Why does Cincinnati and all of Ohio have such a bad rep? (Columbus: homes, theater)

[Sarah Perry]

I have an acquaintance who's a fairly high-ranking individual in the Cincinnati Police Dept. He's confirmed for me what everybody pretty much knows anyway, that most of the homicides, assaults and robberies in Cincinnati's "bad" neighborhoods involve people in the drug trade who know each other and have scores to settle, or are domestic violence incidents.

That said, you couldn't get me to even drive through the worst parts of OTR on a bet, where an older white woman in a decent car would be a sitting duck for opportunistic crime. But the point is that a law-abiding citizen is way less likely to become a crime victim than those lists of this n' that would imply.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by RazorRob305

LOL...I'm not even from your area man. I just came across this article and it informed me of a specific hot spot of crime in your area without even knowing what parts of town are good to live in or not. Isn't that what this is 'city-data'? I thought it would be good to use this info for people who do want to know where to stay away from in your city.

But if you're saying that you would live in that neighborhood that ranks number one on the list then I guess that area has changed then right? Would you walk around that area?

You just proved my point!

I HAVE walked through "that" area late at night. Hell, I live in this area. I was waiting on a cab while at a friend's house in the City West development area and got tired of waiting, so I walked home. Right through the middle of OTR in the middle of the night.

I'm not a drug dealer, trader, smuggler, trafficker, have beef with one and I sure as hell don't need to pay for sex.

They just found $7,500,000 worth of Hydro in West Chester (supposedly a nicer area in the Cincy metro) ... Do I feel unsafe there? No! Would someone kill over $7.5? You can bet your a$$ they will!

Even the FBI warns against sites/studies/list etc. for determining how safe or unsafe a neighborhood is ... there are way too many factors that come into play to just make these blanket assumptions.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by progmac

That's what i'm saying. It has really changed that much. The good blocks are all but completely gentrified and the bad blocks that are left...well there is nothing to do there anyways but buy sex or drugs, and there is little evidence of 'spillover' between the two

Ha! I bet there's plenty of "spillover" from all the art students and yuppies looking to indulge in "vice."
But it's kind of a stretch to say OTR contributes to "Cincinnati and all of Ohio having a bad rep."

[Wilson513]

At the risk of being flamed endlessly . . .

People without serious disabilities who are of working age and are poor in OTR are addicted or morally impaired. Oh, sure, there was a woman who's husband died of a heart attack and left her with children to raise and no life insurance or family support, but you could count those situations on the fingers of your hands and toes. Poor people are mostly criminals or addicts or from a family of criminals and addicts. And, contrary to the misunderstanding by sappy liberals without real world experience, they are poor because they are criminals and addicts and not criminals and addicts because they are poor. And, the pathetic women who are trapped in the slums with too many children and no husband or even supportive baby daddy in the home made a choice of immorality and unprotected sex. And, they made that choice over and over and over.

The reason I have posted this diatribe in this thread is to explain why there is crime and drugs and sex trade in OTR. These things are all related. Persons without serious disability and of working age who are not criminals or addicts or other sleaze have moved elsewhere. The criminals and addicts and sleaze have concentrated in OTR because this is where they can ply their trade without the scrutiny of a vigilant neighborhood. There are pocket of this stuff elsewhere, but it has defined OTR. For my part, I am vigilant in OTR. I call the cops. I run the bums off when I see them. I pick up their trash and put in the can so the place doesn't look like a slum. I walk the old people over to the laundromat or give them a lift up to the grocery so they are not harrassed. But the real solution is zero tolerance by the police and the city. Some people cannot be convinced not to be slime, they must become afraid not to be slime. Sometimes that's all you can do.

[esya]

I hate the expression "politically correct" as it is totally meaningless. In a nation where the two political sides, liberals and conservatives, are just about equally pitted against each other from one election to the next, it's just name-calling against the perception of power. Say what you mean and stop using useless slang.

[esya]

I have been watching this thread for awhile. I think it's two different topics: one being Cincinnati and it's changing demographics, and the other one being the statewide areas. I also think that the current demographic that's going to Cincinnati because of JOBS has unconsciously imported the attitude the nation has fostered since the Reagan era: you are what you do for a living, what you own, and how urban-hip you are.

As someone who grew up in Ohio, studied Ohio history in school, and considered Cincinnati my "city", I'd like to point out that those attitudes are distinctly at odds with the historical-traditional culture of Ohio, particularly the Ohio developed in the early 1800s which includes Cincinnati.

Early settlers included Germans, but they also included a lot of religious groups such as Quakers, Mennonites, Shakers and other communal groups that believed in plainness, practicality, group effort, nonaggression, cooperative living, and other such ideals. Anyone born after 1980 has grown up in a different world, where any and all of these values are considered decidedly "uncool".

On the other hand, the influx of blacks after the civil war created, as it did in many "northern" cities, a tension between the original founding groups (mostly white Europeans) and the north-immigrating newly freed African Americans. I am not saying there were not freeborn AA's in Ohio before that, but the religious support of all those communal pacifists directly led to a lot of freed slaves moving into Ohio, and into the industrialized cities.

Just because the industrialized cities had a long time difficulty in transitioning from that mode of jobs creation to the new economies, they get more blame/neg press about economic problems it created. Regardless of race, they are all Ohioans and have a right to be here and have a right to have jobs. People should not be "blamed" for the fact that their chosen home has a job creation problem, or that aging work skills has forced them to early retirement, or that an industrial injury has forced them to be on disability. This is so 1980s and passe I can't believe that any young person would even lower themselves to buy into it.

The young tend to move after jobs, but at a certain point it's natural to want to call a place home. It's the corporate ruthlessness that has made our nation a nation of immigrants--but after jobs. The people who already valued a sense of place, and community, that stay put are looked down on. Why should that be? Aren't home, community and family what most of us strive for? There's no blame, it's just sort of sad that job seekers should be so down on what was an original value of our country, and one that many people in Ohio still value. Call us old fashioned, unhip, hillbilly practical, boring, etc: I find those things to be compliments and think many people are just looking for them without knowing it.

[esya]

I've lived in three states and been in many more traveling and visiting. There is NO place that is completely safe if you are walking around by yourself late at night. If you are out after midnight by yourself there is always a risk, period.

[V23]

I currently live in Cincinnati and all the stuff about how its full of hilbillies and white trash abandones etc. isnt true. Cincinnati is full of plenty of affluent white residents with neighborhoods like Indian Hill. There is also plenty of things to do downtown with newport and town square. The weather is a little annoying but is isnt much different then other places. There is actually barely any abandoned places in Cincy. There isnt very much urban blight at all. if u want abanadoned see detroit

[esya]

yes, or drive east to west across Denver north of 39th Avenue--you'll get an eye-opener quite different than the C of C or real estate business's characterizations...

[dadof2divas]

Originally Posted by Spartan06

What part of NC do you live in? A lot of the areas in the south like to boast the "new south" image. It's somewhat true in the urban areas due to all the transplants but you don't have to travel far outside of many of the urban areas to find the "Good Ole Boy" attitude.

Obama is definitely not a popular figure here in Cincinnati as well. Frankly, I get sick of hearing all the conservatives whine at work about what Obama is or isn't doing.

For some reason I automatically assumed you live in the Charlotte area. Politically speaking, Charlotte is more liberal than Cincinnati, but has VERY conservative suburbs and outlying counties.

I live 20 minutes south of Raleigh in the country. We are still adjusting here after 3 years. We miss home for sure and Cincy is not a bad place after living from the west to the east. Cincy has a good blend of both and I tend to get a little affended when people here talk about "Ohio" in general and have never been there! Enjoy the area and the good things about Cincy.