WHIO Reports on Daytinnati Development
11:30 a.m., Sunday June 7
Guests: Ronald Rohlfing, Board Chair, West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance
Martin Kim, Director of Regional Planning, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission
Martin Russell, Director of the Warren County Port Authority and economic development office
Population trends, 1980 - 2040
Here is a table showing the data from Census (1980 – 2010) and from Ohio Development Services Agency (2010 – 2040 Projection)
1980-2010 2010-2040
(percent)
Butler 42% 17%
Hamilton -8% -2%
Montgomery -6% -9%
Warren 114% 12%
Sources: U.S. Census, Ohio Department of Development Services
The mayors of Cincinnati and Dayton are already collaborating as if the two cities were part of one metropolitan area, stretching at least from Greater Dayton to the Ohio River.
A Cincinnati-Dayton metroplex has yet to materialize, but a joint port authority bond fund — the latest fruit of regional collaboration — was unveiled Friday.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley are part of a group of leaders intent on capitalizing on the growing together taking place along Interstate 75 to establish a partnership to stimulate economic development and smart growth.
“We need to think of ways that we can really partner for southwest Ohio,” Whaley said.
More than a decade ago, such an initiative failed to find traction. Now, Cranley and Whaley are part of a group that includes developers and local leaders from communities in between who are convinced of the merits of regionalism.
While collaborating, the two urban centers and other communities in the region would keep their own identities.
“We can both celebrate our individuality and work together at the same time,” Cranley said.
The region could be called the Cin-Day or Southwest Ohio region or “Daytinnati” for short.
Mayor collaboration
Shortly after their mayoral elections in 2014, Whaley said she made the first move, traveling to Cincinnati to meet with Cranley. Since then, she said she spends a day a month visiting with Cincinnati-area leaders.
“You cannot ignore that Cincinnati is part of our region. You also have to find value with the two urban cores,” Whaley said.
In May, the relationship helped the two cities qualify as one of 12 regions recognized by the federal government as "manufacturing communities" by the U.S. Commerce Department. On Friday, it resulted in creation of the Southwest Ohio Regional Bond Fund.
Funds from the existing Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority bond fund will be combined with those from the Cincinnati Port Authority, creating a lending arm with greater resources to help fund economic development in the region.
“Rather than doing their own, they said, ‘Can we join with you?’” Jerry Brunswick, president of the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority said Friday. “More reserves enhance the credit capacity. We can issue more debt.”
Move to the middle
The latest predictions of a Cincinnati-Dayton Metroplex have come from Yaromir Steiner, founder of Steiner + Associates. Steiner is responsible for planned communities already in place at The Greene in Beavercreek and taking shape at Liberty Center in Butler County.
Using population projections for 2019, Steiner told a group gathered in May for a presentation in Butler County that a Cincinnati-Dayton region would surpass those in Columbus, Indianapolis and Lexington. His maps also included corners of Kentucky and Indiana, as well as areas north of Interstate 70 and east of Cincinnati in Ohio.
While no such metroplex has been designated, a panel gathered for a WHIO Reports segment airing Sunday agreed the region was quickly becoming a practical reality, particularly along I-75.
“It doesn’t really matter how it’s labeled,” said Martin Kim, director of planning for the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. “It’s already there. It’s probably going to accelerate over the next 10 years.”
Kim described an area covering 1,300 square miles in Montgomery, Hamilton, Butler and Warren counties, and he cited 60 years of census data and state projections supporting the merging of the Dayton and Cincinnati regions.
From 1980 to 2010, Warren County’s population grew by 114 percent and Butler County has grown 42 percent, while Hamilton and Montgomery counties shrunk by 8 and 6 percent respectively, according to the U.S. Census.
From 2010 to 2040, Butler and Warren County are projected to continue to grow, 17 and 12 percent respectively, while Hamilton and Montgomery counties are to lose 2 and 9 percent in population, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency.
Kim’s group is the metropolitan planning organization for the Dayton area, while the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Council of Governments oversees regional planning for Greater Cincinnati. Eventually one planning organization could oversee the region, Kim said.
“We shall see,” he said.
It remains unclear if the region will be merged into a single metroplex by the federal government. The designation is based on tables gauging commuting patterns measured through census data and determined by the U.S. Office of Budget and Management standards.
“We should have updated tables coming late this summer,” Virginia Hyer, a public information specialist with census bureau, said in an email this week.
Managing metroplex misgivings
Talk of such a metroplex is hardly new. In 1999, consultant Michael Gallis called Dayton and Cincinnati the next Dallas-Ft. Worth, but efforts to bring together the region stalled.
“There were too many parochial interests,” said William Burleigh, retired chairman, president, and chief executive of the E.W. Scripps Co., who co-chaired the business coalition that commissioned the Gallis report.“Everybody thought it was a good idea in the abstract. When it got down to the details, there wasn’t much interest.”
While supporting regional efforts, Whaley said large developments like The Greene, Liberty Center and Austin Landing had a negative effect on efforts to keep Dayton and Cincinnati vital.
Leaders in Warren and Butler County may find themselves compromising despite their geographic advantage in the interest of regional harmony.
”You may give up some individual preferences,” said Ronald Rohlfing, vice president of operations at West Chester Hospital and chairman of the board of the West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance.
This time, Warren County is ready to help bring everyone together, according to Martin Russell, director of the Warren County Port Authority and the county Economic Development Office.
“You have to start with small things,” said Russell, a former trustee in Butler Twp., Montgomery County.”“We have tremendous options we can market to folks.”
Staff writer Chelsey Levingston contributed to this report.
About the Author
