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Abstract
The devastating tornado of April 3, 1974, provided Xenia, Ohio, with an opportunity to rebuild while avoiding past mistakes in planning and zoning. A comprehensive redevelopment plan stressing downtown revitalization, housing reconstruction, and floodplain zoning, was approved. Simultaneous approval of “overlay zoning,” however, permitted the reemergence of pretornado forces to affect redevelopment of the impacted area. Three years after the tornado, elements of the “old Xenia” are appearing in renewed strip development and continued downtown decline, a reaffirmation of residential discard in “undesirable” areas, and continued uncoordinated environmental development. This article focuses on the persistence of these predisaster motivations and their probable effect on Xenia's future.
