City Blights

Well, Malta and Cyprus are both tiny islands, so that isn't surprising that they top the list. However, I specified Portugal and Greece as being among the tops in tourism and poverty in Western/Mediterranean Europe. Of the cities ahead of Portugal, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden are all part of Northern Europe, and Luxembourg is another extremely small country that isn't a great statistical comparison. Out of 17 possible nations, not counting the extremely small ones: 1. Austria 2. Spain 3. Italy 4. Greece 5. The Netherlands 6. France 7. Portugal 8. Slovenia 9. Germany 10. Belgium 11. Croatia The rest are unlisted. Greece has the highest poverty rate, followed by Spain, then Portugal. Those are three of the top 7 countries. Poverty rankings among EU-15 member nations: 1. Greece 2. Spain 3. Portugal 4. Italy 5. Ireland Of these nations, only Italy has a sizable manufacturing sector comparative to its size and necessity for a 21st century economy. Massive corruption and public policy prohibitive to economic growth have hampered Italy since the '80s.

Sure, the Vatican could have taken all the duomos in Italy apart piece by piece and sold the art to feed the poor, but then again, all that "elitist" art brings in the majority of the country's GDP (tourism), which in turn feeds everyone. It will continue to feed generation after generation. Please don't misquote me, I said the financing of many old religious structures proved to be wasteful for the community. Having tourism doesn't feed the poor, ask Greece and Portugal who both rank close to the top in Western and Mediterranean Europe in both tourism and poverty. Manufacturing goods isn't just a prop for an economy like tourism, it's a foundation. It's why the Basque Country of Spain has been struggling so much since Spain's inception into the EU. Spain relinquished much of its right to manufacturing to Germany, and a good chunk of that was centralized in the Basque. European nations reliant on tourism and banking are bailouts waiting to happen. A 600-year old cathedral never fed a community and never will. It will, however, convince some that a true economy (exchange of goods, ideas, services) isn't necessary within a region, which is patently false. The beauty of Cincinnati is, the ornate architecture surpasses most of what the world has to offer, and the entire city could become a tourist attraction based on the urban fabric, imagination, and 19th century appeal. The 19th century in general was the height of craftsmanship for humankind, and Cincinnati of 2012 is fortunate that Cincinnati during the Age of Industrialization was one of the cities around the globe leading the way in its appreciation of detail. Cincinnati is a global treasure that visually exceeds most European capitals. It doesn't need once-mosques turned Medieval cathedrals.

If commuting patterns are being considered, Dayton has every right to be part of the Cincinnati CSA. For decades people have lived on the outskirts of either city/metro and commuted to the other for employment. It's part of the reason I-75 is such a disaster during rush hours. ColDayMan touched on this yesterday. GDP is the value of goods, etc. produced within a defined boundary. It does not evaluate the overall value of corporations and firms within said boundary and certainly doesn't reflect regional strength of a white-collar community. Fictional example: If Phoenix has five enormous Fortune 500's, but the two largest plants in the region press cardboard and make soup, Phoenix's GDP may be lower than Denver's, which has three huge Fortune 500's, but the city cranks out textiles and pharmaceuticals. GDP rankings typically fall closely in line with the size of the market within a specific boundary, but making beer that flies off shelves across the world has something to do with St. Louis being higher than all of the Ohio cities. The amount of external investment a region experiences also has a significant impact on it's GDP. Chicago's hub status inflates its GDP, and Minneapolis' growth has provoked corporations into investing there. By definition, that makes Minneapolis more competitive than any of Ohio's metros, boosting that city's ranking.

At the end of the day, the elaborate, age-old religious structure is a reminder of an ignorant era when the poor shelled out their earnings for one structure that did not improve municipal services, create enlightenment or improve education, or enhance the economy to a level that the disenfranchised masses could feel. Even in touristy villages and cities across Europe, having famous cathedrals doesn't narrow social gaps. It's just a few more bucks for a town that's gonna spend the money everywhere but on their poor.

Americans should be happy that their dioceses haven't done enough grafting to erect the most wasteful, elitist and flamboyant structures on Earth like the cathedrals seen in Europe.

The Main St. district of yesteryear was more robust than today, but citywide I don't think the Cincinnati bar scene was as evenly distributed as it is now. Uptown has taken a nosedive, but the Eastside, CBD and NKY all have better nightlife than they used to. CBD still has a long way to go, though.

ok so explain white collar crime You and I both know that money makes the world go round, and if you're in the business of managing other people's money, you have quite a bit of it to cover up your own transgressions. That and the powerful are just that - above reprieve in many instances where the middle and working classes are held to higher standards of accountability from birth.

With such a long rap sheet, I think we can safely blame him for at least some of the city's ills. That was poor phrasing, I agree, he was an arch criminal.

The kid is 14. Do you remember being 14? I'm not willing to send hardly anyone away for life for a crime at age 14, not even the one we're discussing. There's so many variables to his situation specifically anyway. One thing that taxpayers can do is stop with the "me" attitude and start looking at the world as one community. Atrocities that occur in India do indeed affect the United States, and so forth. If the center of Cincinnati (Avondale, Walnut Hills, Evanston) is a disaster area worthy of FEMA funds, taxpayers should be outraged that this exists at all, and particularly in their backyard where they can have an impact that they could tangibly witness. Putting pressure on the City and state to change their tax structures, lobbying for more equal redistricting of schools, and fighting for efficient metropolitan fixed transit that serves disenfranchised communities are all ways taxpayers can do their part.

I've made some adjustments to my post since you made yours, so I'd request you to reread my words. Theodore made bad decisions, that's why he's dead and that's why he went to prison. One could argue that he had no choice but to live a life of crime after his initial felony conviction. A life of crime leads to an early grave, unless you work for the government or a major corporation. A convicted felon is going to have a hard time finding employment at McDonalds.

We've sunk so low that we're glad people are dead? Are you from a low-income, highly violent community? Are you aware what it's like to have a significant chunk of your family living in cyclical poverty in the inner city? Poverty and social apartheid manufacture violence in Cincinnati. Many individuals are influenced and quasi-forced into undesirable lifestyles because of these things. His family failed him as well as the justice system that makes you a slave to crime once you acquire that first felony. That's why you see guys with long rap sheets. What are they legally allowed to engage in other than illicit activity after their initial felony conviction? Let's not blame Theodore Palmer for the city's ills, because that's what you do when you celebrate his murder. That's what the United States did when the public heard word of Bin Laden's death. It could and has been argued that the U.S. criminal justice system creates as many homicides as would naturally occur in a vacuum by crushing the ability for convicted felons to re-integrate into free society.

^If your argument is to tighten the justice system for predicates, you would have to tighten the system for first-timers. The system is already engineered to discriminate against the poor and/or minorities. How about addressing entrenched poverty so society has less offenders? Prison is a problem, not a solution.

^I agree that Cincinnati's bones are older and more stately, there's no question. I feel the city is severely undervalued in regards to just how much mid-19th century/Reconstruction era architecture it has. Even folks from a bigger market such as Detroit who experience Cincinnati's core recognize that it has more of a big-city structural environment than their own town. Cleveland has something of a complex about being the biggest in Ohio, so I don't hear them concede those sorts of things as often. But among the "Old East" if you will (Milwaukee, STL, Chi, Det, Cle, Buf, Pit, East Coast), here's how I would rank them in big-city feel based on 19th century structures, neglecting population. 1. NYC 2. Philadelphia 3. Boston 4. Baltimore 5. Cincinnati 6. Chicago 7. St. Louis 8. Pittsburgh 9. The Rest I wasn't trying to squeeze all of Wicker and its many faces under the NKY umbrella, I just don't see the Walnut Hills comparison because that area largely developed as a wealthy area, hence the large plots comparatively for a cramped city like Cincinnati. NKY fills many niches for the Cincinnati region and has to because of it's location on the border of two states with vastly different cultures. Wicker doesn't have to be that. It's free to be Yuppieland because it doesn't have to be the most desirable place for born Kentuckians within 50 miles of Cincinnati, desirable for monied Cincinnatians, and at the same time a dumping ground for the region's poor. Wicker wasn't always what it is now, and as Cincinnati continues to evolve at a faster rate than it has in the previous 50 years, NKY may start to look like Yup City before we know it. Kudos to Cincinnati's Over the Rhine for not letting those income-spenders flee to Kentucky, but it will happen, and soon. A streetcar loop to/through NKY will be the central catalyst for such a demographic shift.

I ask you, are the residential structures of Walnut Hills similar to Wicker? The answer is no. NKY has it's fair share of young professionals, but is it thriving in the manner that Wicker is? No. Wicker is lined with rows and garden units. NKY has tons of rows and townhomes. The commercial streets of NKY are powerful and extremely rich in architecture. Some of the finest architecture in Cincinnati is in NKY. I don't see this Walnut Hills comparison. Walnut and Wicker are markedly different in feel and style despite Walnut being blessed with fancy and large-scale commercial districts. Wicker in totality has much more in common with NKY. Is Walnut Hills filled with hipsters?

Walnut Hills residential doesn't match up as well with Wicker as NKY's. NKY is pretty dense.

I never said roundabouts are unsafe for pedestrians, but they do require an exorbitant amount of walking and waiting. At any roundabout, there's going to be plenty of stoplights, and at an economically thriving roundabout, there's gonna be even more stop and go associated with lights from blocks before the roundabout from all sides as well as the roundabout itself. You're more likely to get caught by a light than you will be to ever make one. I live in Europe and long ago I safely concluded that they don't add much but ambiance while passing by in a vehicle. They're not all that fun on foot.

Roundabouts are awful for pedestrians as well as traffic flow. Their only useful purpose is commercial space, and that only works in tighter roundabouts specifically planned for such. Having a landfill in the middle of the road or a fountain no one can interact with isn't as attractive as it seems.

The problem with Cincinnati's City West is the lack of commercial space, not the architecture. City West does not address the primary issue within its neighborhood, which is high unemployment, low property values and economic isolation.

Wicker reminds me of Northern Kentucky with lesser architecture. Still, a really nice area with good nightlife.

^The Spanish couldn't care less what children are potentially exposed to. Parents routinely take their kids inside bars with them through dinnertime.

Cincinnati would be better off if the FCC disbanded CVG and the city started over with an all-new airport in an all-new location. Leadership is so unqualified for the job that they do, maybe that's why it seems like the bonehead thought processes you're gonna hear get shouted out at a neighborhood council meeting are the ones that stick to the wall at CVG.

Even with COAST, Smitherman and Cranley lurking, I still don't see any way that the Streetcar route doesn't get built. I think Cincinnatians are tired of voting on it. You see it with most every city riding the transit wave. Whether liberal (Portland), conservative (Charlotte) or a mixed bag (Houston), once the first route is in the ground and functioning, the expansions are grander and materialize faster than the principal project even despite the local cave-artists attempting to sabotage municipal health.

Oh, I almost forgot, Carson Palmer was the local hero from Middletown, Ohio who was going to save the city from their 70 year title drought. Except for the part about him being from Middletown. And the part about the seven decade drought. Really though, as someone else pointed out, it's that last statement that is the key here. Out of all of the cities with at least three major pro sports franchises, none has had to deal with almost a half-century without one winning a title. If some of us "feel victimized," it's a pretty legitimate feeling. While Cincinnati's luck may not be the greatest, at least most Reds fans can remember what it's like to see a team lift the hardware. Ultimately as I've said time and again, most of the Cleveland sports fan's psychopathology, most of the way we look at past defeats, is built around not having a recent championship. And to bring this discussion full circle and back on topic, it's why watching the best player in the NBA who we drafted win a title in another city is a difficult pill to swallow. If we had a few titles under our belt, the anger and sadness towards James would still be there, but the intensity would be nowhere close to what it is with the current situation. I honestly don't want to make this convo redundant or appear as if I'm attacking Cleveland fans. It just seems that no matter what, Cleveland fans will believe that their misfortune supersedes that of any other fanbase. The Bengals have never won a Super Bowl. The NBA squad left town, never to return like the Browns did. Just a little food for thought.

Absolutely not true as a general rule. You're equating the LeBron James situation to Carson Palmer? Personally I think that's a huge stretch. I think that any city with a large, passionate fanbase that had to deal with what Cleveland has had to deal with (either the James situation specifically or the numerous crushing sports defeats over the years) would react as we have reacted. No situation could compare to the Lebron-Cleveland fallout. Why? Carson Palmer, a former #1 overall, once one of the best players in the game, quit on his team halfway through a 2010 season that began with Super Bowl aspirations and then retired in order to force a trade. That has never happened before. If anything, there's no comparing Cincinnati's situation to anyone else's. There are other cities that have experienced significant sports tragedy, including my example of Cincinnati. The Drive? How about Joe Montana going down the field on the Bengals in the 88' Super Bowl? The Fumble? How about The Hit? A 66-yard completion to Chris Henry turns into an Carson Palmer ACL injury and a lifetime of What If's...The hit that took Carson out didn't become illegal until it happened to Tom Brady a few years later...how do you think Cincinnati fans felt seeing that the league cared so little about them? The Decision? How about The Strike? The Reds were one of the best teams in baseball with a Hall of Famer in the middle of their lineup (Barry Larkin) in 1994. Either the Braves, Expos or Reds were going to win the World Series that year. In 1995 the team was a little older and couldn't keep up with the fresher Atlanta squad in the playoffs. 1994 may have been their time. The Injury. Kenyon Martin breaks his leg the University of Cincinnati's conference tournament in 2000. The Bearcats were ranked #1 in the country and the prohibitive favorite to win it all. Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for gambling that no commissioner dare touch, yet Mark McGwire could use steroids to increase his own odds of winning and is currently employed by the St. Louis Cardinals. I think you just gave credence to my belief that a good section of the Cleveland fanbase does feel victimized. Other cities have had to deal with sports tragedy too.

I know nothing about Cleveland now? News to me. The Browns home attendance is always one of the tops in the league. What has their record been lately? Off the top of my head: 2011: 5/11 2010: 5/11 2009: 4/12 They haven't won more than 5 games since 2007 I believe. Having a sense of pride about mediocrity is showing up to games to root for a team that consistently delivers a mediocre product. Cincinnati fans smartened up and curbed their direct spending with Mike Brown, gaining them leverage in ticket prices and other concessions the owner has made in the past 9 months. How many more 5-11's do Cleveland fans have to endure before they boycott the stadium?