Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky share a river, a skyline, an airport, a workforce, and a future. But too often, we treat them like two different worlds. In reality, the Cincinnati metro only works when both sides of the river move in the same direction.
Young people already see the region this way. Someone can live in Cincinnati, work in Covington, meet friends in Newport, then go back across the bridge without thinking twice. The economic lines that used to divide the region don’t exist for the next generation. What we’re missing is leadership that understands that.
The next decade is going to test every mid-sized metro in the Midwest. Cities that think collaboratively—on transportation, development, safety, and growth—will thrive. Cities that treat their neighbors like competitors will fall behind.
Northern Kentucky has identity. Cincinnati has scale. Together, the region has potential most cities would envy. The question is whether our leaders will start planning for the future as one metro, not two jurisdictions separated by a river.
The communities already act connected. It’s time for our planning to match that reality.
— Thomas Maddox, Cincinnati