Progressive Culture in Cincinnati? Cincinnati v. Portland? (Dayton, Findlay: apartments, condos)

[jmecklenborg]

Well Tom Jones silenced the critics with his facts.

Meanwhile, it must be noted that Roxanne Qualls has gotten the most or second-most votes in every council election since about 1988. That's a strong signal that there is and has been a very large progressive voting bloc in Cincinnati for decades. Her constituency of course ignored entirely by the media, and Qualls herself is looked upon with deep suspicion by talk radio, TV, and The Enquirer.

It's worth repeating: the most popular city councilman of the past 20 years is more or less ignored by the local media, whereas eccentrics like Chris Smitherman are given endless airtime, despite his having been voted off council several years ago and he got back on this last time by the slimmest of margins.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Louisville is in no way bigger than Cincinnati.

Louisville – Before and After Merger

(2000 Census, US Census Bureau)
Before After
Area (sq. miles) Before: 60 After: 386
Population Before: 256,231 After: 693,784


So, to be fair, Hamilton County is more populous than Louisville, since it ate the county.


Hamilton County = 802,374


It has already been mentioned that the Cincinnati Metro is way larger than Louisville. Which is the only comparison to really make considering that Louisville has consolidated city/county governments, and the Cincinnati area is a vast stretch of contiguous cities, towns, villages, townships, etc.


Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 2,149,819 Rank 27


Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 1,310,641 Rank 42


Source:


Provo in the fastest-growing metro in population rankings - The Business Journals

No one ever said Louisville is bigger than Cincy. I still stand by my statement: Cincy is not a big city compared to Louisville. They are roughly in the same tier of cities. I quoted those same population stats you did. Cincy is clearly bigger; it is just not THAT much bigger. My opinion (and many publications share it) is that Louisville is the most bohemian city in the Ohio Valley. And by the way, Jefferson County, KY has 750k people now. Cincy has bled so much population that the core cities are very similar in size; Cincy has substantially more (and larger) suburbs.

Now, back to the original question. Portland knocks the socks off Cincy in every single regard and is the same size in metro area. I would choose Portland without question given those as a choice. Cincy is a great town though, I just do not like how its walkable areas are so spread out and often times only a couple blocks of walkability, then a sketchy area, then some nice homes, etc. Cincy has a long way to go to reach its grandeur of 80-100 years ago, but it is a great town. I would choose to live in Cincy again over my current sunbelt location in FL.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

Well Tom Jones silenced the critics with his facts.

Meanwhile, it must be noted that Roxanne Qualls has gotten the most or second-most votes in every council election since about 1988. That's a strong signal that there is and has been a very large progressive voting bloc in Cincinnati for decades. Her constituency of course ignored entirely by the media, and Qualls herself is looked upon with deep suspicion by talk radio, TV, and The Enquirer.

It's worth repeating: the most popular city councilman of the past 20 years is more or less ignored by the local media, whereas eccentrics like Chris Smitherman are given endless airtime, despite his having been voted off council several years ago and he got back on this last time by the slimmest of margins.

I like Cincy; just not compared to Portland. When Cincinnati gets serious about rail transit, more locals believe in downtown, there are more transplants, and a higher density of walkable areas, then I think it can reach Portland's level. The urban architecture in Cincinnati is among my favorite in the US for mid sized cities. It just needs to fil in more; but hey, at least it isn't Cleveland, where even the METRO area of Cleveland is losing population and there are whole streets of empty urban storefronts.

[motorman]

^^ What you've essentially done, "Mr. Moderator Man," in your numerous Louisville diversions, is transform this thread into an ill-timed Cincinnati-Louisville pissing contest--rather than astutely address the PNW couple's concerns as they contemplate their move to the Queen City. () The fact that you so misrepresent both cities is sad. As I suggested earlier, you really need to jump over to the "City-vs-City" forum to strut your stuff. ()

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

Well Tom Jones silenced the critics with his facts.

Meanwhile, it must be noted that Roxanne Qualls has gotten the most or second-most votes in every council election since about 1988. That's a strong signal that there is and has been a very large progressive voting bloc in Cincinnati for decades. Her constituency of course ignored entirely by the media, and Qualls herself is looked upon with deep suspicion by talk radio, TV, and The Enquirer.

It's worth repeating: the most popular city councilman of the past 20 years is more or less ignored by the local media, whereas eccentrics like Chris Smitherman are given endless airtime, despite his having been voted off council several years ago and he got back on this last time by the slimmest of margins.

If this is true, it also speaks volumes about the prevailing mindset in Cincinnati. And not in a positive way vis-a-vis the OP. That said, I'd like to see Qualls elected the next mayor, and suspect she would be without much trouble.

[Dayton Sux]

heh...politics.

Louisville= represented by John Yarmuth (D) (Jewish, liberal, former publisher of Louisvilles indpendent weekly..the Louisville version of Citybeat)

Cincinnati= represented by Steve Chabot (R) (Catholic, conservative, one of the House managers of the Clinton impeachement)

...nuff said.

If this is true, it also speaks volumes about the prevailing mindset in Cincinnati.

The media is pretty conservative there, so I'm told. Actually the Cincy paper was popular here in Dayton since the local righties didn't want to read the Dayton Daily News since it wasn't slanting the news & op-ed stuff to the right, the way the Enquirer supposedly does.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

...Meanwhile, it must be noted that Roxanne Qualls has gotten the most or second-most votes in every council election since about 1988. That's a strong signal that there is and has been a very large progressive voting bloc in Cincinnati for decades. Her constituency of course ignored entirely by the media, and Qualls herself is looked upon with deep suspicion by talk radio, TV, and The Enquirer.

It's worth repeating: the most popular city councilman of the past 20 years is more or less ignored by the local media, whereas eccentrics like Chris Smitherman are given endless airtime, despite his having been voted off council several years ago and he got back on this last time by the slimmest of margins.

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

If this is true, it also speaks volumes about the prevailing mindset in Cincinnati. And not in a positive way vis-a-vis the OP. That said, I'd like to see Qualls elected the next mayor, and suspect she would be without much trouble.

Not so sure jmecklenborg's observations don't describe what really is within the city--i.e., something positive. Talk show, TV, and The Enquirer pander their trash to the majority who will listen--which, in this case, means Cincinnati's outer suburbs, who generally delight in outlandish and unfounded criticism of the urban core. As jmecklenborg's already noted--Qualls was once one of Cincinnati's most intelligent and progressive mayors, and it's really good news to hear of her return. Meanwhile, Smitherman... What can be said of this politician that hasn't already been said? Even a number of his black constituents have abandoned him because they've come to realize just how treacherous and destructive he really is. Maybe Cincinnati's outer periphery is still enamored and entertained by this empty-headed showboat, but the city is not.

[Dayton Sux]

Talk show, TV, and The Enquirer pander their trash to the majority who will listen--which, in this case, means Cincinnati's outer suburbs, who generally delight in outlandish and unfounded criticism of the urban core

Tom Jones and I had a brief exchange a while back as to which metro area had the worse city-suburb animosity, Cincinnati or Dayton. I used to think it was really bad here in Dayton..the 'city-hate/avoidance'...compared to Cincy, where I detected much more civic pride and support for what goes on in the city.

[progmac]

Originally Posted by Dayton Sux

Tom Jones and I had a brief exchange a while back as to which metro area had the worse city-suburb animosity, Cincinnati or Dayton. I used to think it was really bad here in Dayton..the 'city-hate/avoidance'...compared to Cincy, where I detected much more civic pride and support for what goes on in the city.

I think the whole suburb v city thing in Cincy is perpetuated by a few loud but thin-skinned urbanites who secretly want a massive gentrification of the entire urbanized area so as to be ultimately vindicated for their years spent living in somewhat run-down areas. Of course the few suburban ninnies that are scared of their own shadow don't help matters.

But MOST people in the suburbs LIKE the City and want it to succeed.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by rhizohm

Will we fit in in Cincinnati?

So can a progressive/green, early 30s, semi-polyamorous, Buddhist/Daoist couple not planning to have children really find community in Cincinnati?

Since so many of you only read the title of the thread w/o having the attention span to actually get to the crux of the matter to help the OP, I will quote for you what the issue at hand is. It's not a choice between Portland and Cincinnati, it's a couple moving to Cincinnati who want reassurance that their lifestyle will be accepted in Cincinnati. To the which I, and others, have replied with a resounding yes. I even mentioned several neighborhoods (when combined represent a large swath of Cincinnati) where they should consider moving to avoid the notoriously conservative portions in the Cincinnati metro.

How this has turned into what this thread has become is beyond me. "Oh, move to this city instead." "Oh, this city is way more of this than that." "Oh don't move to Cincinnati, move to Timbuktu." "etc."