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Inside Ohio's Nonprofit Hoods

RocaNews

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People in Cincinnati warned us not to go to Over-the-Rhine because they said it was dangerous. So we went to see for ourselves. We found that a $1 billion nonprofit had bought up much of the neighborhood, serving as a case study for questions about gentrification and community change.

►Our tour guide's Instagram: @harrison_lehn

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00:00 Can $1B Fix Cinci’s Worst Hood?
0:48 Over-The-Rhine
1:41 “Wrong Block”
2:45 Billion Dollar Non-Profit
2:55 OTR History
3:58 2001 Riots
4:40 Gentrification vs. Abandoned
5:10 Investment
7:00 Findlay Market
7:27 1BR Rent
7:40 3CDC Improvements
8:18 “Skid Row”
8:50 Walk to Gas Station
9:48 Is Gentrification Good?
10:32 OTR Murder
11:15 He Beat Federal Murder Case

Subs: 235k subs

#ohio #cincinnati

20 Comments

@rocanews Creator 1 year ago (edited) Pinned

This is our first video from Cincinnati. This episode is just about OTR and isn’t meant to be a full representation of Cinci. Our second video will try to give a broader tour, exploration of the city.

Also, we made a mistake at 1:07: We misspoke and called it Liberty Ave. The correct street name is Liberty Street.

@Darkrocmon 1 year ago

That "hipster market" is 172 years old.

@adamekcar 1 year ago

They literally pulled the old "raise crime to lower property value and buy it all."

@Syzzlack 1 year ago

All of Ohio has some of the most beautiful Old Victorian architecture I've ever seen in USA...

@danielsmith2447 1 year ago

No amount of money will fix the problem, it just pushes the bad element a few blocks away.

@geraldvalentino786 1 year ago

Money cannot "fix"any neighborhood. It's the content, and morals, of the locals characters,that will make up the neighborhood.

@deadcorpert619 1 year ago

“we’re still in the european zone right?” is so funny without the context

@Xx_Eric_was_Here_xX 1 year ago

it would have been cool to hear more about how that 3CDC company operates. there is a similar private company that practically owns the entire downtown of my city - they also get away with paying minimal taxes via PILOT programs, which cause the school systems to be very underfunded.

@IDK_1984 1 year ago

Delivered all over Cincinnati and a lot of the restaurants in OTR. Buildings are amazing but I always tried to get in and out of the area before the residents got up and out of the streets. Always homeless people sleeping on the church steps and spots on the sidewalks. Actually took my kids on a quick pass through the area by car when they were younger but old enough to know. Told them to never end up in a location like this and that they could always come home rather than end up here.

@Audorin 1 year ago

The last guy is genuine. He deserves better.

@trevortiernan8510 1 year ago (edited)

“My son going to be out here next” that hits deep. I hope the area improves.

@ericwheel1300 1 year ago

I'm in yo video we got the same shoes 💯 crazy it been at least 5 killings since the day y'all was on Vine 😰🙌🏿

@DanYellowTheeMan 1 year ago

I've been to Cincinnati a few times, and I love the architecture there. What also surprised me was how walkable and bikeable the city is. It was a lot of fun running through the city. Now, I will say the transition from the hood to the more gentrified/nicer areas is indeed very stark. While running, I sort of just freestyled my run. So I ended up going deep into the hood and realized it after a few blocks. It definitely was sketchy but I didn't feel like the worse place I have seen. Then again, it was 6 am so not much was happening other than a few sketchy characters roaming around. Cincinnati has a lot of potential, hopefully one day it can be one of the great cities of the country again.

@linguisticsquirrel 1 year ago

I worked for a very small non profit rehabbing a few of those buildings right next to St Francis on Vine , Republic, and Green back from 2013 to 2016. It was rough, but the neighborhood got to know us and we didn’t have much trouble at all. Even parking our cars on Green Street, the local dudes watched our stuff for us. Saw a couple shootings but really didn’t feel unsafe for some reason. Perhaps young ignorance? Miss Tuckers restaurant so much too. didn’t have enough funding to finish our work, and after 3cdc bought those buildings up, they’re still sitting vacant, a quarter of the way renovated. Our mission was to help make affordable housing. It never happened. 10 years later, no more work has been done. Still waiting to see it.

@captainsteamer7320 1 year ago

Findlay market wasn't originally a hipster market. it's been around longer then anyone in the video.

@johnsmith-ht3sy 1 year ago

I like it, a fantastic description , sums it up . "Non Profit Hood ".

@danielsmith2447 1 year ago

That last guy said something very telling, he said 'who gonna fight the hand that feed them' talking about the federal government. Therein lies the problem.

@janetrichardson2644 1 year ago

I grew up in Cincinnati and now live in Northern Kentucky. I worked for years at federal building at 5th and main and at the enquirer building at 3rd and Elm. I use to go to Findlay Market on Saturday and was shocked by the stark contrast just a block away. It breaks my heart to see a beautiful city have such destitute and run down area. There are other parts that are bad too but not as hopeless.

@123gmor 1 year ago

It is basically correct that south of Liberty Street is quite safe for an urban area. North of Liberty and up the hill can be shaky until you reach the Clifton neighborhood (the University of Cincinnati area). In general the whole downtown area is not bad during daylight hours but I wouldn't venture north past Liberty Street after dark!

@80swerethebest 1 year ago (edited)

Back in the day, anything past 8th st was a no go, then it was 12th, then Central, now it appears it is Liberty. Cimcinnati is weird in that safe/dangerous areas have such a fine line. The movie Traffic portrayed the plight but I also remember that you could go from Indian Hill to Madisonville or places on west side and drop right into English Woods or poor surrounded by fancy areas by just a block or two. Not sure if it's like that in a lot of places .Gentrification is just a fancy way to subtly raze an area for profit. Good video, btw. Nice to see good editing, good video quality, narration that can be understood and is neutral. Like to see something current for west side of Dayton OH like down around Wright Bros and Dunbar...to see if it is the same as it used to be. Ty.