Covington is pretty much hit and miss.

 

Some areas like the Riverfront and the Licking River East side district are pretty nice with phenomenal historic architecture, and are relatively safe. Over the next few years Covington has plans to develop the Riverfront even more so near the area the Mike Fink Restaurant used to be and bring it up to date and make it a cool place to hang out by the river.

 

Mainstrasse's bar/restaurant area is pretty happenin', and has come along way since I grew up there as a kid. It's been a long journey since the early 80's. I saw that area in decay in the late 60's and throughout the 70's, and it wasn't always a safe area to roam around as a teen.

 

It's grown steady over the last 30 years and took a while to find itself, but little by little it's come around. Earlier in it's change knick knack shops came and went with the wind until they figured out that they'd have repeat customers by having bars and restaurants.

 

Still, just a stone's throw away from the central Mainstrasse business area can at times be dicey and the need to have your wits about you increases.

 

Devou Park is fabulous - if you've never been you ought to check it out, and don't miss the stunning view of the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline. Also check out some of the fantastic homes throughout Park Hills. Some are just downright awesome. That whole area in and near the park is extremely safe.

 

Wallace Woods and it's close surrounding areas are pretty safe and also has some phenomenal historic architecture and fantastic trees.

 

Many areas up and down parts of Madison, Scott, Greenup, and Garrard, and the many side streets can in many ways be like a nasty armpit, and like it's already been mentioned a strong presence of drunks and drug addicts, especially near the Library area.

 

A visit to the Krogers at 15th and Madison is a great example of just how awful Covington can be and the multitudes of filthy type degenerates that are residents throughout Covington.

 

Most of the more civilized folks in safer areas do not bother to shop there and travel to other cleaner versions of Krogers in either Latonia or other relatively close cities.

 

I feel bad describing things this way, but it can really get under one's skin to observe and deal with the way things are at the ghetto Krogers in Covington. There are also some very hardcore types roaming around that have done, or will sometime in the near future do time in the slammer, and I'm talking about the kind that would not think twice about taking your head off if they're having a bad day.... or a good day for that matter.

 

But it's hard to throw the baby out with the bath water, and like I said Covington is hit and miss. Depending on what part of town you're in, it can go from one extreme to the other.

 

 

 

Cincinnati:

 

Riverfront:

 

For starters, I frequently take my daily walks along the whole span from "Friendship Park" (where you can park for free) and past all the "Flagpoles of the World" along Montgomery Inn's Boathouse Parking Lot - to "Sawyer Point" to "Yeatman's Cove" to the newly developed "Riverfront Park" all the way to "Paul Brown Stadium" and I never never never feel threatened.

 

There are tons of runners, walkers and bikers etc... there everyday, and it always feels safe. Not only that, it's a tremendous high point for the city of Cincinnati to have such a long beautiful span along the river, and being from this area I'm proud to show any out-of-towner visiting how nice, impressive, and well maintained an area it is.

 

If you've never been to "Friendship Park" you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's been there for about 10 years, and it's truly a fantastically beautiful park nestled between the hills of Mt. Adams and the Ohio River with gorgeous vistas.

 

It's well maintained as is the entire area that I mentioned that I walk.

 

"Friendship Park" is perhaps a 20 minute walk round trip (depending on how fast you walk) that takes you through the gardens of Africa, Asia, Australia, America, and Europe with all kinds a eye candy in between from artistic structures like a giant weird mirrored structure that reflects the green trees surrounding it, to the giant encaged spiral staircase structure that rises to the level or perhaps a 5 floored building, to the Plaza of the Sun with an unusual sun dial, to the artistic tiled reception hall that makes a great place for wedding receptions with nice river views, to the two giants three dimensional opens hands made of grass on the lawn, to all the beautiful trees and year round blooms that have been strategically planted so that there's never a time that something isn't in bloom.

 

Birds love this park too, so you'll undoubtedly be entertained by numerous species of them as well while on your visit through this fantastic park.

 

Also, with the clever way it's been designed, 100 percent of the park is equipped with places to sit with concrete wall seating that winds its way throughout the entire park so no matter where you are in the park and feel the need to sit, seating is readily available wherever you find yourself.

 

Downtown:

 

From the river to perhaps 7th or 8th street it's pretty safe. One area that gets frequently overlooked is Lytle Park, and the Taft Museum area near and along 4th Street which is safe, beautiful, and cleaner than clean with very cool architecture. You should see the tulips there in Lytle Park in April. There are more there than you will find anywhere around. After the tulips are gone then an extremely large beautiful garden is planted there. It's a very peaceful part of downtown to sit and relax or read a book.

 

Right now the streets of downtown are pretty beat up and bumpy because of all the work being done to lay the tracks for the new street car project. It's a bit of a drag to bump your way all through downtown, but hopefully that all gets sorted out by the time they're finished with the project.

 

Fountain Square is making great efforts to have entertainment on a regular basis, but it's still very much lacking any sort of beauty and appeal. To me it's a bunch of grey and black and there seriously needs to be more color there somehow. To go with all the black and grey, they have black umbrellas around the tables. Really??? Nobody gave any thought to perhaps making those umbrellas colorful to break the black/grey scheme that is painfully ugly???

 

In general, downtown feels safe, but you'll still have random hustlers running around, especially at night time.

 

OTR:

 

I'm happy that OTR is making great efforts to rise up from the ugly cancer that it has been for so many years, and although they have made great strides, and it's much better now than it once was, it still has a very very long way to go to feel like a safe place to play.

 

I have not once been in that area where some aggressive scary looking street hustler hasn't come up to me with a long crazy story and their hand out. It's downright annoying and happens constantly. Some don't take no for an answer very well either. There are some fantastic old buildings in OTR, but the feeling of decay is still very much prevalent. The effort to come around is very strong, so maybe one day it will, but as for now it's still advisable to be very careful if you decide to spend an evening there to dine or party.

 

Go deeper into OTR away from the night clubs etc... and you're really taking your life into your hands

 

Washington Park (originally designed by Frederick Olmsted - Same man who designed Central Park in New York) has been a great victory for OTR, and I'm very glad to see it blossom as it has. Whereas in the past I would have never dared to step foot in it, it's now a pretty cool place. With that said, the area is still filled with hustling type characters, and it's not yet exactly a place I could call paradise or very safe, but it is much better than years ago.

 

I could go on and on about Cincinnati, but since I already have, I'll just keep my assessment related to the Riverfront, Downtown & OTR. Throughout the rest of the areas that I have not mentioned, it's hit and miss from one extreme to the other, from rough and ill advisable, to nice and safe.

 

Both Covington and Cincinnati have their high and low points. Because they're both more populated than little towns, they're bound to have more troubles. Some areas are safe, some are not so safe, but wherever you go you just learn to stay alert and to try to avoid the areas that have proven themselves to be terribly unsafe

 

Between both cities I would have to award Cincinnati as the bigger danger zone. There are many more rougher aggressive and scary neighborhoods there than you would find in Covington. Just the nighttime OTR threatening vibe by itself is scarier than anything you'll find in Covington, but that's not to say that all of Covington is a walk in the park either.

 

All in all, Cincinnati wins my scarier than Covington vote.

How many of these cities are in dry counties' date=' if any?[/quote']Hodgenville is, unless you count the bootleggers.

Covington is pretty much hit and miss.

 

Some areas like the Riverfront and the Licking River East side district are pretty nice with phenomenal historic architecture, and are relatively safe. Over the next few years Covington has plans to develop the Riverfront even more so near the area the Mike Fink Restaurant used to be and bring it up to date and make it a cool place to hang out by the river.

 

Mainstrasse's bar/restaurant area is pretty happenin', and has come along way since I grew up there as a kid. It's been a long journey since the early 80's. I saw that area in decay in the late 60's and throughout the 70's, and it wasn't always a safe area to roam around as a teen.

 

It's grown steady over the last 30 years and took a while to find itself, but little by little it's come around. Earlier in it's change knick knack shops came and went with the wind until they figured out that they'd have repeat customers by having bars and restaurants.

 

Still, just a stone's throw away from the central Mainstrasse business area can at times be dicey and the need to have your wits about you increases.

 

Devou Park is fabulous - if you've never been you ought to check it out, and don't miss the stunning view of the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline. Also check out some of the fantastic homes throughout Park Hills. Some are just downright awesome. That whole area in and near the park is extremely safe.

 

Wallace Woods and it's close surrounding areas are pretty safe and also has some phenomenal historic architecture and fantastic trees.

 

Many areas up and down parts of Madison, Scott, Greenup, and Garrard, and the many side streets can in many ways be like a nasty armpit, and like it's already been mentioned a strong presence of drunks and drug addicts, especially near the Library area.

 

A visit to the Krogers at 15th and Madison is a great example of just how awful Covington can be and the multitudes of filthy type degenerates that are residents throughout Covington.

 

Most of the more civilized folks in safer areas do not bother to shop there and travel to other cleaner versions of Krogers in either Latonia or other relatively close cities.

 

I feel bad describing things this way, but it can really get under one's skin to observe and deal with the way things are at the ghetto Krogers in Covington. There are also some very hardcore types roaming around that have done, or will sometime in the near future do time in the slammer, and I'm talking about the kind that would not think twice about taking your head off if they're having a bad day.... or a good day for that matter.

 

But it's hard to throw the baby out with the bath water, and like I said Covington is hit and miss. Depending on what part of town you're in, it can go from one extreme to the other.

 

 

 

Cincinnati:

 

Riverfront:

 

For starters, I frequently take my daily walks along the whole span from "Friendship Park" (where you can park for free) and past all the "Flagpoles of the World" along Montgomery Inn's Boathouse Parking Lot - to "Sawyer Point" to "Yeatman's Cove" to the newly developed "Riverfront Park" all the way to "Paul Brown Stadium" and I never never never feel threatened.

 

There are tons of runners, walkers and bikers etc... there everyday, and it always feels safe. Not only that, it's a tremendous high point for the city of Cincinnati to have such a long beautiful span along the river, and being from this area I'm proud to show any out-of-towner visiting how nice, impressive, and well maintained an area it is.

 

If you've never been to "Friendship Park" you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's been there for about 10 years, and it's truly a fantastically beautiful park nestled between the hills of Mt. Adams and the Ohio River with gorgeous vistas.

 

It's well maintained as is the entire area that I mentioned that I walk.

 

"Friendship Park" is perhaps a 20 minute walk round trip (depending on how fast you walk) that takes you through the gardens of Africa, Asia, Australia, America, and Europe with all kinds a eye candy in between from artistic structures like a giant weird mirrored structure that reflects the green trees surrounding it, to the giant encaged spiral staircase structure that rises to the level or perhaps a 5 floored building, to the Plaza of the Sun with an unusual sun dial, to the artistic tiled reception hall that makes a great place for wedding receptions with nice river views, to the two giants three dimensional opens hands made of grass on the lawn, to all the beautiful trees and year round blooms that have been strategically planted so that there's never a time that something isn't in bloom.

 

Birds love this park too, so you'll undoubtedly be entertained by numerous species of them as well while on your visit through this fantastic park.

 

Also, with the clever way it's been designed, 100 percent of the park is equipped with places to sit with concrete wall seating that winds its way throughout the entire park so no matter where you are in the park and feel the need to sit, seating is readily available wherever you find yourself.

 

Downtown:

 

From the river to perhaps 7th or 8th street it's pretty safe. One area that gets frequently overlooked is Lytle Park, and the Taft Museum area near and along 4th Street which is safe, beautiful, and cleaner than clean with very cool architecture. You should see the tulips there in Lytle Park in April. There are more there than you will find anywhere around. After the tulips are gone then an extremely large beautiful garden is planted there. It's a very peaceful part of downtown to sit and relax or read a book.

 

Right now the streets of downtown are pretty beat up and bumpy because of all the work being done to lay the tracks for the new street car project. It's a bit of a drag to bump your way all through downtown, but hopefully that all gets sorted out by the time they're finished with the project.

 

Fountain Square is making great efforts to have entertainment on a regular basis, but it's still very much lacking any sort of beauty and appeal. To me it's a bunch of grey and black and there seriously needs to be more color there somehow. To go with all the black and grey, they have black umbrellas around the tables. Really??? Nobody gave any thought to perhaps making those umbrellas colorful to break the black/grey scheme that is painfully ugly???

 

In general, downtown feels safe, but you'll still have random hustlers running around, especially at night time.

 

OTR:

 

I'm happy that OTR is making great efforts to rise up from the ugly cancer that it has been for so many years, and although they have made great strides, and it's much better now than it once was, it still has a very very long way to go to feel like a safe place to play.

 

I have not once been in that area where some aggressive scary looking street hustler hasn't come up to me with a long crazy story and their hand out. It's downright annoying and happens constantly. Some don't take no for an answer very well either. There are some fantastic old buildings in OTR, but the feeling of decay is still very much prevalent. The effort to come around is very strong, so maybe one day it will, but as for now it's still advisable to be very careful if you decide to spend an evening there to dine or party.

 

Go deeper into OTR away from the night clubs etc... and you're really taking your life into your hands

 

Washington Park (originally designed by Frederick Olmsted - Same man who designed Central Park in New York) has been a great victory for OTR, and I'm very glad to see it blossom as it has. Whereas in the past I would have never dared to step foot in it, it's now a pretty cool place. With that said, the area is still filled with hustling type characters, and it's not yet exactly a place I could call paradise or very safe, but it is much better than years ago.

 

I could go on and on about Cincinnati, but since I already have, I'll just keep my assessment related to the Riverfront, Downtown & OTR. Throughout the rest of the areas that I have not mentioned, it's hit and miss from one extreme to the other, from rough and ill advisable, to nice and safe.

 

Both Covington and Cincinnati have their high and low points. Because they're both more populated than little towns, they're bound to have more troubles. Some areas are safe, some are not so safe, but wherever you go you just learn to stay alert and to try to avoid the areas that have proven themselves to be terribly unsafe

 

Between both cities I would have to award Cincinnati as the bigger danger zone. There are many more rougher aggressive and scary neighborhoods there than you would find in Covington. Just the nighttime OTR threatening vibe by itself is scarier than anything you'll find in Covington, but that's not to say that all of Covington is a walk in the park either.

 

All in all, Cincinnati wins my scarier than Covington vote.

 

And you didn't even mention the bad parts of Cincinnati.

Hodgenville is, unless you count the bootleggers.

 

Probably one of the wettest dry cities in the state.

Probably one of the wettest dry cities in the state.

Yep and I swear, it was easier to get marijuana as a teenager than it was to grab a beer.

And you didn't even mention the bad parts of Cincinnati.

 

C'mon seriously??? ... Are you saying that you want me to elaborate even further?

 

Remember who you're talking to.

 

OK then... I'll add in that parts of Price Hill have gone to hell and some folks that I know who live there say it's not uncommon to hear gunshots regularly. Bad idea to walk in some hoods up there because of drug addicts, thieves, and just all around punks and gangs. These folks are actually fixin' to pack up and move to a safer part of Covington because they've had enough.

 

To my credit, in my original assessment, I did mention how OTR still isn't all that safe either.

 

The surrounding area near the University of Cincinnati can be dicey too. The area near Bogarts looks like a bomb has dropped, but I do think that they're trying little by little to spruce things up there. It's got a long way to go. I used to go clubbing in that area to hear bands at Sudsy's and Top Cats (both closed), but got tired of taking my life in my hands. The Krogers up there is atrocious. Lots of cool new restaurants on Calhoun, but students should definitely not be walking alone, especially at night. I still have doubts that the kid they just found hung, did himself in. I'm leaning towards thinking that he ran into the wrong person at 3 in the morning while wandering the streets.

 

I can get around up near the University, but I'm very choosy about where I go and the hour that I'm there.

 

The Rockdale area near the Zoo is awful. It's about the only place you'll find free parking if you're going to the Zoo, but just look up and down the sidewalks there and you'll see tons of broken car window glass from all the folks who chose to brave parking for "free". The Zoo is the Garden of Eden. Funny how it's so close to the depths of Hell.

 

That's about as brief as I can get. Cincinnati is much larger than Covington with many more neighborhoods, so I'll just leave it at that and say that it's hit and miss, but has more rougher areas than Covington does.

^ No. My point was to those saying Covington is rougher than Cincinnati. Its not.

Cov is not as rough as Cincy but it isn't far behind. A lot of the bad crowd does business on both sides of the river.

^ No. My point was to those saying Covington is rougher than Cincinnati. Its not.

 

OK... I dig what you're sayin'.

4. Villa Hills

Villa Hills is one of the more well-to-do cities in Kentucky, with a proud safety record, including no violent crimes reported in 2012. Also above average, the Villa Hills school system receives high marks from various school ranking systems and received a 9 out of 10 rating, whereas the country average is a 5. This is for both its public and private K-12 schools—a promising statistic for those thinking about raising a family somewhere in Kentucky.

In addition to families with children, Villa Hills is also home to many upwardly mobile singles and generally is home to those who are upper middle income and often well-above the average income for America.

Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0

Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.57

 

 

I'm guessing they didn't count vehicle break ins in their findings. According to the census, VH had 7347 residents in 2012. The street I live on had 20+ vehicle break-ins in a weeks times. In 2012, there were well, over the 41 or so they claim to have reported. Probably some more of the other cover up crap by the Mayor.

 

But I guess other than that and the Govt crap going on, VH is a safe place to live.

 

And there is no City school system as they claim. County and Private. They make it appear it's the cities system.