Greater Ohio Policy Center

09/24/2026

🚨 GOPC + Partners Seek Architect for Pre-approval Plans🚨

GOPC, in partnership with Smart Growth America and is seeking an architect to develop small multi-family and “missing-middle” housing plans for use in Ohio.

These plans should be useable by multiple users, in multiple locations (aka ⭐ “pre-approved”⭐). These plans follow on the success of the single family and duplex plans underwritten by the Ohio REALTORS through the Housing Ohio initiative.

The RFP is here and proposals are due October 6, 2026.

https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/request-for-proposals-pre-approved-housing-plans-for-missing-middle-homes-in-ohio/?fbclid=IwY2xjawUiV8FwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR77niZvS4sz7MUJbs8NIKX7UtumRDJQnqAcQN8CANeyjQ4h0JScYiCGGeM8Mg_aem_itBDNbF1mIfKyFvO22jd7g

Smart growth is an approach to community design that connects housing, transportation, and land use to create healthy, prosperous, and resilient neighborhoods.

09/23/2026

Happy Fall from all of us at GOPC!

Our September Newsletter is now available. Highlights this month include:

+ GOPC Releases “The Economic Benefits of Brownfields” White Paper
+ More Than 200 Attend 2026 Ohio Active Transportation Conference in Dublin
+ GOPC + National Partners Seek Pre-Approval Plans Architect
+ We’re Hiring: Seeking Applicants for Senior Research Associate
+ Revitalizing Ohio: Questions for Candidates in the 2026 Election
+ Staff Profile: Alison Goebel, GOPC Executive Director

Check it out at the link below.

Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) is excited to share our latest white paper, The Economic Benefit of Brownfields: How the Brownfield Remediation Program is Boosting Ohio’s Economy.

09/22/2026

Cincinnati hit an important milestone this week in its quest to pre-approve missing middle housing designs. On September 14th, the city hosted an award ceremony to celebrate the winners of the BuildReady Design Competition, which called for two-, three-, and four-family housing designs that would fit in Cincinnati’s existing neighborhoods.

Cincinnati is one of 12 communities involved in GOPC’s Pre-Approval Network , a cohort of cities developing pre-approved plan programs.

09/21/2026

GOPC seeks a detail-oriented, nimble candidate for a full-time position (40 hours/week) to undertake research, analysis, and project management support. The ideal candidate will have experience collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data and is interested in legacy city issues, such as: neighborhood revitalization, increasing housing quality and options, brownfield site remediation, transit, and increasing active transportation options in Ohio.

09/18/2026

Last month, the The Columbus Dispatch published a story about the history of the Grandview Yard transformation from a blighted brownfield site into a transformative mixed-use district that has reversed a communities downward trend.

GOPC’s Aaron Clapper submitted the below response to the Dispatch which was not published, but we share now celebrating this transformation and the role Ohio’s Brownfield Programs play in remediating similar sites across Ohio.

The success of Grandview Yard demonstrates why Ohio’s current Brownfield Remediation Program matters. Since 2021, the state has committed $900 million to brownfield assessment and cleanup across Ohio.

09/17/2026

🚨 GOPC + Partners Seek Architect for Pre-approval Plans🚨

GOPC, in partnership with Smart Growth America and is seeking an architect to develop small multi-family and “missing-middle” housing plans for use in Ohio.

These plans should be useable by multiple users, in multiple locations (aka ⭐ “pre-approved”⭐). These plans follow on the success of the single family and duplex plans underwritten by the Ohio REALTORS through the Housing Ohio initiative.

The RFP is here and proposals are due October 6, 2026.

Smart growth is an approach to community design that connects housing, transportation, and land use to create healthy, prosperous, and resilient neighborhoods.

09/16/2026

GOPC is hiring for a Senior Research Associate. Applications accepted through October 9, 2026, 9am ET. Please share with your curious, smart, ambitious colleagues.

09/15/2026

Last month, more than 30 community and economic development leaders from across Ohio gathered in Bellefontaine for the Greater Ohio Policy Center’s quarterly Reinvention Cities Network (RCN) Roundtable. GOPC hosted the August 19 gathering, with Small Nation serving as the local host and welcoming Network members to the Syndicate in downtown Bellefontaine.

Learn more today on our blog.

The Reinvention Cities Network is built around the idea that Ohio’s smaller legacy cities have much to learn from one another.

09/10/2026

ICYMI: Preapproved plan programs promise to speed up permitting and lower the cost of building new homes. How do they work—and are they working? Seva Rodnyansky shares findings from a review of more than 40 existing programs, including GOPC's work with Housing Ohio.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-122-an-overview-of-preapproved-building/id1565240355?i=1000787392393

09/09/2026

ICYMI: Last week, GOPC released our latest white paper, "The Economic Benefits of Brownfields: How the Brownfield Remediation Program is Boosting Ohio's Economy."

This paper highlights how the state's nearly one-billion dollar investment in remediating environmentally contaminated site has economic and community benefits at each stage of the process - from assessing and cleaning up sites, to preparation and planning, and into redevelopment.

Learn more on our website!

This paper highlights how the state's nearly one-billion dollar investment in remediating environmentally contaminated site has economic and community benefits at each stage of the process - from assessing and cleaning up sites, to preparation and planning, and into redevelopment.