RUN FOR THE HILLS! Or Just Dayton...

Surprise, surprise, surprise: the population of Cincinnati is rapidly decreasing. It's so bad that it's shrinking faster than both Detroit (where crime pays) AND New Orleans. WHAT?! Cincinnati can shrink faster than a city that sank? That's the most hilarious thing I've heard in a while.

As someone who recently ran for the suburban hills, let me explain my perspective. It was never my goal to stay within the city limits. It was always my goal to move some place with decent schools, no bus line with which to contend and relatively low crime (and ridiculous crime at that). I rather enjoy being outside of the 275 loop. I love sprawl and welcome it with open arms. I don't see the need to live where I work. YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB! But that's a different fight club rant for a different time.

Allow me to reinforce the reasons for population decline:
Personally, I'm not a fan of the majority of Hamilton county. Houses in Hamilton county tend to be ridiculously overpriced for what you get. Example: $205,000 will you get a 1300 sq. ft. home in Oakley, complete with postage stamp yard and street parking. Sorry, driveways and detached garages sold separately. The same amount will get you at least 2000 sq. ft anywhere in Butler county. Yes, many houses in Oakley have been renovated, but you can't change location. You can fix crappy counters but you can't fix bad location. I understand, people love proximity to Hyde Park (why?) and "old house charm". Yeah, remind me where granite countertops and stainless steel appliances fit in with "old house charm".

When you drive down 75 there's an obvious change when you reach the point that's considered city limits. You don't need a sign, the scenery change is enough. It's not that the houses are old, but they are not taken care of very well. There's no pride of ownership (or rentership..I mean, it IS Cincinnati after all. Check the stats, over 50% of housing units in Cincinnati are renter occupied). Is there a lack of pride because of the increase in violent crime? Or is the increase in violent crime that led people to stop caring? Which came first, run down house or the thug? Chicken or the egg...we could debate all day.

There's no draw to the city. It gets irritating to go downtown and be harrassed by a panhandling moron. There's nothing there to interest me. Personally, I don't care if I live in a neighborhood with 200 houses but only 4 different designs. MOOT POINT! News flash to everyone with that attitude, all neighborhoods are like that whether they were built in 1924 or 2004. The only difference is the building style.

Bottom line: Cincinnati and Dayton are eventually just going to merge into one Midwestern metropolis. Cincinnati should either embrace the sprawl or offer me more than a panhandler, a door kicker and a potential gun shot wound.