First Suburb Movement

By Eve Bolton

It's great to see some suburban press reports and interest in the First Suburb Movement. The First Suburb Movement has been a grassroots movement of conscientious local leaders trying to prevent the same neighborhood blight that was caused when Cincinnatians took flight. That migration caused such an economic erosion and produced such social costs that many of Cincinnati's most cherished neighborhoods may never rebound. Now the same forces are at work in our established mature communities just outside Cincinnati's city limits.

The traditional concentric growth rings in and out of Cincinnati grew over a long time. Each of the then new communities were neighborhoods that provided sustainable growth and a sense of community with individual identities. However, in the last generation of fast-track growth at any cost, a disproportionate amount of disposable developments and environmental degradation has been produced. Some have even suggested that newly constructed vacant buildings and shopping areas demonstrate the short-term profit ethic of new growth rather than the long-term gain of traditional development. There in lies the problem. We must think and act for the long-term.

The First Suburb Movement is talking about saving our communities and making a concerted effort to have smart growth. Classic smart growth may be too radical for our county to embrace, but a plan for reasonable growth should be embraced. Reasonable growth requires that the county and its multiple jurisdictions embrace the message of the First Suburbs Movement. Policies must be implemented that emphasize redevelopment of mature communities. Enlightened cooperation must be practiced across jurisdictional lines and in spite of partisan positions. As both a former President of the College Hill Redevelopment Corporation and a Mt. Healthy City Council member, I know just how crucial state and county action can be when smaller political entities attempt to initiate programs or seek funding for redevelopment.

The problem of flight from established communities must be addressed aggressively now by the county. We cannot view these conditions as inevitable consequences of growth. If we do not act, small cities, villages, and high profile township neighborhoods will become only a shadow of themselves and mirror the acute problems residents have already seen in Cincinnati.