Finally..im in cincinnati with bad experience :( (Dayton: apartments, leasing)

[praewa]

Hi..Im brand new in Cincinnati,,only a week..downtown Cincinnati is SCARY..i been there one time..one man came to talk me but i didnt understand his English..<Im Asian> then i walk away but he follow me and i ran to YMCA building..scared me,,god..i never go to downtown ever again..I live in springdale area..close to Tri county mall,,nice area but my apartment is suck..i have a problem with furnace room..its loud at night..I and my husband made a mistake to sign a lease for 10 months..now we looking for next area to move..I think we ll move to Oakley..now im scared to walk on the side of the street..some area to avoid?? high in crime etc,

Thank you everyone

[restorationconsultant]

Urban America is different. Not all people are 'scary". Anyone coming from another contry ( I assume) may have a hard time transitioning. Do a google search for people in Cincinnati from where you are from. I think you will find a few. If not I would contact the local Universities Asian studies or international department for contacts.

It will get better, just be somewhat patient.

[Ohioan58]

Cincinnati is a rough town where a lot of locals have a bullying way of treating others to get what they want.

I get shouted down here by sycophants for saying this but Cinci, especially the core in town area, is sort of a mean place.

[wolden]

Originally Posted by praewa

..I think we ll move to Oakley..now im scared to walk on the side of the street..some area to avoid?? high in crime etc,

Thank you everyone

How much can you afford per month? Why not move to Hyde Park, if you are going to move to Oakley. Both are ok but Hyde Park is marginally safer. It will let you rest your nerves for a while.

[kjbrill]

Where is the employment located? Will help in making suggestions without a long commute.

[kjbrill]

praewa... Be sure you are not over reacting to your encounters. People of Asian ancestery are still enough of a minority in the Cincinnati area to prompt stares. Just because people are curious does not mean they intend you any harm. You did not comment about your prior location, whether born in this country or an immigrant or from where. So we are guessing in this regard.

Having made many trips to Japan, I recognized the opposite. Japan is a very homogeneous society, with hundreds maybe thousands of years of little outside influence. People basically look, behave and act alike. As one of Northern European, large frame appearance, I stood out like a sore thumb. I would get stares everywhere I went. If I walked down a sidewalk little kids would tug on their mother's skirts and I could tell exclaim look at the giant.

I expect most of the Asian continent, China through the rest, share many of these same characteristics.

Depending on my prior post of where is your employment, I would not be too quick to select Oakley as your ideal place to live next. Oakley has rejuvenated somewhat in recent years. But the fact is its origins were as a blue collar area with nice homes housing people who worked in the nearby factories which are now all gone. As the factories disappeared it fell into some decline. As with many other neighborhoods it is reinventing itself.

Another poster gave some very sound advice. Take whatever means are available to identify areas where a larger concentration of people with the same ethnic and socio-economic background as yours will present opportunities for cultural, social, etc. encounters with people you can directly relate to. The US, and particularly Cincinnati, prides ourselves on a family values living environment. But because we are a big hodgepodge mix of nationalities, you need to identify your best starting point.

[praewa]

Thank you everyone..I will go to talk to leasing office today about the problem i have in this apartment..I really want to move out and get in new are..but before they said if i and my husband move out..we have to pay for 3 months..it cost $2400..of course we hv no money to pay for that..but let see if everything is well today..I will look to the next area..if no choice..we have to stay here for 10 months..

our budget per month is about $800..i have to condition 1.allowed large dog, 2.close to bus line..most of apartments in Hyde Park r allowed small dog only 20-25lbs..and they are pricey

[Ohioan58]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

People of Asian ancestery are still enough of a minority in the Cincinnati area to prompt stares. Just because people are curious does not mean they intend you any harm.

Two things:

"Staring" at a stranger by the social code of many low class locals and especially Appalachians is a precursor to a fight. Likewise you do not lock stares with a local because they may take it as provoking a fight or an argument. I grew up in Dayton, I know this for a fact. Stares from strangers can often be interpreted as threatening because it may be a form of deliberate intimidation.

Secondly, staring at an Asian seems incomprehensibly redneck and ignorant to me, anyway.

The OP's instincts seem to have kicked in, and they appear valid.

Advice: try to find a neighborhood with fewer briars.

(Briars, the "anti Welcome Wagon" of Southwest Ohio. )

[progmac]

Originally Posted by praewa

Hi..Im brand new in Cincinnati,,only a week..downtown Cincinnati is SCARY..i been there one time..one man came to talk me but i didnt understand his English..<Im Asian> then i walk away but he follow me and i ran to YMCA building..scared me,,god..i never go to downtown ever again..I live in springdale area..close to Tri county mall,,nice area but my apartment is suck..i have a problem with furnace room..its loud at night..I and my husband made a mistake to sign a lease for 10 months..now we looking for next area to move..I think we ll move to Oakley..now im scared to walk on the side of the street..some area to avoid?? high in crime etc,

Thank you everyone

Was the guy who came to talk to you a pan-handler? If someone talks to me downtown (unless I know them), it is either because they want money or because they want money. Sometimes it is because they want money. But every once in a while, they want money.

If you don't understand them, just say "no, sorry." Because I guarantee they are only asking for money, though perhaps not directly.
No need to tell them you don't understand them. Honestly I don't even understand the homeless sometimes. Some of the old Listerine drunks can barely speak.

What is unusual to me is that the person followed you. This is not typical and it is not acceptable. I'm sorry you had this experience.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by progmac

Was the guy who came to talk to you a pan-handler? If someone talks to me downtown (unless I know them), it is either because they want money or because they want money. Sometimes it is because they want money. But every once in a while, they want money.

If you don't understand them, just say "no, sorry." Because I guarantee they are only asking for money, though perhaps not directly.
No need to tell them you don't understand them. Honestly I don't even understand the homeless sometimes. Some of the old Listerine drunks can barely speak.

What is unusual to me is that the person followed you. This is not typical and it is not acceptable. I'm sorry you had this experience.

I'm sorry, too. I must, say, though, that I personally can't go downtown without being panhandled, and that it upsets me a lot. Sorry for again saying the apparently unacceptable, but there is no guarantee that panhandlers are harmless. Tell it to the woman with the permanent ugly scars on her face from the knife attack about a year ago. Yeah, I know. It doesn't count, because it wasn't downtown.

That the person followed the OP does not seem unusual to me at all. They follow and harrass anyone whose age, physical size or gender suggest they may be a fruitful target. Or even people who aren't. I've posted before about the time my husband had to actually turn threatening toward one, who'd followed and harrassed us for a couple of blocks.

I'm not attacking you, Progmac, but I get really tired of the perpetual postings from MEN on this board just basically blowing off panhandling as a problem.