Marie Walton’s Post

We think it's harder to find affordable housing because it IS harder to find affordable housing. Now more than ever our elected leaders must take action on housing affordability in Ohio. By investing in solutions like expanding rental assistance, building more affordable rental homes for our lowest-income neighbors, and creating an emergency fund to prevent evictions and homelessness during financial hardships, Ohio can effect change on an issue fundamental to our security and well-being.

A year ago, much of our downtown was covered by encampments. People on the streets were sick and tired of being moved along with no place to go, and neighborhoods were eager for solutions. Today, we are one of the only growing cities in the nation without large encampments in our downtown and we have emerged as a national leader in the fight to end unsheltered homelessness by treating people living in encampments with the respect and dignity that we all deserve. This morning we released a one-year report highlighting the progress we’ve made together over the last year. Here are some of the highlights from the report: -1673 people moved indoors from unsheltered homelessness in 12 months -583 people moved into permanent housing from unsheltered homelessness -More than 300 blocks of our city permanently closed to encampments -0 large encampments remaining in downtown Denver There is still plenty of work to do, but I’m grateful to be able to step back and celebrate the amazing progress we have made together in 12 months time. Onwards. Report Link: https://lnkd.in/gBqP357A

A survey of recent developments around central Ohio yields interesting observations of surrounding suburbs. This raises an important question: “What can Worthington do to continue to grow?” Click the link to learn more. https://lnkd.in/dPi2GB2m #buildingworthingtonsfuture #GrowWithBWF

With all of our neighbors making progress pro-actively seeking mixed use development, creating community gathering, and generating tax dollars that pay for public services...its hard to watch this happen all around us. In the meantime our residents assume more taxes for school levies and for a pool we can't afford and don't make the connection. Do we want to be the highest taxed suburb in the city? Worthington is slowly coming to understand that these developments can create sustainability through significant tax revenue(no more tax raises) and add to what we celebrate (architecture with character and community gathering). We just need to tell the world what we want. It doesn't have to be the feared vinyl boxes and franchises. It can be brick, cobblestone, and full of historic character. If you create the vision and set the standard, they will come. We just need to do our part to create the vision and the expectation.

Day 4 of a #sharednarrative for #Plymouth: A city at the edge. We believe that viewing Plymouth as a city on the edge allows us to embrace our past, bringing it forward in a positive manner and tapping into the potential found in the transitional #liminal spaces - amidst our dialogue, between people, and between organisations. Exciting! At the edge geographically, at the edge of the ocean, the edge of the county, in the far south west of the country. Practically, at the edge of power and on the edge (including the forefront) of practice. At the edge of intersecting communities, it holds the strengths and tensions and benefits of being a military, university, and working class city all at once. Historically, it has been a valued friend to #power (see its naval history), a neglected friend (see the Plymouth blitz and its silencing) and also a rebellious enemy (see the Siege of Plymouth) of power. A city of many neighbourhoods, it hosts both prosperity and deprivation in differing forms - indeed, where there may not be material wealth there is often community wealth. Welcomeness, civic action, determination, grit and mutual support are a key part of the city’s social character. This is seen in POP’s membership of 380 active and diverse groups and that 26% of adult residents in Plymouth volunteer at least once per month. Full Plymouth Octopus(POP) narrative: https://buff.ly/4dQZbD1 POP learning and thinking: https://buff.ly/4fZAcPG Dark Matter Labs @Annette https://buff.ly/3YSF4Ac Sky Space Team Development Cic @Jen https://buff.ly/3yMsPK #BEMOREPLYMOUTH #fairer #greener #futurism #regenerativefutures #learning #sharednarrative #plymouth #systemconvening #community #grassroots #funding #grantmaking #collaboration

The only successful tool I have seen churches use to circumvent local zoning, and landmark laws is to employee freedom of religion to assert their rights to carry out their mission while thwarting NIMBY friction. “Churches sometimes have it in their mind that they can build new space for themselves, build affordable housing and generate income,” said Mark Elsdon, cofounder of RootedGood, a Wisconsin-based organization that helps faith-based groups rethink their real estate resources. “Very often, you’re lucky to get one of those. Two would be a huge win. But all three?” “What’s holding up the church-to-housing pipeline? Bluntly, even God’s house has to abide by humankind’s zoning laws. And as more congregations study the idea of converting property, the unique challenges of such projects have become apparent, from lining up financing to overcoming the architectural incompatibility of the buildings themselves.” Why Turning Churches Into Housing Is So Hard https://lnkd.in/gnNdJrmA

Texas is above pre-pandemic housing inventory levels

Part 2 of the zoning blog series is up on our News and Events page! Part 2 focuses on the complicated history of zoning that most people don’t know. Religious and racial restrictions, class, and social conditions all played a part in defining Central Ohio zoning codes. Click the link to read Glennon Sweeney's editorial piece on the history of zoning. https://lnkd.in/gyMxkShc #buildingworthingtonsfuture #growwithbwf

In Atlanta Journal-Constitution, City of Clarkston, GA., Mayor Beverly Burks shares how working with Local Infrastructure Hub helped her city secure federal funding for vital road safety improvements:   “It’s gratifying to see public, private and non-profit sectors work together to help localities such as City of Clarkston, GA make vital infrastructure improvements, starting with safer streets. Without question, better designed and better constructed roads and sidewalks will save people’s lives.    Towns such as Clarkston will always have challenges, and they will never have all the resources and tools we wish we had and that our residents deserve. But we’re finding help from innovative sources, and it is making all the difference. I urge my fellow mayors to do the same.”    Learn more: https://lnkd.in/evGaKh_C

On this Labor Day, more often than not, we are continuing to grapple with shoestring resources that typically accrue for community organizing and capacity building efforts within public agency led processes. All in service of improving and strengthening our cities and regions: better access to food, homes, transit, parks, schools and jobs, stronger adaptation and resilience preparation to the ill effects of climate change and other emergent community needs. It doesn’t have to be this way. As novel examples illustrate well across several community constellations in California alone—Allensworth Progressive Association in Allensworth, 40 x 40 Council in Oakland, Santa Ana Shared Financing Collective in Santa Ana and others—communities are flipping the script and orchestrating the future of their own neighborhoods. When we as communities assert power and articulate our collective visions we can attract resources in abundance. This is no mirage! This is a snapshot of an alternate reality that can be true for more communities and must be a reason to not mourn but celebrate today—the promise held within community’s collective labor. #CommunityVision #CommunityPower #AbundantResources #LaborDay