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You may never have heard of these 2 small cities. They both lie on the Great Miami River...between Dayton and Cincinnati. They both have quite distinct and impressive histories and developed independently of their larger Ohio neighbors..Cincinnatti and Dayton.
In 1950...they were considered a unified metro area by the Us Census. At 146,792...the combined metro was larger than Raleigh NC, Albuquerque NM, Montgomery AL and Orlando FL.
By 1970, the county both river cities are in...was added to the Cincinnati Metro area by the census....despite very intense connections to Dayton...especially for Middletown.
Anyhow...the two continue to plot their own courses and are the glue that is cementing the Cincinnati/Dayton merger.
It is a merger of 4 cities...not 2.
Having said that...Middletown and Hamilton are quite distinct. Hamilton is slightly larger and straddles the Miami River...whereas Middletown lies to the East of the river.
Middletown was the setting of the recent HillBillyElegy Netflix film...and Hamilton is where the worldslargest sports training facility is taking shape along the banks of the Great Miami.
Both cities...once quite well known in the 50's...are well placed to reassert their places on the geographical map.
I lived in Hamilton for 27 years . The past 5 years I’ve heard it’s growing but to me it’s just an old dead end town. Middletown is even worse.
Sounds like confirmation bias.
SpookyNook...the WORLD's LARGEST sports-training facility is under construction in Hamilton, repurposing an old paper mill...right on the Great Miami River.
I lived in Hamilton for 27 years . The past 5 years I’ve heard it’s growing but to me it’s just an old dead end town. Middletown is even worse.
I personally prefer Hamilton to Middletown despite not having spent much time in either.
Growing up, Hamilton had the worse reputation, but that's mostly because Middletown didn't have much of a reputation at all - it was just far enough outside of the region (yes, I know it's still part of metro Cincy) to not really be relevant to most people in Cincinnati.
I can definitely see Middletown's current potential due to its proximity to the interstate and Dayton/Cincy.
I agree. Since the 70's the growth of Dayton's southern suburbs (Springboro, Centerville,Kettering) and Cincy's northern suburbs (Mason, West Chester, Liberty Township) managed to deplete a certain segment of Middletown's "elite". New schools, new subdivisions were a magnet for many. This really hurt Middletown.
However, now that the 75-corridor is filling in...Middletown finds itself at the center of what is a 3.200.000 metroplex. Its historic bones, housing stock and riverside setting will, I believe, become more and more attractive.
This feels like a big thread for two communities that didn’t grow the last decade. Maybe the Ohio message board is more appropriate?
These 2 cities were once a somewhat sizeable Metropolitan area as defined by the census before they were merged with Cincy. Butler County is approaching 400,000 people...adjacent Warren County (part of Middletown is actually in Warren County) is approaching 200,000.
Together, they represent some of the fastest growing counties in the Midwest.
Like most builtout cities...Cincinnati and Dayton included, the cities of Hamilton and Middletown are not growing in population but the areas in which they are situated are growing quite fast...that is why they are both seeing a renaissance.
Warren County is growing at a fast clip. Butler County is not. Regardless, I’d think you’d have a better response in the Ohio forum.
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