Cincinnati Ohio Economic Development

Best Value Cities 2011: 10. Cincinnati, Ohio

This comeback city is creating jobs and redeveloping its downtown.
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, September 2011

Cincinnati’s diverse economy, with ten Fortune 500 companies, including Kroger, Macy’s and Procter & Gamble, is making a strong comeback from the recession.

The unemployment rate has already fallen to 8.5% from 9.4% a year ago. Plus, the city is benefiting from a $2.6 billion redevelopment of the downtown that began several years ago with the construction of the Great American Ball Park (home to the Reds) and Paul Brown Stadium (home to the Bengals). “The leadership of the region understands that you can’t have a healthy region without a healthy heart,” says Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber president Ellen van der Horst. “The urban core is the heart.”

Several months ago, the largest office tower in the region opened in downtown Cincinnati and is now mostly occupied. And the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood—one of the nation’s largest historic districts, which has suffered from race riots and decades of neglect—is getting a major infusion of public and private funding to lure residents and businesses back to the area.

Read more: http://kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/best-value-cities-2011-cincinnati.html#ixzz1T9P11pcR