Creative Class: Cincinnati Discovers Cosmopolitan

No one has ever accused Cincinnati of being too cosmopolitan. During the past fifteen years, Larry Flynt, Barnes & Noble, and the curator of a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit have all faced obscenity charges for their activities in the area. In the sporting world, hometown legends Pete Rose and Marge Schott were nationally disgraced for gambling and racist comments, respectively. More recently, race riots and police beatings have polarized the city and further tarnished its reputation. Perhaps as a result, Cincinnati keeps losing people to its suburbs: in the past fifty years, the city’s population dropped from over 500,000 to just 323,000, while the thirteen-county metropolitan area has doubled to 2 million people.

Over the past several years, however, Cincinnati has shed its close-minded image and begun to revitalize its center city—focusing on strategies of broad appeal to make those who already live in its metropolitan orb think about moving back to the city.

Cincinnati—cosmopolitan? You better believe it.

A New City Emerges

A theater, two museums, and two stadiums have anchored the city’s transformation. In 1995, the Aronoff Center for the Arts, designed by Cesar Pelli, became the first new performing arts venue in downtown Cincinnati since Memorial Hall was built in 1908. Last year, the Contemporary Arts Center—the same institution that hosted Mapplethorpe in 1990—was reincarnated by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid. The New York Times calls her work “the most important American building to be completed since the end of the Cold War.” (The Center’s spring exhibits contained material as provocative as Mapplethorpe’s, but no one cares to press charges these days.)

Meanwhile, two blocks south of the central business district and along the banks of the Ohio River, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August and is expected to draw over 300,000 visitors annually. The museum is flanked by two new stadiums: one hosts the turnaround Bengals franchise, and the other hosts the Cincinnati Reds. To improve the connection between downtown and the new riverfront, city planners lowered Interstate-71 below grade. Without the obstruction of a major highway, pedestrians and cars can now move seamlessly and have better view corridors to the river.

Just beyond downtown, the University of Cincinnati has begun to implement its much-lauded master plan, razing much of its central campus to make way for green space, student housing, and new academic and support facilities. The school has recently completed buildings by high-profile architects Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenmann, and Michael Graves, and its new student center, designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis, is under construction. Throughout the process, the university has engaged its neighborhood and even supported local groups’ development plans with low-interest loans. As a result, the university has better integrated itself and its students into Cincinnati urban life.

Spurred by these catalyst projects, new construction in Cincinnati’s center city is on the rise. The first new downtown office tower in over ten years broke ground in January. At 180,000 square feet, the project will cost $63 million. In the residential market, developers struggle to keep pace with demand for loft conversions and new condominiums. Since 2001, they have spent $35 million rehabilitating and building new housing downtown. According to Downtown Cincinnati, Inc., the number of downtown market-rate units has increased 30 percent in the past five years to 2,767 units, and 341 additional condo units will soon supplement the 166 condos already on the market. It seems that there’s little need to worry about market saturation: more than half are pre-sold. Arn Bortz, a local developer with Towne Properties, credits the brisk sales to low interest rates and a diverse supply of units: “You can find new condos for as little as $79,000, or high-end units with all the bells and whistles for over ten times that amount. The majority, however, fall in the low- to mid-200s.”

In response to its positive changes, Cincinnati has received national recognition. Earlier this year, Partners for Livable Communities named Cincinnati one of the “Most Livable Cities” for its affordability, quality of life, and investments in creativity. And in April, Esquire magazine placed Cincinnati 7th in the “Top 10 Cities that Rock” based on its thriving independent music scene.

Wake up, Richard Florida—this is the Midwest!

Some may attribute Cincinnati’s recent improvements to Richard Florida’s “creative class” theory. His premise is relevant: growth has depended in part on the city’s ventures into arts, theater, and music. The Contemporary Arts Center, Aronoff Center, and independent music scene all attract the creative class.

Yet Cincinnati ranks only 33rd of the top 50 cities on Florida’s Creativity Index. The reasons for its low ranking are pretty clear. At the heart of the matter, Cincinnatians differ from residents of large cities along the coasts. They are less interested in the progressive agendas of Florida and his followers than in basic quality-of-life issues and traditional Middle American values. While Cincinnatians enjoy the arts and theater, they also love old-fashioned attractions like sports, beer, barbecues, and outdoor festivals—Oktoberfest, the Black Family Reunion, and Jammin’ on Main, to name a few. Given these priorities, the city has not focused on attracting people with diverse or gay and lesbian lifestyles. Nor is it a haven for high-tech industries: Fortune 500 companies headquartered downtown include corporate giants like Kroger, Procter & Gamble, Fifth Third Bank, Federated Department Stores, and American Financial Group.

In a region where suburbanites outnumber city dwellers five to one, the city has prioritized improvements that everyone can share: clean streets, a variety of amenities, and more jobs. The aim is to engage not only the creative class who helped build a thriving downtown but also the numerous suburban neighbors who will help sustain it.

City officials have recognized that continued development in the center city depends heavily on its ability to attract a wide range—not just one type—of residents and visitors. According to City Council Member John Cranley, Florida’s thesis “is so cliché; we’re not targeting anyone—young professionals, empty nesters, or the ‘creative class.’” In downtown Cincinnati, he says, “we’re creating a great product.”

A Great Product

Despite its departures from the theory of the creative class, Cincinnati’s economic development is progressing successfully. The Cincinnati center city Development Corporation, or 3CDC, is leading the way. Formed in late-2003, this non-profit, privately-funded corporation, in the words of its CEO, Stephen Leeper, seeks “to develop a vibrant urban core with exciting retail, residential, and entertainment options that attract residents and out-of-town visitors.”

With widespread support, the 3CDC has secured substantial funding for future projects. The City of Cincinnati has earmarked $100 million over the next five years, private businesses have promised $50 million, and the federal government recently awarded $50 million in New Markets Tax Credits.

The 3CDC will use the collective funds to target three geographic areas: Fountain Square, the Banks, and Over-the-Rhine. Fountain Square, the heart of Cincinnati, is a public plaza that has obstructed connections between entertainment, retail, and office space since its redesign in the 1970s. The 3CDC plans to restore this common space so it supports civic gatherings and reconnects the surrounding uses. Bill Moran, the Vice President for Real Estate at Fifth Third Bank, works at the company’s headquarters directly on Fountain Square. He believes that infrastructure improvements are the first step in encouraging “a viable, 24-hour destination where people come to live, meet, and hang out after a ball game. At the same time, the office market will grow, and the possibilities will be endless.”

South of the central business district, the undeveloped land between the stadiums is known as The Banks. Although it is prime real estate, developers are reluctant to invest due to the significant cost of underground and utility infrastructure needed to clear the flood plain. To complicate matters, the Port Authority owns the land, the city owns the air rights, and the county holds the leases for the parking. Nonetheless, the 3CDC hopes to facilitate the development of a mixed-use community within the next two to three years.

Over-the-Rhine (OTR), just north of the central business district, holds the greatest opportunities for transformation because of its decayed housing stock. A century ago, OTR was a highly-desirable and vibrant neighborhood of 40,000 people. By 2000, however, only 7,422 residents remained, with 79 percent of the families living in poverty. The epicenter of the 2001 riots, OTR has led the city in crime for years. And it has long been separated from downtown, both economically and physically, by the Central Parkway, a six-lane boulevard. But now, planners and business leaders recognize that for downtown to be safe, clean, and economically viable, OTR must also be safe, clean, and economically viable. The 3CDC has prioritized development in the area and set as its goal an “economically and racially diverse, mixed-use neighborhood.” Its first initiative is already underway: the Gateway Project, a $7.5 million development of 25 condos on the border between OTR and the central business district, received a $2.5 million grant from the city and an additional $3.8 million in loans from public agencies. Planners hope it will stimulate further development of OTR’s charming but neglected housing stock. The inclusion of the OTR in the planning process represents a dramatic shift in thinking—just one of the many fresh ideas transforming downtown Cincinnati.

Mark Twain once said, “When the world ends, I want to be in Cincinnati, because everything happens there ten years later.” For better or worse, Twain’s words no longer apply. Cincinnati will never top Richard Florida’s Creative Index—but then again, it doesn’t want to. Instead, Cincinnati is quickly becoming the cosmopolitan heart of its region by building a city that attracts a wide range of people—including decidedly non-“Creative Class” Midwestern suburbanites.

REFERENCES

Downtown Cincinnati, Inc

gototown.comCincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC)

http://www.3cdc.org

Cincinnati Enquirer

www.enquirer.com

City of Cincinnati

www.rcc.org

“Market-Rate Housing Potential in the Urban Core: A Market Analysis,” Downtown Cincinnati, Inc, 2003.