My entire immediate family grew up in Northern Kentucky and my father grew up 20 minutes away from Newport, and saw their dark ages, and how it has transformed into what it is today. Amie: 30 years ago, if one would mention Newport, Kentucky what would you think of? My parents would always talk negatively about Newport, so I had a negative mindset about the city also. They never told me why it was so bad; they would just say it was not a safe place to be. Amie: Today, you always tell me not to go to downtown Cincinnati, was downtown Cincinnati not as bad back when you were younger?
Well, we never really crossed the bridge unless it was necessary, so the big city for us was Newport. As I got older and eventually went to the city for different things, I understood why they had advised me not to go down there.
It was just a bad part of town to be in. Dad: In my generation, Newport was generally just a bad place to be. There was drug trafficking going on, in the streets normally. With the drug trafficking, involved shootings, and other violence.
There were actually some good night clubs in Newport that I have been too. It was unbelievable how things were so out in the open, and people just accepted it.
Newport really climaxed when the shopping complex, Newport on the Levee was built. In the early nineties majorities of the clubs were shut down, that helped with the crime rates. Some neighborhoods in Newport are not the best places to be, but it is a whole lot better than it was.
