LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The mayors of two prominent Ohio River cities are consulting each other on ways to make their communities safer and more inclusive.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval talked extensively at the Transform Louisville breakfast on Tuesday, an annual fundraising event hosted by Simmons College of Kentucky.
Pureval was the special guest speaker of the event at the St. Stephen Family Life Center, which included many other well-known local and state politicians.
In their speeches, both Greenberg and Pureval said their cities are battling a lot of the same problems.
"Gun violence is a problem throughout the country," Pureval said. "I've got some good ideas about what he could be doing, and I'm getting ideas from him too. My relationship with Mayor Greenberg is really strong."
The two cities -- considered 'peer cities' -- are compared in the Greater Louisville Project's latest "Safer City by Design" report.
It shows 60 people between the ages of 15 and 24 were murdered in Louisville in 2021. Cincinnati reported half that number.
"We're really fortunate in Cincinnati, violent crime is down," Pureval said.
Peer cities are cities experiencing similar trends or challenges. Comparing them helps provide context to local and state lawmakers on what needs to change.
The study also measured "disconnected youth," which is the CDC's term for young people who aren't working or in school.
Compared to its peers, Louisville ranks worst in the number of disconnected Black youth, sitting at just over 31%. Cincinnati sits at 11.8%, second-best among its peers.
So, what's their secret?
"It's a challenge that we just continue to have to invest in, and we're really focused on the root cause of violence in our community -- which is poverty," Pureval said.
Greenberg has talked extensively about long-term solutions to Louisville's concerning poverty levels, including implementing universal Pre-K.
On stage Tuesday, he said Louisville must "follow Cincinnati's lead" in this effort.
A program called Cincinnati Preschool Promise has allocated $15 million per year in taxpayer money to expand access to quality preschool.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear believes this is the right idea.
"What Cincinnati's doing right now that we ought to be watching is they announced they'd be doing Universal Pre-K for every 4 year old in the Cincinnati area," Gov. Beshear said. "We can afford it [too], if the General Assembly would do it, every single child would be kindergarten ready."
On Tuesday, Greenberg also brought up his newly announced Office of Philanthropy, which is Louisville's first. He says one its main goals is to create a plan to make Pre-K accessible for all 3-and-4-year-old's in the city.
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