Politicians always talk about the bottom line. They always talk about cost. Yet I wonder if any member of the Cincinnati City Council or the Hamilton County Commission has ever taken an introductory economics course. Cost is a reflection of value; if people in one area value a commodity more than people in another area, the difference in prices should reflect the differences in value.

I am dumbfounded that our local leaders are unable to scare up enough cash to install the covering over Fort Washington Way. The council members cry loudly and often for the need to get people living back in downtown; I believe that people would value living next to a beautifully landscaped park far more than a highway, and that they would be willing to pay a higher cost to live there.

The same is true for the proposed expansion of the convention center. Why not pay the extra money to expand the convention center over I-75? Doing so would add more value to downtown by increasing overall square footage without eating up another city block, which could then be developed privately.

These two projects will benefit downtown far more than any stadiums. I do not understand why local government is not willing to find a way to assume these costs now, particularly when the payoff from such investments will be so great.

-- Stephen Fischer
Mount Lookout