Cincinnati needs some originality. (Columbus, Cleveland: apartments, houses, living in)

[unusualfire]

Forgot duplicating what Portland is doing. Forget what Joe is doing up the street. Make your own unique things. Get rid of the bland Cincinnati sign on the convention center. Do something no one else is doing. The bridge with retail and apartments across the Ohio river would be unique. Focus on stuff like that. And that skyloop proposal.

[neilworms2]

I'm going to counter this, Cincinnati has originality in spades, everything from most coffee houses selling beer to their beloved chili. I think Cincy needs a shot of cosmopolitanism (borrowing good frameworks from other places) and it would be over the top good.

OTR for instance is totally a Cincinnati thing as is 3CDC the people restoring it. The whole East Side / West Side thing, the whole crud slides down the hill, the beautiful old victorians, the obsession with flying pigs, the list goes on and on.

Taking a few good ideas from Portland, Chicago etc isn't going to kill what makes Cincy unique, if anything it will enhance and enrich it making it more visible and less shameful to its people and others in this country.

[bjimmy24]

Hmm... kinda disagree. I have always seen Cincinnati as a unique place. Say whatever you want about Cincinnati, good or bad, but you can't deny, in my opinion, that it is one of a kind.

[unusualfire]

There was something the past couple of days about 130k toilets from Portland that the city may try here. Come on. Be original.

[abr7rmj]

This is absurd. I could spend the next two weeks listing Cincinnati's original quirks, traits and characteristics. Frankly, outside of San Francisco and possibly Boulder, Cincy is the most unique city (in the U.S.) I've ever been in.

Want bland? Look at Columbus.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by unusualfire

Forgot duplicating what Portland is doing. Forget what Joe is doing up the street. Make your own unique things. Get rid of the bland Cincinnati sign on the convention center. Do something no one else is doing. The bridge with retail and apartments across the Ohio river would be unique. Focus on stuff like that. And that skyloop proposal.

Hi unusualfire--

Amen to this. Some of the posters here can't go a single day without endlessly singing the praises and virtues of somebody else. In fact, I'd say some people couldn't go fifteen minutes without using the word "Portland".

So I'll go a different route and point to a true model of economic development - "Houston".

Oh, wait - extolling the economic development in Houston to today's "new urbanists" is like bring six pounds of lambshanks to a vegetarian convention.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by neilworms2

I'm going to counter this, Cincinnati has originality in spades, everything from most coffee houses selling beer to their beloved chili. I think Cincy needs a shot of cosmopolitanism (borrowing good frameworks from other places) and it would be over the top good.

OTR for instance is totally a Cincinnati thing as is 3CDC the people restoring it. The whole East Side / West Side thing, the whole crud slides down the hill, the beautiful old victorians, the obsession with flying pigs, the list goes on and on.

Taking a few good ideas from Portland, Chicago etc isn't going to kill what makes Cincy unique, if anything it will enhance and enrich it making it more visible and less shameful to its people and others in this country.

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Hmm... kinda disagree. I have always seen Cincinnati as a unique place. Say whatever you want about Cincinnati, good or bad, but you can't deny, in my opinion, that it is one of a kind.

Originally Posted by abr7rmj

This is absurd. I could spend the next two weeks listing Cincinnati's original quirks, traits and characteristics. Frankly, outside of San Francisco and possibly Boulder, Cincy is the most unique city (in the U.S.) I've ever been in.

Want bland? Look at Columbus.

These guys covered anything I would have to say in their posts.

I've never been to Portland, but know a little about it. My brother in-law lives there and visited Cincinnati a few months ago and was blown away at what was here, and what has been happening here. I think Portland has done a lot of things right, therefore it's not a bad thing to see what has worked for them and perhaps adapt it here if it fits.

We are hardly living in Portland's shadow though.

[Serpens]

Originally Posted by neilworms2

I'm going to counter this, Cincinnati has originality in spades, everything from most coffee houses selling beer to their beloved chili. I think Cincy needs a shot of cosmopolitanism (borrowing good frameworks from other places) and it would be over the top good.

OTR for instance is totally a Cincinnati thing as is 3CDC the people restoring it. The whole East Side / West Side thing, the whole crud slides down the hill, the beautiful old victorians, the obsession with flying pigs, the list goes on and on.

Taking a few good ideas from Portland, Chicago etc isn't going to kill what makes Cincy unique, if anything it will enhance and enrich it making it more visible and less shameful to its people and others in this country.

You ended this thread on the first reply. I completely agree.

[flashes1]

I would like to see something created that could in one glance says "Cincinnati is f'ing cool." I'd be a rich man if I knew what it was......but we need a trademarked symbol that can be marketed to the rest of the country. St. Louis has The Arch, Pittsburgh has The Point, NYC has the Statue of Liberty, Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, LA has Hollywood, etc.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by flashes1

I would like to see something created that could in one glance says "Cincinnati is f'ing cool." I'd be a rich man if I knew what it was......but we need a trademarked symbol that can be marketed to the rest of the country. St. Louis has The Arch, Pittsburgh has The Point, NYC has the Statue of Liberty, Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, LA has Hollywood, etc.

Are you forgetting Cincinnati has the Freedom Center stated to be our national drawing card.