have you seen this doghouse?

My doghouse went missing a few weeks back and I thought I might as well post a picture of it! It stands about 3 feet tall and has an authentic standing seam roof. It would have taken two people to carry this away. If you see it, let me know.

land bank

The term "land bank" has been causing some confusion recently because of state legislation enabling counties to establish bond-supported land bank programs. Intially started in Cuyahog County, the legislation is now being extended by lowering the population threshold for counties to qualify, which will include Richland County.

The confusion arises when any use of the term "land bank" is assumed to refer to this legislation. But any group, organization, or individual who purposely buys property to secure, hold, and maintain for future redevelopment is going to think of their own activity as land banking, and label it accordingly.

Even with the current extension of the enabling legislation to Richland County, there are no plans in the works to establish such a program here. However there are local entities, including Downtown Mansfield Inc., already moving toward this basic approach to managing the current housing and preservation issues.

More up to date information on Ohio's land bank legislation and much more can be found on Greater Ohio's blog.

plain dealer article by richard moe

There's an excellent article in this morning's Plain Dealer by guest collumnist Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Rightsizing Shrinking Cities...