No one's saying the road to restoration will be easy, but the city cannot afford to stand by watching as the neighborhood's reputation deteriorates. Though violent crime in Price Hill has decreased over the past year, the perception of criminal activity remains damaging to the area. We are thankful public officials and private citizens are coming together to address the problem.

"The bottom line is I don't agree that this is a declining neighborhood," said City Councilman David Pepper. "We have to reject that and say they there are great reasons to live in Price Hill." Ironically, Pepper, chairman of the City Council's Law & Public Safety Committee, had scheduled a public forum in Price Hill before the shooting. It will be held within the next two weeks, he said, and will offer an opportunity for residents and police to talk about safety.

That's a good start, but it should not have taken the street shooting of a high school kid to make people pay attention.

Kennedy's family said he was shot Sunday right across the street from Elder while trying to resolve an argument between groups of teenagers who had been feuding. Students at Elder held a memorial service for Kennedy, who was portrayed as a unifier and a peacemaker.

Councilman John Cranley, who lives in Price Hill, said City Council needs to get serious about public safety by putting more police on the street. He's also concerned about "large groups" of unsupervised youth on the street, and that Price Hill has been negatively affected by a disproportionate number of government-assisted housing units in recent years.

Though City Council has adopted an impaction ordinance that said the city will not use its resources to add to public-assisted housing, Cranley said the area needs the same kind of relief from the federal government.

Pepper notes, and we agree, that the difference between a street fight today and 20 years ago is that today one group of teens might have a gun, which can lead to deadly consequences. Law enforcement must continue to crack down on illegal gun possession, and keep them out the hands of teens.

Kennedy's death is tragic, but if it can make the city refocus its efforts on crime prevention, it may not be in vain.