OpenTube

Cincinnati Didn’t Collapse — It Split in Two

CityFall

25,427 views

Cincinnati Didn’t Collapse — It Split in Two

Cincinnati's transformation from America's "Porkopolis" to a city of extreme inequality reveals one of the most dramatic urban stories in the Midwest. Once the sixth largest city in America and the nation's meatpacking capital, Cincinnati's strategic Ohio River location made it a booming gateway to the west in the 1800s. Today, this former industrial powerhouse showcases stunning neighborhood divergence—from billion-dollar trust fund enclaves to communities trapped in generational poverty cycles.

This deep dive explores how Cincinnati became a living laboratory of urban inequality and examines the controversial reinvention efforts reshaping select pockets of the city. From the massive pig drives that once flooded city streets to the revolutionary meatpacking industry that employed over 1,200 workers by 1840, we trace the historical roots of today's stark contrasts. Discover how America's former "Queen of the West" is attempting to write a new chapter while grappling with the complex legacy of its industrial past and the ongoing challenges of urban renewal in modern America.

Sources:
1. Wikipedia - Cincinnati: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati
2. Wikipedia - History of Cincinnati: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
3. Cincinnati Watch Company - Reinventing in Ruins: https://cincinnatiwatch.com/blogs/new...
4. Department of Energy - Cincinnati Incorporated Success Story: https://www.energy.gov/eere/ammto/art...
5. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland - Rust and Renewal: https://www.clevelandfed.org/-/media/...
6. Journal of Cincinnati Thought - Industrial Revolution History: https://cincinnatithought.com/a-semi-...
7. Cincinnati History - Gilded Age Cincinnati: https://www.cincinnatihistory.org/pos...
8. The New Localism - Cincinnati Jobs Bond: https://www.thenewlocalism.com/newsle...
9. GWU Center for Community Resilience - Segregated Cincinnati: https://ccr.publichealth.gwu.edu/segr...
10. Cincinnati Enquirer/AOL - Neighborhood Report Cards: https://www.aol.com/segregation-pover...
11. CityBeat - That Which Divides Us: https://www.citybeat.com/news/that-wh...
12. Data USA - Cincinnati, OH Profile: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/cincin...
13. United Way of Greater Cincinnati - Understanding Our Community: https://www.uwgc.org/knowledge-exchan...
14. City of Cincinnati - Lower Price Hill Profile: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/sites/o...
15. Economic Innovation Group - Geography of High-Poverty Neighborhoods: https://eig.org/the-geography-of-high...
16. City of Cincinnati - Best of 2024: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/oes/new...
17. 3CDC - Projects: https://www.3cdc.org/projects/
18. City of Cincinnati - Brownfield Funding: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/oes/res...
19. Visit Cincy - New Developments: https://www.visitcincy.com/meetings/m...
20. City of Cincinnati - Plan Cincinnati: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/plannin...
21. HR&A - Downtown Cincinnati Revitalization: https://www.hraadvisors.com/portfolio...
22. Congress for the New Urbanism - Restorative Urbanism in OTR: https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2024...
23. Wikipedia - Over-the-Rhine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-th...
24. UC College of Law - Development in Over The Rhine: https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/cgi/vi...
25. Green Umbrella - White-Wassing the Neighborhood: https://greenumbrella.org/white-wassi...
26. Farmers Advance - Porkopolis History: https://www.farmersadvance.com/story/...
27. Morning Ag Clips - Porkopolis: https://www.morningagclips.com/porkop...
28. Encyclopedia.com - Meatpacking: https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-s...
29. CNU - Camp Washington Plans: https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2024...

20 Comments

@Rutabega_NG 7 months ago (edited)

The word you're looking for is Gentrification , not renewal or revitalization.

The housing they updated in OTR is not for growth. There's nothing around there that encourages people to stay and raise families. They leave, they move to the suburbs, and it starts all over again.

There's also a matter of the income ranges. There's nothing in the middle. With nothing in the middle, there's no bridge to create a community.

What they've done instead is destroy what community there was.

Additionally, the people who are priced out are forced to find somewhere else to live. So they drop into communities that were already established and disrupt those norms as well.

Gentrify one neighborhood and you disrupt multiple communities.

It's happened to multiple Black neighborhoods. Basically, what you started with is still happening, they're just making it look prettier.

@jamescurran9002 8 months ago (edited)

John Lomax was not a Professor. And wasnt even old enough to ne involved.
He is a retired Newscaster

@joethaler7921 8 months ago

Urban renewal, my ass. Call it what it is, Urban REMOVAL.

@mattl6948 8 months ago

The thumbnail for this video is not a real picture.

@dougpalmer721 8 months ago

I lived there for two years
Orchard lane - grande vista
Area wonderful place
Pleasant ridge montgomery rd

@ShawnC.T. 8 months ago

It's actually pronounced "Pork-Ah-Polis"...

@surfboy344 6 months ago

Excellent video. Thanks for making it. Meat is always more expensive. Could i ask what town this is in?

@ERock513-Cincy 6 months ago

I turned it off right after I heard “porkopolis” pronounced incorrectly

@drock5404 7 months ago

Certain government programs have incentivized keeping household income down and people in inner cities and rural areas take full advantage of it. Making another 20K per year, lose your benefits.

@purplestar1545 7 months ago

Over-the-Rhine is so often praised but why don’t we hear about what happened to the neighborhoods where its displaced residents ended up? Places like Westwood saw harsh decline as they absorbed former Over-the-Rhine residents. Many of them were quite upset with what was happening to their community and the lack of power and voice they had in any of it. Revitalization is not progress until the efforts improve communities for their current residents. Let’s stop pretending that pushing the problems trying to be addressed onto other neighborhoods should be celebrated. We won’t have progress to celebrate until we improve circumstances for the people living around us with the lowest access and incomes. Making our neighborhoods more equitable will be a loftier goal and a much better indicator of success than what Cincinnati saw with Over-the-Rhine.

@charleskesner1302 8 months ago (edited)

This could be a lot of rust belt cities in the US. Expanding suburbs competing for infrastructure money. A recipe for disaster which Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, and many other cities can attest too.

@mikegifford5263 7 months ago

John Lonax life time news anchor I watched him age on tv

@johndoe-cb1id 7 months ago

Other cities taking notes how to follow this change over !!!!!!!

@kds365 7 months ago

When ignorance prevails.

@jonesn3863 7 months ago

need 2 take that Billion dollar trust fund And fix the road heading out of Cincinnati

@Chrishansen26 3 months ago

There WAS a community in OTR, and the correct action was taken by pushing them out?

@LSPalm 7 months ago

3cdc is an anti poor segregation inducing organization. Most that investment is free ies in tax abatements to 3cdc. Which is starting to fall apart.

@samfyfe2949 7 months ago

Looks like Avondale is the place to buy an investment property

@kevinakakp9120 8 months ago (edited)

Old story, different city

@JamesMatson-j7p 8 months ago

I think the city is beatiful..as it is built on 7 hills...only thing I dont like is my trip to Cincy i go over the Jeremiah bridge on I-71 about 20 miles north of town..you have to see it to believe it..pretty darn scary..and it's always one lane with construction going on..so if your ever in the area you got to check it out..I would call it a modern marvel