Sunday, December 16, 2001
Forest Park offers lifestyle, diversity
By Susan Vela
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FOREST PARK — When the Mitchells considered moving from their Bond Hill home, they went looking for a new abode, “something with a porch,” they thought.
What the middle-class, African-American family found was much more delightful: a two-story, four-bedroom house — with a porch and a quarter-acre yard — in this bustling, diverse Hamilton County city.
![[photo]](/editions/2001/12/16/mitchell180x99.jpg)
The Mitchells of Forest Park: James and Judith Mitchell with daughter Judith, 10 and James' mother Edwina.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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Forest Park (population 19,463) has become the most popular suburban destination for Greater Cincinnati's African-American home owners. During the 1990s, the number of African-American residents grew from 44 percent to more than 56 percent of the city's total. African-Americans also own 56 percent of the homes here.
“At first, I didn't want to move out this far,” says James Mitchell, 37, who does security work for Hamilton County Juvenile Court. One look convinced him otherwise two years ago.
“I like how open it is,” he says. “I love my yard and that everyone has enough space.” Relaxing in his living room as his wife, Judith, and their 9-year-old daughter, Sherifa, work on homework, he takes in the view: Homes with three-door garages, patio decks and wooded yards can be seen through the living room window.
Proximity to Interstates 75 and 275, convenient shopping and good, clean living are just some of the draws. For African-Americans, Forest Park also offers a rare suburb where blacks can live the good life without feeling isolated among mainly white neighbors.
“There are more (people) that you can relate to,” says Jessie Dean, 45, who has lived in Forest Park for 15 years. His kids, Aundrea, 14, and Julian, 8, go to school with other African-American children.
“They'll grow up knowing they can have a decent life without having to live in a majority-white neighborhood,” says their father, who manages a delivery service company in Northern Kentucky.
Diversity and wealth
Forest Park's diversity has brought an accompanying growth in wealth. Over the past 10 years, the city has made a pointed effort to attract more middle- and upper-middle-income home buyers. Upscale subdivisions like Mill Road Station and Northwest Meadows have been selling homes that range between $170,000 and $350,000.
Since 1990, household incomes have jumped 7 percent, to about $44,000 a year today.
“Most of the people who live in Forest Park really have options to live anywhere in the region,” says City Manager Ray Hodges, who also is black. “Many people — minorities and non-minorities — are looking for the services that Forest Park provides, like good police and quality homes.”
Jim Lawler, city council member and president of the Forest Park Historical Society, takes pride in the city's diversity. The first African-American family moved to Forest Park in 1967 and, in 1973, the city passed a fair-housing ordinance that welcomed people of all backgrounds.
There have been problems. About three decades ago, real estate agents were accused of “steering” African-Americans into Forest Park, among other Cincinnati suburbs. Mr. Lawler, who is white, also recalls people saying things like, “This cul-de-sac is going black.” He says he knows of white people who moved away because of their new African-American neighbors.
Most people, though, “were always proud of our diversity,” he says. “You would see it if you came to our council meetings, came to our parks, or (went to) get your groceries. Every time you see our citizens, you'd see white citizens and black citizens.
“A lot of unenlightened people think just because (our city is) black, we're poor. We're not. They think that if you have all these black people, you have all these poor people and you have crime. But we don't.”
Who lives here?
State Rep. Wayne Coates keeps a Forest Park address. The white real estate broker served four years as the city's mayor.
“People move for economic reasons. They move where they can afford and where their comfort level is,” he says. “It doesn't matter if the family is African-American or white. Do (their neighbors) take care of their homes? Are they being a positive influence on the neighborhood and city? People like to have their streets clean. They want low crime. Those are all things that Forest Park has.”
Business managers, Procter & Gamble employees, nurses, doctors and other professionals are drawn to this city. Their kids attend Winton Woods schools, along with children from the Village of Greenhills and Springfield Township. African-Americans comprise 65 percent of the schools' 4,333-student enrollment.
Mayor Stephanie Summerow Dumas is a state mental health administrator. An African-American, she bought her first home in Forest Park 15 years ago. She and her 3-year-old son had been living in a condominium in Springdale, but she wanted a place where more African-Americans lived.
She's seen many others do the same.
“African-Americans are looking for housing and to make some changes in their lives,” she says. “Forest Park meets their needs.”
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