2023 Cincinnati Suburbs Tournament
Hello again faithful reader. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a blog on this website, but I am back again with a fun idea. Yesterday, I asked myself the question “which is the worst suburb that touches the City of Cincinnati’s boundaries?” These are the thoughts of someone who is probably not well in the head, because who spends their free time trying to figure this out? Today, I double downed on this mental exercise by creating a tournament style bracket that I present to you. In order to create this bracket, I decided to examine the CAGIS maps provided by the Hamilton County government. To the best of my ability as just some random guy on the internet, I determined there were a collection of 24 municipalities that touch the City of Cincinnati’s boarders. These include villiages, townships and cities that all have a diverse levels of population, socioeconomic status, educational achievement and geography. After I compiled the list of 24 municipalities, I ranked them 1 through 24 and seeded them accordingly on a single elimination bracket.
The Seeding
The vast majority of my life has been spent living in Price Hill. I’ve worked in East Price Hill, College Hill and Wyoming (the suburb, not the state). And of course I’ve participated in lesiure activities all across our region in my 33 years of line. I’d be lying to you if there was any sort of scientific reasoning behind the seeding. I basically attempted to put the uber-wealthy suburbs with the nicest and largest homes at the top of the list. As the seeds get higher, the less wealthy the areas are (by my own rationale and I’d be open for feedback if this becomes an annual tournament). I also attempted to factor in population, but that was a bit of a secondary factor. Look, just don’t try to make sense of the seedings because I made them up out of my own head and biases. Lastly, did I leave a community out of the tournament? Maybe, government mixed in with geography can be confusing so feel free to let me know one way or another. Just remember, I only included communities who have boarders that touch the City of Cincinnati. That excludes Northern Kentucky since the Ohio River is the boarder that separates Ohio and Kentucky.
3-Way Region: Round 1
1 Seed Indian Hill (Bye)
16 Seed North College Hill vs 17 Seed Mt. Healthy
9 Seed Mariemont vs 24 Seed Arlington Heights
8 Seed Amberley Villiage (Bye)
Indian Hill comes out at the top of the list because that’s where Cincinnati’s most elite and wealthy live. Indian Hill will take on the winner of North College Hill and Mt. Healthy, two communities that have a lot of similarities. Amberley Villiage is an area known for having some wealth themselves, but often fly under the radar when people think about the suburbs of Cincinnati. They will take on the winner of Mariemont and Arlington Heights.
Chili Cheese Fry Region: Round 1
2 Seed Wyoming (Bye)
15 Seed St. Bernard vs 18 Seed Elmwood Place
7 Seed Columbia Township (Bye)
10 Seed Colerain Township vs 23 Seed Lockland
Wyoming comes in as the 2 seeded suburb due to it’s wealth and quaint atmosphere. They will play the winner of St. Bernard vs Elmwood Place, two forgotten communities that are often assumed to be one place. Columbia Township came in as the 7th seed due to known for being one of the wealthier east side suburbs. They will play the winner of Colerain Township vs Lockland. Colerain is the second largest township in Ohio by population, having a total of 59,000 residents. Lockland is a tiny villiage located in northern Hamilton County with a population of 3,514 residents.
Greek Salad Region: Round 1
3 Seed Madiera (Bye)
14 Seed Springfield Township vs 19 Seed Silverton
6 Seed Green Township (Bye)
11 Seed Delhi Township vs 22 Seed Golf Manor
Madeira checks in as the 3 seed, being a very popular destination for families due to their schools ranking high academically. Their location to Kenwood Mall has also long been a contributing factor to Madeira’s popularity. They will play the winner between Springfield Township and Golf Manor. Golf Manor is a majority African American village that touches Cincinnati’s boarders to the north. Springfield Township is close by and is one of the larger townships in Hamilton County, having approximately 35,862 residents.
Coney Region: Round 1
4 Seed Sycamore Township (Bye)
13 Seed Norwood vs 20 Seed North Bend
5 Seed Anderson Township (Bye)
12 Seed Cheviot vs 21 Seed Fairfax
Sycamore Township is located in northeastern Hamilton County and is known for being somewhat affluent, giving them a first round bye. They will take on the winner between Norwood and North Bend. Norwood is one of those rare suburbs that is entirely surrounded by the City of Cincinnati. North Bend boarders Cincinnati on the western side of Hamilton County and is mostly known for being the final resting place of President Benjamin Harrison. Anderson Township obtained a bye in round one because it’s highly regarded as one of Cincinnati’s “best” suburbs, located in eastern Hamilton County. They will face off between the winner of Cheviot vs Fairfax. Cheviot is a small city that boarders Cincinnati to the west and has a population of about 8,600 residents. Fairfax is a small village on the east side of Hamilton County with a population of about 1700 residents.
The Voting
You can vote on each matchup by visiting my Twitter account here. There will be a 24-hour voting period for each poll. I will update the bracket after each round and I will return here to my humble blog and give a rundown of the results. I will then post the updated matchups until we determine 2023’s best suburb that touches the City of Cincinnati.