I'm from Cincinnati and have lived here my entire life.
Much of the area formerly referred to as OTR remains unsafe after dark. In addition to the gentrification, they've also successfully rebranded "OTR" to just be considered to be the 2 streets (Race and Vine between Central and Liberty if you're looking at a map) that are revamped.
The remainder of what used to be called OTR is still derelict buildings, soup kitchens, and other obvious signs of a blighted area.