Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
yeah, what could've been.......
another planning mistake might have been allowing downtown clayton to steal so much of downtown's thunder. st. louis is more pulled apart than boston, where the center has never been challenged.
a century old subway system along with a more robust and sustained commuter rail system like boston's probably would have gone a long way toward keeping downtown st. louis the one and only true center.
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Many people comment that the emergence of CVG as the Cincinnati area's airport in the 1950s helped keep DT Cincinnati as the region's unchallenged business center.
Yes, having an airport in another state is ridiculous. Moreover, the airport, which is in Boone County, KY, is owned and overseen by Kenton County - itself a curious wrinkle. And yes, the ensuing 50+ years of growth in Kenton and Boone Counties has been a loss for Ohio's tax base and has put a lot of stress on the river crossings.
Cincinnati's original airport is too close to wealthy neighborhoods. It's still there but primarily serves private jets. The second airport in suburban Blue Ash failed to purchase enough land thanks to draconian bond issue regulations enacted by the Ohio state legislature after WWII.
The funding of the interstate highway system in 1956 meant a new Ohio River bridge and superhighway was going to be built to the existing but tiny Boone County Airport, and the rest is history.
Many have wondered why the state of Ohio didn't step in and build a super-regional airport between Cincinnati and Dayton. I have never read a good explanation, but I sense that Cincinnati's city fathers new DT Cincinnati would fall if it ended up on the edge of the metro region.
It's funny to even type these words, but DT St. Louis is on the extreme edge of St. Louis's metro area, plus the city/county divergence, considered progressive at the time, completely backfired.