“Where the city meets the country.”
This is the official motto of the city of Alexandria, a small, unassuming home-rule city in central Campbell County nestled along scenic US 27.
It’s a 25-minute drive south of Cincinnati and serves as one of the two dual county seats for Campbell County. It emulates many other growing cities throughout Northern Kentucky – formerly rural communities transforming into suburban towns.
Northern Kentucky was once a rural, economically agrarian region. Besides the urban centers along the Ohio River in northern Kenton and Campbell counties, the region mainly consisted of private farmland. Most of the familiar community developments we see today – such as sprawling subdivisions, shopping malls and even Northern Kentucky University – were built on top of these farms.
Kevin Wright, a native of southern Campbell County, has watched his childhood community transform since he grew up there in the 1970s and 80s.
“I grew up on a 170 acre farm near Grant’s Lick in the 1970s and 80s,” Wright said. “Our house was about a mile up Siry Rd. It was the first house you came to on the road. I remember baling hay on the Marshman dairy, site of present day Parkside development; chopping corn on the Darlington farm, today the Darlington Creek subdivision.”
While many of the activities Wright experienced farming as a kid, such as baling hay, still happen in the region, they aren’t as pervasive as they once were.
Culturally the area still exudes many of its rural characteristics from generations past. However, suburban sprawl has encroached on a significant amount of this historic farmland.
But why is this happening?
“Northern Kentucky has a low cost of living relative to the national average and many other large metropolitan areas,” Janet Harrah, executive director of economic outreach at NKU Haile/US Bank College of Business said. “A key to the low cost of living is the region’s affordable housing, which is substantially below the national average.”
Economic development has changed the socioeconomic fortune of the area. When your region’s economic potential is being realized, it’s cultural essence can morph to accommodate those polarizing changes. In the 21st century, the region’s economy relies less on agriculture than ever before.
This raises an important question for suburban Northern Kentuckians: Who exactly are we?
This question can be answered through the lens of a town like Alexandria.
Alexandria is a community surrounded by green rolling hills and beautiful farmland. It isn’t landlocked by other neighboring municipalities, allowing it room to expand outward. According to Zillow, average home prices in Alexandria are cheaper than other local cities such as Villa Hills and Ft. Mitchell.
Alexandria pairs small town charm with all the amenities of a typical suburban area. It’s boutiques and salons along Ky 10, which acts as a de facto Main Street, give the town a charming, rustic vibe. It’s proximity is close enough to Cincinnati to make the commute north relatively convenient, while also being a stone’s throw away from the countryside to enjoy the scenery.
“The rolling hills and beautiful nature, access to the AA Highway and 275, with the ability to go East or West, and the connection from 27 to 471 and with easy access to downtown Cincinnati,” Steve Whaley, director of marketing at Fischer Homes said.
These pull factors make Alexandria a great place to move for empty nesters and young families who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Northern Kentucky’s urban core concentrated around along the Ohio River.
As a region, Northern Kentucky is economically enticing for businesses and housing development.
“The cost of doing business in Northern Kentucky is very competitive,” Harrah said. “The region has some of the lowest utility rates in the United States. The region is ringed with fiber optics. Location also impacts the cost of doing business. Northern Kentucky is within a one-day’s drive or a 90-minute flight from two-thirds of the U.S. population. A crucial factor leading to robust growth in the region’s transportation, logistics, warehousing, and e-commerce industries.”
These factors help explain why the region’s population has exploded in its formerly rural areas.
Alexandria is currently experiencing population growth. Studying data from the US Census Bureau can help us understand how the country town has grown through the years.
Until 1960, Alexandria boasted less than 1,000 people. In 1980, the town’s population nearly quadrupled to 5,000 people. From 1990 to 2000, Alexandria grew by 48.2 percent. That’s approximately 8,000 more people. Since the turn of the century, Alexandria has added over 2,000 more residents to put their population count firmly over 10,000. To put it into context, the town went from a population of 316 in 1920, to 10,341 in 2020.
The motto of “where the city meets the country” can be interpreted literally.
Geographically speaking, Alexandria serves as the gateway community between Campbell County’s northern cities such as Newport and Fort Thomas, and rural southern communities such as Claryville and Grant’s Lick. You can witness this dramatic urban to suburban to rural shift as you drive south on US 27 from Cincinnati. Campbell County High School serves as a symbolic road marker for the suburban to rural stretch of the drive. Residents know that once you pass CCHS, you’ve officially reached rural Campbell County.
“It would have been impossible to go into Alexandria to the grocery or feed store and not meet several acquaintances. Today, I can often visit several businesses on a Saturday morning and see absolutely no one I know,” Wright said.
Similar to Alexandria for Campbell County, Independence serves as a suburban gateway town for Kenton County. Independence sits in between the urban core of Kenton County, Covington, and its rural towns such as Nicholson, Piner, and Morning View.
Independence was once a small, rural town in central Kenton County with a population of only 309 people in 1960. By the beginning of the 1970s, Independence’s population ballooned to 1,715. The town continued rapid growth into the 1980s, boasting a population of approximately 8,000 by the end of the decade.
Independence nearly doubled in size by the turn of the century with a population of approximately 15,000. In 2022, Independence once again nearly doubled in size, boasting a population of approximately 29,000 according to the US Census Bureau.
The tale of Alexandria’s growth into a suburban town can be told through its commercial expansion. Since 1960, the town has added a Walmart Supercenter, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Planet Fitness, Walgreens, O’Reilly Auto Parts, multiple car washes, multiple car dealerships, and numerous other fast-food chains. The community, however, isn’t a dystopian wasteland of heat lamp burger restaurants. Alexandria’s economy is reliant upon various small businesses like gyms, coffee shops, garages, boutiques, bars, bowling alleys and breweries. These small businesses served as a symbol of community resiliency throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, other Northern Kentucky cities’ economies have a saturation of national chain businesses, as well as a robust small business sector. Independence, too, has a plethora of fast food restaurants, small businesses and gas stations mixed with subdivision cul-de-sacs. This is a hallmark description of an economy in American suburbia.
Alexandria’s big box businesses sit juxtaposed to its small town community staples such as the legendary Spare-Time Grill. The original Spare-Time opened in 1958. The diner is a jewel of the community, an icon of a different era. It serves as a historic, physical reminder that represents the spirit of what the community once was.
The Spare-Time opened when Alexandria had fewer than 1,000 people. Its neon lights have waited around, patiently observing the town growing up around it. In 1958, across the street from Spare-Time, there sat nothing but fields of farmland. In 2022, the Spare-Time building can gaze across the street at its ruffian neighbors, a Burger King and a Speedway; pillars of a healthy modern society. Soon they will be joined by both Popeyes and Dunkin Donuts.
Mayor Andy Schabell grew up in the town. He graduated from Bishop Brossart, Alexandria’s local Catholic high school. He, too, has witnessed the dramatic changes in the town he now presides over as mayor. He remembers a time when recognizable community symbols such as the Village Green shopping center didn’t exist.
“When I was in high school, the area of the Village Green shopping center was all cow fields. Arcadia, Summerlake, Timber Creek subdivisions were all farms. US 27 was a narrow four lane road instead of the wider four lane road with the median that it is now,” Schabell said. “But it is nice to see that some things haven’t changed very much over the years. Southern Lanes Bowling Alley, the Alexandria Fair Grounds and Spare-Time restaurant, now named Lou Lou’s Café, have all been staples of the Alexandria community enjoyed by generations.”
Population growth in Alexandria created a greater demand for housing. In 2007, Fischer Homes and the Drees Company announced Arcadia, a suburban development across the highway from Alexandria’s Village Green shopping center.
The development brings more tax revenue and consumer spending power, something immeasurably beneficial to a developing community. Although Arcadia is a positive symbol of growth, large suburban developments can have negative side effects on the community. Arcadia has given too many people access to the town’s infrastructure. In turn, the infrastructure’s effectiveness can be strained, even overwhelmed.
A sewer construction moratorium from 1999 to 2009 prevented any more suburban development throughout the time period, Mayor Schabell said. The moratorium is now over and development has commenced. Alexandria’s infrastructure hasn’t scaled quickly enough to compensate for its rapid population growth.
A predictable issue that has risen is Arcadia’s effect on the flow of traffic. Residents have expressed concerns about increasing traffic on US 27 due to Arcadia. With there being over 1,000 housing units, morning and afternoon traffic increases due to the volume of residents commuting to and from work. There’s little access to public transit, or adequate funding to build enough new roads to offset rising congestion.
“Fischer Homes would love to develop additional communities in Alexandria, but the topography combined with the lack of infrastructure makes this very difficult,” Whaley said. “We have seen success in other communities like Summerlake and Darlington Creek in Campbell Country, but those are either sold out or are coming to an end.”
Schabell echoes this sentiment. He expects continued growth and development for his community, but concedes there will be hurdles, not only politically but sentimentally.
“I do expect continued growth over the next 10 years,” Schabell said. “Unfortunately, much of this growth will continue on properties that were formerly farms. While I wish the city was in position to purchase the vacant land and keep it pristine, that isn’t the role of city government, and there simply isn’t enough money in our budget to do such a thing even if we really wanted to. We will continue to do our best to ensure that new subdivisions and businesses that come into the city will reflect the values of Alexandria and keep as much land untouched as possible.”
For natives like Wright, these changes have left his community altered compared to when he grew up. Did we trade beautiful rural scenery for a Long John Silvers and a few dentists offices? Wright holds a respectably nuanced view of the situation.
“There is a nostalgic part of me that misses the old southern Campbell, but generally I embrace the changes,” Wright said. “It makes me especially happy when I see second and third generations raising their families in the same place as their parents and grandparents.”
Many Northern Kentuckians whose families have grown up here for generations share the sentiment. Substitute Alexandria for Florence, or Burlington, or Independence. Those residents have watched the land around them develop as they’ve aged. That same land is looked upon by generations of the same families’ eyes.
Their grandparents observed something different on that land. Now as their grandchildren look upon it, they may see a restaurant, bar or shopping center. It’s the same land cows used to graze.
The only thing that’s changed is what’s built on top of it.
That’s who we are as Northern Kentuckians. We can rock out at the farmers market, and get a beer at the Levee. We’re humbly sentimental of our communities from yesteryear. Respectful of our past, but relishing to embrace a future. We were never afraid of change, just mindful not to forget everything it took to get us here.
That’s what makes us, us.
