Over-the-Rhine is an urban neighborhood in Cincinnati, just north of the city center. As in many cities, redevelopment of Over-the-Rhine is rapidly pushing the current residents out of the neighborhood. These are mostly Black people, families that in some cases have lived here for generations. The number of unhoused people is also large. Money is tight and services such as healthcare and community centers are drying up. Free food organizations feed hundreds. Our Daily Bread, where I volunteer, serves 350-400 meals each day. 

Over-the-Rhine is my neighborhood. I live on the north edge, where redevelopment has less of a presence. As I walk the streets here, I see many neglected and boarded up buildings, streets and sidewalks rarely cleaned and repaired by the city, unhoused people sleeping in doorways. Limited social services in OTR are provided mostly by non-profits and churches.

My purpose in showing these photos is to put a face to the people who are the unwanted, faceless "current population" still remaining in much of Over-the-Rhine. Public and private money flows into the effort to bring the buildings of OTR back to their original, in many cases beautiful state, to create inside them new living spaces. A different population is moving in. The bustle on Race, Vine, and Main streets below Liberty Avenue--and the vicinity of Findlay Market--is the sound of a city coming back to life. But the fact remains that the yet-to-be-developed part of the city never died. Where is the money for these residents of OTR? What's being done to make a place for them in the new Over-the-Rhine?