Trip to Cincinnati Last Weekend (Pittsburgh, Middletown: live, restaurant, price)

[BrianTH]

My impression is that being rivertowns with a long history leads to some similarities, but there is more of the South in Cincinnati than there is in Pittsburgh.

As always, my general feeling is that Pittsburgh has a lot of cousins, but no real siblings.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I would think Pittsburgh would have the most in common with St. Louis.

I've never been to St. Louis, but statistically it's the most dangerous city in America.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Yes, Cincy is more conservative leaning than Pittsburgh. But there are areas of the city that also lean quite liberal especially around the colleges.

Klansmen can be found in many non conservative areas as well. For a while in the 1980's the head manure salesman aka Grand Lizard for the Klan lived in southern Connecticut in a blue collar, democrat controlled town.

A lot of the housing stock in both cities is similar. Granted Pittsburgh has row houses which is typical of older east coast cities but a lot of the older single family homes look like carbon copies of the neighborhoods in some areas of Cincinnati like Covington and Newport, KY among others.

Just topographically it's a lot the same, too. If you don't know the neighborhoods like the back of your hand, you could mistake them from a photograph.

[gameguy56]

This view from google street view looks like something right out of Pittsburgh.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I've never been to St. Louis, but statistically it's the most dangerous city in America.

I've lived in MO for several years now and while I am in the KC area I have become acquainted with St. Louis and its people over the years since the company I work for is HQ'd in St. Louis.

The cities have very little in common other than St. Louis does seem to be a Midwestern city that wants to be East Coast. KC is the opposite in that the SW influences are strong here and impact the culture. The St. Louis area is extremely politically liberal while the Pittsburgh area leans more to moderate with some liberal areas within the city. Clearly suburban areas and especially counties that are adjacent to Allegheny are comprised mostly of Republican voters.

I've also noted the people in Pittsburgh are more friendly and helpful than St. Louis. I am acquainted with a woman from Altoona that moved to St. Louis a few years back after meeting a guy from there while in PA. She broke up with the guy shortly after moving there and she said the next three years were like living in hell. She had NOTHING good to say about the people. Essentially she felt they were psychopathic, very shallow, pretentious and stuck up. And the backstabbing that went on in the work place there put anything she ever experienced in PA to shame. And a bully mentality also exists. If you don't conform to the local culture they try to bully you into behaving like they do. This is the exact opposite kind of behavior that you find in western PA.

[Johnny C]

I was just in St. Louis for a conference and I hated it. It was nothing like Pittsburgh - we struggled to even find a bar near downtown that was open during the week. The locals, including the cab drivers, said the only nightlife is in the suburbs. The whole city seemed like it was asleep to me.

Obviously not a scientific observation, but an observation nonetheless.

[robrobrob]

My sister lives in Cincy. Here is my take on it. P & G is huge. Pittsburgh doesn't have anything to compare to it. Mason, a new suburb of Cincy is huge as well and it has every imaginable shop. Cranberry doesn't compare it. Hyde Park is basically a mix of Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. It may be a little bigger because there is a high end country club there. Indian Hill is there most expensive burb. Sewickley Heights is close but Indian Hill has its own school district so it is a little different. Our downtown is much more impressive. I think our economy is in better shape.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Coincidentally I was at Target today stocking up on some groceries and had a brief conversation with a cashier who had moved here recently from Baltimore. She said the people up here were much more pleasant, and I wholeheartedly concurred. I've spent a considerable length of time in and around Baltimore, and I suppose I just don't see the resemblance. I'm not saying you're "off" or anything, but my eye is just a bit untrained perhaps?

I would think Pittsburgh would have the most in common with St. Louis.

I actually like "the Lou", but it doesn't really remind me of Pittsburgh. St. Louis is a bit strange in that the built environment is very dense for a Midwestern city. It physically resembles cities in the east as opposed to what you typically find in the Midwest.
I remember Andy Van Slyke's wife trashing Pittsburgh, because she considered it to be so different and inferior to St. Louis.

Brian has it right. Pittsburgh has no true twin. It physically resembles Cincy, but it's "blue collar tough guy" self image is more akin to Cleveland and Baltimore. Cincy was never a big center of heavy industry the way the other three were, which may be why the blue collar union mentality never took root there. Heavy industry in SW Ohio tended to be in Dayton, and Middletown. Cincy was built on trade, so it's no coincidence that P&G, and Kroger are the two titans of the Cincy business world.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

As always, my general feeling is that Pittsburgh has a lot of cousins, but no real siblings.

This is largely true with most cities. The only group of urban siblings in America are the Great Lakes cities.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

This is largely true with most cities. The only group of urban siblings in America are the Great Lakes cities.

I'd disagree a bit. I think NYC and Philly, for example, are siblings (not twins, but siblings). The Texas cities are siblings in my view. Portland and Seattle. And so on.