Cincinnati Downtown

Cincinnati admittedly looks smaller than New York and the gentrification of the downtown area is decidedly less diverse.  But there are so many beautiful things in this city and it is changing so quickly.  Certainly I notice it more having been so far away and returning less frequently, but even my family is amazed at the changes that are taking place.  Areas which used to be deemed unsafe to walk through now have outdoor yoga.  There are bars and boutiques galore and colorful murals on buildings that used to have broken windows and chained doors.  And the riverfront is full of fountains and fun activities, beautiful walkways, swings, a carousel.  This is not the Cincinnati downtown that I grew up in, but it is one that now has a lot more pride, at least among certain sectors of the population.  The issues of race and class are everywhere, a clear line drawn between one block and the next, the past and the inevitable developing future, between dimes of marijuana and $10 microbrews.

I realize how much of my sensitivities to privilege were formed with this backdrop of guilt.  I can see people living differently than I do and to drive through neighborhoods with the two disparities so close together really augments the irony and injustice of it.  And I'm still unsure what I should do about it, other than be sensitive, to question consumption, to question entitlement, to think of ways that I can act to bridge the gap.  I cannot give the privilege that I have.  There is no way to repay hundreds of years of wrong-doing or even a life of different upbringing.  What does one do?  It's wonderful to see the vitality of the downtown area, the beautiful buildings, the culture, the nature.  But what is it supplanting and how is it doing so?  There seems to be something in the nature of wanting that needs reexamination.  What do we want?  How does that effect others?