The Center for Community Solutions has published a report which looks at the challenges and opportunities for 47 of Ohio’s so-called “hub small cities,” defined as those cities which are a seat of county government, have a four year college or university, and have a major hospital.
In a section of the report entitled “Big City Problems in Ohio’s Small Towns,” which distills its 63 pages, it shares the following overall findings:
“A quiet crisis is mounting in hub towns across the state, with economic conditions and quality-of-life problems increasingly similar to Ohio’s eight major cities.
Notwithstanding socio-economic disparities and tensions between suburbs and their urban centers, there is a productive symbiosis between them. Suburbs contribute substantially to the vitality and civic capacity of the big cities, which in turn offer amenities on a vast scale. Small hub towns lack anything equivalent to the suburban infusion of workers and capital into the major cities. Rather, they are highly dependent on “old economy” manufacturing jobs and relatively large infusions of public dollars.”
Data reviewed included a focus on employment, income, economic conditions, social and health indicators, and education.
The Center for Community Solutions is a nonpartisan think tank focused on solutions to health, social and economic issues based in Cleveland. The full report can be found here.
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