Cincinnati and Covington have similar elephants

Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. talked to the Covington Business Council yesterday, preaching the gospel of regional cooperation and working together to market the region.

Well, it would help if the Cincinnati city administration and Northern Kentucky's sanitation district find a way to stop running up big lawyer bills and staff time in a fight over Ohio River water quality that has gone on way too long. (The two sides have agreed to arbitration, which could be a healthy step.)

What struck me about today's story was that both riverfront cities have to deal with perception and reality surrounding two big elephants in their urban rooms: safety and schools. People don't want to be urban pioneers with their kids; nor do they want to feel fear in their neighborhoods.

There are great schools and great neighborhoods in both cities. And stirring examples of turnarounds in weak-performing schools. But much more must happen.

If I were Dohoney, I'd forget about building street car lines in these cash-strapped times. There are no issues more important than schools and safety. Solve those issues, and you have the tax base to do all kinds of cool things.

And Covington can be a model of urban renewal. If urban problems can't be solved in cities the size of Covington, there's no hope for Cincinnati.

Let's unite on both sides of the river for solutions to both issues, such as the Strive program that has amazing potential to encourage urban children to pursue higher education.