Best Value Cities for 2011 (Columbus, Cincinnati: best cities, home, unemployment rate)

[Wilson513]

Cincinnati’s falling unemployment rate, downtown redevelopment and reasonable cost of living have propelled it onto Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of “10 Best Value Cities for 2011.

Cincinnati named 'value city' | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

[Chemistry_Guy]

The top 10 were:
1. Omaha
2. Charlotte
3. Nashville
4. Colorado Springs
5. Knoxville
6. Lexington
7.Little Rock
8. Wichita
9. Cedar Rapids
10. Cincinnati

This is an interesting list because the cities are so incredibly different in character. With the exceptions of Nashville and Cincinnati, most of these cities have the feel of new development. I have to say I am surprised Indianapolis and Columbus did not rank higher, as they seem to have more in common with Omaha and Charlotte than Cincinnati. Still, I think it is good for the city to be recognized nationally for something positive for a change.

[Arctic_6]

This is good news! I love living in Cincinnati. I definitely take the opportunity to see Cincinnati Shakespeare Company whenever I get the chance. It's good to see the city getting good press. I have had several visitors and they loved the city as well. I think it's definitely got the potential to be a comeback city. It's made a few lists over the past 5 years, including the Forbes list of "Best Cities for Young Professionals."

So far the cost of living in Cincinnati, when coupled with the quality of the arts, entertainment, and housing I've had, is rather baffling. Cinci has its problems, some small and some major, but I've yet to live anywhere that doesn't. I'm just glad to see it getting good press.

[dadof2divas]

I miss living in Cincinnati. It is home. We have lived from Phoenix to Raleigh and miss Cincy. Phoenix was nice and new but to BIG!!! Raleigh is nice but very different...Hard to adjust to about 50% of the people here, the south is still the south kind of ways! It is good to see Cincy start to get the recognition it needs to grow. There is alot to do there with having the river and sports teams however good and bad that they are, but this is a whole different story!

[satinbutterfly]

Cincy is a great place to live and I'm glad we're starting to get some recognition. I've lived here all my life, and while I certainly enjoy visiting other places, Cincy just feels like home.

[kjbrill]

The Cincy area has been home my entire life. I had the opportunity to visit about every US city of any size and several foreign countries during my working career. And some of my visits were weeks in length as we performed installations. Several of them had certain attractive aspects. But I was always ready to return HOME!

I never found anything enticing enough to make me want to live there. As my retired friends want to escape to Florida my reaction is TOO HOT, TOO BUGGY, TOO DRY! They fertilize what we strive to kill - crabgrass. Those who want to escape to Upper Michigan in the summer also have my same reaction - water too cold to swim in even in August!

What I have always found attractive about Cincinnati is the balance of the seasons. A true spring and a true fall in addition to winter and summer. You never have to wait too long for a change to occur. This very hot summer will soon be replaced by fall and this winter we may be cursing the snow same as the heat.

Spend enough time in any one place and you will discover it also has problems, some of which are not nice at all. We here in Cincinnati may argue and disagree on what is necessary for the city and the region. But many of us realize it is a great place to live.

Some just argue for what they profess as growth, as they see fit to define it. The only growth I am interested in is an enhanced life experience for ALL of the residents of the area, not just a select few. This may be a utopia not achievable but striving for it is what separates us from the inmates of our wonderful zoo.

[dadof2divas]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

The Cincy area has been home my entire life. I had the opportunity to visit about every US city of any size and several foreign countries during my working career. And some of my visits were weeks in length as we performed installations. Several of them had certain attractive aspects. But I was always ready to return HOME!

I never found anything enticing enough to make me want to live there. As my retired friends want to escape to Florida my reaction is TOO HOT, TOO BUGGY, TOO DRY! They fertilize what we strive to kill - crabgrass. Those who want to escape to Upper Michigan in the summer also have my same reaction - water too cold to swim in even in August!

What I have always found attractive about Cincinnati is the balance of the seasons. A true spring and a true fall in addition to winter and summer. You never have to wait too long for a change to occur. This very hot summer will soon be replaced by fall and this winter we may be cursing the snow same as the heat.

Spend enough time in any one place and you will discover it also has problems, some of which are not nice at all. We here in Cincinnati may argue and disagree on what is necessary for the city and the region. But many of us realize it is a great place to live.

Some just argue for what they profess as growth, as they see fit to define it. The only growth I am interested in is an enhanced life experience for ALL of the residents of the area, not just a select few. This may be a utopia not achievable but striving for it is what separates us from the inmates of our wonderful zoo.

Well said. And I was nieve in thinking that most cities have a ZOO! Well more then just the people that live in the city! Our closet zoo is about 2 hours away and it is the only zoo in the state! Go figure. But after living from the west coast to the east coast, I can say to that Cincy is where we will be calling home once again with GOD's permission. We really do miss the seasons as well as the people of the area.