Based of my neighborhood however, I grew up in what I guess is a mix between suburban sprawl and a traditional neighborhood. It fit sprawl because I lived in a subdivision with only houses, no commercial industry. Each subdivision was kind of categorized by income status, and there was definitely no diversity. Ages may have varied, but my township itself was 98% Caucasian. I had to take a car around as my only possible source of transportation, because paved roadways were the only effective way to travel. But unlike other cities where mass transit is possible, Cincinnati did not have that kind of option. The roads are not in blocks, but rather several sharp turns and curves everywhere. It is physically impossible to put sidewalks everywhere, and even if they existed it would be way too much work to go up and down all the hills. Unless the city was flattened out before migration there, it would not really have been possible to create effective public transportation. It’s actually just an impractical place to live that happens to be inhabited.
On the other hand, I feel like I didn’t grow up in the typical sprawl because I grew up in an upper-class area where all the houses were different. Each lot in my neighborhood was sold separately to different builders, so none of the house look anything alike. Everyone has at least a half-acre or more of yard space, and a lot of people have forest space behind their house. We don’t really have any parks nearby because everyone has enough space of their own. Literally five minutes away from my house though, there are several houses built mixed in with small businesses and there are low-income houses built directly next to mansions. It just depends exactly where you are in Cincinnati. Also unlike sprawl, there was not much traffic where I lived. They say sprawl creates traffic problems, but Cincinnati is never congested unless there is an accident or unless you happen to be on roads that randomly switch from one to two lanes without warning. There are a few areas, the mall area in particular where traffic is bad, but for the most part it is not an issue. Maybe Cincinnati is completely suburban sprawl still, but I don’t like to think it was completely. Even though there are some large churches and schools for lots of people, there were still several tiny churches and schools that had a sense of community attached.
My neighborhood I guess supported sprawl being good? I used a question mark because I’m not entirely sure if I should consider where I lived sprawl. But I really enjoyed growing up where I did. My neighborhood all had parties and get-togethers. We definitely had a good sense of community. It’s hard to say if it represented traditional neighborhoods as “good” and sprawl “bad.”
Overall, it’s rather tough to classify Cincinnati. If I lived over in Hyde Park which is ten minutes away, there would be tons of parks I could walk to, sidewalks, bike paths, and lots of small shops. If I drive ten minutes the other way I end up in Indian Hill, which is all private secluded mansions and lots of forests and land. If I continue a different direction, I end up in what looks like more homogeneous houses from the sixties. If I leave fifteen minutes away I can go from upper-class homes to the ghetto and inner-city housing. And lastly, if I travel one last path, it can take me to horse farms and crop fields. As I said it’s a little bit of everything, and I’ve had a taste of all of it.
