Communications

02 Jul: So What Did the Business As Usual Scenario Tell Us?

During our 1st round of Workhops, we presented the Business As Usual Scenario.  The question the Business As Usual Scenario poses is: “What will happen over the next 27 years if Northeast Ohio just keeps doing what it has been doing?” Our projection of “big picture” trends from 2010-2040 for Northeast Ohio show: Population – Northeast Ohio will experience 2.4% growth in population across its 12 counties, which equals 3,100 net new residents in the region each year. Employment – Northeast Ohio will experience 6.2% growth in employment across the 12 counties, which equals 3,600 net new jobs in the region each year. Northeast Ohio’s land usagewill change: 121,500 acres will be used for new parks and land conservancy. 92,500 acres will be used for new development. 77,100 acres of property will be abandoned. What does the Business As Usual Scenario tell us? Northeast Ohio is on pace to abandon…

19 Jun: Help us spread the word about Imagine MyNEO!

As part of Imagine MyNEO, we are launching a engagement challenge: myVibrant5. After you complete Imagine MyNEO you will be given the option to join the myVibrant5 challenge. The challenge will feature a leaderboard indicating those participants that have invite the most friends to play and complete Imagine MyNEO. A dynamic leader board identifying the the top 5 participants will be featured on vibrantneo.org. Check out the presentation below for more information.

14 Jun: “Business as Usual” Workshops: Initial Review and Results Presented to Board

Over a three day period (April 30 – May 2) nearly 600 individuals participated in our Business As Usual Workshops.  The sessions focused on a presentation of the Business As Usual Scenario, instant polling and a mapping exercise to engage attendees in a discussion about how the region should look going forward. You can access a video from our Akron Workshop here. Below you will find some of the results from the first Workshop Series.  We have included an overall summary of the workshop results, a closer look at how different development typologies were utilized during the mapping exercise and a library of all of the maps created by workshop attendees. Summary of Thematic Feedback and Table Notes During the mapping exercise, we encouraged attendees to take notes about ideas and concerns at each table.  This document is a record of the notes taken by volunteer note-takers during the mapping exercise conducted at…

15 May: Products: What is Working / What is Needed

Building Northeast Ohio’s future As part of the Vibrant NEO initiative NEOSCC is developing action products that focus on implementing, supporting, and highlighting current best practices and creating new tools, policy recommendations, and pilot projects that turn the Vibrant NEO vision into reality. There are a number of great projects, policies, and tools used in Northeast Ohio and we would like to know about them. While many challenges have unique elements based on your situation, often these same challenges have been analyzed and addressed in other parts of the region. That’s where NEOSCC can help! WHAT IS WORKING? The purpose of the “What is Working” request is so we can identify and organize great projects, policies, and tools into a user-friendly list on our website. If you know of a project, policy, or tool currently being used in Northeast Ohio, PLEASE CLICK HERE. Thanks!         WHAT IS NEEDED? The…

06 May: Imagine MyNEO! Teaser: Survey Results from EarthFest 2013

NEOSCC is proud to have participated in this year’s new and improved EarthFest, hosted by Earth Day Coalition at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. As part of our exhibition at EarthFest, we hosted a short three-question survey that previewed some of the decisions Northeast Ohio residents will be faced with in our upcoming online game focused on scenario planning.  This Summer, NEOSCC will be launching an on-line engagement tool entitled Imagine MyNEO! that is based on an the open source software, Crowd Gauge. Imagine MyNEO! will allow the entire region to share their priorities with the Vibrant NEO process. In this survey, participants were first asked to describe the community they live in as urban, suburban, or rural. Next, they were prompted to identify up to three sustainability issues that they feel are important for the region. Lastly, they were asked to select what kind of Northeast Ohio they would like to live in, based…

02 Apr: Imagine MyNEO!

In May, NEOSCC will be launching an on-line engagement tool entitled Imagine MyNEO! Based on an open source software called Crowd Gauge, Imagine MyNEO! will allow the entire region to share their priorities with the Vibrant NEO process. As an introduction to the new tool, we have included an article by Sarah Madden of Sasaki Associates (our Scenario Planning consultant).  It includes background about the creation of the tool and some examples of its previous use. Gauge the values, priorities and preferences of the crowd. by Sarah Madden, Sasaki Associates Web-based technology can help planners promote literacy about planning issues and increase public engagement. We already deploy sophisticated data analysis and modeling tools, but many of these tools are more suitable for back-of-house number crunching than for interactive public engagement. This divide between tools for technicians and tools for engagement is significant:  despite all of the public- and client-facing communication work we do, few…

21 Mar: City of Elyria Fair Housing Board sponsoring Fair Housing Conference on April 4

Speakers include: Marija Georgievski, Executive Director, Lake Erie Landlord Association (Landlord Best Practices) Dennis Muzilla, Manager, First Federal Savings & Loan of Lorain (Compliance with Fair Lending Practices) Mindy Wright, Housing Manager, Lorain County Urban League (Foreclosure Counseling 101) Emily C. White, Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland (Rent to Own:  Beware of Scams)