Chatter about Westwood seceding from Cincinnati (Hamilton, Green: middle-class, section 8, apartment complexes)

[aquila]

I'm sure some of you have probably heard the news about the people in Westwood considering the possibility of seceding from Cincinnati. Any thoughts about that? Good, bad, indifferent?

I think the last thing Cincinnati needs is to lose more of it's population and tax base. Wouldn't it be better to keep the city together instead of hacking it up? Hamilton county is so fragmented as it is with all the smaller cities.

[mike1003]

Only two small cities...Norwood and St Barnard (Both completely surrounded by Cincinnati

I think the rest are Villages.

[goyguy]

I haven't seen or heard anything about this. But what do "they" (probably a small faction) think would be accomplished? Heinold and Dater have been blackboard-jungle middle, junior high, or whatever schools for a long time. And West High has been declining in more recent years. Is part of the secessionist thinking along the lines of those institutions' magically rebounding when all the bad actors, none from Westwood - yeah, right - are no longer eligible to attend? Or is it believed that all those deteriorating apartment complexes and brick-box buildings can be "saved" from Section 8 purgatory if only the community weren't part of the city? The horse is long since out of the barn on both counts. And the sense I get is that this is a move on the part of "take back the neighborhood" types who want their Leave It to Beaver middle-class racially segregated reality of the '60s and before to be reincarnated. Sorry, Charlie, ain' gonna happen.

[Hartwell Girl]

Originally Posted by mike1003

Only two small cities...Norwood and St Barnard (Both completely surrounded by Cincinnati

I think the rest are Villages.

St. Bernard

[Hartwell Girl]

This is a threat Hartwell has used for years and to be quite honest with you, I agree with it wholeheartly. Residents are tired of being ignored in the City. They want to find ways to make their neighborhoods safer, cleaner and a way to address many issues City administration continues to ignore. A place where families want to live, not a place where slumlords can continue to get away with the things they do to make our neighborhoods less than their full potential.
I love this City, but I love my neighborhood more. And I agree that if the City continues to ignore our neighborhoods, we need to do something about it. All that would need to be done is contacting an area around us to seceed with them or become our own village. The residents would need to vote on it, the County would have to agree to it, and of course the City would have their say. But hey, it sure sends a strong message to wake up, pay attention to our neighborhoods and listen to the people who vote for you instead of pushing your own political gains to move your career further. Hartwell is a great example of a neighborhood that would thrive on its own and if the City doesnt want to honor the promises it made to this neighborhood almost 100 years ago when Hartwell annexed to the City of Cincinnati, what better reason to say good bye to broken promises.
So I say...GO for it Westwood.

[HuskerDu]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

St. Bernard

East Norwood .... West Norwood

[CincyExpert]

Don't forget good ole Elmwood Place. Who knows how much longer they'll survive as their own municipality.

[wilson1010]

Of course there are no statistics on this stuff, but actually its pretty easy to figure out. The City of Cincinnati loses money every year. In other words, they are not taking in enough money from the citizens and businesses to pay for the costs that are incurred. So if it was all equal, a lost neighborhood would be a wash, economically speaking. But, its not that way. Some areas contribute more than others and some take more than they contribute. It costs about the same to repair a mile of street in Westwood as it does in Mt. Lookout. It costs a lot more to police a square mile of Westwood than it does Mt. Lookout.

OK, so who pays the money. By far, the most money per capita and per square mile comes from the businesses and employees downtown. Next from the neighborhoods where high income people live and pay lots of income tax. Probably the least money per capita and per square mile comes from Westwood. Succession by Westwood would be a financial blessing for the City. Westwood has zero industry, nearly zero payoll tax collection and a big load of miscreants. We are talking about Westwood, right? Boudinot, Harrison, The Boulevard, English Woods, Bracken Woods Park, Goebel, McHenry, etc.?

But there is no chance of that happening. One look at the budget and Westwood would figure out pretty quickly that they have about 10% of their population that pays any type of tax and the rest collect benefits from the federal, state, and city governments. The average age in Westwood is probably about 60 and the folks that were once employed in blue collar jobs are now on Social Security or pensions. The rest have never been employed. Whether Social Security or public assistance, Westwood probably has more persons in number receiving public untaxed money than any other Cincinnati neighborhood.

[aquila]

Originally Posted by mike1003

Only two small cities...Norwood and St Barnard (Both completely surrounded by Cincinnati

I think the rest are Villages.

Uhh...no, think again. Aside from Norwood and St. Bernard, the following are all cities within Hamilton County:

• Blue Ash
• Cheviot
• Deer Park
• Forest Park
• Harrison
• Loveland
• Madeira
• Montgomery
• Mount Healthy
• North College Hill
• Reading
• Sharonville
• Silverton
• Springdale
• Village of Indian Hill (despite its name, it's technically a city)
• Wyoming

These are villages:

• Addyston
• Amberley Village
• Arlington Heights
• Cleves
• Elmwood Place
• Evendale
• Fairfax
• Glendale
• Golf Manor
• Greenhills
• Lincoln Heights
• Lockland
• Mariemont
• Newtown
• North Bend
• Terrace Park
• Woodlawn

The point I was making is that there are many smaller municipalities within Hamilton County, which makes it a rather fragmented place. Granted, the same can be said about Cuyahoga County and other places across the country. But I really don't think it will benefit the city by having it chopped up and made smaller. In fact, I think Hamilton County and Cincinnati should merge to become one city. Of course that will never happen, because this isn't a progressive place. People are too content with holding onto their community identities without thinking about what would benefit the whole.

[aquila]

Originally Posted by goyguy

I haven't seen or heard anything about this.

Some Westwood Leaders Consider Seceding From Cincinnati - :: Cincinnati news story :: LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati