Or will they? That is what Cincinnati is
hoping for, as it plans to spend more than $30 million (that it doesn’t
currently have) to help the FC Cincinnati soccer team (who just became major
league) build a stadium (full disclosure: it’s set to be built blocks from
where I live) in a neighborhood where the project does not have universal
support. I suppose it shouldn’t be anything new that governments (federal or
city) collude with corporations and other special interest groups and then make
decisions without citizen input; I’m just sick of it. I don’t have anything
against the team or soccer, but I don’t like the stadium being crammed down my
throat by the mayor and business leaders.
The irony of this is that it wasn’t too many
years ago that this same mayor and the supposedly anti-tax group, C.O.A.S.T.,
tried everything in their power to stop the city’s streetcar project that was
supported by the voters twice. Granted the streetcar was a lot more money, but
in a city not known for its public transportation, this was a good and needed beginning.
Ultimately the streetcar project came to fruition thanks to grass-root efforts
by the citizens.
I never thought I’d say it, but where’s
C.O.A.S.T. when you need them? According to the local paper, the city will be
taking from their rainy day fund at a time when there’s a significant budget
shortfall, borrowing against our future to pay from the hotel taxes (we better hope there isn’t another economic boycott in this city), and are even
trying to get back money from a project that had previously been agreed to. To
me this shows what a risky venture it is to come to an agreement with
Cincinnati, where a bigger and shinier project might take, not just the
limelight, but money you’ve already been allocated.
There are many citizens that aren’t happy
about this development, me included, preferring the homes that were supposed to
be built in the neighborhood. With the current housing shortage in the city, it
would have made since, yet people seem to have given up. In a recent article, a fellow West End resident showed how powerless many of us are made to feel by
the governments we pay for. There are a number of NextDoor comments I’ve been reading lately that echo this
sentiment, but seem to believe the project’s happening, so we all need to come
together. But why do we need to come together?
Well, I’m not coming together. Yes, there is
some selfishness to my lack of support, knowing there will be increased
traffic, parking problems, noise, fights, and the usual stadium issues so close
to my home. More than likely this project will also increase development in such a
way that exacerbates the already strong have-and-have-not feeling that has
taken over so much of downtown Cincinnati over the years. I’m not
anti-development, but I don’t want to live in a gated community. Pushing out
all the working class and poor people from one neighborhood ends up harming
other neighborhoods, as well as destroying lives in the process.
My strongest aggravation and puzzlement is
that there are already too many stadiums in Cincinnati that are empty more days
a year than they’re used, so why do we need to spend money the city apparently
doesn’t have to help a corporation build another one?
The major flaw in this project for me has to
do with what’s going on in our society at this moment. If corporations are
people, and we now live in a society where our politicians, and the special
interests who put them in office, believe people should stop depending on the government
for their welfare, then it makes no sense that the City of Cincinnati is doling
out millions of dollars to a sport team and their owners who should be able to
pay their own way, just like real people.