Toyota closing North American Manufacturing HQ in NKY. (Cincinnati, Kent: transfer to, living in)

[kjbrill]

^^ OK this idea about Wilmington keeps rearing its head from time to time. Who in their right mind would consider it convenient to Cincinnati compared to CVG? I live in Mason and would not consider it any plus to CVG. And for Dayton, no way.

Yes, as a former air force base it does have long runways. But the rest of it is like an industrial facility. Convert those warehouses into passenger terminals? You really expect people to come there? And where is the baggage handling system or any other people related facility?

Might as well tell the people in Dayton they will be better off if they close DAY and they all drive to CVG. Then we can sustain international flights. I am sure the majority of Daytonians would say Pound Salt!. Who cares a rats about international flights to begin with?

I used to fly reasonably fequently to Tokyo. That is about as international as it gets. My choice was go to Chicago and take a direct JAL flight to Tokyo. That many hours in a plane seat, no thanks. I flew Delta to Portland, changed planes and then flew to Tokyo. The lull between flights was a welcome relief, same on the return. This whole discussion about international flights is overblown. High ranking company officals do not want to be cramped for 13-14 hours in an airplane seat. They will take a shorter flight, say to the coast, stay in a 1st class hotel and have a 1st class meal, then complete the trip the next day.

Yes, when Delta had direct CVG - Frankfurt, Germany flights I flew them a few times. What a joy? Since my ultimate destination was Hamburg, Germany, I had another layover and wait then another flight to Hamburg. So my international flight saved me a whole lot of time and frustration?

[SWOH]

Wilmington would be equally inconvenient, but it could become a powerhouse. The drawing power of about 5.5 million people, that's a lot. Definitely competing with the big dogs at that point.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by OHKID

Wilmington would be equally inconvenient, but it could become a powerhouse. The drawing power of about 5.5 million people, that's a lot. Definitely competing with the big dogs at that point.

But those 5.5 million people are spread over a wide area. I just don't see them ageeing Willmington is a central destination for any of them. In fact, I think they will all fight it tooth and nail. Might as well say people in Cleveland should fly out of Detroit. Just about as practical.

[American Luxury]

Building an airport in Wilmington is a terrible idea unless you also build some high speed rail that goes directly to Dayton and Cincinnati, with no stops. We know that wouldn't happen, though.

[TheMahValley]

Originally Posted by restorationconsultant

I think you are going to see more manufacturing head south over the coming years. Many southern States have more favorable taxes and lets not forget climate.

The Cincinnati Metro needs to adapt and broaden its business diversity. We need to be able to offer a better urban core with more housing and understand that there is a generational shift back to the urban core. Some cities like Indianapolis have adapted to that and almost all their downtown and near downtown neighborhoods are restored and safe.

We are finding ourselves at a competitive disadvantage at attracting younger talent who will settle here and hopefully stay here. Forgetting metro region size discussions for moment, Cincinnati the city 'thinks' it is a major city when its more of a "big town" of under 300000 people. We haven't made that transition in the way other cities have to bring people back to our urban core. Cincinnati is 65 out of the 100 top cities population wise. We have lost 12.1 percent population since 2000, if you look at some of the cities smaller than us they are growing at rates of 25-45 percent during this same period. Its very likely that Cincinnati ranking will drop from 65 to 80 by 2010 because so many cities (southern mostly) are growing at rates we can only dream of.

This should be a bit of a wake up call for city planners and leaders.

I realize you're from Indianapolis so you feel this need to boost it and give it some recognition on other city sub-forums, but Indianapolis is one of the biggest jokes of a major city in the country right up there with Jacksonville. Cincinnati in no way shape or form should try to follow Indianapolis when it comes to urban development. Those neighborhoods you talk about in Indy are very small in area and have little impact on the majority of the city. Even Broad Ripple can't touch the likes of Mount Adams or Hyde Park. The immediate neighborhoods outside of downtown: Lockerbie, Chatham, St. Joseph, or north along Merdian have such a small footprint on Indy. Indy has plenty of less than desirable, rundown wood framed housing neighborhoods that do not look or age as well as Cincinnati's brick architecture. Don't get me started on crime in Indy. Indy can give Chicago and Detroit a run for their money, and the city is already at 54 murders on the year... 14 alone in April. You can notice one thing, and that is how a lot of Indy developers are coming to Cincinnati and building in the urban core and surrounding neighborhoods because they see a demand for it. Several projects are already under construction, with a few highrise developments planned, too. For gentrification and bringing people back to the core, Indy could take some lessons from Cincinnati.

See, Cincinnati could easily follow Indianapolis and the rest of the Sunbelt's lead and annex most of the county it is in. Let's see, Cincy takes up all of Hamilton County and bam! over 800,000 and in the top 15-20 largest US cities. But the problem is, unlike Indy and the Sunbelt, Hamilton County has had established borders between municipalities for over a century and they can't just claim undeveloped land. If Cincinnati did what Indy and the Sunbelt have done, then it would be around the same size in land area. I work in economic development, and I am all for municipalities taking on shared services and unified government in the name of cooperation, but "cheating" your way to growth isn't exactly success. Cincinnati can continue to build off the momentum that is has, and cherish and foster the amazing institutions that call the city home.

[TheMahValley]

As far as Toyota goes, what can you do? They obviously are going to do what benefits them without little concern to how the people are affected. I can't help but put a lot of the blame on the state of Kentucky. They have been so incompetent over the last several years in Frankfurt... from the bridge, airport, and other economic ventures. There was an article on Cincinnati.com today discussing NKY's future with the governor's race and how NKY is more aligned with Cincinnati and why Frankfurt favors the rest of the state, even though NKY is right up there with Louisville as an economic engine for the state. The unemployment rate in the state is extremely high, year-over-year labor force growth has been in the negatives, and Kentucky has one of the nation's worst credit ratings. This thread has pretty much discussed the region, and Cincinnati has worked better with its cross-river partners than the likes of Missouri/Illinois or Missouri/Kansas, but one thing I will give Kasich credit for is the fact he isn't going to sit around and wait for Kentucky. He is already upgrading portions of I-75 for the bridge and has brought over businesses from Kentucky. Kentucky for too long enticed companies their way, and now that Cincinnati and Ohio have done pretty well, they want to play nice.

Kentucky has a lot of issues from horrid poverty, infrastructure, and economic problems that they have to work out. Cincinnati shouldn't poach from within the region, but if Frankfurt is going to be typical Frankfurt, Cincinnati and Ohio need to start moving in their own direction without NKY.

You can't blame them for Delta, but the airport has been a disaster ever since with some of, if not the highest fares in the nation. I know the land was readily available at the time, but an airport should have been built between Dayton and Cincinnati in the first place. It is sad to see what has come of CVG.

And for people doubting Honda versus the Big Three: Honda announced in 2013 that they were moving their NA headquarters to Ohio from California along with hundreds of millions in investments in the auto plants and their supplier plants. As a former emloyee at Honda, I can tell you they have done a lot more for the state over the last several years than domestics, not to mention they make great cars. Most of their Acura models are made in the state, with ILX production moving to Ohio from Indiana this year, and all Accords are made in-state as well. Take care of the companies that are here and make them happy. Cincinnati has plenty of GLOBAL companies to be proud of.

[kjbrill]

OP ... Don't worry, Cincinnati will be just fine.

Until Toyota decides to just shut down that multi-million dollar investment they made in Georgetown, and I don't see that happening anytime soon., KY will continue to be a Big Deal in their NA operations. Maybe even the biggest deal since they build the best selling cars in the line.

[UNITYinternational]

Erlanger Operations won't be closing for another 2-3 years...and then they will be headed to TX

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by UNITYinternational

Erlanger Operations won't be closing for another 2-3 years...and then they will be headed to TX

Sounds like a lot of people in Erlanger will have plenty of time to decide whether they want to transfer to Texas or look for another job.

[h Steve]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Sounds like a lot of people in Erlanger will have plenty of time to decide whether they want to transfer to Texas or look for another job.

That can be a heartbreaking decision to have to make. Granted, I know people make that decision all the time, I just never had to do it.