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I am an aspiring elementary schoolteacher. I just started my bachelors in Early Childhood Ed and Language Arts (double minor). I thought I was 100 percent certain Indianapolis was where my family would end up, but my husband convinced me to also consider Cincinnati. The Reds are his second favorite team (behind the Detroit Tigers; we currently reside in Michigan) so that takes care of a reason why he wouldn't mind the area. How is Cincy compared to Indy as far as: Schools( I have a 5 year old that will be 8 when we relocate), houses, crime, things to do, etc? Thank you for taking the time to read this post .
By the time you actually get your teaching certificates a lot of things can change. Indy is a fine town, I have no major fault with it. But I feel you should consider the momentum which Cincinnati is building. This is building to a crescendo not to be underestimated. Cincinnati is becoming a place to be and you should consider it.
Note... While the downtown is enjoying a great resurgence, we also have some of the most fabulous suburbs in the country, which is where I happen to live. Definitely consider Cincinnati as your potential home.
By the time you actually get your teaching certificates a lot of things can change. Indy is a fine town, I have no major fault with it. But I feel you should consider the momentum which Cincinnati is building. This is building to a crescendo not to be underestimated. Cincinnati is becoming a place to be and you should consider it.
Note... While the downtown is enjoying a great resurgence, we also have some of the most fabulous suburbs in the country, which is where I happen to live. Definitely consider Cincinnati as your potential home.
Thanks very much. After that "just right" praise of Cincy I will definitely consider it. I ordered a free guide from the tourism site to flip through, and 2 spring breaks from now hubby and I are gonna spend two days and nights in each city to get an in person feel of it. I have to say, though, looking at downtown Cincinnati while going over the bridge day or night is one of my favorite sights of all time. My name may even change to CincyBound if I like the area enough!
Nothing against Indianapolis - it's a neat city. But Cincinnati is dripping with character that many cities can only dream of. There was a reason that Winston Churchill called Cincinnati "America's most beautiful inland city." There's so much to do you'll go an entire summer without ever doing the same thing twice. Visit during the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament - it's one of the nine most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world and second in the country only to the U.S. Open in New York.
Though, no matter when you come I'm sure you'll find enough to do: Reds, Bengals, Div. 1 college football and basketball, symphony, Kings Island, water parks (indoor and outdoor), zoo, aquarium, opera, ballet, art museums galore, museum of natural history, children's museum, American Sign Museum, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, riverboat rides, casinos, Mount Adams, ride the ducks, visit the home of a president, Krohn Conservatory, NASCAR races, major horse racing, Kentucky just across the river, rolling hills, concerts at Riverbend, OTR, elite world-class parks system, music festivals, Skyline Chili, Graeters, Montgomery Inn, Covington's MainStrasse, Hofbrauhaus (one of only a handful in the U.S.), Oktoberfest (the world's second-largest) and dozens of other festivals in America's best festival city.
To the OP. I'm originally from the Hartford area of Connecticut and presently live in the Kansas City area. I am looking at the Pittsburgh area, Minnesota, Indy and Cincy for relocation purposes. I have lived in Indy for a while though that was almost 20 years ago. I've visited Cincy on numerous occasions over the last 25 years and I can offer some reasons why you should consider the area.
First, I've noted that people are more friendly there than in many areas of the country. Here in KC people are usually hostile or if they are friendly they usually are after something. I have not seen that kind of behavior in Cincy. I can recall checking into motels in the area and complete strangers would strike up a conversation and they were not after anything other than trying to be sociable. Do that in the KC area and women think you are hitting on them or worse. And same goes for most of the men. Paranoid and delusional behavior. Never saw that in Cincy.
Second, the economy is on the upswing. The job market is not nearly as weak as it was a few years ago. While the metro area is only mid size market, it is fairly cosmopolitan for its size and the people seem to be accepting of newcomers. Quite a contrast to the unwelcoming, back water attitude I've found in the KC region. So, while some people claim the Cincy area is not open to outsiders, my experiences there have been the opposite. In fact, in the past I had to decline a couple of job offers there due to problems on my end, not with the people in Cincy or the region itself.
Third, the area has a lot more first rate cultural and entertainment facilities than most metro markets of around 2 million people. It also has a reputation for some fine dining in addition to local favorites such as Cincy chili.
Fourth, the housing market while busy right now, is still affordable. You can get a lot of house for your money right now but you'll have to act fast since entry level homes seem to move at lightning speed in the area. That trend is also starting to happen in Indy too.
Fifth, the area has a fairly mild climate. If you don't like extremes then it should be a fairly comfortable area to live. Winters are definitely short lived and usually pretty mild at least when compared to New England standards and don't have much snow. Summers while hot and humid are not as bad as you'll find in the KC region where it is actually unbearable to live during many weeks in the summer months.
Regardless of which place you decide to choose, you are looking at decent areas to settle down and create a new life. I will recommend both places based upon my past and even recent experiences in both areas. Not perfect mind you, but definitely much better than where I currently live.
To the OP. I'm originally from the Hartford area of Connecticut and presently live in the Kansas City area. I am looking at the Pittsburgh area, Minnesota, Indy and Cincy for relocation purposes. I have lived in Indy for a while though that was almost 20 years ago. I've visited Cincy on numerous occasions over the last 25 years and I can offer some reasons why you should consider the area.
First, I've noted that people are more friendly there than in many areas of the country. Here in KC people are usually hostile or if they are friendly they usually are after something. I have not seen that kind of behavior in Cincy. I can recall checking into motels in the area and complete strangers would strike up a conversation and they were not after anything other than trying to be sociable. Do that in the KC area and women think you are hitting on them or worse. And same goes for most of the men. Paranoid and delusional behavior. Never saw that in Cincy.
Second, the economy is on the upswing. The job market is not nearly as weak as it was a few years ago. While the metro area is only mid size market, it is fairly cosmopolitan for its size and the people seem to be accepting of newcomers. Quite a contrast to the unwelcoming, back water attitude I've found in the KC region. So, while some people claim the Cincy area is not open to outsiders, my experiences there have been the opposite. In fact, in the past I had to decline a couple of job offers there due to problems on my end, not with the people in Cincy or the region itself.
Third, the area has a lot more first rate cultural and entertainment facilities than most metro markets of around 2 million people. It also has a reputation for some fine dining in addition to local favorites such as Cincy chili.
Fourth, the housing market while busy right now, is still affordable. You can get a lot of house for your money right now but you'll have to act fast since entry level homes seem to move at lightning speed in the area. That trend is also starting to happen in Indy too.
Fifth, the area has a fairly mild climate. If you don't like extremes then it should be a fairly comfortable area to live. Winters are definitely short lived and usually pretty mild at least when compared to New England standards and don't have much snow. Summers while hot and humid are not as bad as you'll find in the KC region where it is actually unbearable to live during many weeks in the summer months.
Regardless of which place you decide to choose, you are looking at decent areas to settle down and create a new life. I will recommend both places based upon my past and even recent experiences in both areas. Not perfect mind you, but definitely much better than where I currently live.
Thanks very much for that input. I would love to be in an area where I can be surrounded by genuinely friendly people. I have heard this about Indianapolis as well. The area I am in have friendly people for the most part, but it feels forced to me. I understand the economy is down everywhere but some states are starting to see some improvement. How are the school systems? I know that IPS is rumored to be one of the worst in the nation. The school system as a whole is broken and needs to be fixed. I couldn't find much on CPS, but I will keep looking. It would not take much as far as food and entertainment for my family to be happy. My husband would be perfectly content in a low key bar. I tend to eat out at the popular chains because that is all that's here, but I am game to something local. It will be a while before we go house hunting. Our intentions are to move into an apartment for a couple of years to A) look at all the different neighborhoods and B) to save up even more money for a down payment. That may pose a problem as far as our son if the school he attends depends on the part of the city we stay in. I did not want him changing schools too much. We are located at the top of Michigan, right at the lake, so winters can get extreme (although this past winter we only had a foot of snow once), and summers are beautiful but very humid as of late. That doesn't bother me as much as the tourists and people who have summer homes here. They drive as if they got their license out of a cereal box. I will not miss that.
I have heard from more than one person about KC and the personalities there. The city itself is a little too sprawled out for my taste (from what I saw in the official tour guide), and being around hostile people or people that only acknowledge others who are not outsiders is a major dealbreaker for me believe it or not. Back to Cincy. My main concern about it is how easily will I be able to navigate around there? Indy looks pretty simple, for a city. Cincy looks much bigger, and I don't want to be the rookie who has people blowing their horn at me because I have no clue where I'm going lol. I guess I can get a GPS to resolve that problem. Either way it looks like I have a hard decision to make, especially if I get job offers from both Indy and Cincy when the time comes.
Last edited by IndyBound75; 07-15-2012 at 02:13 PM..
You have plenty of time to decide. When the time gets closer plan to spent some time in both cities to determine what you like/dislike about them. If you give Cincy a fair chance it will come out the winner. Why?- simple -versatility. It is not a ho-hum type of place. If you cannot find something in Cincy which interests you, you must be dead.
I am admittedly an old man who does not go into the City often. But I am very appreciative of the fact that downtown Cincinnati is experiencing one of the greatest renaissances in the country. Whern the time comes, come to Cincy and you will agree.
Just remember that if you want to teach in Ohio, there are more sections to the Praxis test than there are in some other states. Make sure that you take the right Praxis test, or you'll only be able to teach for one year without retaking it. I've seen a bunch of teachers get fired because they didn't realize that they needed the extra certification.
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