Welcome to Oxford, Ohio, a Forward-Thinking Community that is Charting a Bold Course for Climate Neutrality by 2025, Community Equity, and Housing for All

Welcome to Oxford, Ohio, a Forward-Thinking Community that is Charting a Bold Course for Climate Neutrality by 2025, Community Equity, and Housing for All

MKSK

See how the Oxford Tomorrow plan defines a roadmap for a more equitable and resilient community.

Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University, is consistently ranked as one of America’s best college towns. It has the charm of a small, walkable college community with the vibrancy and amenities of a large city. An updated long-term vision and plan, called Oxford Tomorrow, focused on maintaining Oxford’s unique “small town” qualities while setting the stage for an even brighter, more sustainable, and more equitable future for all.

The 17-month Oxford Tomorrow process to update the comprehensive plan was a collaborative effort between City of Oxford and MKSK. This effort was overseen by a 30-member steering committee of representatives from a number of organizations, institutions, and City boards and commissions.

Oxford Tomorrow represents the shared voices and ideas of the community. The planning process emphasized broad and meaningful input through a variety of formats—both in-person and digital—that engaged more than 800 community members representing a diverse cross-section of Oxford, from college students, Miami University faculty and staff, retirees, and families.

“I think [this plan is] a really good example of working with the public and it was so transparent, and everybody got an opportunity to participate.”

– William B. Snavely,
Mayor, City of Oxford

Through the Oxford Tomorrow planning process, the community came together to collectively plan for Oxford’s future. The resulting plan is one that is representative of the community’s values, ideas, and priorities. The plan is organized into eight key topics:

The guiding pillars were foundational to the Oxford Tomorrow Plan. The pillars were developed from a combination of previous City priorities and community input during the planning process.

The Comprehensive Plan recommendations are summarized into 1 aspirational vision, 8 desired goals, 31 objectives, and 162 concrete actions to shape Oxford over the next ten years and beyond. These actions were then prioritized by the community to provide further guidance to City officials.

Some of the major priorities from the plan include:

  • Reducing emissions toward neutrality by 2025 through alternative energy incentives.

  • Updating regulations to allow for increased density and diversity of housing.

  • Supporting a full continuum of public health and social services, including childcare and elder care.

  • Completing the perimeter loop of the Oxford Area Trails system.

  • Establishing Amtrak passenger rail service to and from Oxford using the existing Cardinal Line that runs through the city and connecting it with the planned Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) multimodal transit facility.

“This is a really bold plan that sets broad goals.”

– Dr. David Prytherch,
Oxford City Council Member

Oxford Tomorrow not only sets a bold vision for the future, but it also provides a roadmap for how to get there and how the whole community can be stewards of the plan. Plan stewardship includes using, monitoring, and updating the plan so that it is a living document, not just a static one. The plan includes detailed guidance for how to integrate the plan into other planning and governance operations.

A graphic depicting how the City of Oxford can integrate implementation of the Oxford Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan into its other governance cycles.

The Oxford Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan was unanimously approved by Oxford City Council on January 17, 2023. View the final plan below, or click here to open it in a new window.