Cincinnati’s West End is a mostly Black neighborhood where, compared to the rest of the city, the median income is lower and the percentage of residents who rent is higher. So when FC Cincinnati, the city’s professional soccer team, chose the neighborhood for its $250-million TQL Stadium, it raised both hopes and worries about what would happen to the area.
The West End sits beside Over-the-Rhine (OTR), formerly also majority Black, where focused redevelopment has led to gentrification. U.S. Census Bureau data show that, from 2010 to 2020, OTR’s Black population decreased by 44%, while its white population grew by 74.9%. Opponents of the stadium project worried their neighborhood would undergo a similar change.