour. While traveling around the county, the group will discuss the Summit Lake Community Center, Bridgestone, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the University Park Alliance, The Austen BioInnovation…

Eastgate Council of Regional Governments, a NEOSCC Board Member, and the Western Reserve Independent Living Center (WRILC) are working together to help improve the delivery of transportation services and options for older adults, and persons with disabilities. The WRILC is a non-profit community based non-residential center dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities. The two surveys below will help with the four-county coordinated transportation network. Download the surveys for a chance to win a drawing that is sponsored by the WRILC. To take the transportation provider survey, please click here. To take the transportation services survey, please click here. Interested in more information on Eastgate, access their newsletter here.   What Can I do Today? Learn: Discover our Digi-NEO Gallery of Facts about NEO Act: Become a member of the Conditions and Trends Platform and let us know what you think about our findings Act: Attend our Board Meeting in Summit County

NEOSCC counts numerous Public Housing Authorities among its membership.  Shawna Daugherty of Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority prepared a NEO 101 Series presentation on “What is a Public Housing Authority?” to educate our board on the different aspects of PHA’s.  Here are a few facts: Public Housing Authorities (PHA)provide housing and rental assistance to low-income families through two programs: Public Housing With this method, the PHA owns and manages properties. Approximately 1.2 million families reside in public housing around the country. Properties range from single family homes to high-rise apartments. Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) This method allows families to use a voucher anywhere a landlord is willing to accept it. The housing authority will subsidize the rent and utilities. Voucher programs serve about 3 million families nationwide. Beyond these core services, PHA’s offer a variety of ancillary community services in support of their housing developments. There are a number of community partners…

In The Plain Dealer yesterday, Hunter Morrison, NEOSCC Executive Director and Jason Segedy, NEOSCC Board Chair contributed a guest column, “Finding the tools to keep Northeast Ohio’s future bright”,  to the Forum section discussing NEOSCC, the Conditions and Trends Platform and Vibrant NEO 2040.  Here is an excerpt from the piece: Admit it: You love Northeast Ohio. You love the people, or the history, the museums, the food, or the parks and the sports. For all of us, there are aspects of our region about which we are proud, unique qualities that make it a great place to live. We all want to see the things that we love about Northeast Ohio thrive and grow, just as we would like to see the challenges facing our region addressed and put behind us. The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium works to help residents preserve and build upon what we value, and to fix…

As part of the Vibrant NEO 2040 planning process, NEOSCC is conducting a regional analysis of impediments to fair housing choice (often called a Regional AI).  Western Economic Services –  is helping us craft a useful Regional AI for all of the communities in our 12-county region. Working with Western Economic Services, we have created two surveys to help gauge the status of fair housing in our communities.  If you are involved in the housing industry please take some time to complete the survey. Links to the two surveys, one for government officials and one for housing stakeholders can be found below.  Our definition of “housing stakeholders” are people like an advocate/ service provider, banking/ finance, construction/ development, condo or homeowner association leader, insurance, law/ legal services, property management, real estate, or resident advisory council leader. Government Officials Survey Housing Stakeholders Survey Please fill out the most appropriate survey and…

Hello and Welcome to the November issue of Vibrant NEO! Thanks for your continued interest in NEOSCC and the Vibrant NEO 2040 Initiative. As we near the end of 2012, there is plenty Vibrant NEO 2040 activity around Northeast Ohio. We are in process of finalizing the selection of a planning firm to assist with development of the Vibrant NEO 2040 vision and framework.  A few facts about the planning process: Who will be involved in the planning process? We will be engaging stakeholders throughout the region through different ways and methods. How will the planning process be conducted? We will be conducting regional engagement using a scenario planning process that creates a shared vision. What is our objective? We are focused on developing a framework to create a more vibrant, resilient and sustainable Northeast Ohio. NEOSCC has also launched its regional analysis of impediments to fair housing choice study. In our engagement efforts we…

If you live in the Greater Akron and are interested in joining a growing sustainability network, you might want to check out the upcoming Greater Akron Innovation Network for Sustainability (GAINS) meeting. GAINS was launched over the last year.  The first meeting was inspired by a handful of people who are active and passionate local business owners and community members that knew each other through an organization called Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S). From the organization’s Facebook page, membership is for… Anyone who wants to be part of a growing network of people who care about what happens in regards to our environment and healthy community living. We want to help our Greater Akron area grow sustainably and to make smart decisions moving into the future. We are people who want to contribute, lend a hand, offer experienced insight, and have a good time while we do it. To find out more about this growing sustainability network attend its upcoming meeting…

“iNaturalist is a place where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world.” iNaturalist (http://www.inaturalist.org/) is a smartphone and web-based data gathering program designed to provide an ecological learning and teaching platform for amateur and professional naturalists alike. The world is full of naturalists and many hikers, hunters, birders, and beachcombers record their observations of the environment around them. If the record of observations is comprehensive enough, it may be possible for scientists and land managers to monitor changes in biodiversity, and allow anyone to use the comprehensive record of life to learn more about nature. A comprehensive record of nature is the primary purpose of iNaturalist. According to its website, iNaturalist began as the Master’s final project of Nate Agrin, Jessica Kline, and Ken-ichi Ueda at the University of California-Berkeley’s School of Information in 2008. Nate and Ken-ichi continued…

The Drive to 500! 2013 promises to be an amazing time for the Vibrant NEO effort and Northeast Ohio. In getting ready for the coming year, we are making an end of year Drive to 500 Facebook Likes. (I actually think we can get quite a bit more!) Share it with your friends throughout the region. You can like us here… Vibrant NEO on Facebook Our social media footprint includes the following different channels to keep up with our work Pinterest – our developing pins of great images and assets throughout the region Linked In – our growing business network featuring Vibrant NEO 2040 news as well as items submitted by members. Twitter  – our daily outreach through events, partners and dig-neo facts Facebook – our community and organization outreach and photos You Tube – our board and engagement video library What Can I Do Today? Act: Participate in the…