Is it the economy?

A few weeks ago, I read this article in the Enquirer about the closing of many restaurants in the area.

I held on to it because the article blamed the economy for the closings even though many of the restaurants were chain types; Macaroni Grill, Don Pablo's et al.

But when I went back to look at the restaurants listed, something else stood out.

Outside of the chains, none of the restaurants were in Northern Kentucky.

So apparently the economy hasn't hit the Northern KY area like it has in Ohio just two blocks away. Or.... maybe it has to do with Ohio's increase in the minimum wage and the smoking ban; those things that make our state oh so blue.

I went to Newport on the Levee (just across the Ohio River for you non Cincinnati types) last week. For bad economical times, how is it that traffic backs up on to the freeway there. I had a hell of a time finding a place to park. Somehow no one told the people there we were in a recession.

So the question is... Are restaurants closing because of the economy or because we put them at an economic disadvantage to our neighbors to the south?