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Mr. Wood's Editorial |
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Pacman
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612 |
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Posted: Jan 31 2010 at 8:36am |
Merrell Wood: Despite woes, Middletown a great place to live4:01 PM Friday, January 29, 2010
Middletown is in trouble. Homes and business have been lost. Good paying jobs have gone away as well as the people who worked them. Unemployment has hit double digits and many folks have lost confidence in our city’s ability to deal with this crisis. Ours is not unlike many other communities caught up in the extraordinary paradigm shift in the structure of the traditional workplace. New solutions must be found to recover and prosper in this “re-set” of our national economy. What was then is not now and will never be again. In general, when it comes to jobs, our community is looked upon as a dirty industrial town. The unfortunate perception is that there are too many low-skilled people living in the area for anything more than a labor-intensive business to locate here. Although better schools and smoother streets may be important to improving Middletown’s prospects for renewal, we may never return to the boomtown of employment our city once enjoyed. Regrettably, too few of our high school graduates who leave for higher education ever return to find hometown jobs that match their qualifications. According to the Wall Street Journal, “between 1980 and 2000, the population of metropolitan areas where less than 10 percent of adults had college degrees in 1980, grew on average by 13 percent. Among metropolitan areas where more than 25 percent of adults had college degrees, the average population growth rate was 45 percent.” Unemployment today, as in previous recessions, is strongly linked to our nation’s manufacturing sector which appears to slowly be moving overseas. Aside from climate, a city’s skill mix can be one of the most important factors of its success. This has been an advantage to the cities that have done well over the past few decades and a curse to those cities with less skilled workers which have suffered urban decline. Many cities that bounce back do so by working in harmony with smart entrepreneurs to discover new or unique ways to redefine themselves. If others can do it, why can’t we? In a world where perception is everything and everything is perception, the last thing we need is for Middletown to be defined as that “sink hole” on Interstate 75. For too long, Middletown was an island unto itself where all the jobs necessary for prosperity could be found at home. When the inevitable tide of urban expansion from our neighbors to the north and south began, little was done to engage that wave of change. Outsiders be damned. We were a company town and 25 years later we’re still paying for the short-sighted sins of our city fathers. As our name implies, we are a “town in the middle” which finds itself smack-dab in the center of one of the fastest growing regions of Ohio. Considering the location, it’s hard to understand why we’ve not had more success in capturing our share of that prosperity. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of our city borders and lacking any shovel-ready industrial sites with infrastructure in place, Middletown doesn’t seem to hold many cards in the game of regional politics and commercial real estate development. However, a city is not unlike any other consumer product. People choose to invest because they believe it offers good value for their money. Let us not forget that Middletown is still a place that offers good value based upon its quality of health care, parks and recreation, performing and fine arts, senior services and affordable homes. It’s a great place to live, regardless of whether you work here or not. When our city’s new economic development folks are out there doing their best to bring new employers to our city, why can’t they also campaign to bring new residents to Middletown solely based upon our community’s great location and quality of life? One is not required to work in a city in order to enjoy living there. When my family moved here 20 years ago, it was about living in a city with a great number of residential resources that Middletown still enjoys today. I worked in Dayton and my wife in Cincinnati. My commute was less an hour and hers was more. Today, those same jobs are located just down the road in West Chester Twp. and Springboro. Living in one place and working in another was common then and is more so today. Why not make one ingredient in the recipe for Middletown’s renewal about recruiting future residents who work elsewhere but do so within a practical distance to and from our city? Aren’t some of the key reasons where people choose to call home based upon the location of their job, the quality of the community and the value of their time? Why shouldn’t we make more of an effort to recruit those who commute? I would think our city could benefit from a new generation of blue- or white-color workers. As for me, I will always believe that how and where I live is more important than where I work.
Merrell Wood is chairman of the Middletown Park Board and the founder of Middletown Habitat for Humanity, TV Middletown and the Sink Or Swim pool campaign. |
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Pacman
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612 |
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Mr. Wood at what point does the city tackle the woe's. Middletown's Rep is well know in the surrounding areas. Everything from excessive Poverty, a poor performing school system, excessive Section 8, Leadership which has not been leading in the right direction for quite a while, businesses are closing or leaving town, etc., etc., you know the usual list of woe's that most of the the city leaders and you tend to gloss over and relegate to the lets not talk about them. If you don't tackle the issues why would people who work in Dayton, Cinci, W, Chester, etc. want to live here?
Merrel you state:
"When my family moved here 20 years ago, it was about living in a city with a great number of residential resources that Middletown still enjoys today. I worked in Dayton and my wife in Cincinnati. My commute was less an hour and hers was more. Today, those same jobs are located just down the road in West Chester Twp. and Springboro. Living in one place and working in another was common then and is more so today."
"Let us not forget that Middletown is still a place that offers good value based upon its quality of health care, parks and recreation, performing and fine arts, senior services and affordable homes. It’s a great place to live, regardless of whether you work here or not."
Unfortunately Merrell new residents are looking for a bit more than Parks, Recreation, performing and fine arts, senior services and affordable housing. This is 2010, times have changed unfortunately Middletown has not changed with the times, it has digressed to the point where the only new residents we get are the poor, the poverty stricken. Wake up Middletown.
Unfortunately we are not living in the 1990's anymore:
Middle Class residents want and demand:
a good school system
low crime
modern housing stock
up to date infrastructure
progressive leadership
leadership that is responsive to the needs of the city and it's residents
not to be the Section 8 Capital of Ohio
low poverty
a City that does not rely solely on HUD/FEDERAL Funding for everything it does.
at Least the basic amenities and entertainment spots for its children and residents.
Merrell people want at least the basics and whether I can go to the park or not is not high on the list. The city needs to attract Middle Class residents to survive it is as simple as that and they are not so easy to attract with just parks, performing arts and senior services.
You need tax paying citizens to make a go of it Merrell and city leaders. Residents that have incomes at 30% of the median income will not support a city. Retirees that pay no income taxes won't either. This may sound harsh but it is a fact of life in Ohio. Middle income residents are what makes a city tick. The sooner Middletown wakes up to this fact the sooner it will recover. The sooner Middletown deals with the woe's which they have created and neglected for far to long the sooner we will see an improvement.
Merrell do us all a favor write about how to tackle the woe's of Middletown, not just your Rosy view of how Middletown was 20-30 years ago. Write about how to fix:
The schools system
deal with excessive section 8
deal with the poverty issue
businesses closing or leaving town
crime that is on the increase
infrastructure that is crumbling
leadership which needs to become more aggressive
declining tax revenues
etc., etc., etc.
You deal with these issues and the Parks, performing and fine arts, senior services, affordable housing will take care of itself, it is the main woe's that need to be dealt with and improved on in order for Middletown to have any chance of surviving.
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VietVet
MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Mr. Wood is correct in many statements he made in his article. The city needed to be re-tooled 30 years ago from a paper/steel town to a more diversified tech town. It is a shame that the city leaders of the past didn't act on the suggestions that we not put "all our eggs in one basket" continuing to rely on paper and steel. It wasn't like they weren't aware of the situation. I, myself, wrote about diversification in the 80's and personally handed a copy to then city commissioner Bill Donham right behind the wall in Council Chambers before the start of a meeting. I also sent a copy to Letters To The Editor and still have the article clipped from the Journal. The city leaders were advised in plenty of time that they needed to guide and prepare the town for change from industrial to tech, but failed to act on the numerous suggestions that were given to them more than 25 years ago. Now, we have what you see. A town full of low paying, low skill industrial park jobs along with low paying service oriented jobs done by low skill level people living in a downtrodden town offering no opportunities for the residents to advance their standard of living.
A combination of poor planning years ago from the people we trusted to run the city correctly and the current crop of people intent on driving the last stake into the heart of the city with their dam Section 8/welfare/HUD/ghetto/slum creating programs and we have a lethal combination of past and present leaders who haven't a clue as to what this city really needs to direct it toward proper growth. A sad epitaph for a once proud "All-American" city. Just as with the schools, the city needs a purge of personel and a new agenda and direction. Won't happen until we remove the cancer that is the current administration and replace them with people who are intelligent enough to redirect this town with a complete change in venue. If we don't turn the Council and the personel in the city building over in the near future, we are set to continue the downward spiral. |
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Nelson R. Self
MUSA Citizen Joined: Oct 03 2009 Status: Offline Points: 279 |
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Good Morning Pacman & Viet Vet -
As recently as 2008 the City of Middletown had a very successful HOME OWNERSHIP PROMOTION Program. It included:
1) widely advertised monthly home buyer education classes held on weekday evenings at the Municipal Building;
2) pre-purchase "one-on-one home buyer counseling" services provided by two non-profit organizations operating in Middletown;
3) a HUD-funded Down Payment & Closing Cost Assistance Program that attracted younger working families to purchase homes in all four wards of the City;
4) promotion of decent, affordable home ownership opportunities at numerous civic events including "Middletown Board of REALTORS Home Ownership Fair" and the Multi-Cultural Festival at Douglass Park; and,
5) an open, effective working partnership with respected local real estate and mortgage banking professionals.
Beginning in 2009, the City Manager's priorities eliminated staff who did not "sing her song" and promoted a housing code enforcement blitzkrieg plus an expanded residential property demolition initiative. As a result, the 60 moderate-income first-time home buyers that were assisted in 2008 dropped precipitously to 20 plus in 2009.
The declaration of Middletown in 2009 as a 54% HUD Low- to Moderate-Income Community by Doug Adkins also sent quite a dubious message to Middletonians plus other nearby cities and towns as well.
Certain senior City staff need to understand that Middletown is not Pickerington or Mason as much as they wished it were!
A community cannot address declining percentages of home ownership and the outmigration of moderate- to middle-income households by focusing on other programs.
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acclaro
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878 |
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Mr. Wood, although i enjoy your eloquence in your writing style, I always find an insatiable hunger for the point you attempt to make, as it is many times, repetitive and lacking in concrete messaging. Middletown's problems have been in existence for years. it has been an entitled city that has been on a consistent path for reactive thought and performance for at least one if not two generations.
You espouse its is a great place to live? Why? Because the value of property has declined to such outragously low levels? because for $25.00 every other day, one can commute to a position on Vine Street in Cincinnati while wasting 1.5 hrs daily? Because the streets are in dismay and crumbles, and the school system cannot retain a superintendant, and has to go outside the state to recruit an assistant superintendant, to cheer-lead a levey on a horrifically performing school system?
I'm infuriated with Middletown and its complete incompetence and entitlement that has driven this city over the edge of collapse and failure. The former economic director who knew very well, Neil Barelle, about burnt the city building down falling asleep in his office, that paradign has not changed, as others since are asleep at the wheel, thinking extinguishment of billboards and the relocation of Bishop Fenwick and the hospital, as well as AK executive leadership, was a minor impediment easily overcome.
I'm disgusted to read the "talk down" rubbish associated with school board members who waste $250,000 on a feeble attempt to take Franklin's land, and then fire the superintendant (while offering a year's pay), to find another. Many of these board members have been serving 3-4 terms, just like Mr. Schiavone, who in his tenure appeared clueless as to what was transpiring in Middletown. Now we all hear the shallow cries of the city has a bright future, when nothing has reflected anything which one could rejoice in the city's blight. To be sure, I am disgusted, angry, and at a point to cut my losses, dump the house, and get the hell out of this failing town on its way to being a ghost town.
Finally Mr. Wood, re-evaluate your numbers. Ohio is shrinking in population and industry and is among the top 10 states in the nation in taxation. If you think the intersection of Dayton and Cincinnati is within reach, perhaps in 5 years, you aren't looking forward and have the same problem those running the city have had for 30 years or more. That is, recognizing the paradigm that people are moving south, east to SC, Ga, and Florida, and west to Texas. That includes companies Mr. Wood, including NCR now embarking on re-establishing itself in Georgia.
While you may enjoy an evening of fine wine and shrimp scampi at Stefano's to satisfy your quality of life needs, for the bulk of us, we recognize the city for what it ism and what it has become with no promise, vision, nor leadership, to set it on a path towards improvement. Indeed, its getting worse, not better.
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spiderjohn
Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749 |
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acclaro is often very hard, however I think that he pretty much nailed this situation.
I have heard enough about nice parks.
If parks were that important, then we would be on top of the world.
We do have wonderful parks, however many of them are seriously under-utilized.
We can't even keep one nice area swimming pool full and open during the summer months unfortunately.
The community pitched together for the last 3-year run(thanx again to AK Steel), however I don't see a repeat of that effort.
Plenty of arts and culture?
Are we in the same town?
I see a symphony that draws poorly from a shrinking elderly upscale crowd.
I see an arts/music/lecture series at the local campus that is poorly attended because the featured choices don't connect with anyone , while being poorly promoted.
There is no club music scene any more.
The "Arts District" honestly doesn't exist.
Still--we come down to too few having to pay the load for too many.
The lines on the chart don't intersect in the proper manner.
We have been sitting in that "golden spot" between Cincy and Dayton(dead dead dead) with no meaningful growth for far too long.
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Bill
MUSA Citizen Joined: Nov 04 2009 Status: Offline Points: 710 |
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Aside from being a bit of a buffoon, Wood writes as if he has his eye on the next council seat and doesn't want to derail his political aspirations.
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