Farm Management Update

Quarterly Publication of Ohio State University Extension

Winter 2002

Exurban Change Project

The Exurban Change Project provides analysis of economic, social, agricultural, and land use changes of Ohio's regions and localities with a focus on the rural-urban fringe (also called "exurban") areas of the state. The project maintains a web site that provides data, information, and analysis related to demographic and land use change in Ohio intended to aid local communities in their planning and decision making. Specific components of the web site include:

• "Township Tool," which provides data, maps, and graphs on population and land use trends for each township in Ohio by county.
• Downloadable reports on statewide population and land use trends within Ohio. The most recent report details land use and urbanization trends in Ohio. Among the findings include the fact that Ohio ranked second in the nation in total prime agricultural land developed between 1992-97.
• Downloadable datasets, including township population from 1960-2000, land use by township as of the early 1990s, and land use by county for 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997.
• Downloadable presentations prepared by faculty and staff associated with the Exurban Change Project.

The project is co-directed by Jeff Sharp and Elena Irwin, assistant professors in the Departments of Human and Community Resource Development and Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics respectively. The project is supported by OSU Extension, the Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy, and the Agroecosystems Management Program.

For more information, please visit the web site at http://aede.osu.edu/programs/ exurbs or e-mail Elena Irwin at irwin.78@osu.edu.