I was born in Cincinnati, and lived there for 18 years until going to Ohio State. Today I live on the peninsula.
I'm here in Cincinnati now, for family stuff. And I'm concerned. Cincinnati still has a large industrial component (P&G has their HQ here), but many factories are gone. A lot of the east side of the city has been converted into microbreweries, homes, and shopping. My Mom works at a biomedical company that's growing. Gigabit FTTH for residences is available.
I'm still concerned. Property taxes have grown beyond reasonable limits. There are so many areas that are not benefiting from the improvements being made. There is culture being destroyed by rising rents and gentrification. And the pain killer/opioid epidemic gives a perfect path to "release".
Case in point: Today I met some relatives at a brewery for lunch. But my Aunt had a problem ordering: They send a text message when your order is ready to pick up, and she doesn't have a mobile phone. The place was all stools and tables; if we had invited my grandfather, he wouldn't have had a place to sit.
There are good places and people though. I'm here to attend my grandmothers funeral. In addition to my boss, two of my relatives also had flowers sent by their place of work. On the day we were doing planning, my uncle suddenly shows up: My uncle builds furniture; he was sent by his place of work to pick up some big sandwich & pasta platters, and drop it off to my grandfather. All paid for.
I'm rambling. The point is: There is so much good here, and it is so at risk. And sometimes I think that if I moved back here (either working remotely, or finding a similar job locally), that I would just exacerbate the problem.
I Also grew up in cincinnati. You've probably seen signs with my last name (Neyer) on them, as my family has been there a while. Also live in the bay area now. Cincinnati really was like a small town; people did seem to look after each other.
I think if people like us moved back there to work for other tech companies, we'd exacerbate the problem.
If we moved back and started companies that employed low skilled labor, we'd make things better. If we could end the pointless war on drugs, and spend that same money repairing infrastructure, we'd be way better off.
Our old system is breaking down. Unfortunately i think it'll have to get worse before it gets better.
I live in Cincinnati. I don't think gentrification is responsible for the opioid epidemic. I would blame the increase in the supply of opioids and structural changes to the economy. Plenty of places without gentrification (rural Indiana) are being hit even harder.
I'd also disagree that moving back would exacerbate the problem. A higher tax base would help the city to better combat the problem. You could also donate to non-profits or volunteer.
Another Cincinnatian, now living in the Peninsula.
Just to nit-pick one part:
> I'm still concerned. Property taxes have grown beyond reasonable limits.
There is some truth in this, but only because property taxes are a weird beast; a combination of one of the worst taxes (a tax on one's home) and one of the best taxes (the tax on the unimproved value of land).
In a land-poor place (bad neighborhoods in the rust belt, say), the property tax lies mostly on improvements, and tends to hurt the most vulnerable.
However, we see how in a land-rich place (the Bay Area), a crippled property tax, in the form of Prop 13, has devastated the land market.
Well, that's all I have to say about that. Love Cincinnati. Hate the peninsula.
I'm here in Cincinnati now, for family stuff. And I'm concerned. Cincinnati still has a large industrial component (P&G has their HQ here), but many factories are gone. A lot of the east side of the city has been converted into microbreweries, homes, and shopping. My Mom works at a biomedical company that's growing. Gigabit FTTH for residences is available.
I'm still concerned. Property taxes have grown beyond reasonable limits. There are so many areas that are not benefiting from the improvements being made. There is culture being destroyed by rising rents and gentrification. And the pain killer/opioid epidemic gives a perfect path to "release".
Case in point: Today I met some relatives at a brewery for lunch. But my Aunt had a problem ordering: They send a text message when your order is ready to pick up, and she doesn't have a mobile phone. The place was all stools and tables; if we had invited my grandfather, he wouldn't have had a place to sit.
There are good places and people though. I'm here to attend my grandmothers funeral. In addition to my boss, two of my relatives also had flowers sent by their place of work. On the day we were doing planning, my uncle suddenly shows up: My uncle builds furniture; he was sent by his place of work to pick up some big sandwich & pasta platters, and drop it off to my grandfather. All paid for.
I'm rambling. The point is: There is so much good here, and it is so at risk. And sometimes I think that if I moved back here (either working remotely, or finding a similar job locally), that I would just exacerbate the problem.