Revitalizing First Suburbs: A Manager's Manual

Problems generally associated with the inner city—loss of population, declining commercial activity, increasing poverty, deindustrialization, declining property values, blight, and increased crime—are manifesting with increasing frequency and severity in America’s first suburbs. Findings of research in Hamilton County, Ohio, show that a decade after the end of the 2008 Recession, the recovery among Hamilton County’s first suburbs has been incredibly uneven. This report introduces the challenges faced by first suburbs, provides tools to assess the state of a community, and offers strategies for local government managers to address these challenges in their own community.

In this Leading Edge Research report, ICMA Research Fellow Tom Carroll builds a compelling case on the condition of America's first suburbs by examining the Cincinnati, Ohio, region and urges first suburban leaders to take actions to reverse—or at the very least arrest—the spreading decline of first suburbs.