Local History
About Harrison Ohio
Harrison, Ohio is a small rural city located on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio and located in the Southwest Region of Ohio near the Indiana border. This charming and quaint community is named for the ninth President of the United States, William Henry Harrison and officially became a city in 1891.
An area of approximately four square miles is home to the city's 10,000 residents, and an additional 2,000 residents live in the surrounding Indiana communities that include West Harrison, Logan and Bright.
The city of Harrison is operated by a strong mayor and seven elected council members. Council seats are four year term positions.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The primary source for qualitative demographic analysis was the data collected by the United States Census Bureau in the 2000 Census. The research focused on specific characteristics of the following areas Harrison, Ohio, West Harrison, Logan and Bright Indiana.
In all areas the ranges of age were from 25-34, 35-44 and 45-54 years of age and are clearly the largest portions of the population in all four regions. In each area, over 40% of the population falls into this range with West Harrison showing the greatest proportion at 48.9 percent. The remaining portion of the population is comprised of mostly younger residents, with only 16 percent of the population over the age of 55 in Harrison. The statistics for West Harrison and Bright are similar to those of Harrison, but the remaining population of Logan is split nearly equally between the age ranges of birth to 25 years and over 55 years.
The median age of the residents of Harrison is 32.4 years, well below the state average of 36.4 years. The median age for Bright residents is 34.4 years and for West Harrison residents is 36.3 years, both much closer to the state figure. The median age for Logan residents is 40 years, exceeding the state value.
Since 1990, 60 percent of Harrison residents, 80 percent of West Harrison residents, 55 percent of Logan residents, and 64 percent of Bright residents moved into their current homes. These numbers may also represent residents of the area moving from one home in the one of these locations to another.
Nearly 74 percent of Harrison households, 49 percent of West Harrison households, 10 percent of Logan households, and 84 percent of Bright households were family households in 2000. Approximately 58 percent of the population of Harrison was married in 2000, along with 36 percent of the population in West Harrison, 62 percent of the population in Logan and 70 percent of the population in Bright. Of the family households, 41 percent in Harrison, 25 percent in West Harrison, 29 percent in Logan and 47 percent in Bright had children less than 18 years of age.
Main Street Program History
History of Main Street Program and Four Point Approach
America was built on the strength of Main Street. Unfortunately, during the past century many towns have moved away from the downtown districts that were once at the heart of most communities. These commercial cores are suffering from a complicated cycle of disinvestments; businesses begin to leave the downtown areas, rental rates slip and property owners have less to invest in their buildings oftentimes leaving them vacant for years. Consequently, downtowns often have a dilapidated uncared for appearance making it even harder to attract new businesses to the area. They begin to deteriorate through sheer neglect and abandonment and in general we lose our sense of community.
The National Main Street Program (NMSC) halts the cycle of disinvestments by giving to each community the tools to rejuvenate its own Main Street. Established by the National Trust in 1980, this coast-to-coast movement currently involves more than 1,600 communities nationwide. Together these programs are changing the face of America's downtowns. They have produced billions of dollars in new investments, have rehabilitated countless historic structures destined for demolition, and have brought new life into cities through redevelopment efforts. Main Street programs have helped to create more than 38,000 new businesses and more than 100,000 new jobs for local citizens.
The NMSC accomplishes its mission through the Four Point Approach to Downtown Revitalization. All four components must be part of an integrated downtown revitalization program to succeed.
The Four Points are as follows: Organization, Promotion, Economic Restructuring and Design.
ORGANIZATION
Organization establishes consensus and cooperation by building partnerships among the various groups that have a stake in downtown. This allows the Main Street revitalization program to provide effective, ongoing management and advocacy of the downtown. Diverse groups from the public and private sectors must work together to create and maintain a successful program.
PROMOTION
Promotion aims to create a positive image in downtown in order to rekindle community pride. Promotion seeks to improve retail sales events and festivals in order to attract investors, developers and new businesses.
ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING
Economic Restructuring strengthens downtown's existing economic assets while diversifying its economic base. This is accomplished by retaining and expanding existing businesses to provide a balanced commercial mix, by converting unused or underutilized space into productive property and by sharpening the competitiveness and merchandising skills of downtown business people.
DESIGN
Design takes advantage of the visual opportunities inherent in downtown by directing attention to all its physical elements: public and private buildings, storefronts, signs, public spaces, landscaping, merchandising, displays and promotional materials. Its aim is to stress the importance of quality design in all of these areas, to educate people about quality design and to expedite improvements in the downtown.
