Cincinnati losing its population!!! (Columbus, Cleveland: condos, crime, homes)

[ClevelandRocks!!]

I was just wondering if anyone knows why cincinnati is the fastest declining city in the nation and yet cities like Toledo in Ohio are growing. I have been to both cities and Cincinnati has a lot more to offer yet Toledo is expected to have a higher population in a couple of years. Any reasons as to why this is happening??

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...WS01/606210361

[MABCle]

The same reasons their leaving alot of big inner cities. Crime (actual and percieved), and they want access to better schools for their kids. I wouldn't be surprised though if Toledo is bigger than Cincinnati by the time the next census comes around.

[Ohiogirl81]

Those stats were quite a surprise. I had no idea Toledo was gaining population at all, like the rest of its Ohio big city brethren, let alone so quickly.

Some of my neighbors left Madisonville even though they were sending their kids to private schools. They just wanted out, and moved to Mason and Milford, etc.

[Subway]

Originally Posted by ClevelandRocks!!

I was just wondering if anyone knows why cincinnati is the fastest declining city in the nation and yet cities like Toledo in Ohio are growing. I have been to both cities and Cincinnati has a lot more to offer yet Toledo is expected to have a higher population in a couple of years. Any reasons as to why this is happening??

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...WS01/606210361

Cincinnati is actually not losing population. The city challenged the estimate that was given in your link and the Census Bureau agreed that it's not losing population. I previously posted the link to the article from 10/30/06 that explained this, but it's no longer available in its entirety for free from the Enquirer's website. However, you should be able to see the summary of the article with this link (it's the 2nd arcticle that comes up): http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/...p_text_date-0=

However, I should note that, to the best of my knowledge, the Census Bureau never posted the new estimate as the article stated it would.

Also, here are a couple of recent links about the current housing boom in downtown Cincy:

http://news.enquirer.com/includes/wishlist/0422condosg1.jpg (broken link)
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...DIT03/70420004

At any rate, I think it's important to note that the Cincinnati metropolitan area is the 2nd fastest growing of the major Ohio metropolitan areas (http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/2005/cbsa-02-fmt.xls (broken link)). From that link, here are the 2000-2005 growth rates for the major Ohio metropolitan areas:

Columbus = +5.9%
Cincinnati = +3.0%
Akron = +1.0%
Toledo = -0.4%
Dayton = -0.5%
Cleveland = -1.0%

[MABCle]

While the census adjusted the estimate the City of CIncinnati is still losing population like Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco. The metro is growing though.

[Subway]

Originally Posted by MABCle

While the census adjusted the estimate the City of CIncinnati is still losing population like Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco. The metro is growing though.

The 10/30/06 article summary that I linked above states that the city actually gained 27 residents from 2000-2005 (which would essentially mean that it has zero - not negative or positive - population growth):

Census agrees city didn't lose population Forget everything you heard about the shrinking Cincinnati. Forget everything you heard about it losing population faster than any major U.S. city. In a stunning reversal of previous estimates, the U.S. Census Bureau will post new estimates today that have the city gaining population this decade - by 27 residents. The new population estimate for Cincinnati is 331,310, replacing the July estimate of 308,728.

However, if I had an opportunity to bet on the actual population of the city, I would bet on it being somewhere between the original 2005 estimate of 308K and the revised 2005 estimate of 331K. It'll be interesting to see what their estimate is for 2006.

BTW, there's something I forgot to mention in my initial post in this thread: I didn't see anything in the article that 'ClevelandRocks' posted that indicated that the city of Toledo is growing. The Related Stories links on the right side of that page show that Toledo lost 4.0% of its population from 2000-2005 and 1.1% from 2004-2005.

[Art1979]

Originally Posted by ClevelandRocks!!

Toledo is expected to have a higher population in a couple of years.

I'll believe it when I see it. With places like Southwyck and the Erie Street Market gasping for air, people on this very board asking locals "Why are the housing prices so low!?", and local government shenanigans, I'm very doubtful of this assertion. Trust me, I'd rather be the optimist and agree with you, but personal observation says otherwise.

[QueenCty]

The title is a little sensational, but as Subway mentions the city challenged the census which showed the city actually gained population. Overall the metro continues to grow and the MSA is likely to pass Cleveland soon (based on current MSA definitions). There are actually some northern metros (not just the city) that are beginning to lose population, such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo etc. and others close to zero growth such as Milwaukee.

I would say that there are hardly any older cities in America that have not enhanced there boundaries since 1950 and are not ridiculously large (say 200 square miles or more) that are gaining population within the city limits today. This is true even in cities like San Francisco. Atlanta is one of the few exceptions, but that is a booming metro. The cities that are growing today are the ones that continue to annex or merge with the county such as Columbus and Indianapolis. That is why, while I would like to see the city grow more, it is more accurate to look at the metro for cities like Cincinnati, which grew from 2,009,632 in 2000 to 2,104,218 in 2006. This equates to a 4.7% increase. For comparison, "booming" Columbus had a metro growth rate of 6.9% in that period. It would be great if the city could merge with the county and we got an instant boost, but that is not likely to happen - the city did have a chance to do this through the water/sewer system but they did not want to force areas outside the city to merge.

Even with the successful challenge, I suspect the city is still losing some population, but I think it has more to do with taste and price. People want bigger homes and can get it cheaper in the suburbs. Additionally people are having fewer children. Finally, the city is only 78 square miles, and most new development requires much more work as it usually requires demolition of what is already there. Overall though, if you look at other comparable places, the city and metro are doing alright.

[cyberdasher]

A quick view of Census.gov (http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/CBSA-est2006-annual.html - broken link) confirms Cincy will surpass Cleveland in July 2007 (also discussed here).

This does not include the major MSA's of Akron (700k) or Dayton (838k). Columbus MSA has 1.7m people but has no major MSA left to annex or connect to. Subjective arguments about sprawl and density aside, the Cincy MSA is the undisputed most populous MSA in Ohio as of July 2007, even without Dayton.
With Dayton, there are nearly three million people.

Columbus is third.

[BuckeyeGuy]

Ohiogirl from what people here in Toledo tell me they say folks are leaving here in "droves" for various reasons like, Lack of Jobs,Cost of Living, Taxes and etc...I am also leaving Toledo and headed South...Idont know the exact figures only what I hear from people that live here....Sorry I'm not much help....