Cincinnati weather and more.... (Cleveland, Dayton: fit in, violent crime, homes)

[Tom Lennox 70]

I'm currently applying to pharmacy school and University of Cincinnati is one of my choices. I'm just trying to get a feel for the area.

Most of the schools I'm applying to are in Maryland and in the South or Midwest. I actually have very few concerns about Cincinnati....seems like your middle of the road, ordinary all-American city. But how is the weather there? Are the winters very bad like in Cleveland or Chicago? Is is a LOT worse than in Maryland and Virginia? Like specific temperatures would be helpful, but also not just specific temperatures but how cold it feels? Is there a ridiculous amount of snow and ice or are there still a lot of sunny days like in Maryland? (though to be honest I think Baltimore and DC winters are very bad).

I've heard widely contracdictory things about the area. I've heard Cincinnati described both as a "dreary" "Rust Belt" city and as a very booming metropolitan area with a lot of population growth and suburban sprawl and a very healthy economy. Which do ya'll think is closer to the truth? Is the "dreary" thing more because of the weather than the city physically or are some folks just confusing Cincinnati with Cleveland? How close is the city to the Lake Erie shoreline and are there any good lake beaches in Ohio? How do lake beaches in the Great Lakes compare with the ocean?

Is Cincinnati a very friendly, laid-back city like I would expect from the Midwest? Is there a problem with crime, drugs, or illegal immigration? Not that I'm scared cause DC/Baltimore unfortunately wrote the book on urban decay and gang warfare but just want to want to know what to expect if I end up in Cincinnati.

I'm 22 years old, male, Asian American though pretty assimilated (my iPod is 80% country including every song from Ohio's Rascal Flatts my favorite band ). I'm not very religious but I'm a conservative Republican, the kind who boycotted the Dixie Chicks and supported Bush during most of his first term but then changed my mind. Would someone like me fit in in the Cincinnati area?

[Pathwalker]

Boy, those are a bunch of loaded questions.

Interesting that people would think of Cincinnati as "dreary". I have a cousin who was trying to get me to move to Florida, because she thought Cincinnati was "dreary". I personally find Florida to be more dreary, and certainly uglier. It's all flat, boring, unkempt - humid, overhyped and the only thing it has going for it are the beaches. For being the "Sunshine" state, it sure rained a lot in the times I was down there. Anyway, this isn't about Florida. It's about Cincinnati, so........

First, the weather. That is something that actually varies. In the Summer, it can be hot and humid on some days, and mild and dry on others. Some days it rains or storms....primarily in the evening or overnight periods. Other times it goes for days and days with bright sun and no rain at all. Temps can range from the high 70s, to mid 90s. It all depends on the weather front affecting us at any given time. Most of the time, it is in the middle to upper 80s, with moderate humidity that makes it feel warmer.

In the Winter, Cincinnati predominantly has cold rain. Ice storms do happen sometimes, and it does snow. But unless it is the RARE snowfall of 15"-18" (which only happens maybe once or twice during a 10-year period), the majority of snowfalls range in the 3-6" range. Heavier snows fall to the north, northwest and northeast of the city. It really doesn't snow all that often. Maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks. The rest of the time it is usually flurries or cold rain. With a few exceptions in the past few years, the temps have generally been exceptionally mild for us.....anywhere from the low 40s to low 60s. It's very rare that it gets below 25 degrees around here, and when it does, it generally only lasts for a few days. Cleveland is much colder and definitely MUCH snowier than Cincinnati in the Winter.

Spring tends to come early, and hovers in the mid 60s to low 70s until about late May, when it will shoot up into the low 80s. Then it moderates a bit back down into the 70s and eventually gets into the 80's by the first of June. Early Spring is usually the wettest time, with the most storms and rain.

Autumn arrives late - usually mid-to-late October. My birthday is in October, and more often than not in recent years, it has been in the 80s on my birthday. The leaves start changing around the first week of October, and don't hit their peak until the about the last 10 days of the month. By the end of October, it's generally in the low 70s - perhaps upper 60s. It can be rainy off and on through the season.

Movin' on.....

Getting back to the "dreary, rust belt" thing. The city of Cincinnati itself is not booming. It is growing a little bit, but not as much as the suburbs. The city only has about 332,000 people. Metro Cincinnati is what is booming. The metro area has about 2,100,000 people. If you factor in Dayton, you're up to about 3,100,000 people. Butler County, Warren County and Boone County (in Kentucky) are taking in the most growth. Yes, there is suburban sprawl all over the area - particularly to the north. The economy of the region as a whole is decently strong. It's pretty diversified so it tends to weather the extremes better than other areas. The rustbelt image isn't really accurate.

As for how close Cincinnati is to Lake Erie - it's not. Cincinnati is along the Ohio River in the southwest part of the state. Depending on what part of Lake Erie you want to get to, Cincinnati is anywhere from 180 (Sandusky) to 280 miles (northeast section of state) from the shore. Beaches along the Great Lakes are obviously not going to compare to ocean beaches. Some of them are okay....but nothing spectacular. Headlands Beach, northeast of Cleveland, is the one that stands out in my mind the most. The shore of the Great Lakes is mostly just like what you would find along the Ohio River....except that the body of water is much wider. There are also some rocky areas.

Yes, Cincinnati is a friendly city. Laid back? Ehhh, sorta. It's a mix, honestly. You're going to have some areas that are more laid back than others. Most people in Cincinnati tend to hold strong opinions about things, but it's primarily a conservative area overall. People in the region generally don't embrace change easily, and they don't want things built in their backyards. They don't like new taxes, and prefer that things blend in with what already exists as opposed to standing out and making a new statement to the world. The city itself is more liberal than the rest of the surrounding area. Yes, there is a problem with crime in some areas.....mostly Over-The-Rhine, Avondale, Walnut Hills and some other areas. Yes, there are drug problems, but it's not all over. The farther away from the downtown area you go, the less violent crime you'll find. But even in the hippest of neighborhoods, you can find banks getting robbed or people's homes being burglarized. That's not meant to give the impression that the entire city is overrun with crime. I'm just stating it happens everywhere. There have even been bank robberies where I live in West Chester - a newer, booming suburb north of the city. There are some illegal immigrants, but not like you'd see in the southwest U.S.

As a young, conservative Asian American, you will fit in just fine around the Cincinnati area.

If you have any additional questions, or if you need clarification on anything I've said, feel free to ask.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Thanks a lot! Cincinnati sounds like a very appealing place just like I expected it would be
Glad that its rare that the temperature rarely dips below 25 degrees. I was in Cleveland once on a plane spot tranferring from Las Vegas to Baltimore, it was 8 degrees and a snowstorm and they de-iced by plane twice before we took off. I'm not big fan of cold weather!

[jcsoruen]

Climate comes from within. It comes from relationships and from what you do, rather than the temperatures. When it cold, you wear heavier clothing. When its hot, you try not to moan about it. By now you have probably decided whether Cincinnati is on your first choice for pharmacy school. Make your decisions on the bigger issues.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Jcsoureuen....you sound philosophical but as for relationships and stuff....the Midwest would be a lot better. But temperature do matter, I mean who doesn't prefer warmer sunnier weather over snow? In Maryland the weather gets to me sometimes in the winter when its just so miserably cold and depressing, and people's moods change with the weather.

[zorst]

Originally Posted by Terrapin2212

... In Maryland the weather gets to me sometimes in the winter when its just so miserably cold and depressing, and people's moods change with the weather.

I understand what you are sayiing about the weather. It will be overcast in Cincinnati in the winter sometimes for a week or two. Usually around Christmas. I've found looking at internet cameras of beaches helps my attitude.

[Sunnydee]

I got my undergrad and graduate degree at UC and was very pleased with the education I got there. It has served me well in my career. UC has spent millions of dollars making the campus and housing better and it is really nice. The pharmacy school at UC is well known for its excellence.

The weather in Cincinnati is very nice in the spring, summer, and fall. The winter is cold and gray, but we don't get much snow. Our winters are much better than those in Chicago, but not as nice as the Carolinas. If you look at the stats for Cincinnati on this forum you will see exact temperatures, etc.

Downtown Cincinnati has typical big city problems, so most people don't go down there late at night. The campus of UC is well-policed and I never felt scared walking around campus by myself. I think you'd like UC and the people you'd meet here. We are typical Midwestern people - conservative, friendly, hardworking and polite.