Is Cincinnati the South? (Dayton, Kent: fit in, home, neighborhood)

[cfd2rph]

I guess it depends on your view of the world. I grew up in Wisconsin, lived in Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis-area, and also Cincinnati. Cincinnati is as different to me as anywhere in Alabama, so for this Yankee, it's a Southern city. The folks are so much more friendly in Cincinnati - you get a very real sense of Southern hospitality. And for the real South, just hop on I-75 and drive South several hours until the road kill starts to look different.

[oldhousejunkie]

Originally Posted by mike1003

During, and before, the Civil War Cincy was a major stop on the underground railroad. Ohio was definitely Union and KY was Confederate.

Well...actually Kentucky ended up being a Unionist state. There was a great debate at the beginning of the war that resulted in neutrality, but that was short lived. Louisville was a major Union stronghold, and there was a large Union garrison in Frankfort.

Bowling Green was considered the Confederate capital. And when the Confederate Army briefly occupied Frankfort, it was considered the first Union held city to be captured.

Kentucky was very much divided in that respect.

And I'll weigh in on the debate, and say no. But that's only because there's no sweet tea (or at least I couldn't find any when I visited last year...)

But then again, I have visited many "Southern" states and couldn't find sweet tea. Sigh.

[progmac]

Plus we have Rally's and not Checkers. And we have White Castle, not Krystal

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by oldhousejunkie

Well...actually Kentucky ended up being a Unionist state. There was a great debate at the beginning of the war that resulted in neutrality, but that was short lived. Louisville was a major Union stronghold, and there was a large Union garrison in Frankfort.

Bowling Green was considered the Confederate capital. And when the Confederate Army briefly occupied Frankfort, it was considered the first Union held city to be captured.

Kentucky was very much divided in that respect.

And I'll weigh in on the debate, and say no. But that's only because there's no sweet tea (or at least I couldn't find any when I visited last year...)

But then again, I have visited many "Southern" states and couldn't find sweet tea. Sigh.

OldHouseJunkie, you wrote what I was going to say ...

Anyone that says KY was a stronghold Confederate State doesn't know their history.

It's KY that had the identity crises, not Cincinnati and when I say KY - I don't mean NOKY (this area shares more in common with the midwest than the south).

Bluegrass (a.k.a. Poa Pratensis) is a grass that's blue in texture from limestone-rich soil - grass grown on mountainous topography ... anywhere else in the U.S. that has this type of grass?

The south rarely see freezing temperatures and they never see snow. When I lived in the south, we'd get ice-storms and since they never see snow they don't have salt, so they throw down gravel on the roads.

Again, typically the first thought that comes into a southerner's head when you say "Mid-South" they're going to tell you: Memphis, TN.

To give you an idea ... it's 400 miles from Memphis, TN to New Orleans, LA.

Mason-Dixon stops at Pennsylvania.

... And geographically speaking, NYC would sit between Cincinnati and Lima, OH.

[srschirm]

There is no way Cincinnati is the South. To me, the South doesn't start until you get south of Lexington. This is a personal opinion from a Georgian/South Carolinian who has lived in Northern KY a number of years.

[cfd2rph]

Could we agree that Cincinnati is in a grey area (hmmm, excuse the expression to Johnny Reb). This city is substantially different than Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis - I know, I've lived in all these cities. Sure you won't find sweet tea in Cincinnati, but you won't find a bowling alley on every corner opposite from some Polish named tavern featuring an Pabst Blue Ribbon sign hanging out front either.

[Cincy-Rise]

^ That's because bowling is a dying sport.

[oldhousejunkie]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

The south rarely see freezing temperatures and they never see snow. When I lived in the south, we'd get ice-storms and since they never see snow they don't have salt, so they throw down gravel on the roads.

Not entirely true... For some reason, we have been seeing more snow than ice of late. Well at least in South Carolina. My folks live in Upstate SC, and saw two separate snow incidents this past winter. Further south in Columbia, I actually saw six inches in one snow event. But that was nearly unheard of. Hell literally froze over!

But still, my attraction to northern climes stems from my desire to see snow on a regular basis.

But Cincy-Rise is right for the most part, we do trend towards ice, but at least the SCDOT has switched over to sand, instead of gravel. But it doesn't matter anyway...people still drive like morons whenever any precipitation occurs. :-)

And Cincy-Rise...I think our school children are woefully undereducated about Civil War history. I was one of the ones who thought Kentucky was neutral with a heavy Confederate bent. It took me writing a historical fiction set in Kentucky to find out the real story. Which is a good thing--I would have seriously embarrassed myself otherwise!

[cfd2rph]

Cincy-Rise, you are making my exact point. Head up into the North and you'll be on a Bowling team with the boys from work - it's not a dying sport up in Cudahy, WI or Trenton, MI or Toledo, OH. Cincinnati is a unique and different town to the folks from the deep South as well as the cold North.

[Craziaskowboi]

Cincinnati is NOT Southern.