Please convince me to move to Cincinnati (Green, Ada: apartments, credit)

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

I wasn't thinking about Scotti's specifically, but that's the type of longstanding place I was talking about. And woe be to you if you happen to express a dislike for a restaurant where somebody happened to go for their high school graduation celebration, or a memorable first date, or after their sister's first baby shower. It's as if you've trashed their entire history and family, and labelled everyone as an ignorant *******.

Now that I think about it, maybe this is just yet another example of the unhealthy conservatism in this area.

Wow. That's interesting. The site substituted asterisks for...let's see if I can get this one through "sh" followed by a word that rhymes with the common nickname for Charles. Who knew that was swearing???

[Tinawina]

I have to defend DanTown for a second. I don't hate Cincinnati by any means, but I grew up in NYC and lived in Boston for a while. If you think of a "great city" as something along the lines of those places, well then this is most certainly not it. Some people are attracted to big cities for the many quality options in food, culture and entertainment. They like the idea of being able to walk or take public transportation wherever they want to go. They like the urbane feel. Cincinnati sorta has some of those things, but nowhere to the degree that other cities have. When people argue that Cincinnati "has great cultural options" I kinda always chuckle. Cause no, it doesn't. LOL

That's fine of course, because Cincinnati has it's own culture/feel and many people like the things it does have. It is very family friendly to me... lots for kids to do, and a decent reasonably priced housing stock. There are some good options in the area for schooling, both public and private. The local economy is relatively strong and pretty stable. There is a slightly conservative bent to the place but that is up to everyone to decide if it's to their liking. If you are really left leaning or very bohemian your options are narrower I think, but if you are simply a Democrat that is not a problem.

Oh, and Skyline SUCKS. That is not food. You people are delusional on that one.

[Joeytraveler]

If you visit this place once it's pretty evident that it's not NYC or San Francisco or DC. If someone was sold on Cincinnati being on par with the above than whoever told you so is delusional. That being said I've read articles about artists leaving NYC and returning to the Midwest or wherever they may be from due to the soaring costs and basically having better options to make there career as an artists elsewhere.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Joeytraveler

If you visit this place once it's pretty evident that it's not NYC or San Francisco or DC.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[kjbrill]

If you want NYC, San Francisco, DC, or Chicago then go there. The quality of life here is not like there, it is better. Everyone places value on different parameters. Those who value a plain wholesome living environment will like Cincy, others will think it is backwards and regressive. Those who visualize themselves as young urban professionals but are not willing to shoulder their fair share of expenses to maintain the quality of life are welcome to leave far as I am concerned. I expect criticism on this comment, but I reserve my ability to express my opinion. Cincy will survive long after the detractors have left, simply because it is a quite nice place to live for family oriented folks which I believe are still in the majority.

[Wilson513]

Saying there is a lot of culture or fine dining in Boston or New York compared to Cincinnati is like saying that a Bentley Continental is a really nice car. Of course it is. But, with a monthly payment of $4650 and a dealer 140 miles up the road, one could honestly say that they prefer a BMW 650i.

Same for these ginormous cities. I make it a point to ask the east coast lawyers I deal with (mostly New York) if they go to Broadway, NY Philharmonic, Mets, etc. Almost no locals do these things. the managing partner of a large firm I had a deal with last year had never once been to a Broadway show. Of course they don't in a metro area of 20,000,000 souls, and a symphony playing at Lincoln Center which has the same number of good seats as Cincinnati's Music Hall but with horrible access, it is not surprising that a very very small percentage of New Yorkers get any of the so called fine culture available. All other activities are the same problem. Nice new super-hip restaurant open in the upper west side? you won't be eating there because there are about a million other folks who get their reservation through their brother in law or the hotel they are staying in or the landlord. And, if you do get in you will have a two hour travel time to go. The best restaurant in Cincinnati which will actually be roughly equivalent to New York's best (Mobil only has five stars, right?), I can call on Wednesday and dine on Saturday.

So, in theory, places like NYC have some great choices, its just that most of them are not available.

[Joeytraveler]

I agree and that's why I love it. I just don't get that if you were told otherwise that you wouldnt realize this isn't NYC pretty quickly.

[Tinawina]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

So, in theory, places like NYC have some great choices, its just that most of them are not available.

I grew up in NYC and that's not really true. People enjoy the options there all the time, even if they don't go down to the big ticket type options every week. "Options" also means you can get high qualty cheap Thai/Mexican/Indian/Greek/whatever food whenever you want and you will have many choices as to where to get it. It means multiple movie theaters running all kinds of festivals, it means everything from huge arena concerts to great local bands of every type imaginable playing every weekend. It means a ridiculous amount of free events like outdoor cultural festivals, etc. And you don't need a car to get to any of it.. just a metrocard. I could go on, but NYC is more than 5 star restaurants and such.

Anyway, one doesn't have to be "better" than the other, it's just different. Cincinnati is cool in its own way, if you want a quieter family type town with some big city amenities and a decent cost of living, Cincy is cool.

[insightofitall]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

Wow. That's interesting. The site substituted asterisks for...let's see if I can get this one through "sh" followed by a word that rhymes with the common nickname for Charles. Who knew that was swearing???

Call me stupid, but I've honestly been trying to think of what word you're talking about, and it's just not coming to me. Can you give a different hint? LOL!

[neilworms2]

Same for these ginormous cities. I make it a point to ask the east coast lawyers I deal with (mostly New York) if they go to Broadway, NY Philharmonic, Mets, etc. Almost no locals do these things. the managing partner of a large firm I had a deal with last year had never once been to a Broadway show.

I can say from living in Chicago that there is a disconnect between what people perceive Chicagoans (or New Yorkers etc) do in their day to day lives versus what they actually do. Read a few articles in local New York magazines/newspapers and there is this perception of tourists being totally clueless about a lot of things espicially liking Times Square. You talk to a native about going to Times Square and they'll roll their eyes at you

Same applies in Chicago too. Most people in the city don't go to River North around Ohio Ave for their night life, they usually go to Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville (if they are more fratty), Wicker Park/the area around Belmont Ave in Lakeview (if they are of some kind of other subculture) and Boystown and Andersonville if they are gay and lesbian. I don't know anyone who actually goes to the spots in the River North area if they are tourists. Ditto for Michigan Avenue, Chicagoans are more likely to shop on State Street (its cheaper) downtown or at a botique/discount store/thrift shop in their local neighborhood.

People enjoy the options there all the time, even if they don't go down to the big ticket type options every week. "Options" also means you can get high qualty cheap Thai/Mexican/Indian/Greek/whatever food whenever you want and you will have many choices as to where to get it.

This also applies to a lesser extent to Chicago.

If you want NYC, San Francisco, DC, or Chicago then go there. The quality of life here is not like there, it is better. Everyone places value on different parameters. Those who value a plain wholesome living environment will like Cincy, others will think it is backwards and regressive. Those who visualize themselves as young urban professionals but are not willing to shoulder their fair share of expenses to maintain the quality of life are welcome to leave far as I am concerned. I expect criticism on this comment, but I reserve my ability to express my opinion. Cincy will survive long after the detractors have left, simply because it is a quite nice place to live for family oriented folks which I believe are still in the majority.

There are fewer and fewer people with families right now. A small baby boom in generation Y (or the Millennials) means there are more young people who are delaying kids combined with more older folks (baby boomers) who are empty nesters means that there are less people who have families right at the moment. The Cincinnati area delivers when it comes to family friendly hoods, but when it comes to places for single and young couples to mingle its lacking. (Its improving from when I left, but still lacking).

Conversely Chicago has large swaths of the city that are very family friendly with a stronger Midwestren feel than anything in Cincinnati. There are neighborhoods that never declined and still have great schools, these are generally on the fringes of the northwest and south sides of the city.

The point I keep getting at through my posts is that Cincinnati has a lot of ingredients that could allow it to be in a league above where its at. It won't be at the same level as Chicago and New York, but there is such a wealth of history an amazing natural setting, amazing old architecture and legacy institutions that were from when Cincinnati was in the same league as those two cities combined with a strong and stable local economy (which puts it leagues ahead of places like Detroit or Cleveland). The only thing holding Cincinnati back is a mentality of Cincinnati can't or Cincinnati isn't. Cincinnati did at one point and to some extent it can again.