Cincinnati development pushing poor to Covington?

More than a quarter of Covington's residents live in poverty.

With more construction in Cincinnati and property rates rising, some in Northern Kentucky believe it's driving more low-income people and families to Covington and the Kentucky side.

Add to that the spike in heroin use: Covington saw the number of people living in poverty increase 8 percentage points to 26.4 percent from 2000 to 2013, according to the U.S. Census. That makes it the second highest poverty rate among Northern Kentucky cities behind only rural Silver Grove, where 34 percent of its 1,100 live in poverty.

Poverty, however, has increased across the region since 2000, though most not to the extent of Covington. Cincinnati's poverty rate increased by about the same amount from 21.9 percent in 2000 to 30.4 percent in 2013.

Most of Covington's increase happened after 2009 during the recession when the city's poverty rate jumped 6 percentage points.

Many have theories on why.

"I think what we're seeing the past couple of years – with the great fantastic redevelopment going on in downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine – we're seeing property values rise so quick in such a short period of time," said Josh Tunning, a community organizer with Northern Kentucky social service agency Brighton Center. "People that live there all their life can't afford it there."

Residents and city officials, while concerned about the growing number of poor, think Gateway's expansion of the urban campus and construction of high-end housing and businesses will reverse this trend.

But for now, the number of poor seems to be increasing.

Social service agencies in Covington are seeing more needy show up at their doors. The poor have increasingly clogged the small courtyard outside Parish Kitchen, a soup kitchen on Covington's Pike Street that runs 365 days a year.

Many play basketball on the careworn hoop in the claustrophobic courtyard as the line snakes along the brick wall. While waiting in line earlier this week, many of the homeless said they used to stay in Cincinnati but have been pushed out.

Construction of Smale Riverfront Park pushed some homeless camps to the other side of the river, some homeless people and social workers told the Enquirer. Plus, gentrification in Cincinnati has made some feel unwelcome.

Jennifer Eggleston, 23, has lived on the streets all over but now stays mostly in Covington. She described her residence as "everywhere and anywhere" while standing in line at the Parish Kitchen on Wednesday.

Many of the homeless that stayed on Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati are now in Covington, Eggleston said.

"I used to hang over there on regular basis," Eggleston said. "People are kicking people out of Cincinnati and telling them to come over here, because they're homeless and have nowhere else to go."

Parish Kitchen served a record 77,000 meals in 2012, up from 50,000 in 1999. The soup kitchen has served more than 70,000 meals a year since 2011 and served 71,000 meals in 2014.

Parish Kitchen Director Dan Nolan said he's shocked at the high-end development in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati and thinks it's contributed to more poor people coming to Covington.

"I don't recognize OTR anymore," Nolan said. "They're moving the Drop Inn Center. All the poor are being displaced. It's exactly what happened when they first did Main Street back in the 1990s."

Covington provides shelter and solace for the needy

The poor often come to Covington for help.

The city's high concentration of social services might contribute to it's higher poverty rate.

In addition to the Parish Kitchen, there are shelters and charities like Welcome House and Fairhaven, food pantries like Be Concerned, adult education organization Life Learning Center, and the only cold shelter in Northern Kentucky among many other agencies that tend to those in need.

Covington City Commissioner Chuck Eilerman believes this, along with a multitude of other factors, has led to Covington's high poverty rate.

"Sometimes there's a concern Covington has a concentration of poverty services, social service agencies, and that's thought to be not entirely positive, but if they're effective in improving people's lives, that's a good thing," Eilerman said.

Heroin and other factors also to blame

The heroin epidemic has led to more people sleeping on the streets in Hamilton County, said Kevin Finn, president and CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness.

In 2013, Finn's organization counted 1,531 people living on the streets in the county, 38 percentage points more than the previous year.

"I would look at the heroin epidemic as the cause," Finn said. "It seems to have a devastating effect in Hamilton County."

Covington, too, has born the brunt of the heroin epidemic and seems to bear the brunt of the region's poverty. St. Vincent de Paul is on track to serve 10 percent more people in Covington this fiscal year compared to last fiscal year, said Ralph Bradburn, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in Northern Kentucky.

Other factors also play a role in growing poverty rates in Northern Kentucky, Bradburn said.

A growing Hispanic population in Boone County has driven that county's poverty rate up, he said. St. Vincent de Paul has seen the number of people asking for assistance – be it with rent, utilities, clothing or food – double in the past three years, Bradburn said. About 40 percent of their clients are Hispanic, he said.

Boone County's poverty rate in 2013 was still low at 9 percent, but that's up from 5.6 percent in 2000.

"While, yes, in fact, the economic indicators are progressing, I think the number of folks in need out there is still pretty high," Bradburn said. "Folks continue to be unemployed and a significant number of folks are underemployed."

Gray skies gonna clear up

Covington sees reason for optimism. Many new developments are coming online. Residential and commercial developments, such as the Hotel Covington and Mutual Building, are under construction.

"These things go in cycles," Eilerman said. "On the other hand, there are several things going on with people reinvesting in neighborhoods – the Center for Great Neighborhoods is doing a lot of work – all the new places on Pike Street ... I think that we will improve and once again pull out of this."

Many expect the expansion of Gateway Community and Technical College will help some in Covington climb out of poverty by teaching them marketable skills, said City Commissioner Steve Frank, a member of the board of the Gateway Foundation.

"When you have skilled workers, they will attract businesses," Frank said. "The cost of living here is reasonable. With some of the other impetus being put in place, we really are on the cusp of a renaissance. This can be Brooklyn to Cincinnati's Manhattan."

Covington's poverty rate increased 8 percentage points from 2000 to 2013 and the poverty rate jumped 6 percentage points from 2009 to 2013. An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the increase.

Poverty rates on the rise

Living below the poverty line, according to the Census, means a couple with one child subsisting on $18,751 a year or less.

Covington's poverty rate increase over the past decade has caused concern, but poverty rates increased around the region as well.:

Covington: 2013: 26.4 percent; 2009: 20.8 percent; 2000: 18.4 percent

Cincinnati: 2013: 30.4 percent; 2009: 25.3 percent; 2000: 21.9 percent

Boone County: 2013: 9 percent; 2009: 6.6 percent; 2000: 5.6 percent

Kenton County: 2013: 13.7 percent; 2009: 10.9 percent; 2000: 9 percent

Campbell County: 2013: 13 percent; 2009: 10.4 percent; 2000: 9.3 percent

Hamilton County: 2013: 18 percent; 2009: 14.2 percent; 2000: 11.8 percent

Kentucky: 2013: 18.8 percent 2009: 17.4 percent 2000: 12 percent

Ohio: 2013: 15.8 percent; 2009: 13.6 percent; 2000: 10.6 percent

National: 2013: 15.4 percent; 2009: 13.5 percent; 2000: 12.4 percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey