Cincinnati vs New Orleans Why is New Orleans highly regarded globally and Cincinnati barely on people's radars? (Atlanta, market)

[TAM88]

It's somewhat simple; New Orleans is a unique city that offers a good amount to visitors. Cincinnati is not. Not to be harsh, but why would someone from say Minneapolis, or Denver, have a reason to visit Cincinnati?

It also helps that New Orleans has a warmer climate, hosts a lot more larger and well known events (Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, the Final Four for example), has a well known food scene, a well known music scene and is a party town.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by TAM88

It's somewhat simple; New Orleans is a unique city that offers a good amount to visitors. Cincinnati is not. Not to be harsh, but why would someone from say Minneapolis, or Denver, have a reason to visit Cincinnati?

It also helps that New Orleans has a warmer climate, hosts a lot more larger and well known events (Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl, the Final Four for example), has a well known food scene, a well known music scene and is a party town.

I'm from this nation's 4th largest city and would love to visit Cincinnati again. I love visiting American cities of all sizes.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by masonbauknight

New Orleans: one of the prettiest and most historic cities in N. America, with perhaps the best food in the country (not just fancy restaurants where you pay $250 + wine and tip, but can shop in real food shops, bakeries, cafes, and get a nice po-boy on almost every block.

Cincinnati: a bland Middle American city on the border of the Middle West and South, with Midwestern charm and Southern social progress. You come to Cincinnati if you want to work for P&G and to contemplate the city's "enormous potential" over a plate of sausages or a tub of hot wings.

I'll always remember Cincinnati as the city where the arts venue that exhibited the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit was prosecuted for obscenity.

I think that socially-conservative mindset might hold a clue as to why Cincinnati is not considered to be on par with New Orleans.

[the Instigator]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

I'm from this nation's 4th largest city and would love to visit Cincinnati again. I love visiting American cities of all sizes.

Correction 5th largest, and if we go by CSA you live in the 9th largest city

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by andrew61

I'll always remember Cincinnati as the city where the arts venue that exhibited the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit was prosecuted for obscenity.

I think that socially-conservative mindset might hold a clue as to why Cincinnati is not considered to be on par with New Orleans.

I'm familiar with Mapplethorpe's work, and I doubt his style would've been received any better in New Orleans in 1990. This is still Louisiana we're talking about, and there's certainly an element of conservative values that exists there, even today.

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by the Instigator

Correction 5th largest, and if we go by CSA you live in the 9th largest city

Correction: I didn't say 4th largest metro. I said 4th largest city, which it is. Thank you for pointing out your own oversight, though.

[OyCrumbler]

Cincinnati does have some very beautiful historic architecture and can definitely do some great things with it now that people are interested in living in urban environments again.

New Orleans is the birthplace of a lot of quintessentially American music. Cincinnati, not so much. In the context of the US, New Orleans is considerably more unique, even architecturally, because the colonial French and Spanish generally didn't establish much of a footing in what makes up the US today, whereas the German immigrants who built Cincinnati set foot in some other parts of the Northeast (most of the other Midwest cities came much later and had different architecture from Cincinnati as Cincinnati was the US's first boomtown in the interior).

The cuisine of New Orleans is arguably more unique than that of Cincinnati. The vastly different climate of the region compared to continental Europe meant some very different crops were used and the large African population and a more diverse set of European immigrants (as New Orleans changed hands several times and was a major seaport) all melded together and created an arguably much more distinct cuisine from other US cuisines. It also had almost a century on Cincinnati, so a good lot more time to fuse.

[the Instigator]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

Correction: I didn't say 4th largest metro. I said 4th largest city, which it is. Thank you for pointing out your own oversight, though.

So I guess someone from Phoenix can say they live in the 6th largest city huh?

[masonbauknight]

@Instigator. CSAs (Combined Statistical Areas) are not "cities," but are COMBINED metro areas used for marketing and trading purposes. CSAs often include two or more core cities (such as San Francisco-San Jose CSA). The metro area (MSA) or smaller urban area (another figure provided by the Census Bureau) are the two yardsticks for comparing US cities. Chambers of commerce love CSAs because they artificially boost the local numbers.

Back to Cincinnati: No one living 50+ mi. outside Cincy ever thinks of it, though sports fans might follow the local teams. In NY where I live, only flight attendants ever mention Cincinnati because they live in fear of being transferred there by the airline. They know it well, they've walked around, and they think it's a bore. There's a mortal fear of being assigned to places like Cincinnati, Tulsa or Wichita. A forced move to New Orleans, San Francisco or Miami? Very different reaction. And wouldn't you rather have some nice Creole cooking, French pastry and po-boys than a sausage in a factory roll?

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by ProkNo5

For those of you who are unfamiliar, here are some similarities.

They both have large, ornate historic districts that were built in unique architecture styles. French Quarter and Over-the-Rhine

They both have large boulevards separating their historic districts from their Central Business Districts. Canal St and Central Parkway

They're both important port cities on the river system. New Orleans connected the Gulf to the Rivers. Cincinnati Connected the Rivers to the Great Lakes.

They were both heavily influenced by their european immigrants who left plenty of cultural traditions and institutions. The French inspired food like Beignets and phrases like "Geaux Saints" and festivals like Mardi Gras. The Germans inspired food like Goetta and phrases like "Please?" and festivals like Bockfest and Oktoberfest.

They both have iconic buildings on large urban parks. St Louis Cathedral and Music Hall

They both have important historic markets. French Market and Findlay Market

I could continue with the similarities. There are many. I really don't understand where the gut reactions come from some people though. Having been to both cities countless times, I can tell you without question that they're more similar than different. Cincinnati just has a little more German flavor and New Orleans has a little more French flavor.

This is a good post and I have thought about these similarities before about the historic cores of these cities.

Over-the-Rhine could have very well become an equivalent neighborhood to the French Quarter; basically a German cultural based version of it. Over-the-Rhine has the best architecture in the Midwest IMO, but was never looked at as a historical treasure until recently. Unfortunately instead of embracing Over-the-Rhine like New Orleans did with the French Quarter, it was turned into a slum. Currently Over-the-Rhine is undergoing rejuvenation but it has lost many historic structures and still has a long ways to go. It will probably never be something like the French Quarter, but I think it could have been.

However, outside of the core neighborhoods there cities are very different.