Dr. Julia Paxton
The Athens News quoted Dr. Julia Paxton in a story headlined “Baileys Trail: Opportunities & challenges for Chauncey: Chauncey’s new mayor says trail system can help community, but has fears about gentrification.”
Paxton is Professor of Economics at Ohio University.
Ohio University economics professor Julia Paxton said last week that her “Economics of Altruism” class worked on analyzing the Baileys Trail System project last year in order to answer questions about unintended consequences arising from the project, such as gentrification.
“Knowing that the trailheads are going to be in some communities that have been (economically) distressed as a result of coal mining closing up its shop over the years, then the real question is, how can we make this exciting economic tool be relevant and the most impactful for the residents of southeastern Ohio?” Paxton asked. “…The class took that on as a challenge.”
Specifically, the professor explained, her class looked at how to facilitate “empowering growth” for the village of Chauncey in two large projects: One was to explore how to tell the village’s history to visitors so they view it in a “positive light”; the other was to explore the topic of gentrification and how to mitigate its impact on local residents.
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