City Blights

The City itself better get better if it wants CVG to evolve into a relatively balanced organizational structure. The Board of Directors would rather take handouts than risk losing their financially lucrative job by committing to something meaningful, meaningful meaning long-term. 500,000+ city, 3,000,000 MSA, 4,000,000 CSA stabilizes CVG more than any "action" I expect to see in the next 15 years.

Out of curiosity, is that building in Dublin?

Evanston and Avondale are close to as bad as they've ever been. The investment in Uptown and Walnut Hills however are very exciting to see. A McMillan-Woodburn-Montgomery streetcar that connects Walnut Hills' business districts to Xavier would bring Evanston back in a big way. So many feasible solutions to Cincinnati's ills, so many corrupt individuals barricading success. This is some kind of city...

If your final destination is Cincinnati from Africa or Europe, flying to NY or Atlanta then to Dayton definitely is more cost-effective than booking a flight to CVG from Newark, JFK or Hartsfield. I agree that driving to Louisville or Columbus is too much for a Cincinnatian, but that's where James Cox comes in.

^I was thinking where E. Walnut Hills meets Hyde Park, which would mean we're both thinking of the same stretch of Madison. I feel every born-and-raised Ohioan should see the East Coast as a youth. It makes perfect sense to the educated and the logical that Ohio and the East Coast are extremely similar in terms of architectural style, but unfortunately that's a small section of the general populace. Maybe if Ohioans understood that Boston's Victorian accents aren't much different from Columbus' or Cincinnati's, many of the large white duplexes and mansions of Providence, NJ and NY are close to Cleveland's, and that the fringes and surrounding towns of the large East Coast cities are mostly identical to Cincinnati's, there wouldn't be such an inferiority complex.

Dalton is average on a good day. Bengals will stick with him for one more then he'll be replaced. I'd like to see them bring in a vet to compete with Andy in camp. That way, if Dalton retains his job but stinks it up, coaches will be empowered to bench him with confidence. Center, RB, safety and LB are their biggest needs by far other than QUARTERBACK. The team found two starting LBs in undrafted rookies Lamur and Burfict in last year's draft, which says a lot about the improved scouting of the Bengals. Thomas Howard comes back from IR next year, so let Maualuga go, slide Burfict inside, and draft/sign a couple backups. This team has few holes, that's why Dalton being terrible stands out so much. Oh, and Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden can go too. I've been saying since late last season that he is overrated. This offense has weapons, and contrary to what the pundits say, the Bengals have a #2 WR in Marvin Jones. Even without Jones, they still have Hawkins and Gresham (despite yesterday's drops). Put Sam Bradford on this team and they probably beat Denver next Saturday. People forget the Bengals had a lead on Denver in Week 9 in the 4th quarter and that Peyton comeback was aided with some ticky tack penalties and five missed tackles on one play, which statistically is unlikely to repeat itself. You need a QB with an accurate deep ball when you have receivers like Green and Jones. They run free down the sideline as often as the Jags lose games. AJ is being wasted right now.

Cleveland, don't feel so hurt by what national publications say about you! There's nothing wrong with wanting to be fairly recognized, but everybody knows that in the West, traditionally, the bigger the market, the more pretentious the populace at large. So when it's time for those pretentious, out-of-touch cartoon characters to demonstrate that they understand the world outside of cities over 5 million and they fail, this should be no surprise.

^I too have been unable to understand why the changing demographic you referenced hasn't shown more initiative in taking ownership of that downtown Kroger. Not that another supermarket isn't needed in the basin, but one does exist.

Has anyone been to Mahoghany's within the past month? I'm curious about the experience of being there and the service now that it's been open for a little bit. I thought Dunnhumby including apartments in the project would have been good for the Banks and for UOers. A residential tower downtown with new, sterile environs is a competitor of the Banks. Being the only game of its kind in town, there isn't a need to impress anybody aesthetically.

I wish I liked Moerlein better than Great Lakes (for obvious Cincy vs. Cleveland reasons) but I think Great Lakes beers are way better than Moerlein. There are very few if any Moerlein beers that I really like. And I think the others like Hudy, Little Kings, etc are horrible. But to each their own. I know it sounds homeristic to declare Moerlein better than GL, but I don't care for the finish of Great Lakes' brews. They're not very clean, and basically, Great Lakes tastes overpriced. Moerlein's OTR and Christkindl Winter Ale both top anything GL is putting out that I've tried. OTR is flat-out excellent and should be at every bar in Cincinnati. I've been pleased to find it in a few different places, in bottles no less. I prefer bottles to draft any day.

^And Moerlein is better than Great Lakes... One of the things I miss most about Cincinnati is Moerlein. Another is watching the riverfront take shape.

Sadly, it's routine in many cities. Cincinnati will be lucky if this only takes 10 years. And I think you will be fortunate. Your mayor is a brave and resolute man, as is a majority of your City Council. They will see this through. Because a culture war taking place surrounding upstart fixed transit is predictable doesn't mean ten years to build a 3 mile loop would somehow be lucky. The first thing Qualls should do as mayor is prop up a transit network. The wait and see approach won't work for the Streetcar. There is a huge demand for a larger system and the City should give their critics that satisfaction.

The 2013 draft is rich with cornerbacks and we need more help there, especially with Sheldon Brown getting up there in years. We don't have a second round pick in 2013 because we picked up Josh Gordon in the second round of the supplemental draft. If we picked up a second round pick in a trade, then I'd go linebacker (Jarvis or Te'o) with the first round pick and then CB in the second round. There's going to be good CB's left in the early second round. You're right, I realized that Gordon eliminated the Browns' 2nd rounder as I was posting it but was too lazy to change it. I think corners will be around that can start immediately no matter who picks in front of Cleveland. CBs in general have to be some of the safest first round picks. A corner in the first round, and possibly another one in the 3rd if there wasn't a linebacker I was in love with that slid. WR and a run-blocking guard in free agency, TE in the 4th rd or a lineman. We'll see how much new ownership is willing to pay for quality players that produce a winning product. Shoring up that secondary solves a lot of the defense's issues.

Do you want to bet the future of the offense on Greg Little's unsure hands? I'd either draft a WR in the first round and be done with it, or go out and get a tight end who can be your #2 behind Gordon until your 2nd or 3rd round receiver develops into the second option. The Browns have to be willing to be more impatient with underachieving players. Keeping them around is perpetual rebuilding because coaches have to rebuild those players' confidence far too often.

It's great Cincinnati is gaining more and more cool places to drink. Decent bars are memorable, ordinary watering holes aren't. I also think it's fantastic for tourism and out-of-towners to have surefire go-to places like a 160-tap cathedral.

In addition to Weeden not being the answer, neither are those receivers outside of Gordon. Benjamin has talent and should have been playing more from the start, so we'll see on him. It's time to move on from inconsistent players and get a culture of performance going in that organization. That means Greg Little and Massaquoi should go. The Browns lack talent at skill positions on both sides of the ball. The running game isn't so good that it can be as one-dimensional as it is. Joe Haden had a bad game, and if he doesn't play well, the defense has no shot against most teams. As good as the front four can play at times, a leaky secondary can negate achievement upfront. Cleveland's secondary is a tick better than Detroit's, another defense whose talent on the D-line is being wasted because no matter how fast they get to the QB, somebody will be open.

Cleveland hasn't had a winning record since 2007. That team was knocked out the playoffs in week 16 by the Bengals who finished 7-9. I wouldn't be talking down to Cincinnati if I was a Cleveland fan. Somebody has his grumpy pants on this morning. Relax, cochise. It's football. Sensativity is frowned upon. Nobody's grumpy, don't be silly. By the way, to a Cincinnatian, there's nothing more "sensative" than a Clevelander. :-P

Cleveland hasn't had a winning record since 2007. That team was knocked out the playoffs in week 16 by the Bengals who finished 7-9. I wouldn't be talking down to Cincinnati if I was a Cleveland fan.

Again, what a native might consider or call Clifton in casual conversation may not actually fit with the political distinction currently in place...excellent job missing the point completely. Where did you see me display a defeated attitude about Cincinnati, or anything for that matter? Raised in Avondale and Bond Hill. I'm an Uptown kid.

No- you know your part of the City more intimately. There's no one lifestyle or experience that gives you the best, most authentic knowledge on ALL lifestyles and experiences. Growing up poor is difficult and tragic, but growing up poor in Cincinnati is hardly any different than growing up poor in Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, etc. In fact, it might be better than in some of those communities and surely, it might be worse than in a couple others. There's being poor in Bond Hill, but then there's being poor in Covington and being poor in South Fairmount or Fay Apartments. All of THOSE are different even within the same area. Everything is different everywhere always, and yet in many places it's also pretty similar (genius, i know). You had crappy experiences in Cincinnati and so your view of Cincinnati is that it leans towards those crappy experiences. That is how the human mind works, feelings are tied to a location and the experiences that happened in that location. Cincinnati is not even in the top 25 cities in america for crime. Crime is dropping dramatically, with a 16% drop in violent crime in the last two years and a 10% drop in property crime in the last two years. To say we're anything like a third world country is over the top. Are there pockets of people who live a criminal lifestyle? absolutely. But you also complain we have too many police or something to that effect. I do agree that the spike in crime between 2003 and 2007 did impact some peoples perceptions of the streetcar. But many of people are against it for its dollar amount, because it's rail, because it's downtown and downtown gets all the attention, because its not in my backyard (reverse NIMBYism), etc. I actually think Cincinnati, because of its older, established, almost "official" feel as a major city due to history, layout and era, feels more unsafe than a lot of cities you named. Long-time neglect and isolated neighborhoods in addition to hubs that still have relatively high crime like Clifton make the city feel like a work in progress. I'm proud to say that my city is progressing past more or less two decades of stagnation in city boroughs going back to the late 80s. Guys, I'm not afraid of Cincinnati, quite the contrary! I completely agree with your point about everyone's perception being different and not devaluing another man's viewpoint is important. I'm not trying to. I certainly don't try to beat my chest about living out of the country or being from Cincinnati, I just get asked about these things sometimes and I have to remind other UOers, hey, I'm not new to this Cincinnati thing, I'm a native. My pulse comes from family, the news I read, former colleagues and how Cincinnati felt to me the last couple times I was there. The city feels much safer than it did four or five years ago downtown and uptown, but not as safe in parts of the Westside. I think that once the downtown loop and Uptown Connector is up and running, the central core of NKY, downtown and OTR, Mt. Adams and Clifton could feel like a city of its own with growth probably exploding in Walnut Hills along the McMillan corridor by then. I long for the day Cincinnati inserts itself back into competition with some of my favorite Eastern cities like Boston and Chicago. 10 years from now I see the city in a perpetual state of construction, from transit to housing. I'm bullish on Cincinnati, skeptical of its leadership but not its desired direction. When I say areas don't feel safe, I'm moreso analyzing it from the perspective of someone who isn't familiar with the rough-and-tumble streets of an Eastern metropolis mired in decline. I have standards for Cincinnati that are probably higher than most people's. I don't view it as a Third World entity. In my mind, Cincinnati is a criminal underachiever. Part of that has to do with core neighborhoods stuck in negative cycles. Walnut Hills finally has registered on the map as a potential growth point after being an area in desperate need of reform for I don't know how long. These are things that make me feel good about the City as an increasingly competitive municipality for the educated. I want to see Cincinnati be better for those fortunate enough to be born in it.

First of all, Sherman asked me where I live, and any time that I've ever mentioned my locale was because I had been asked. Why do the 2000's have to be ten years ago? The decade ended just a few years ago. The spike in homicides post-riots in the mid-late 2000's left a scar on the city that has impacted everybody's favorite project, the Streetcar. If OTR was what it is now in 2006, the Streetcar would already have been built and connecting lines would be under construction. History has an impact, even if you're not living in it. Growing up in Cincinnati in a low income household, being in all kinds of neighborhoods and seeing all kinds of things, you know the city more intimately than someone from out-of town. If you're a Cincinnati kid from a low-income household, your understanding of the city is going to be different than that of someone who is choosing to put themselves in a position of weakness because they have the finance to survive it, i.e. moving to a bad neighborhood without income being the deciding factor.

The Streetcar debate has proven the strong reputation of a dangerous core in Cincinnati is not unfounded. The "latest" crime stats do nothing for the reality of the 2000s and how that affected the city's mentality toward itself and how the country views it at large. I was in Cincinnati last summer and probably have a better beat on what's going on in the streets there than you do. I'll ask you the same question I asked Sherman. Were you born and raised in Cincinnati? I don't think you realize that the level of violence on average in American cities is unacceptable and ranks very highly internationally. Being close to violence is more than living in a community in transition. It's being from that community and having experienced tragedy from a myriad of angles that someone with a college degree, a loft and a little courage can't relate to just by moving to OTR.

You did a good job of ignoring my comment by replying to it. It's sad the light never shone on ya as you were pinning your heart to your sleeve. Cincinnati has too much crime and generally doesn't feel that safe. The locals know this. People around the country know this. Ranking high enough to get noticed on crime stat sheets and having multiple reality shows about crime and homicide does indeed build upon the reputation Cincinnati stitched itself to with the riots, boycott, and subsequent wave of violence across the city and in particular, downtown. Were you born and raised in Cincinnati like me? Let's stick to facts here, not your opinions. I am not afraid of black people, and from some of your past comments (Mahoghany's and others), it's evident you don't understand the black community very well. My comments being laughable? Another opinion. I live in Europe. I've been all over the place, Third World countries even. Lived in other American cities. There's nothing standard about the public welfare of Cincinnati. That would be ignoring its history and the obvious. I wonder if you knew what disability meant in regards to a criminal case..

If it means a safer neighborhood, I would too. Tattletale? I call it improving the quality of life, if someone is doing something illegal. Let's call it what it is, which is telling on another person for what someone is assuming is going on or has happened.. To address the slumlord, why not attack him, you may be surprised at how much he might owe the city. Again, if you're gonna make assumptions on your neighbors, go all in and have them clean up the entire property (and possibly others), not just have the police come out to one apartment and tell them that rumors are flying about antisocial behavior emanating from that unit. Putting slumlords on the plank is a very significant way of making the community safer and more comfortable. An ordinary tenant being called to the rug is just that, one guy paying a ticket. It's hardly an assumption. Two counts of murder (two counts?). Tampering with evidence. Possession of weapons under disability (claimed he hurt his back years ago). Confirmed from police that he was whoring out people from the house. And it was obvious he was using the house as a base to sell drugs. You don't have to be obvious to see that. But when the landlord admits that he was "having trouble" receiving rent, when GCWW posts a big yellow notice on their door for non-payment... something is up. Plus, having one of their vicious dogs shot in my front yard after it tried to attack one of my neighbors and a cop isn't another good sign. Or the calls I've made to their house for various domestic issues. Ever hear a woman scream so loud because she was being beat by her "husband" - only to recant the story to the police? We want the neighbors out. They lived with the murderer - "wife", "son" and "daughter." The entire street is perfectly fine with the exception of this one particular resident. He's dragging down the entire neighborhood. So you can prove that this man has done all that you say he's done? This is Cincinnati, one man is incapable of dragging down an entire neighborhood. The city has a little OK corral in it and this entire story is just a small illustration of that. I wouldn't call Cincinnati safe by any stretch despite crime going down. Cincinnatians are conditioned to their underdeveloped and poverty-stricken metropolis, but trust me, others view the city as the homicide/cop show capital that it is.

This has to be the most depressing Ohio-related thread on this site. At this rate, CVG will be the smallest, most feeble, least accommodating "international" airport in the Western Hemisphere by 2014.