Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
He is not from Ohio, BTW. A lifelong Chicago native. He tells me that is the general impression people in Chicagoland have of Cincinnati. A step up from Cleveland maybe, but not by much.
Im not from Ohio either. Your friend is a representative of 3 million now? Your shadow friends opinion of other shadow friends opinions still do not give your argument credence. In fact, your grabbing straws. In fact you want the truth of the matter all cities in Ohio dont compare to LA, Chicago, or NYC, or Philly even. In comparison they all fall short and arent true big cities at all. Its common for people in big cities to snub flyover cities and I used to be one of them. Ive lived all over the country and Ive literally been all over Chicago. But let me say this, Cincinnati and particularly Cleveland are closer to their big city counterparts than columbus will ever be. Personally, I dont want to deal with NYC any longer, or Chicago...I have way better quality of life in Cincinnati than I ever had or could afford in NYC of Los Angeles and my 17 year old son didnt have to join a gang to in order to survive in his own neighborhood. We have great quality of life in this @%hole of a city and love it here. Wish you could say the same out there in your reclaimed cornfields.
I used to stay at my friends Moms house smack in the middle of Englewood down by Green and 73rd. Ive stayed and hung out in parts of Chicago that most people dont even want to drive through. Ron had to go check in with the gang bangers across the street that he grew up with to explain my car being parked on their block and they would watch out for it since they knew him and my car had Ohio plates marking it for a chop shop for certain. Chicago is way more grimy than anything you will find in ohio, yet you use someone from Chicago to legitimize your busted opinion of Cincinnati? weaksauce.
Ethnic components are vastly overrated. I am an ethnic component (as a southern european). I'll take white Protestant northern European bland milquetoast clean, liveable places that work, with a minimal amount of societal detritus, any day of the week!
14% of Columbus is foreign-born, more than twice that of Jimmy's favorite city. He's under the silly belief that "ethnic" only counts when there's a neighborhood with an ethnic name, even if no one of said ethnicity actually lives there.
Hey, I like my culture and I respect yours as well, whatever it is. But the fact remains that northern European Protestant culture is what makes this country tick. Just look at most of the world. Most Catholic countries suck. The prettiest, most livable and prosperous countries with the best economies are typically northern European and Protestant. That's also why Columbus works. Unlike the Catholic shîthole cities of the industrial midwest (and I am Catholic by the way), Columbus' heritage was more Protestant -- Lutheran, Episcopalian and Methodist. Hard work, honest dealing, respect for God are hallmarks of that culture and a big reason why it works so well. Catholic countries tend to cut corners, especially when it comes to honest dealing.
Columbus may be one of the least religious cities in the country, and I happen to think that's a good thing.
Columbus may be one of the least religious cities in the country, and I happen to think that's a good thing.
No, Columbus is the heir to Luther and Calvin! That’s why everyone is so darn hard working in their fake email insurance jobs and other bs that passes for “work” around here. Very religious! Those dirty Catholics in Cincinnati and Cleveland have never worked a day in their lives, they don’t know how to persevere or build society! Except for literally building the entire country 100 years ago I guess… errr ummm welll
Government is big for sure, but Columbus has a number of Fortune 500/1000 companies headquartered there, some major medical facilities (Children’s comes to mind), some major retail (Easton), professional sports, a decent airport, etc. Seems like a “real” city, no?
The people here are ridiculously insecure. I've visited the forums for most other states here, and there's not a single other state with this much abject hate for one of their cities. I am guessing there's a unique set of circumstances that causes this. Is there really any other state where its major cities are all essentially the same size, but all on incredibly different trajectories?
I have a friend on another page I follow who was a Walmart executive based in Chicago. He says the impression everybody has out there is a Cincinnati is a huge shïthole. He's been to Cincinnati a number of times and he's inclined to agree. I told him the suburbs aren't bad, but yeah, Cincinnati proper doesn't have a lot of curb appeal overall.
Look, I get how insufferable all the people here are regarding Columbus and how psychologists could write dissertations about their projection of "everyone from Columbus has an inferiority complex", but you don't have to play their game. Cincinnati has some of the best historic architecture preservation of any city in the country, and has a nice setting on the river, so I definitely disagree it has no curb appeal and is a "sh*thole". Be better than these people. It's easy- the bar is low.
90% of predominantly catholic countries are shïtholes. Look at everything south of here for example. The former vassals of Spain in Asia, shïtholes. Southern europe, shïtholes. Eastern Europe, shïtholes. Russia, shïthole.
I have real time data to support my position.
There are some really amazing countries mixed into those places, so again, I fully disagree with you here as well. You're doing the same thing everyone else here does- tearing down one place to defend another.
I've lived in all 3 Big Cs...Columbus (1997-2005, went to OSU, graduated 2001, and stayed until 05). Cincinnati (2009-2014), Columbus again (2014-2016) and Cleveland (2017 til now).
Columbus is the fastest growing but it's also far and away the most bland....it's got most of the same issues that must fast growing sunbelt cities like Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, OK City, & Orlando) have...it's all new and bland...no ethnic areas...mostly chain restaurants (what is Columbus' signature dish? Cincy has Cincinnati Chili, Graeters, & Goetta...Cleveland has the Po' Boy, & Pierogis)
Cleveland has the best museums and Cincy is a close 2nd
Nature, Cleveland has the best Metro Parks system by far...Cincinnati has a great metro park system...Cleveland has the CVNP as well as Lake Erie. Columbus has a river that you can't boat in, nor would you want to swim in
Cincy and Cleveland have by far the better downtowns...they have the better sports scenes...
Columbus beats the others in terms of growth thanks to the state government pushing the growth there...does anyone really think "JobsOhio" does anything to help Cincy or Cleveland like it does w/ C'bus? They gave Intel billions of incentives to locate to the Columbus area...no help has ever gone that way to the other cities because they aren't the capital.
Why are all these posts so filled with factually incorrect or misleading information? It's fine if you don't like Columbus, but at least get your information correct.
"Ethnic" areas are a product of 19th and early 20th Century growth patterns. No city today is gaining new Chinatowns or Little Italys, whether they are seeing increases in immigrants or not. This is because the environment has changed in the last century to where immigrants no longer feel pressured to be in a single neighborhood. They're much more spread out. That doesn't mean they have no influence on their communities or are not offering something. You could argue that them being immigrants from the last 50 years rather than the last century, they haven't had the same type of influence, but they've certainly had one. They've opened tons of businesses- restaurants, shops, grocery stores, etc. Columbus is probably one of the very few places in the entire country you can get Nepalese or Bhutanese cuisine pretty easily, for example. 14% of the city population is foreign-born, more than 2x that of the other 2 Cs, so it's nonsense to act like they haven't had any impact.
Columbus has the biggest metro park system in the state. "Best" is entirely subjective. Cuyahoga Valley is very nice, but I've always felt Cleveland vastly underutilizes Lake Erie, especially at the Downtown lakefront. It's not very nice at all- very industrial and feels unfriendly to me. Columbus doesn't have a lot of topographical variability, but I do think it has used its assets better and more cohesively. Cincinnati has too, for that matter. Also, you can absolutely boat in the Olentangy and Scioto Rivers. There's a canoe livery right downtown. As for water quality, from what I understand it's been improving over time. I know the city did a project to eliminate all sewage overflow several years ago, and the removal of some low-head dams also greatly improved water quality.
Also, do people swim in the Cuyahoga anywhere in Cleveland itself? This suggests you probably shouldn't: https://www.nps.gov/cuva/learn/natur...ion%20activity.
To be honest, there are probably very few waterways in Ohio that anyone should be swimming in due to pollution. The state does terribly on this issue.
Previously, I would've agreed that Columbus had the worst downtown, but now I'm not so sure. It's total population has likely exceeded that of Cincinnati at this point, but is still below that of Cleveland from what I understand. It was also hit far less severely during the 2020 riots and pandemic effects, and has recovered better than other Ohio cities, from what studies I've seen. It certainly still has a ways to go filling in vacant lots in parts, but there are many projects in the works, including converting several office towers into residential and mixed-use properties. I think the ongoing PNC building conversion will bring 500 residential units alone. I would also argue that while Cincinnati and Cleveland's downtowns may be better in some ways, Columbus easily beats them in the quality of its neighborhoods around downtown. *
Lastly, the percentage of government jobs in each city is actually pretty similar, with only a few points separating each one. They all benefit fairly equally from government, contrary to popular belief otherwise. I know this is a long-standing belief and I doubt stating this reality will change anyone's mind though. People have an emotional investment in believing the only reason Columbus has been successful is state government, and you can't use reason and facts against a belief that wasn't formed with reason and facts to begin with.
Intel chose the New Albany site, not JobsOhio. JobsOhio and state leaders would've been happy to have put it anywhere in the state, but Intel had specific criteria and none of the locations they looked at elsewhere were suitable.
The people here are ridiculously insecure. I've visited the forums for most other states here, and there's not a single other state with this much abject hate for one of their cities. I am guessing there's a unique set of circumstances that causes this. Is there really any other state where its major cities are all essentially the same size, but all on incredibly different trajectories?
I don’t know what people’s motivations are, but I’m used to some good natured kidding and ribbing between residents of different cities. It’s fun to talk up your own town especially when you can do it at your rival town’s expense….just some good natured ribbing that you expect to get thrown right back at you. But beyond joking around, the question of what city is “better” is kind of stupid. I mean if some anonymous guy from Chicago and his buddies want to bad mouth Cincinnati because it’s filthy, it’s ok with me. I certainly don’t agree, but hey, if it makes them happy when Jennifer Garner trashes the Queen City because its grocery stores are dirty then yuck it up. (And for the record if she really said that, I refuse to believe she meant it….it had to have been some sort of momentary mental collapse…because the Jennifer Garner I imagine knowing would never say anything bad about anybody.)
So, on a more interesting note, what are the different paths you see the three cities being on? While I know there are local differences, I see more similarities than differences certainly between Columbus and Cincinnati.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
