Why are St. Louis and Pittsbursgha slightly more well known than Cincinnati (America, largest)
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Well to me the reason why St. Louis and Pittsburgh are more well known than Cincinnati is because St. Louis and Pittsburgh were larger and more important cities after 1860 while Cincinnati just quietly fell off the American Radar and it's still true to this day (which is a shame).
St. Louis was a top 10 city for 110 years (1850-1960) and it had a lot a political power (stole the olympics from Chicago ), wealth and was the country's second largest producer of textiles and largest producers of beer and shoes.
Pittsburgh became larger than Cincinnati, and was also the country's largest producer of steel.
And it also doesn't help Cincinnati being so close to other larger cities(Cleveland, Louisville, Indianapolis, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago). In modern times St. Louis and Pittsburgh have marketed and branded themselves better than Cincinnati has (sometimes in a negative light *STL*). To me Cincinnati became the New Orleans of the north, while it's neighbors became larger and more important it just stood on the sidelines as a spectator, but that doesn't mean Cincinnati is any less a kick ass city than St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
I think people have hit on some of the main things:
Cincy doesn't seem to have as much of an identity. For people who are not very familiar with Ohio, Cincinatti's identity blends in with Columbus and Cleveland. Its sports teams have not had a lot of recent success and it doesn't have an iconic symbol or product.
Pittsburg is a former steel town that has reinvented itself. And people hear the name all the time because of the success of the Steelers in recent years.
St. Louis is the Gateway to the West and has an iconic symbol in the Arch. Plus the city is known for beer.
So for a lot of people nationwide, nothing about Cincinatti stands out and it thus kind of gets forgotten at times.
Pittsburgh and Saint Louis Both have an excellent reputation for sports. The same way many universities are better known for their football programs than their academics.
Both Pittsburgh and Saint Louis were gateway to the frontier cities back in the day. Cinci was a stopping point
Pittsburgh and Saint Louis Both have an excellent reputation for sports. The same way many universities are better known for their football programs than their academics.
Both Pittsburgh and Saint Louis were gateway to the frontier cities back in the day. Cinci was a stopping point
Also, don't forget that Cincinnati doesn't have any NBA or NHL team ( it did have the NBA back in the Oscar Roberston '60s), and thus is "out" of the sports pages for part of the sports calendar...
To some degree, Milwaukee is also "forgotten" at times....
Milwaukee is unheard of in the northeast. I honest couldnt point what part of Wisconsin its in. Cincinatti is less heard of because of what was earlier mentioned. St. Louis has a national landmark in the Arch, Pittburgh has Steelers and Penguins, Cincinnati has the Reds (Good but not iconic), Bengals (if Ochocinco never came...who would know) and what landmark is on par with the Gateway Arch?
Skyline Chili
Red Hots sausages
Fountain Square
The infamous Who concert (with 11 dead)
Former Mayor Jerry Springer
Procter & Gamble (Ivorydale)
The Roebling Bridge
Ok, I guess none of the above equals the Arch or Steel-town.
I find a lot of similarities between Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, but agree that Cincinnati is "slightly" less well-known, but its also slightly smaller than the other two. It's a cool city with lots of beautiful, historic buildings and nice hills.
To folks in their 40s and 50s, this show helped raise Cincinnati's profile:
Cincinnati's metro is growing while Pittsburgh's continues to shrink. And if you all are using sports to judge cities' merits ... wow. But if sports are what floats your boat, Cincinnati has won a World Series more recently than Pittsburgh and has the same number of World Series championships as St. Louis in the last 21 years; Cincinnati has participated in the Final Four more recently than Pittsburgh or St. Louis; Cincinnati has participated in a Sugar Bowl and an Orange Bowl in the last three years while Pittsburgh has not come close and St. Louis never has; Cincinnati is home to a Big East university while St. Louis is not; Cincinnati is home to perennial Sweet 16 participant Xavier University (Elite Eight 2004 and 2008, Sweet 16 2009 and 2010), while St. Louis has no schools that even make the NCAA tournament; Cincinnati has a tennis Masters Series tournament (won by Roger Federer in 2010) while Pittsburgh and St. Louis do not; Cincinnati is getting a NASCAR Sprint Cup race this summer while Pittsburgh and St. Louis have nothing.
Yea, sports is an awesome way to judge a city.
It was Winston Churchill who called Cincinnati "America's most beautiful inland city" and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who gushed over Cincinnati, calling it the "Queen of the West."
not saying this is a bad thing about Cincinnati, but there is less of a national identity associated with cincy while most people have preconceived notions about pittsburgh and st louis even if they haven't been there. cincy blends in a little more.
honestly though i don't think cincinnati is exactly obscure. you'd have to be pretty uneducated to be American an not know about cincinnati... or at least know it exists and is located in ohio. abroad i don't know much about the reputation of all three cities.
Roebling was a Pittsburgher. He also designed the Brooklyn Bridge.
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), wealth and was the country's second largest producer of textiles and largest producers of beer and shoes.
He also designed the Brooklyn Bridge.
