We looked at five cities in the region and asked: What can Cincinnati do to join the ranks?

 

By Tony Lang

Enquirer staff writer

 

After recent stopovers in Cincinnati by 15,000 veterans, President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, John Kerry, first lady Laura Bush, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities, it may seem a "duh" sort of question to ask: How are we doing?

 

more below:

www.enquirer.com

.... a new campaign to abolish the city's property tax

 

Really? What would they replace the revenues with? Or would they?

That article doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. The only really significant points are that Cincinnati is spending huge sums of money to improve itself and that the prosperity of the suburbs is dependent upon the success of the central city. The idea that as long as things are great in West Chester (for instance), it doesn't matter if downtown Cincinnati and downtown Dayton fail, is patently stupid, but, I suspect, not unknown in many suburbs and now exurbs.

I'll bump this and see if it catches fire

prosperity of the suburbs is dependent upon the success of the central city.

 

...this sounds like a truism.  Has it ever been proven?

 

And what do they define as "sucess"?

A lot of the info in the article rings true, but it is the same stuff that has been being said for at least 15 years (as long as I have been following this stuff). 

 

To answer Jeff's, question; yes it has been proven.  If you read a great book by David Rusk called "Cities Without Suburbs", he shows statistically how regions with strong and growing central cities have stronger and faster growing suburbs, and hence a stronger region.  It is a good mix of statistical data and conclusions drawn by the author.  He has been to town to speak at least three times over the last 10 years or so.

 

His best points show for example a suburb of say Detroit, which is seemingly kicking ass compared to Detroit proper and other SW Michigan suburbs; however, a similar type suburb in say Portland, is in fact beating the crap out of the Detroit suburb.

 

 

what? i haven't replied sarcastically to this one yet?

 

 

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me

While I can't remember the research firm, it authored a report in the mid-1990s which showed that metro areas having excessive sprawl (defined as having outward metro development even as the central city declined in population), performed poorly economically compared to metro areas that had less of a sprawl proplem. If I remember correctly, metro areas that kept their sprawl relatively in check had several times greater GDP and individual wealth per resident than regions that couldn't. It ranked various cities, and I recall metro areas like Detroit and Cleveland among the "top" five that performed the worst, while urban areas like Portland and I think Raleigh-Durham performing the best.

 

KJP

But it's the right question, and begs other questions such as - Compared to whom?

Aaargh...no, it does NOT "beg other questions"...begging the question is a specifically defined logical fallacy that means you are assuming your conclusion in your premise...it does not mean, "that leads to the question", or what Diane Rehm always says, "the question becomes..."

Unified cities and unified metros have an edge, whether competing for state or federal dollars or in the global marketplace. Cincinnati is playing catch-up in strengthening bonds to fast-growing Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio counties. One prediction: By 2010, the Census Bureau will combine Cincinnati and Dayton into a single metro area - CIN-DAY. All of Greater Cincinnati should make the most of that larger market to step up as a competitive "market performer."

 

People in great cities still quarrel, but almost everybody's pulling in the same general direction. They share the same vision and the same "brand." They're competitive, which allows them to snap back faster from a recession or a disaster like 9/11. New Yorkers even compete with wisecracks and comebacks. It's a point of pride to uphold their end in the daily contest.

Great post.