The Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG) was recently recognized by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO).
Their project, “Housing inventory and property maintenance code review” inventoried all 2,960 homes in Marshfield, Missouri.
SMCOG was one of only three Missouri organizations to receive the 2018 NADO Innovation Award.
About the project
Simon Nogin, a planner at SMCOG, led the effort. He and two planning interns looked at the exteriors of each home to assess their characteristics. Each home took just over a minute to digitally record.
This project had many benefits.
Benefits for Marshfield
Marshfield was able to have concrete data compiled about their homes at little cost to the city.
What SMCOG found was that many starter homes that were built 50 years or more ago are in disrepair.
“These homes are often the only affordable housing option for low-income residents, but because the quality of the homes has so drastically deteriorated, these structures continue to entrap residents in a cycle of poverty,” Nogin said.
This is not unique to Marshfield. It’s true of every American city.
With this data, Marshfield can better apply for grants. They can also use the data to allocate money for revitalization projects. SMCOG also gave recommendations on how to utilize and revitalize the homes in disrepair to better the community.
“By taking an inventory of every single housing structure in a community, creating a database for city staff to use, creating maps and a document for city staff to reference, this gives a community the tools they need to begin to manage this problem of properties that are in disrepair,” Nogin said.
An added benefit of this project was SMOCG was able to give data to 911 operators about residential address issues and physical house number issues. This will make these homes easier to find in case of emergency. More than 12 were updated.
Benefits for Missouri State University
Keegan Stanton and Bailey DeJonge both participated on this project. Stanton graduated from Missouri State and is a graduate student in Utah. DeJonge is currently a senior in the planning program at MSU.
Both were interns, mostly surveying houses. They gained hands-on experience and were also paid for their time.
SMCOG also developed a streamlined approach that combined Google Docs and ESRI, a geographic information system. This new, more efficient method will be used for similar projects around the region.
About SMCOG
SMCOG operates under the Center for Resource Planning and Management (CRPM). CRPM is an applied research and academic support unit under geology, geography and planning at Missouri State University.
Working together, they impact a 10-county service area. It is the only planning commission in the nation that operates under a university.