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 In profile is the Urban Affairs Center (UAC) at the University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio. The Center is an applied research unit of the University of Toledo and a member of the Ohio Urban University Program, whose mission is to support efforts to enhance the quality of urban life with an emphasis on the northwest Ohio region. UAC pursues its mission by combining its resources with those of the University of Toledo, the Ohio Urban University Program, and appropriate community partners to identify issues, needs and problems facing the region.
UACs activities include academic and applied research, technical assistance and training, community service and education, database development and maintenance, and the publication and distribution of research findings. Some specific services offered by the Center include the following:
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Data and information services. UAC provides data and mapping services, translates data sets into usable formats for statistical analysis by faculty and students, and posts U.S. Census Bureau data on its website to enable local nonprofits and others to examine the local context.
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Toledo Metronet. UAC provides technical assistance to nonprofit organizations seeking to establish and maintain an Internet presence and houses their websites on a server known as Toledo Metronet.
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City Internships. UAC oversees graduate students who assist members of the Toledo City Council in their duties.
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Urban University Program. The Ohio Urban University Program (UUP), of which UAC is a participating member, produces a series of reports on the State of Ohios urban regions addressing such issues as employment trends, public health, land use, criminal justice, demographics, environment, education, transportation, and governance. UAC posts and maintains its reports released since 2000 on its website, as well as abstracts of reports published from 1982 to 1999.
In the arena of Urban and Regional Planning, UAC is working with numerous regional organizations through the Metro Toledo Smart Growth Partnership. This participation (1) ensures inner-city representation in creating a regional agenda, and (2) promotes Toledo as the core city of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan and thus fundamental to the regions overall health and competitiveness. Additionally, UAC sponsors the work of Minnesota State Senator Myron Orfield and his associates at the Metropolitan Area Research Corporation in using 2000 Census data and other sources to identify the extent and impact of sprawl in the Toledo MSA. Finally, UAC works through a regional Growth Strategies Council on various land use and planning issues.
UACs regional economic development work inlcudes a study of the ability of existing firms in Northwest Ohio to effectively participate in the establishment of a bio-fuel sector and on the vitality of the photovoltaic industry in the area; an exploration of the viability and implications of creating a wireless information technology district (or fifth portinformationalong with air, sea, land, and rail) in downtown Toledo, exploiting population and business density to lure new businesses and enhance downtown economic vitality; and an examination of the effect of sprawl in Northwest Ohio on tillable land andpotentiallyhow reduced agricultural output affects the economic viability of the Port of Toledo (sea, land and air) and other agricultural production, transit and processing firms in the Toledo Area.
The foregoing is but a brief summary of UACs activities. For more information on the Urban Affairs Center, visit their website at
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