Reflection: Present Newport

Abigail Leonhard

Dr. Krouse

Landscapes of Identity

11 November 2019

Reflection of Newport Landscape: Present

As a Northern Kentucky native, I had some experience with Newport, and, after completing research on the city, some of these views were changed while others were strengthened. After observing, learning, and engaging with Newport, I have a better understanding of the landscape of Newport, especially the present landscape of Newport. It is a city under messy construction and a struggling education system, but it is also a city full of potential and hidden gems striving to attract young people.

Before this project, in my sixth grade year, I remember very clearly playing against Newport Intermediate School, and this was my first impression of the school: aggressive kids that curse like sailors. I was hoping this project would disprove my first impression and give me a better image of the school. Unfortunately, I learned that Newport public schools were placed in the bottom 5 percent in the state in March 2019 by the Kentucky Department of Education because the school had low expectations, used intimidation and fear, had low scores on state assessments, had bullying issues, had even educators helping students cheat on standardized tests, etc.. Newport is failing to teach its next generation good values and a good education; by failing to properly teach, Newport is allowing another cycle of poverty to occur.

Because of my Catholic education, I was curious how Newport Central Catholic High School would compare to Newport Independent Schools. I interviewed a recent graduate from NCC this past May, and I was surprised by his statement that the school did not prepare him well for college. Despite 96 percent of the 2019 graduating class attending college, 50 percent of the students are on student assistance for tuition. In comparison, both NCC and the Newport schools have students struggling financially and have an education system that does not meet proper standards. Thus, the landscape of Newport struggling with education and poverty continues. 

Furthermore, one aspect that I learned from the interview that encompasses the landscape of Newport well was hearing about the lifestyles of NCC students. They walk the majority of the time everywhere because of the closely knit buildings. As a result, the landscape of Newport is largely impacted by the closely knitted houses because it results in its residents living an urban lifestyle. 

Despite the negatives of the education of Newport and the unattractive construction, there are aesthetically pleasing places in Newport that promise hope. For instance, spacious Newport Pavilion has some greenery and stone walls that separate itself from the rest of Newport. The pavilion also has popular stores like Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods that appeal to a younger audience.

Likewise, restaurants like Press on Monmouth prove that Newport does have modern and aesthetic locations that satisfy younger audiences’ social media desires. In addition to the appealing food and drink options, the restaurant has cute signs like its flashing blue “coffee” sign, greenery, and flowers that create cute photos. 

Thus, because of Newport Pavilion and Press on Monmouth, a younger audience is encouraged to enjoy Newport and to follow a present trend there: being a VSCO girl. By attracting young people to shop at the pavilion’s popular stores and by creating visually appealing locations, young people can create cute VSCO photos with their new purchases and surroundings; thus, by striving to attract a young audience, the city is seeking a modern landscape.

Similarly, Newport’s goal to attract a young audience can be seen throughout its construction on Newport on the Levee. Despite construction being unpleasant, it represents Newport’s potential for positive growth. Through research, I learned that Newport on the Levee is undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation that will provide new restaurants, bars, retail stores, and much more. Also, this past summer, the city began offering yoga, bike rides, and weekly concerts. If this renovation and opportunities to engage with the city attract more young people, the landscape of Newport could potentially be changed by improving the education system and much more. 

Through the positives and negatives of Newport, I have learned that Newport wants to develop its landscape around young people. It uses urban attractions and buildings to create city lifestyles for its residents. However, despite these attempts, it also remains very unattractive to many with its failing education and an unappealing construction. Right now, Newport is a city in need of a lot of growth, and it could potentially attract a younger audience and change for the better of its residents and visitors. 

Past, Present, Future of Newport Report

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cqXIDHUbXB

Screencast Reflection

Image of Newport Independent School District: Is There Hope?

To this day, I still remember my first encounter with Newport Intermediate: pure shock. I was in the sixth grade on my private grade school’s basketball team, and I was still very accustomed to playing other girls from other private schools. The girls I played from these teams did not curse and did not physically intimidate me, but then I played Newport. Cursing was thrown here and there. Aggressive comments were made to the referees and to my fellow teammates. To this day, I do not think I have ever heard so many sixth graders throw the f bomb in that short amount of a period.

Unfortunately, this was my first impression of the Newport education system, and, although I have met amazing and successful people who came from the Newport Independent School District, this first impression cannot be removed. To be candid, I did grow up in a very sheltered school system. Attending a private Catholic school most definitely exposed me to less diversity, but recent news has not helped shift my perspective. 

For instance, Winter and Kuzdym state that the Kentucky Department of Education placed Newport public schools in the bottom 5 percent in the state this past March and finished four internal audits that reveal significant deficiencies in the district’s method of teaching: low expectations, the utilization of intimidation and fear, no instructional plans, low-scoring state assessments, lack of challenging coursework or discussion, continuous bullying (local12.com). Furthermore, in May of 2018, the principal of Newport Intermediate and three other educators helped nine third-graders cheat on their standardized tests (Winter and Kuzdym, local12.com). As a result of these recent events, it is challenging for me to view the Newport education system in a better light. 

Hopefully, because of these situations, the Newport school district will improve for the better. Likewise, Winter and Kuzdym state that the Kentucky Board of Education gave the district approximately a month to implement some sort of plan for improvement, so there is some hope for improvement (local12.com). However, after having my experience with the Newport education system, it is hard to challenging to see a positive future potential.

Resources:

https://local12.com/news/local/local-12-investigates-newport-independent-schools-among-lowest-performing-ky-districts

https://local12.com/news/local/local-12-investigates-newport-independent-schools-among-lowest-performing-ky-districts

An Insight into Newport Central Catholic and Newport Independent Schools

Because I am from Boone County, I have witnessed Newport's education system to some degree. As I mentioned earlier, I played basketball against Newport Intermediate, and I, a sheltered and private-Catholic-school-educated eleven year old, was surprised by the amount of cursing and by the immense physicality of these girls. As a result of this experience and the research I found about the very low ranking of the Newport Independent School System, I wanted to learn about Newport Central Catholic, a private Catholic school that is a part of the same diocese as my high school. This school specifically interested me because I was curious how the landscape of being a Catholic school and the landscape of Newport has shaped its students differently than those at my high school and those at Newport Independent School System. 

To learn about the Newport Central Catholic, I interviewed a current first year student attending Northern Kentucky University who graduated from NCC last May. The student, who I will keep anonymous, also had an almost entirely private Catholic education like me; he attended St. Joseph Coldspring for grade school and NCC for high school. Even though he lives in Wilder, he is very familiar with the Newport area because of the closeness of his home to the city and because of his high school experience and friends. Newport has given him many fond memories: hanging out with friends, visiting the Levee, going to school; he, however, does not believe the city has shaped his identity much.

Regarding his education at Newport Central Catholic, he does not believe that NCC prepared him well for college since it failed to teach him what college would be like; regardless of this belief, as he stated, NCC taught him how to be responsible and helped him earn many scholarships. This reminded me of a friend from high school whose sister graduated from NCC and felt unprepared for college. That is why my friend attended my high school because she wanted to be challenged, so it was strange hearing the correlation between these two people's experiences. 

At NCC, many of his friends lived in Newport, and they had a different lifestyle than him because of this landscape. Unlike my interviewee who grew up in a suburban area outside of Newport, his friends and classmates grew up in closely knitted houses that were ruled by basic city streets. Because of this difference, he stated that they grew up walking to places instead of driving to them and mainly found entertainment indoors. In addition, despite the expensiveness of private schooling, he stated that 50 percent of the students lived in less fortunate circumstances and were on student assistance. Thus, just like the Newport Independent School System, many of the students experience difficulties financially, but, unlike Newport Independent, a large majority of graduates, 96 percent, from NCC went to college.

Regardless of the fact that the interviewee believes that NCC did not prepare him well for college and has a decent population of those needing financial assistance, NCC is, at the very least, getting a decent amount of graduates into college. Newport Independent School System, thus, is most likely struggling from internal conflicts within homes. Similarly, the interviewee discussed how he did extracurriculars with students from Newport Independent and was told by a second grader the number of weapons within her home. This reminded me of when I completed a service opportunity with UpSpring, which serves girls experiencing homelessness at Newport , and there was 13 of them experiencing homelessness. 

Thus, perhaps there is a strong correlation between the landscape of Newport and the lack of preparation for college, but, at the end of the day, NCC is not struggling as much as Newport Independent due to its better family-home conditions.

An Outsider’s POV of Newport

Over the past few weeks of taking trips to Newport, I have come to the conclusion that Newport is trying to improve and become a better community, but it is attracting outsiders more than the ones already living there. I have talked to many people who live both in Newport and outside of Newport. I have gotten some perspective from the people who live in Newport from talking to them and my team members on this blog, but I wanted to ask a friend who lives right outside of Newport in Fort Thomas what he is excited about. I asked him simple questions and here is part of the conversation:

Q: What is your favorite part about Newport?
A: Strong’s Pizza. It is perfect walking distance from Newport on the Levee, it is a nice relaxed environment, and it’s a family style restaurant that I’ve been going to for years. Plus the prices aren’t that bad at all for how good it is.
Q: Are you excited for the new renovations in Newport?
A: I am, I have been going into Newport for years to hang out and shop: the pavilion, Levee and friends that live there. It’s going to be cool to see some new things to try in Newport.
Q: How do you view Newport? What are the words you would use to describe it right now?
A: It is a growing city, it is entertaining, and it has good business. It is a hub of activity that attracts younger people.

From just these few questions I can see that as an outsider he really likes Newport, but that is because he goes there to hang out rather than actually knowing the Newport community. This is an example of young people being attracted to Newport, but the next step is how do they learn about Newport’s future and hope to become part of the community?

Present Trend: Being a VSCO Girl in Newport

As I embrace my last few months of being a teenager, one important question remains about Newport: can it fulfill a VSCO girl's needs? For you uncultured and out-of-the-loop folk, VSCO is a photo and video editor app that anyone can use for free and share their creations, and a VSCO girl is a stereotype of a teenage girl who wears scrunchies, oversized sweatshirts/t-shirts, Nike shorts, Birkenstock shoes, Crocs, Vans, shell necklaces, tube tops, and jean shorts and always drinks from a hydro-flask. Fortunately, if you are a VSCO girl, Newport can satisfy your present VSCO needs. 

First of all, it can satisfy your consumer VSCO needs. Even though there is a Claire's still open on Newport on the Levee to satisfy your scrunchy needs, I do not recommend going there because it smells awful, and, in addition, there are almost no other stores to shop at on the Levee in general, especially for you particular aesthetic desires. Instead, I recommend visiting the Newport Pavilion; the area, unlike the majority of Newport, is spaced out and has newer buildings and stores. Not a single building appears to be run down, and the whole area is visually appealing with greenery and stone walls to make the entire shopping experience more enjoyable. One of the stores is Target, which every teenage girl knows can satisfy any aesthetic need; Target sells scrunchies, a variety of clothing options, the iconic hydro-flasks, and Starbucks coffee, which can fulfill your stereotypical Starbucks photos. Furthermore, other stores include Famous Footwear, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Ulta to purchase your shoe, Nike shorts, and make-up necessities. 

Second, among the construction of the city, there are some places to take aesthetically pleasing VSCO photos. One example is Press on Monmouth, a restaurant that specializes in making paninis, salads, gourmet soup, breakfast food, and pastries and serving espresso, coffees, and beers (https://pressonmonmouthnky.com/). Before you even walk into the restaurant, it already stands out among its surroundings. In contrast to the older and bland bank adjacent to it, the restaurant's exterior includes vibrant red brick, sturdy and bright blue window awnings, and a modern appealing hanging sign. Once you walk into the restaurant, the interior takes you by surprise. Once inside, I discovered mason jars and flower vases, a hanging and flashing blue "coffee" sign, wooden boxes of vegetation, and many other aesthetic decorations that make for great VSCO posts and creations. In addition to the decorations, the food and drink options also make for great photos. I personally only ordered an iced latte, which was attractive in its clear container, but the food and drink options around me and on the website all appeared to be created with visual care to enhance your VSCO game.

Thus, despite the hot mess of Newport construction and poverty, there are some gems within the city that can satisfy your VSCO desires and young needs, and this shows that the present Newport and the future Newport are attracting a younger audience.

Sources: https://pressonmonmouthnky.com/

A Long Time Journey: An Interview with a Newport Citizen

When looking into Newport, while I am unfamiliar with the area of Newport overall, I decided to turn to a great friend and long-time resident of Newport to see into what he thinks of the city overall. For the purposes of privacy I will be referencing my friend as "C". C has always been an individual who has been wanting to try new things and to expand his reach. Below is his opinions about the city that

My first question I asked him surrounding Newport as a home. 

He describes Newport as, "the home you want to leave. It is home because everyone knows everyone. It was because this that my time in Newport was great, but I knew from the moment I moved there that I wanted to leave it after high school. I wasn't like everyone or the co culture. So my time was great, but lonely.

My second question I asked him about the schools of Newport.

He describes the schools of Newport as, "bad, worse than bad, they're awful. A bunch of kids raised to not care what anyone tells them and to rebel. My honors class had the same 20 people in it every year. Newport schools showed they didn't care. Matter of fact, a teacher once told my class we were all numbers."

My third question I asked him about the sights and sounds of Newport.

In this response he specifically talked about the the levee section of Newport. He described this area as, "Great. I spent my childhood and teens walking Newport and the levee. I seriously gained and lost friends there. Its a great place to be when you're bored, with friends, or on a date.

When giving this interview with my friend C, I wanted to truly hear how he thought of the place he grew up at. While he was personally not a fan of living there or the school system that is currently there, he did say that Newport is a great place to explore in. He was very positive about the impact places such as the Levee had on his childhood. All in all, he concluded to me that Newport is like every other city, it has its highlights and it has its problems. He also said that this was only his personal opinion and that for someone else Newport could mean something different. However, for an individual who is wanting to explore, he felt he was confined there, but coming into Newport to explore? He absolutely liked it.

The History of the Future of Newport

Newport is becoming a fresh new space that is changing everyday. One of the really cool things about the these changes are the projects that are coming along. I have looked into them looking at Newport on the Levee, Newport’s Ovation Site, and the Westside clean up.
The Levee renovations are the most talked about among the projects: the Barnes and Nobles is gone, most of the shops in the mall are empty, and the place is overall just empty and waiting to be filled. Here are some renderings that show what they are moving towards:

As you can see there is a lot of work that needs to be done, but it is really cool to see how these places are changing into that I am excited to check out when the renovations are finally finished.

The next biggest site is Newport’s Ovation Site. It is a mixed use site that is was just 35 acres of unused lots by the river (13 years if not being used). The project will bring about 5,000 jobs and is intended to help both the people currently living in Newport and the people who will potentially move into Newport. It was supposed to be done in spring of 2019, but was pushed back. The project will be starting with the concert venue that costs $40 million. Here are the renderings looking the future of Ovation:

The last part is the westside of Newport. The neighborhood community is trying really hard to make it a great place to live and grow. They are seeking investments, it’s a good location and two of the streets , York and Columbia streets, are being turned into historic districts. Unfortunately I not have renderings because the projects that need to be done do not have the backing and may be slowed done because of all the Ovation site projects. But now is the time for westside of Newport. The big thing to focus on is bringing history into the future for Newport.


https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2019/05/09/40-million-music-venue-coming-newports-ovation-site

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2019/07/16/newport-concert-venue-construction-underway-ovation-site/1732662001/

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2019/06/10/newport-levee-offers-first-glimpse-new-concept/1410351001/

https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/newport-west-side-newports-west-side-thinks-of-itself-as-on-the-upswing-as-it-cleans-up-and-draws-investment_

Under the Bridge: A Newport Melting Pot

While travelling through Newport and its bustling streets, we came across Newport High School. Newport High School has a long standing history for over the past 50+ years; however, that wasn't what intrigued me the most about the area. Under 471 towards Cincinnati is an often populated utopia filled to the brim with many ramps, rails, and stairs. Here in Newport, Kentucky, is the community's skate park. This skate park is a haven for many local residents of Newport ,whether in Newport High School or not, to come to skate, socialize, and compete.


While I do not have as much familiarity with the importance of this skate park to the local community of Newport, I could tell by my observations how important and impact its lure can truly be. The skate-park used to be parking, however over time, they eventually converted the old parking lot into the skate-park that can be seen today. In fact, the skate park is owned by the owner of the Galaxy Skate Shop. What I saw within my quick observations of the skate-park was a sense of community. I saw individuals socializing and presenting their skating skills to fellow friends and possibly strangers. I saw a community of individuals who have come together to skate.

There was no judgement, they did not see differences, in fact, what I saw with this skate park was a sense of unity. A passion for the sport they truly cared about in skating. While I am not much of a skater, the skate-park was constantly there, tempting me to go and try skating for the first time. While I couldn't go to the skate-park and skate due to time constraints and not having a skateboard, the community interaction I saw there truly impressed me. It impressed me in a sense I am starting to want to learn how to truly become a skater and become a part of a community that feels truly united in their hobby.

That is what I got from my experience observing the bustling skate-park below 471. A community that regardless of differences, have come together to interact and skate.

Newport: Potential for Positive Growth

As I look around Newport, I am either surrounded by aging buildings, construction, and/or empty stores. In addition, some of the closed stores were well known, like Barnes and Noble. Despite the lack of a consistent aesthetic appeal, Newport is a city full of positive potential and growth because of the big renovations being constructed on Newport on the Levee.

A picture of Newport apartment construction.

As stated by Tucker after North American Properties purchased the mall in late 2018, Newport on the Levee has been undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation that will include new restaurants, bars, and retail stores on its 360,000 square feet of space ( “Newport on the Levee Set to Announce New Tenants.”). By closing down a great number of stores and constructing new businesses, Newport is giving itself the opportunity to create itself a new image and to attract an audience of its choice.

Positive quotes like "New energy on the Levee" are displayed.

Furthermore, the city appears to target a young adult and family audience. For instance, the Newport City Manager, Tom Fromme, discussed how additions like a hotel and a performance venue could potentially be built since North American wants to replace and open up the empty Imax area (Monk, “What Will Replace the Empty Imax at Newport on the Levee?”). In addition, Tucker comments on how the Newport on the Levee developer began offering yoga, bike rides, and weekly concerts this past summer ( “Newport on the Levee Set to Announce New Tenants.” ). By having these types of attractions, more young people will be attracted to visit and/or move to Newport, and, by attracting young adults, Newport will become the home of newly-begun families.

Empty stores are visible throughout Newport.

In addition, by attracting families and young adults, the landscape and identity of Newport could positively be changed and could improve other established institutions as well. For my entire life, I have lived in the Northern Kentucky area, and, candidly, I have never seen Newport as an attractive area to inhabit. I know that the education system in Newport has always been poorly ranked in comparison to other Kentucky schools, and I have physically seen and have learned about the economic struggles of this city and its people. Despite my present perspective, by providing job opportunities and attracting young educated individuals and families, visually appealing homes could be built, and the education system could be improved by the vocalizations of well respected parents and by an increase of funding in the city. 

Newport construction can have positive outcomes.

Thus, despite the construction mess and empty stores, Newport on the Levee could transform into a city with profitable businesses, educated families, and improved institutions. By closing down stores and constructing renovations, Newport on the Levee is giving the city a chance to create a new and better image for itself.

Sources:

Monk, Dan. “What Will Replace the Empty Imax at Newport on the Levee?” WCPO Cincinnati, 10 Sept. 2019, https://www.wcpo.com/money/local-business-news/what-will-replace-the-empty-imax-at-newport-on-the-levee. Accessed 30 Sept. 2019. 

Tucker, Randy. “Newport on the Levee Set to Announce New Tenants.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 June 2019, www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2019/06/10/newport-levee-offers-first-glimpse-new-concept/1410351001/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2019.

The Negative Side of the New of Newport

When walking around Newport, there are many different parts of the city that show how diverse and community based it is that make it such a great place. That’s what it looks like on the outside, but taking a closer looking I could see that it is changing and growing into something that isn’t what some communities want. There is a clear divide in Newport, East vs. West, and it is possibly draining the city of its homey feelings. When talking with some of the employees of the area, they expressed their views of Newport and their experiences. They were young people close to our age working in stores around the levee, so even though it wasn’t a wide range they still gave us a window in the life of Newport’s most social environment. None of them lived in Newport, they did not know anything about Newport outside of the levee, and were excited to see Newport expanding.

The expansion of Newport can be seen as a very good thing… for the levee. It is the new of Newport for the east side, and it is growing everyday. It’s not a bad thing, and it is going to help Newport in the long run. But what about the rest of Newport? Just outside the levee are nice family style restaurants and historic downtown, so close and show the beautiful history of the city. But what is outside that homey community? When driving around the west side of Newport, and some of east side too, I see many unfinished projects or projects that need to be thought of to keep the city balanced.


A lot of this just comes from observation and comparing it to what we have been told about Newport from ReNewport, but I think the main thing about the situation is that the history of Newport isn’t heard. The main focus that the people living in Newport are concerned about is the families. The people we talked to said that new families and young people will be moving into Newport with all the renovations and new apartments and such… but what happens to the families that are already settled there? What happens to their work they have put into the community? Where does that family feeling of Newport go? These present issues are something that need to be taken into consideration when looking at the future of Newport.

A Call for Peace: The World Peace Bell

The World Peace Bell in Newport, Kentucky

A Look to its History

On a hot sunny day in the crossroads of Newport, stood a tall monument. A monument that was glistering in the swelling sunshine of the developing land. Some look to this monument as a symbol of hope. This symbol, which has stood on 425 York Street since the spring of 1999, has been an iconic landmark for the community of Newport, Kentucky. Known as the World Peace Bell, the bell has a history that is quite unique in terms of purpose and creation.

For starters, the World Peace Bell is the largest swinging bell in the world. The bell itself weighs 66,000 pounds along with an additional 26,000 pounds the yoke provides. The height of the bell is an estimated 12 feet high and a diameter of 12 feet as well. With these weights and heights, the bell truly conveys a large bell that can create a large surround ring.

The history of the bell actually does not start in the United States; instead, its beginnings originated in France. The bell was first cast in 1998 in order to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Over the weeks of casting and preparations, the bell would be shown to the public in Nantes, France. Eventually, the bell would fine home in the United States.

The journey of the bell to Newport Kentucky involved many stops along the Mississippi Delta. Starting in New Orleans, Louisiana, the bell would make trips to 14 different cities before eventually making Newport its home for the next 20+ years.

What the bell emphasizes is peace. That was what the creators of the bell were inspired by. For the past 20+ years, the bell has stood in Newport, Kentucky, as a symbol for the city that is truly diverse and supportive of each other. Its ring can still be remembered by all who hear its song.

Source:

Southbank Partners. “History.” Southbank Partners, http://www.southbankpartners.com/world-peace-bell/history.aspx.
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