Black Residents Leaving Cincinnati's Fast Growing Urban Area

The Black population in Over-the-Rhine, one of Cincinnati's hippest urban neighborhoods, "has declined by 43% in the last decade," reports Monique John, citing recent data from the United States Census Bureau. The number of white residents in the neighborhood increased by 90 percent in the same span.

One of the most prominent narratives to emerge in the news about the latest population figures from the Census focused on the growing number of Minority groups, and the declining share of whites in the U.S. population. In the case of this revitalized urban area, the opposite seems to be true, however.

Earlham College economics professor Jonathan Diskin is quoted in the article describing the market in Over-the-Rhine as a "segregation machine."

Diskin calls the process gentrification, and says the segregation of the neighborhood has been driven by "a lack of housing subsidies or restrictions on rental costs, plus the skyrocketing costs of its market-rate units, among other issues."

Over-the-Rhine Community Council member Mike Bootes is also quoted in the article mentioning that the demographic numbers for Over-the-Rhine could help build a political coalition to support affordable housing efforts like Issue 3, which Cincinnati voters rejected at the ballot box in May 2021.