cincinnati

In vacation home meccas such as California, Florida and Las Vegas -- where foreclosure numbers soared during the housing meltdown -- real estate agents have been employing a new sales tactic: foreclosure bus tours.

Next stop? Cincinnati.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, the trend -- in which Realtors organize groups of prospective buyers to view short sales and foreclosures -- also is catching fire in more traditionally stable markets in the Midwest.

And for one local agency in Cincinnati, the tours actually are helping to sell homes.

At Exit Realty West, foreclosure outings are an integral part of their sales efforts, and foreclosures and short sales generate about half of the company's business. In the county, foreclosure sales make up about 32 percent of all home sales in 2010.

Is it just that the sales technique is working or are the home buyers really getting a bargain?

What's a city supposed to do when foreclosures tally into the thousands and streets are glutted with far more empty, falling-apart houses than people willing to live in them?

For a growing number of cities, a big part of the answer is: knock 'em down.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $2 billion in grants in the second phase of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program, in which local governments and nonprofits had to compete to prove they had the worthiest plans for foreclosure recovery. But stabilization can take many forms, as the plans make clear.

The 2010 census may re-classify Cincinnati-Dayton - another tangle of commercial sprawl grown together - as one urban area. Following in the steps of Minneapolis-St.Paul and Dallas-Ft.Worth, Cincinnati-Dayton could function as one cohesive area. Should the area ready itself for increased economic opportunities and prestige?

Aside from debate over what to call the urban merger ("C-D"? "Cinton"? "Daynati"?), it's likely that Interstate 75 would effectively act as its "Main Street." The new classification would combine 19 Cincinnati-Dayton area counties into a combined population of 3 million. It would make Cincinnati-Dayton the 15th highest population center in the country. Currently, Cincinnati-Middleton ranks as 24th and Dayton ranks as 61st most populous.

The hyphenate reclassification could raise the economic profile of southwestern Ohio. This, of course, would also have some spillover consequences for local real estate...