I've been thinking about something lately.
What if a city isn't a finished product? What if Cincinnati, with all its history, traditions, quirks, potholes, and questionable intersections, is just one giant rough draft?
As a designer, I've learned that the first idea is rarely the best idea. Sometimes the tenth idea isn't either. You sketch, experiment, make mistakes, erase things, and try again. But somewhere along the way, we start treating cities differently.
We accept things because "that's how they've always been." We mistake familiarity for quality. We confuse tradition with inevitability. And perhaps most strangely, we leave creativity out of conversations about government, as though imagination becomes irresponsible the moment taxpayer dollars are involved.
I'm not suggesting we redesign Cincinnati overnight. (Although I do have some thoughts about those intersections...) I'm suggesting something smaller, and maybe more radical:
What if we treated our city as something we're still allowed to invent?
Not just maintain. Not just complain about. Invent.
Because Cincinnati isn't finished.
And neither are we.
— Rethink Cincy!