West End is one of the 52

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Originally a large residential neighborhood, the majority of the area was demolished in the mid-20th century for the construction of highway interchanges and an industrial park known as Queensgate. The population was 6,824 at the 2020 census.

History

The historic West End was largely razed in the 1950s and 60s which led to a large drop in population from 67,520 in 1950 to 17,068 in 1970. This razing was done as part of a series of

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

projects and the construction of

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

, its interchange with

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

and the construction of the 6th St Expressway for

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. The largest of these urban renewal projects was the Kenyon-Barr Renewal Plan. This plan formed the industrial neighborhood Queensgate through razing of the Kenyon-Barr neighborhood on the Lower West End from 1959 to 1973. The Queensgate project was undertaken in phases over roughly four decades. Queensgate I resulted in an undistinguished but successful industrial park, which includes service industries, light manufacturing, transportation facilities and warehouses as well as offices, hotels and restaurants. I-75 and Queensgate I together made up the nation’s second largest so-called 'slum clearance' up to that time. Nearly 3,700 buildings on 450 acres were razed. 9800 families, 27,000 people—97% of whom were Black—were displaced. Combined with other projects such as Richmond-Laurel, this caused massive amounts of displacement, leading to 50,452 Cincinnatians being forced to relocate or move elsewhere in the city from 1950 to 1970. The West End is the location of

City West City West (formerly known as ''Neuer Westen'' ("New West") or ''Zooviertel'' ("Zoo Quarter")) is an area in the western part of central Berlin. It is one of Berlin's main commercial areas, and was the commercial centre of former West Berlin when ...

, the largest housing development project in Cincinnati since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The project transformed the once low-income area into a mixed-income development. In 1999 many of the old buildings were leveled to make way for townhomes. Controversy erupted in 2005 when plans were announced to open a $15-million "one-stop" social services facility at 800 Bank Street. The project, known as CityLink, would be the largest such facility in Cincinnati. Some argued that it would increase crime and poverty in the West End, decrease property value, and undermine the redevelopment there. Some even accused the city of trying to relocate the poor from the thriving Over-the-Rhine neighborhood to the West End. However, proponents argued that the West End's central location makes it easy for the poor to access. A lawsuit to stop the CityLink project failed, as did the subsequent appeal to the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

. CityLink Center has since launched in 2013, serving over 3,000 Cincinnati residents since that time including over 250 from the West End neighborhood. The development of CityLink Center did not result in increased crime.

Historic sites

West End is home to multiple historic buildings and districts listed on the National Register. These include Laurel Homes, Dayton Street Historic District, Betts–Longworth Historic District, and Betts House.

Geography

West End is located northwest of

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, east of Queensgate, west of

Over-the-Rhine Over-the-Rhine, often abbreviated as OTR, is a residential neighborhood located in the urban basin of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over-the-Rhine is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United States. Originally settled by Ohi ...

, and southeast of Fairview.

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 6,824 people living in the neighborhood. There were 3,941 housing units. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 14.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 78.3%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.9% from some other race, and 5.3% from two or more races. 2.2% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 3,512 households, out of which 35.8% were families. About 54.3% of all households were made up of individuals. 40.2% of the neighborhood's population were under the age of 18, 51.4% were 18 to 64, and 8.4% were 65 years of age or older. 43.3% of the population were male and 56.7% were female. According to the U.S. Census

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, for the period 2016-2020 the estimated median annual income for a household in the neighborhood was $19,499. About 50.4% of family households were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. About 24.0% of adults had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Attractions

TQL Stadium, the home stadium of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

team FC Cincinnati, is located in the neighborhood.

Infrastructure

The West End is served by a branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

References

External links

Comprehensive West End Revitalization PlanOfficial CityLink site
*Ezzard Charles Drive, the Making of a Parkwa
Master Plan for Redevelopment of the Kenyon-Barr Urban Renewal Area, 1959
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