The Great Cincinnati Urban/Suburban Debate thread (Mason, Norwood: quality of life, living)

[Bhiggins]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

The West Side may not be as bad as some make it out. But I have definitely seen a deterioration to the East of Colerain where my son lives off of Kipling. Rather than first hand observation, my opinions are derived by the frequent comments of others on this forum who claim to have been West Side residents and have skedaddled. If it is an unfair rap then others need to speak up and say so.

The Westside is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be, there are plenty of areas highly comparable to Anderson and other areas on the Eastside that even have better Downtown access.

As for east of Colerain people make it out as nicer than it actually is, it's getting pretty bad and there are no signs of it getting better. I'd love to hear the other side of the argument about this area but there really isn't anything good or positive to say about areas between Colerain and Hamilton Ave.

[Sarah Perry]

IMO and based on plenty of direct observation, there are some parts of Colerain Township that have seriously deteriorated. But I believe it's the largest township in the entire state, and generalizations about even fairly large geographic areas of the township can be inaccurate and misleading. No one seems to find it strange that nearly adjoining blocks of the more urban parts of town can vary widely in terms of desirability as places to live. The same is true of some of the west side neighborhoods discussed on this forum. The recent discussion of Mt. Healthy provides some good examples, but the same could certainly be said of places like the townships.

[kimberlymarie30]

Agree with Sarah Perry on this one. I have a house on the west side that could have easily cost twice as much in Mt Lookout or Hyde Park. I've never felt unsafe in my neighborhood. My neighbors are respectful and quiet. I prefer not to be house poor just to live in a so-called desirable neighborhood. I can also be almost anywhere in the city within 20 min. I commute to work on the east side everyday and make it on a good day within 15 min. It shocks me that people would prefer to live overpriced lives on the east side just to say they lived there, instead of enjoying a lower cost of living on the West side or in less desirable neighborhoods on the east side. Not to mention, they also look down their noses at anyone who lives on the west side. It almost gets to the point where I feel like a second class citizen because of the zipcode I've chosen to live in. I do not understand people in Cincinnati at all in this respect. I love Cincinnati because there are good neighborhoods everywhere in this city. Coming from Louisville, if you want to see real decay that is widespread and corrupting, go to any neighborhood west of 23rd St in Louisville.

[Sarah Perry]

For reasons unrelated to location, I used to belong to a largish church congregation on the east side. Many of the people I met there had no idea of where even the major arteries are on the west side. Granted, there may be no real reason for these people to visit, but I'm still amazed at the relative lack of knowledge of "other side" neighborhoods many people have, almost as if it were a badge of something to take pride in. And these are NOT the social class of the people who literally haven't been out of Price Hill in four generations, either.

It all seems kind of weird to me.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

For reasons unrelated to location, I used to belong to a largish church congregation on the east side. Many of the people I met there had no idea of where even the major arteries are on the west side. Granted, there may be no real reason for these people to visit, but I'm still amazed at the relative lack of knowledge of "other side" neighborhoods many people have, almost as if it were a badge of something to take pride in. And these are NOT the social class of the people who literally haven't been out of Price Hill in four generations, either.

It all seems kind of weird to me.

I just don't consider it that weird. To me the Millcreek Valley is a natural divider between the West and East sides. As I have stated, when I was young a large portion of my father's family lived on the West side. Of course when I was young I just went where the family took me, and didn't pay much attention to where I was at. I just remember we used to go up North Bend Rd before we branched out to the final destination. I just remember North Bend because of the big hill and the lighted view over the valley when we came home at night.

By the time I became an adult, most of the West siders had moved away, so there was not much reason to go there. We had one relative, which was actually my mother's family, who lived in College Hill for a number of years. This was another up North Bend then left on Hamilton. If we went out to eat it was either the Seven Mile House on Colerain going across Kipling or the Wigwam on Hamilton. Thus this was my extent of knowledge of the West Side.

Years later my son bought his first house in Forest Park. He worked for the City of Cincinnati Engineering Dept. Then he was informed he had live within the City's boundaries. So they located a house in Mt Airy off Kipling Ave, one of the few pocket new subdivisions they thought they could afford. We of course went to visit, down I-71 to Cross-County, west to Colerain, then south to Kipling. Not much need to go anyplace else.

I can appreciate West Siders also have very little reason to go to the East Side. What is the big attraction there? Unless they have family there what is the reason to go? I just don't find anything unusual in in.

For many years we used to have a late season family picnic at Harvest Home Park in Cheviot. The extended family was huge, my paternal great-grandparents having had 13 kids. We had hundreds in attendance. But as people died off or moved away it became no more.

So I understand some of the natural division between the East and West sides. My grandparents were East siders, living in Silverton and Deer Park. My parents decided it was in their interest to move to Madeira where I grew up. My immediate aunts and uncles all ended up setting on the East side, dispersed to areas like Newtown, Loveland, Milford, etc. So yes, I can pretty well recite just about any street or location on the East side, as that came natural.

What I don't understand is the apparent anomosity between the two sides. I in no way consider East or West siders superior or inferior to one another. I know I had West side relatives who ended up as executives at P&G who could buy and sell the majority of East siders.

If I am wrong about the decline of West side neighborhoods, then I want to know about it. I do believe Madisonville on the East side is a fraction of what it was when I was young. So maybe Madisonville and Price Hill both have mountains to climb. My only concern is how to keep all of the City and surrounding areas from decay, East versus West side be damned.

I live in Mason, which I consider East side simply because it is East of I-75 which I view as the modern dividing line as it runs basically up the center of the Millcreek Valley. But since Reading Rd runs through Mason, and the traditional East/West dividing point Vine street kind of peters out unless you consider Route 4 its extension, maybe Mason should be consdered neither East nor West. That is fine with me.

But when we want to discuss how to revive the portions of the West side which may be in decline, let's leave the whole East/West side issue out of it, as that will lead nowhere.

[Sarah Perry]

I don't think the city fathers and mothers will ever direct substantial financial resources toward declining neighborhoods unless they have a clear mandate from citizens to do so, and maybe not then. It would seem that in the instances they have, it's made a constructive impact.

What seems weird to me as referenced in my prior posting is the apparent lack of curiosity so many Cincinnatians seem to exhibit about other parts of town from the areas they frequent. I like to just go LOOK AROUND and explore. Never know when I'll find some little hidden surprise, just maybe nothing more exciting than a street with interesting houses or landscaping. I love to look at churches and other public buildings. Or even old abandoned factories. But yeah, I've heard that a lot. "No reason to go there, so I never do."

[kjbrill]

I just don't see where the City Fathers ever have a mandate to expend dollars for the upgrade of a specific neighborhood. Beyond that, I don't see where the citizens have any particular power to reinforce that.

The recent resurgance of the OTR neighborhood has had little to do with the City Fathers. The 3CDC organization, a collaboration of corporate interests, has been the biggest inflience. I don't consider them City Fathers, but rather a group of corporate interests recognizing what is in their best interests, keeping the living districts around their corporate offices safe and livable.

Once you get out of the downtown basin their interest drops off considerably. I just don't see them going much furher than where they already are. In fact I see little impact of their interest even in the West End.

[Ohioan58]

Chalk one up for Mason living. All the comforts of city life.

Police: Mason family tried to cut off woman's fingers | MasonBuzz.com

[rrtechno]

And then there is this.


Mason’s quality of life wins over major manufacturer

[TomJones123]

Jeez...this thread still has life? Seriously, rrtechno, you should post that link on Mason winning a manufacturer in the Development thread. That's great news for Mason, and the entire region.