Take Cincinnati Back(wards)

You know what I've noticed in a lot of campaign talk from City Council Candidates? A lot of people are saying stuff like: "I want to bring Cincinnati back to the great city it once was." Or something along those lines. I hate that.

I suppose in some cases this is just something that they say because they think that's what people want to hear. But to be perfectly honest, that type of talk is gonna make a candidate lose my vote. When it comes to voting, I don't care about how awesome Cincinnati was back in the 70's or the 50's or whenever these people were kids. I wasn't born yet and I don't remember it. That type of nostalgia doesn't work on me.

And it think it's a faulty game-plan on another level as well. We can't bring back the past. We can't make Cincinnati like it was before. Older residents may have fond memories of the past but that doesn't mean that if we make the city the way it was back then we will be in good shape. Demographics, global economics, technology -- everything is different now and it's going to keep getting different. We need to be thinking about the future. The past can't save us from anything.

Last, I think the "let's go back to the good old days" attitude makes for a overly-negative image of Cincinnati as it is today. Cincinnati has some problems, sure; every city does. But Cincinnati has a lot of good things going for it. It was recently ranked 38th most desirable place to live. I think when people talk about "taking Cincinnati back to the way it was" it subconsciously re-enforces the idea that the Cincinnati of today sucks. And that just ain't so.

< / rant >