New research could shift cities to emulate

We have issues. Specifically, health, social and economic issues in Greater Cincinnati that local researchers explore and write about on the Community Research Collaborative Blog.

Monthly entries feature content from researchers at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati. On the blog, three 2011 Community Research Collaborative fellows, along with other community contributors, work to describe the socio-economic health of our community.

Each month a new post offers a new analysis. The May 2011 post, for example, compares the 1999 and 2009 data about Cincinnati's income growth, which is a measure of all sources of personal income, including wages, health insurance and a wide range of other benefits. The results showed significant progress as well as sobering realities. While the metropolitan area moved from 58th to 24th place out of 366 areas around the country, Cincinnati, along with many of its regional peers, grew slower than the national average.

But Cincinnati wasn't alone. Nearly all of the regional competitors that the CRC uses to track our region's progress posted slowed growth. Those cities include: Austin, TX, Louisville, Charlotte, NC, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, NC and St. Louis.

CRC fellow Janet Harrah, who serves as the senior director of Northern Kentucky University's Center for Economic Analysis and Development, suggests that it may be time to examine similarly sized cities that are managing to beat the national averages when it comes to personal income. Those include Oklahoma City, Virginia Beach, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Do Good:
• Educate yourself. Read about 2010 Census data for our region and see what you could do to make a difference.

• Subscribe to CRC's newsletter so you will get the latest news and updates from the researchers.

• Check more data. You can download the 64-page report online.

By Elissa Yancey

Photo by Scott Beseler