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I definitely feel like the Cincinnati area is more conservative, specifically its suburbs, which are still some of the strongest Republican counties in the state outside of the northern Miami Valley. However, Cincinnati itself seems to be turning more Democratic and liberal based on recent elections. I've also heard that Cincinnati is more provincial, but I have no idea if that is true or not. I've not spent enough time there to really get a feel for that one way or another. I also think Cincinnati has a much less diverse population than Cleveland. Cincinnati's economy is better.
I feel like Yes Cincinnati has been rapidly growing in the liberal and democratic community (alot of transfers from California) but i feel like cincinnati has a much more liberal feel to it then i seen about 3 or 4 years ago. Even the suburbs are tuning democratic. i also feel like their is a difference between democrats and liberals, i however feel like cleveland is more towards the democratic side but cincinnati has the edge to the liberal side. In other words cleveland is more socially conservative while cincy is ore socially liberal. But the opposite in politics.
The Cleveland area seems to be more progressive on LGBT issues, in that the area (both city and certain suburbs) have..historically...leading in things like DP registries, gay rights laws, etc.
I think there may be an impression that the place is more socially conservative due to the Catholic population, the blue collar hertiage, and the concentration of folks with eastern/southern European ancestry, but on certain issues this demographic is actually somewhat more liberal vis a vis other blocs or demographic categories.
The Cleveland area seems to be more progressive on LGBT issues, in that the area (both city and certain suburbs) have..historically...leading in things like DP registries, gay rights laws, etc.
I think there may be an impression that the place is more socially conservative due to the Catholic population, the blue collar hertiage, and the concentration of folks with eastern/southern European ancestry, but on certain issues this demographic is actually somewhat more liberal vis a vis other blocs or demographic categories.
The Human Rights Campaign ranked all cities recently on a myriad of topics concerning gay friendliness, and Cincinnati and Cleveland both scored well... and exactly the same score of 77 (out of top score of 100). All of Ohio's 3-Cs scored well and some of the highest outside of the coasts.
The Human Rights Campaign ranked all cities recently on a myriad of topics concerning gay friendliness, and Cincinnati and Cleveland both scored well... and exactly the same score of 77 (out of top score of 100). All of Ohio's 3-Cs scored well and some of the highest outside of the coasts.
Thanks, jbcmh81, for this comparison between the 3-Cs; although each city's progressing in its own unique evolution of gay friendliness, together these major Ohio cities are not all that far apart. As you've already mentioned, all three have scored well, with Columbus leading the pack. (Not bad!)
City Population (roughly) Metro # of LGBT bars
Columbus 800k 2.1 mil 21
Dayton 150k 900k 8
Cincinnati 300k 3 mil 12
Cleveland 430k 3.2 mil 15
Toledo 290k 650k 4
Akron 220k 430k 4
Springfield 70k 140k 2
Lima 80k 200k 4
Hamilton 60k 90k 1
Athens 45k 60k 2
Sandusky 35k 40k 1
An old thread but I thought it’d be interesting to compare and contrast these two, as well.
Cincinnati’s peak was in the decades before the Civil War, it’s probably the most historic major city in the Midwest. There’s a lot of brick architecture and a slight industrial vibe, but it’s also not too “Rust Belt.” Culturally, it’s Midwestern with a hint of Appalachia, and it’s very German akin to most of southern Ohio. For much of its history, it was quite conservative, politically. Today, it has a fairly healthy economy, not booming but not dying. Finally, it’s on the Ohio River, right across from Kentucky.
Cleveland’s peak was during the Gilded Age. Originally, it was smaller than Cincinnati, but it grew into a larger city in the decades after the Civil War. To this day, Cleveland has the biggest vibe out of Ohio’s cities. Culturally, it’s Midwestern or “Great Lakes” (Lake Erie) with a hint of New England. It has ethnic neighborhoods (Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Russians, etc.) which you don’t really see in Cincinnati. Rockefeller was from Cleveland, and some of that “old money” is noticeable if one visits the art museum or a few buildings downtown, etc. Politically, it’s a Democratic stronghold. Finally, Cleveland is far more “Rust Belt” and industrial, although it isn’t as gritty as it used to be.
An old thread but I thought it’d be interesting to compare and contrast these two, as well.
Cincinnati’s peak was in the decades before the Civil War, it’s probably the most historic major city in the Midwest. There’s a lot of brick architecture and a slight industrial vibe, but it’s also not too “Rust Belt.” Culturally, it’s Midwestern with a hint of Appalachia, and it’s very German akin to most of southern Ohio. For much of its history, it was quite conservative, politically. Today, it has a fairly healthy economy, not booming but not dying. Finally, it’s on the Ohio River, right across from Kentucky.
Cleveland’s peak was during the Gilded Age. Originally, it was smaller than Cincinnati, but it grew into a larger city in the decades after the Civil War. To this day, Cleveland has the biggest vibe out of Ohio’s cities. Culturally, it’s Midwestern or “Great Lakes” (Lake Erie) with a hint of New England. It has ethnic neighborhoods (Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Russians, etc.) which you don’t really see in Cincinnati. Rockefeller was from Cleveland, and some of that “old money” is noticeable if one visits the art museum or a few buildings downtown, etc. Politically, it’s a Democratic stronghold. Finally, Cleveland is far more “Rust Belt” and industrial, although it isn’t as gritty as it used to be.
Cleveland's peak was NOT in the Gilded Age, unless perhaps measured by per capita MEAN average wealth relative to the rest of the U.S. and world before John D. Rockefeller relocated to New York City in 1884. As for population and industrial might (including Fortune 500 corporations), the peak was in the 1950s. Cleveland then had some of the nation's most prominent law firms, banks and even one of the Big 8 accounting firms headquartered there (Ernst & Ernst). See post 9 in this thread.
Also, I know that Cincinnati's peak, except perhaps in population rank among American cities, wasn't before the Civil War, but I'll let someone else discuss that issue.
As discussed in post 12, Cleveland's nationally great cultural institutions reached a new level of excellence in the second decade of the 21st century, pre-COVID. They then far surpassed what existed in 1950, or even in 2000. Cleveland's downtown today far surpasses any prior period in its history, with the exception of retail presence, which likely peaked in 1960 before the spread of freeways and malls.
Cleveland's renown prominence as a global medical center also still is in its ascendancy, as measured by the continued expansion of the mammoth main campus of the Cleveland Clinic, which today dwarfs the 1980 campus.
Cleveland's higher education institutions -- Case Western Univ., Cleveland State Univ. and the main campus of Cuyahoga Community College -- today are far superior to what existed in the 1950s or at any point in the 20th century. Case Western, at 42, is the highest ranked national university in Ohio by U.S. News & World Report.
In 2022, I wonder about the ethnicity examples cited in this post. I know for a fact it's very hard in Columbus to find much of the German culture that once permeated that city. There certainly are vestiges of that culture, such as Schiller Park and Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village, but fluent German speakers and an active German culture are greatly diminished compared to even just several decades ago. Yes, like Cincinnati (Newport) and Columbus, there are Hofbrauhaus America restaurants and annual Oktoberfest celebrations, but the German culture has been very Americanized. The Columbus Maennerchor is a shadow of its former prominence in Columbus culture.
What ethnic neighborhoods exist in Cleveland today? Little Italy isn't very Italian, compared to as late as in the 1970s when it was unofficially controlled and supervised by the Cleveland Mafia, now largely if not completely extinct. Yes it still has an Italian vibe with several very good Italian restaurants, but I doubt if many of the owners live in Little Italy (I could be wrong).
There are no Hungarian neighborhoods in Cleveland, as the second and third generations have largely dispersed and become very Americanized. Cleveland's Balaton restaurant, Ohio's great Hungarian restaurant, recently closed (hopefully temporarily as it seeks to relocate).
What ethnic neighborhoods exist today in Cleveland? Puerto Rican on the near west side, and perhaps Asiatown to some degree. Honestly, this is a great topic for the Cleveland forum.
Perhaps due to Cleveland's Cultural Gardens, Clevelanders do seek to celebrate their widely diverse ethnic heritage, and Cleveland has a wide array of ethnic festivals, some very unique, such as the recently celebrated Kurentovanje, a Slovenian winter festival. There is a great effort among many nationalities to celebrate their immigrant cultures, but it becomes more difficult with each generation. E.g., Fairport Harbor in Cleveland once had a thriving Finnish culture, complete with bakeries and a large Finnish library, and also a significant Hungarian immigrant community. Decades ago, I remember tens of thousands of Finnish-language books being donated by the Fairport Harbor Library to Finland. What are known as kolache cookies in most of Greater Cleveland, are still called balish cookies in the Fairport/Painesville area (e.g., Model Bakery in Painesville).
Many long established Cleveland ethnic celebrations, such as St. Patrick's Day with an excellent parade, and Little Italy's Feast of the Assumption, were greatly impacted by the COVID epidemic and it remains to be seen if they'll recover with their former vigor.
But I don't know where you would go to find something like I remember experiencing at the now long-gone (although its sign still exists), Kiefer's Tavern on Detroit Ave. on Cleveland's near west side.
Also, anybody can use the advanced search function to find the many threads discussing the significant New England influence on northeast Ohio, dating from its founding as the Western Reserve. E.g., older northeast Ohio cities, including Cleveland, feature significant public squares.
An old thread but I thought it’d be interesting to compare and contrast these two, as well.
Cincinnati’s peak was in the decades before the Civil War, it’s probably the most historic major city in the Midwest. There’s a lot of brick architecture and a slight industrial vibe, but it’s also not too “Rust Belt.” Culturally, it’s Midwestern with a hint of Appalachia, and it’s very German akin to most of southern Ohio. For much of its history, it was quite conservative, politically. Today, it has a fairly healthy economy, not booming but not dying. Finally, it’s on the Ohio River, right across from Kentucky.
Cleveland’s peak was during the Gilded Age. Originally, it was smaller than Cincinnati, but it grew into a larger city in the decades after the Civil War. To this day, Cleveland has the biggest vibe out of Ohio’s cities. Culturally, it’s Midwestern or “Great Lakes” (Lake Erie) with a hint of New England. It has ethnic neighborhoods (Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Russians, etc.) which you don’t really see in Cincinnati. Rockefeller was from Cleveland, and some of that “old money” is noticeable if one visits the art museum or a few buildings downtown, etc. Politically, it’s a Democratic stronghold. Finally, Cleveland is far more “Rust Belt” and industrial, although it isn’t as gritty as it used to be.
Actually, while Cleveland began flourishing during the Gilded Age, its "peak" was in 1950 (census) when it reached its greatest population officially recorded: 914,000+. An argument can be made that it also peaked in the 1910s and 20s when so many physical and cultural buildings and institutions were formed: Terminal Tower, Playhouse Square, the completion of Daniel Burnham's Group Plan (the Mall), University Circle (Art Museum, Severance Hall, Natural History Museum and others joined Western Reserve and Case Institute), Cleveland Clinic was founded, the Shaker Rapid and Shaker Heights and Shaker Square came into being, etc., etc. ... also, Cleveland won its first championship in any major professional sport when the 1920 Indians won their first World Series.
Yes, like Cincinnati (Newport) and Columbus, there are Hofbrauhaus America restaurants and annual Oktoberfest celebrations, but the German culture has been very Americanized. The Columbus Maennerchor is a shadow of its former prominence in Columbus culture.
s/b Cleveland; there are Hofbrauhaus America locations in all of Ohio's 3C's, perhaps representing the extensive German heritage of all three cities, but in Cleveland, several other significant European heritages that share a love of beer, similar cuisine, and polka.
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