My visit this past week

[buckeyenative01]

I don't quite know how to quantify this further, but "Schottlekotte" is one of those names that just screams "Cincinnati." My mother's maiden name is Schlake. Yup, we're of German descent (great grandmother came over on the boat in 1928).

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

.. My parents used to reference we were descended from Low Dutch, compared to High Dutch. I never got a satisfactory explanation of the difference, because frankly I do not think they knew.

When I try to look up Low Dutch, I get references to Flemish people. Who are Flemish?, never heard of Flemland. Then I read further and it tells me they were the Dutch speaking portion of Belgium. Now when you compare Belgium and try to break it down, area wise, it is like dissecting Greater Cincinnati...

As far as I know, most German-speaking immigrants who arrived in the large 1830-1850 wave came from the region now known as Bavaria. That use of the word "Dutch" had nothing to do with Holland and everything to do with the word Deutsch, which is the German-language adjective for German. I suppose the word Low probably equates to South, and High to North.

My husband tells me that when he spent a few years living in northern Germany in the late 1960s, people there looked down on people from Bavaria with much the same attitude that New Yorkers might have toward Alabamians.

[kjbrill]

Once again we have managed to hijack a post with a tangent subject. Sorry Tex?Il?, we do appreciate your positive comments on visits to Cincinnati and hope you come back often.

[Matthew Hall]

Comparing cincy to boston is going to far. The best and most relavent comparisons are clearly Pittsburgh, St. louis and maybe baltimore. Cincinnati felt like Paris after three years in Omaha and like vienna with its high culture after some extended visits to Atlanta and Austin. Everything is relative. Boston, for better and for worse, is much more an exception to american society than boston is. That is one of the secrets of boston's great and sustained economic success.

[neilworms2]

Boston isn't too bad a comparison. Like Boston Cincinnati is an older city in its region that once had more clout than it currently does, beautiful architecture, strong cultural institutions and a rich history.

Not only that but like Boston, its heavily catholic, and there is a tradition (though due to large number of institutions of higher education this eroded in Boston) of conservatism. Look up banned in Boston to see what I mean.

The reason why Cincinnati can't be compared to Boston is that Boston after declining in the early 20th century got its act together circa the 1970s and has been doing well since then. I feel Cincy could learn a lot from them in terms of urban planning (espicially issues related to preservation) and branding of the city for tourists. Most tourists don't even know what Cincy has to offer and this is wrong. Boston on the other hand brings to mind an old world city with beautiful architecture and strong cultural institutions.

Oh and Pittsburgh has way more in common with St. Louis as its an old river city that embraced the industrial age of the late 19th century with strong ties to the great lakes economies along with the issues of the Rust Belt at the level that the great lakes cities (even parts of Chicago) and St Louis both have.