Disappointment - Cincinnati: is this really it? (Baltimore, Wilson: place to live, gangs)

[censusdata]

I think Cincinnati suffers in urban life greatly due to its conservatism. The city has GREAT Victorian architecture but is seems there are few people moving back into old areas and restoring them. Even other nearby cities like Louisville and Columbus have enough liberal types abandoning the suburbs to have good funky urban neighborhoods. Cincy's Vine Street corridor (through Carthage, Elmwood Place, St Bernard) is as nice as Louisville's Bardstown Road corridor, but in L'ville the same type of area is a thriving urban neighborhood with tons of shops and restaurants while Vine Street in Cincy is rotting into the ground.

Based on the people from Cincy I know it seems like few people there try to take back a neighborhood. A couple problems arise and they move out of Hamilton Co ASAP. Every American city has this problem, but it seems heightened in Cincy. It seems fear is a bigger motivator than hope when people decide where to live.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I have worked there. It is the Detroit of the east coast with a few tourist areas.

I thought New Jersey had the "Detroits" of the east coast?

[joyeaux]

Right on, censusdata!
You are so correct. Thank you for putting it out there.
But it changes nothing. Cincinnatians are Cincinnatians. They welcomed me & I loved their suburbs. Who woulda thought?
It is hard to turn urban blight around. So, though I was in OTR almost daily at the SFSJ Cathoilic Worker House, I had a choice of where to live. And at 35 yeats old, it wasn't OTR.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by joyeaux

Right on, censusdata!
You are so correct. Thank you for putting it out there.
But it changes nothing. Cincinnatians are Cincinnatians. They welcomed me & I loved their suburbs. Who woulda thought?
It's way hard to turn urban blight around. So, though I was in OTR almost daily at the SFSJ Cathoilic Worker House, I had a choice of where to live. And at 35 yeats old, it wasn't OTR.

Obviously you were not from Cincinnati. Please post some more insights as to how you reacted upon moving here. We need to hear from people who come to Cincinnati as to how they are received and to how they make decisions, where to live, stay or not, etc.

I would like a further explanation of Cincinnatians are Cincinnatians. In what vein do you mean that? Stupid, ignorant and stubborn? Give us some more insight on your opinion.

[neilworms2]

I used to travel about every year to Baltimore to visit friends in the area. The Inner Harbor btw, is fantastic - it blew me away after leaving Cincinnati to see an area that looked pretty close to Cincy look so vibrant. I would also argue that its ahead of Cincy in some ways, there is a best buy downtown and a whole foods not far away in little italy. Mass transit certainly helps too, and it being the northeast its well everywhere (though not at the near European levels you get between Philly and NYC). Also, there is a constant array of things to do, concerts great music venues and even a mall right on the harbor that still has a touch of local character (used to grab oysters and crabs with old bay and plenty of crab chips there ).

However, Baltimore is really gritty off the beaten path. They have an amazing food market in the midst of its grittiness that is pretty much a larger version of Findlay Market, called the Lexington Market, and while the market is fantastic, the extreme amount of poverty around it is not. Combine this with the fact that B'more is a major coastal port city that attracts extra drug crime and homelessness there are a ton of problems under the surface that are worse than what Cincinnati has. I've heard of a few other good hoods that are outside of the downtown area but it seems kind of like what Cincy is developing into, just with the core coming back way earlier - a core that is vibrant with scattered patches of good areas here and there. Though again Baltimore's crime issues make Cincy's look like a joke.

All and all I'd say Baltimore is a bit more developed than Cincy, but its not on the level of NYC or its close southern neighbor DC.

I'll give Baltimore props for one major thing, they at least have a decent house stabilization program for the vast neighborhoods of Italianates townhouses that are in horrible shape (something I saw while taking a train to NYC from there) - this is something Cincinnati could really learn from.

[EclecticEars]

Cincinnati is a disappointing city and region, which is why I gladly left for greener pastures. Having said that, I'd rank Baltimore down there with New Orleans, Detroit, and Brownsville, NYC among places I absolutely never want to live in.

[TomJones123]

Seems like downtown Baltimore is a great place to be.

Flash Mob Steals From Baltimore 7-Eleven; Beats Store Manager Who Tries To Stop Them « CBS Baltimore

[ram2]

Originally Posted by EclecticEars

Cincinnati is a disappointing city and region, which is why I gladly left for greener pastures. Having said that, I'd rank Baltimore down there with New Orleans, Detroit, and Brownsville, NYC among places I absolutely never want to live in.

What are the primary things you dislike about southwest Ohio?

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Seems like downtown Baltimore is a great place to be.

Flash Mob Steals From Baltimore 7-Eleven; Beats Store Manager Who Tries To Stop Them « CBS Baltimore

Does it make you feel better to keep bringing up negative aspects of other cities? I thought this thread was about Cincinnati ...

[TomJones123]

Yes, in fact it does, especially since the OP painted downtown Baltimore as the place to be.