The Ohio Planning Conference (OPC) is an association

Professional body

A professional association is usually a nonprofit organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public interest.The roles of these professional associations have been variously defined: "A group of people in a...

 of citizens and planners

Urban planner

An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/land use planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically...

 that promotes city and regional planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 in the state of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. OPC is a chapter of the American Planning Association

American Planning Association

The American Planning Association is a professional organization representing the field of city and regional planning in the United States. The APA was formed in 1978 when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Planners and the American Society of Planning...

 (APA) and is APA's second-oldest chapter.

In 2010, the group changed its name to APA Ohio.

OPC was founded in October 1919 in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 for the "interchange of ideas upon, and to promote the cause of, city, town and regional planning in the State of Ohio" as the Ohio State Conference on City Planning. Among OPC's founders and its second president was Alfred Bettman

Alfred Bettman

Alfred Bettman was one of the key founders of modern urban planning. Zoning, as it is known today, can be attributed to his successful arguments before the U.S...

, a Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

-based attorney who later wrote the amicus curiea brief in Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co.

Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co.

Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co., , more commonly Euclid v. Ambler, was a United States Supreme Court case argued in 1926...

, a 1926 United States Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the use of zoning

Zoning

Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...

 throughout the U.S. OPC provided Bettman the seed money to file the brief.

A second notable early leader and president of the organization was Ernest J. Bohn

Ernest J. Bohn

Ernest J. Bohn was a leading figure in public housing from the 1930s up until 1975 when he died. He spent the majority of his life promoting the creation of public housing in Ohio, particularly in Cleveland, and his work created standards copied across the nation...

, a pioneer in public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 in the Cleveland area

Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...

. Both Mr. Bettman and Mr. Bohn, along with another founder, Charlotte Rumbold, have been recognized through APA's national planning pioneer program. In light of OPC's legacy as the first statewide association of citizens and planners, APA recognized the founding of OPC as one of 88 national planning landmarks

OPC publishes a bimonthly newsletter

Newsletter

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...

, The Ohio Planners News, and conducts an annual statewide conference as well as other educational and training activities. In addition to the state organization, OPC has six regional sections: Akron, Central Ohio, Cleveland, Greater Cincinnati, Miami Valley, and Northwest Ohio.