Cincinnati, Louisville, or Lexington?

[aquila]

Cincy-Rise, you get such a rise out of Cincinnati. LOL!

How's it going today, guy?

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by aquila

Cincy-Rise, you get such a rise out of Cincinnati. LOL!

How's it going today, guy?

Oh yes. I like L'ville a lot too though ... and when someone love's L'ville and disses Cincy that's when I start getting confused? Is it big brother to the north mentality or what? If you like one, you should like the other.

On an unrelated note since it's been discussed before ... I think L'ville has more midwestern traits than southern ones.

It's going good, how about you?

[aquila]

I'm in a particularly twisted mood, thank you for asking.

I really need to get to Louisville more. Can you believe this.....and don't gasp too hard.....I've only been there twice in my life! And that was as I was passing through. So I really can't talk about it much. But it seemed really nice on the east side where I was, and I've heard great things about the city.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

... I know! lol

By the comment, I think it's obvious the poster has never stepped foot in the city. By the way ... you can have the horse farms.

Umm, I have been to Cincy lots of times. I think it's obvious you don't know anything. I'll gladly keep the horse farms. Much nicer to look at, that's for sure.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

What a completely ignorant statement. Wow.

Cincinnati has a lot of uniqueness to it.

My "statement" is ignorant? You really need to look in the mirror buddy.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

What a completely ignorant statement. Wow.

Cincinnati has a lot of uniqueness to it.

Cincinnati does have some uniqueness. It is one of the few cities with large collections of Italianate architecture. Combine that with a hilly terrain and Cincinnati could resemble some European cities in some ways.

[restorationconsultant]

I approach this somewhat differently than most. Born in Indianapolis, Ive lived in several states and cities, San Franciso,New Orleans, Boston.

I actually lived in Louisvile for 3 years and I loved my large brick townhouse on 4th near Hill. I do a lot of historic restoration consulting in all 3 cities and they all have good points. In terms of architecture Cincinnati wins hand down, don't get me wrong I love Old Louisville, but nowhere in the midwest can you find the bargain that you do in Cincinnati. property taxes are very reasonable and we decided on Cincinnati because we think it has the best potential.

I have been through the downtown revival in Indianapolis which in the early 90's was "naptown" not a person in site. Today they are still building, and selling, 1/2 million to 2 million dollar condos downtown.The once "run down" neighborhood near downtown are turned around. The city really has become a 'place' to visit attracting major conventions and such. It is becoming a destination for small corporations. I see Cincinnati on the same tract and in 10 years people will look back at the "good old days" when you could buy a house cheaply downtown or in Faimount, Price Hill or Clifton. I certainly see the opportunity for myself being involved in historic restoration consulting.

Cincinnati has a bright future and coming from a city that just experienced what is about to happen to Cincinnati, its nice to have a clue about what will happen next. The only drawback is that most locals put their own city down and dont reallize how good they have it.

[hillside]

Originally Posted by restorationconsultant

The only drawback is that most locals put their own city down and dont reallize how good they have it.

most locals are financially strapped, possibly unemployed and frustrated with the city of cincinnati and hamilton county, the bengals, the reds, the transportation, the traffic, the potholes, the panhandling, the crime, the stagnation, the precipitous decline...cincinnati doesn't deserve any credit for having thousands of blighted architectural gems and a bombed-out city core that need to be cleaned up.

[EclecticEars]

I had the pleasure of driving around Cincinnati all day yesterday and visiting some neighborhoods. I got the highlights of Clifton, Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout, Mt. Adams, E. Walnut Hills, and the City of Norwood. All are unique neighborhoods that appear to be bustling, clean and safe (with exceptions of portions of Clifton.) The old working-class homes of Clifton and Norwood, the hillside, densely-packed homes of Mt. Adams (possibly the most "homely" looking urban neighborhoods I've ever seen), and the well-kept, nationally historic homes of Mt. Lookout all give Cincinnati a wealth of diversity when it comes to architecture. In fact, I dare call it a playground for one who really likes that sort of stuff.

In areas like Clifton and the gentrifying parts of Over-the-Rhine, among others, Cincinnati has many areas with old, industrial grit, and yet the crime rate in the city isn't any higher than the old Midwestern industrial urban cores of Indianapolis and Louisville. (I know west Over-the-Rhine still has some drug and social issues that result in a fairly high murder rate, but I can't say that I feel any more unsafe there than western or parts of east-central Louisville.)

I would actually like to take a couple of days this spring, park the car, walk the Cincy neighborhoods, eat at the local delis or coffeehouses, and talk to the locals. Mt. Adams was my personal favorite; with all the bars, restaurants, old churches/monastery, types of house architecture, and vista overlooks in that one neighborhood alone, one could spend an entire day or two just reveling in that part of town.

I've lived in metro Cincy before (Highland Heights, KY, actually), and had the chance to take in some museums and the Cincinnati Opera, but not many of the other gems the city had to offer. I missed it, came back, and fell in love with the city again.

What do I like about Cincy?

• The anchors of the park system: Krohn Conservatory, Eden Park, and and Ault Park. No telling how many millions of dollars have gone in to building, maintaining, and keeping a diverse array of ferns, shrubs, and other plants from six continents in the observatory. And the bluff views from Eden and Ault are beautiful. No wonderful Winston Churchill called Cincinnati the most beautiful American inland city.
• Downtown Cincinnati, minus the vagrants, has not just the sports and the river. It has old Victorian-era and German-derived architecture. It has the CAC, Taft, Aronoff, Music Hall (actually in OTR), Fountain Square, and lovely Carew Tower.
• The local chili. Okay, I'm much more a fan of Texas-style chili, but the three-way, as well as the cinnamon-style flavoring commonplace in Cincinnati-style chili, is something that is hard pressed to be found elsewhere. But it's still good. And that leads me to my next point...
• The local culture is one that, even with the downputting of the city by many of its locals (here on C-D, anyway,) there still seems to be a lot of pride in. Folks here understand how well endowed they are in terms of arts, culture, and parks. There's always the debate of Skyline v. Gold Star (Which chili is better?) Even with the down times of the "Bungals" and Reds, the town literally shuts down when the games are playing.
• Cincinnati Observatory. If you haven't visited there, you've missed out on a true gem in Cincinnati and astronomical history.

As I was back in Cincinnati, for the second time this year, and re-exploring the city, I drove back out to Highland Heights and NKU, where I lived for a summer program. I saw all the development that was occurring on that campus and remembered the great times I had.

Additionally, I became rather disenfranchised with Louisville as a student at UofL; in fact, I now dread the thought of even returning to Louisville for anything. The people weren't very friendly (sometimes even outright rude) in Louisville, the only real cool parts of town are downtown, Old Louisville, the Highlands, and the area immediately around UofL is rapidly becoming a high-crime area (even Old Louisville). I think I would've done better at NKU.

And Lexington? I don't really like it, either, but it's like a farm town compared to Cincinnati or even Louisville. If you like the Atlanta developer's philosophy on historic architecture ("tear the da*n thing down,") or want to live in a city with horrible traffic for its size b/c of a grossly inadequate freeway system, then Lexington's your town. (That would why Lexington's drivers are so dag-blame rude.) Oh, and where Cincy just shuts down for its sports games, Lexington WORSHIPS everything UK, and it becomes old quickly unless you're a die-hard UK fan. But at least the beautiful horse farms lie just outside it!

(And sorry about all of my deleted messages, lol. I didn't realize that every time I went back in just to edit, it would post a new post.)