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Those two cities are quite a ways from New Orleans. But I agree the business climate in the city is small. Still as far as uniqueness and leaving a positive lasting impression for the visitor New Orleans destroys Cincy.
Many of the flights connect to DFW and ATL. I flew to Jamaica and had to connect in MIA, that was 10 years ago but that's pretty sad that we didn't even have a direct flight to Jamaica.
Quote:
Originally Posted by goat314
America's old river brick cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh have a gang of potential, but the big thing they lack is a coherent cultural package. New Orleans is not just known for the historic French Quarter. It's known for Mardi Gras, Jazz, Creole culture, streetcars, Voodoo, Cajun culture, the "Bayou", so despite it struggling from a socioeconomic standpoint it has capitalized greatly from being a cultural mecca. The old river cities have similar, maybe even more rustic charm than New Orleans, but they haven't packaged their culture in a meaningful way. Personally, I think Pittsburgh is doing the best job establishing itself economically and is a little further ahead in the process. From a culture standpoint St. Louis may be the furthest ahead in exploiting cultural resources with things like the establishment of the National Blues Museum, revamping are biggest tourist trap in the Arch Grounds, the Ballpark Village project currently underway near Busch Stadium. Cincinnati still kind of draws a blank and I agree that I wouldn't know about Over the Rhine if I hadn't been on this forum and later visited the city.
All of these cities have great local cultures, but are at least a solid generation away from creating a solid national narrative that separated from rust belt river city.
There is NO Cajun culture anywhere in New Orleans MSA. Or bayou culture. That's all straddled along Hwy 90 around Lafayette, Houma, Morgan City, Breaux Bridge, New Iberia, etc. Pittsburgh is further ahead but don't count out New Orleans in that aspect. It's moving ahead at a steady, impressive pace.
Are you saying St. Louis beats out New Orleans with it's latest cultural investments or comparing STL to Pittsburgh and Cincy?
America's old river brick cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh have a gang of potential, but the big thing they lack is a coherent cultural package. New Orleans is not just known for the historic French Quarter. It's known for Mardi Gras, Jazz, Creole culture, streetcars, Voodoo, Cajun culture, the "Bayou", so despite it struggling from a socioeconomic standpoint it has capitalized greatly from being a cultural mecca. The old river cities have similar, maybe even more rustic charm than New Orleans, but they haven't packaged their culture in a meaningful way. Personally, I think Pittsburgh is doing the best job establishing itself economically and is a little further ahead in the process. From a culture standpoint St. Louis may be the furthest ahead in exploiting cultural resources with things like the establishment of the National Blues Museum, revamping are biggest tourist trap in the Arch Grounds, the Ballpark Village project currently underway near Busch Stadium. Cincinnati still kind of draws a blank and I agree that I wouldn't know about Over the Rhine if I hadn't been on this forum and later visited the city.
All of these cities have great local cultures, but are at least a solid generation away from creating a solid national narrative that separated from rust belt river city.
I think it's a great idea to group the river cities together in this discussion. I would add Memphis to the conversation. All have plenty of integrity, history, and character. I think of the five, Cincinnati has the most stable economy and Pittsburgh has the fastest growing economy. Current tourism leans toward Memphis, then St Louis, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. The reason I isolated Cincinnati and New Orleans, however, is beacuse those are the two cities that seem to retain their old-world charm and remain very provicial. Pittsburgh and St Louis are both trying SO HARD to be boom towns and I think they'll succeed in the coming years. Meanwhile, Cincinnati and New Orleans are comfortable with their historic sizes and want to maintain the status quo. Memephis is a bit of a wild card. They've been riding on the charm of the 1950s and 60s for a while and it's been working well for them, but lately it seems that they want to move into the 21st Century to compete with Nashville.
First off let me start by saying Ive spent time in both cities and they are both really great cities for different reasons. In fact, Ive had nothing but positive experiences in both (except for the one time at Mardi Gras where the dude puked on me). I have some ideas on both:
1) As to why they are not as internationally recognized, I think New Orleans is somewhat but Cincy not very much. My first thought is that Cincinnati has a virtually non-existant immigrant community. Granted, New Orleans doesnt have a very big one either. In 2012, Cincinnati gained under 2000 new immigrants. If you compare other metros around that size, Denver gained around 9000 and Orlando and Vegas around 8000. In fact, in Ohio, Columbus is by far the international immigrant magnet with Cleveland and Cincinnati far trailing. As to why that is, I dont know.
2) Cincinnati doesnt have a specific event that draws people all around like New Orleans does. Perhaps thats a marketing issue.
First off let me start by saying Ive spent time in both cities and they are both really great cities for different reasons. In fact, Ive had nothing but positive experiences in both (except for the one time at Mardi Gras where the dude puked on me). I have some ideas on both:
1) As to why they are not as internationally recognized, I think New Orleans is somewhat but Cincy not very much. My first thought is that Cincinnati has a virtually non-existant immigrant community. Granted, New Orleans doesnt have a very big one either. In 2012, Cincinnati gained under 2000 new immigrants. If you compare other metros around that size, Denver gained around 9000 and Orlando and Vegas around 8000. In fact, in Ohio, Columbus is by far the international immigrant magnet with Cleveland and Cincinnati far trailing. As to why that is, I dont know.
2) Cincinnati doesnt have a specific event that draws people all around like New Orleans does. Perhaps thats a marketing issue.
First Cincinnati has the second fastest growing immigrant population now beating Cleveland, its growing almost just as fast as Columbus in the metro area. Second Cincinnati did host the world choir games and is about to host the all star baseball game.
Before anyone from Cincy jumps all over my junk, here, let me explain....
I've been to New Orleans many times... No idea how many, but WELL over 15 times.
Why????????? Because there's ALWAYS a reason to go back. All it took was once, and I know I have to return a second time, and a third time, and so on...
Now... I've been to Cincinnati twice. Yes, only twice.
In MY opinion, I wasn't impressed and I was pretty bored. Maybe I need to explore it a lot more, HOWEVER that's the point. I didn't NEED to do that in NOLA. After my first visit to Cincy, I honestly didn't know why I'd ever return.
If not for family reasons, I probably would not have made it back for a second visit.
Maybe one day I'll check it out, but I'm in no rush what-so-ever... Just didn't have that appeal.
This is a very interesting point. The first few times I visited New Orleans and the first few times I visited Cincinnati were VERY different experiences. New Orleans whacks you over the head with "YOU ARE HERE" party atmosphere while Cincinnati unfolds it's old world charm slowly, but relentlessly. I was blown away by New Orleans on my first visit, but the city is very heavily focused on the French Quarter. Subsequent visits afforded the exploration of the Garden District, other neighborhoods along Magazine St, and Algiers. Still, the city feels very limited outside of that. Similarly, the IT neighborhood in Cincinnati is Over-the-Rhine but the real charm unfolds when you wander up to Mt Adams and Eden Park, or across the river to Mainstrasse or Mansion Hill. Sitting on top of Bellevue Hill, the view has a similar integrity as being on Mont Royal in Montreal. I visited dozens of times between 2006 and 2011 before moving here, and every time I visited I was drawn in by the culture and place. I can't say the same for New Orleans. When I go there, I know exactly what to expect. There is definitely a sexy allure to Cincinnati, but I can understand why the casual tourist wouldn't be hit over the head by it. It's been designed to unfold intimately.
First off let me start by saying Ive spent time in both cities and they are both really great cities for different reasons. In fact, Ive had nothing but positive experiences in both (except for the one time at Mardi Gras where the dude puked on me). I have some ideas on both:
1) As to why they are not as internationally recognized, I think New Orleans is somewhat but Cincy not very much. My first thought is that Cincinnati has a virtually non-existant immigrant community. Granted, New Orleans doesnt have a very big one either. In 2012, Cincinnati gained under 2000 new immigrants. If you compare other metros around that size, Denver gained around 9000 and Orlando and Vegas around 8000. In fact, in Ohio, Columbus is by far the international immigrant magnet with Cleveland and Cincinnati far trailing. As to why that is, I dont know.
2) Cincinnati doesnt have a specific event that draws people all around like New Orleans does. Perhaps thats a marketing issue.
Regarding point #1...I think it's a valid point if we were arguing why Cincinnati isn't stacking up next to places like Portland, Denver, or Charlotte in luring the "Creative class" or why it's not a global city like Seattle, Boston, or Houston. I completely understand why Cincinnati isn't any of those. It's been underperforming in those key categories for decades (I would argue that New Orleans is in the same boat) however in this thread I'm wondering why Cincinnati isn't regarded as a tourist destination the way New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah are. Cincinnati offers something completely different in its old world German-American heritage.
Regarding festivals. It's true that Cincinnati has nothing that comes close to the draw of Mardi Gras, but I honestly believe that Bockfest, Maifest, and Saengerfest are worthy of similar recognition. Maifest has been an institution since 1873 and Music Hall (literally a cathedral to choral music) is an iconic symbol of the significance of that tradition. Plus, Bockfest is every bit as irreverent as Mardi Gras.
Marketing is a HUGE key to this puzzle, but on that front I would ask again "why?" as Cincinnati is considered a branding mecca being home to P&G, Macy's, Kroger, and some of the largest graphic design companies in the world. I can't begin to understand why the city itself is so poorly marketed with SO MUCH marketing talent living in it. From a marketing standpoint, New Orleans has certainly been hitting it home consistantly for a long time and I would never dream of Cincinnati ever earning the same level of recognition as New Orleans, but this thread was inspired by a number of other threads listing cities to visit and Cincinnati isn't even on them...not even at the bottom. It's perplexing.
First Cincinnati has the second fastest growing immigrant population now beating Cleveland, its growing almost just as fast as Columbus in the metro area. Second Cincinnati did host the world choir games and is about to host the all star baseball game.
That trend could change now that Delta has pulled out of CVG. Being de-hubbed will have some impact on future growth.
I never thought of New Orleans being highly regarded globally. I mean do they even have a flight to Europe or any other international destination besides Canada or Mexico which just about any medium sized city has service to?
New Orleans is renowned for its music scene and cuisine.
New Orleans is renowned for its music scene and cuisine.
The word is "Globally" meaning appealing to a sizable draw from overseas visitors. Even Orlando and Las Vegas have direct international flights overseas. New Orleans has NONE.
The word is "Globally" meaning appealing to a sizable draw from overseas visitors. Even Orlando and Las Vegas have direct international flights overseas. New Orleans has NONE.
But still, there is a global draw to New Orleans, which is renowned around the world for the music and food. Sure it isn't a world-class city like Miami or Chicago, but it is a world-class vacation destination. People from overseas just take flights that have stops in other cities.
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