My experience in OTR was volunteering every weekend at Washington Park. I would talk to the folks who frequented the park; many homeless. They had stories and weren't much different from myself. Except I had a bigger safety net, wasn't as unlucky and made different bad decisions.
I remember how attendees of City Hall would walk past the homeless on their walk into the opera. It was sad. That's where I remember it all starting though. The "no loitering" laws and "no sleeping in the park" laws.
OTR is better for middle class and above people. But those people who used to be in OTR didn't disappear. They're somewhere and I hope they found another place to hang out.
Spike Lee's response to someone on the Gentrification in NYC is a great listen.
https://soundcloud.com/daily-intelligencer/spike-lee-on-gent...
Here's some articles that have a different perspective:
http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/3cdc-in-over-...
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/letters/2015/03/18/l...
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24138-econocide-over-the-...
The Brandery is a pretty big incubator, I bet there are some HN readers that have been through it or work there. Looking forward to hearing their perspectives. As far as the perspectives of the people that have lived in OtR through the 90s and 2000s, don't think you'll get many of them. I lived/played in OtR in 2001-2003 and grew up running around there in the 90s going to house shows, art openings (from the very first wave of incidental gentrifiers, one might say), boozey dive bars, the local goth club, etc.