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I grew up in the Ohio Valley- even went to college one year overlooking the Ohio Valley. I then transferred to get away from the heavy conservative element & a whole new world opened up. I left and only come back for reunions & funerals. The humidity there makes me feel like I have the plaque.
My home is now New Mexico & Alaska. However, I have lived in NY, NJ, Colorado & Hawaii. In all my life experience, there has been no greater feeling of community than my little town of Marietta in the Ohio Valley. When someone is sick, everyone brings food. If someone needs help, everyone comes. There are still streets of brick & historic homes are dearly cherished. There are deep roots, history, closeness. That part is hard to beat.
In all my life experience, there has been no greater feeling of community than my little town of Marietta in the Ohio Valley. When someone is sick, everyone brings food. If someone needs help, everyone comes. There are still streets of brick & historic homes are dearly cherished. There are deep roots, history, closeness. That part is hard to beat.
That's what I love about the midwest, plains, and Ohio Valley (seems to be the border between the lakes/midwest and south)
Also, outside of smaller towns like Marietta and Gallipolis, the larger cities like Louisville and Cincinnati are fairly liberal. Both offer enormous cultural opportunities without losing too much of that "community" feeling.
I do have to apologize for coming off a bit strong when I originally posted this. I was coming off a most recent two weeks of seeming hell. That said, my desire to leave the Ohio Valley is still strong and I don't like it here much, even when I am in a much more chipper mood.
I posted the below on the thread Top 6 Things I Hate About Cincinnati on Cincy's forum about 1 1/2 months ago; it is a much better indicator of what I think about Cincy and, with generalities, much of the Ohio Valley.
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I've lived in Cincinnati (okay, actually extreme N. KY) for nearly eleven months now. A job offer brought me here from Central Kentucky and I always said that if I were to stay in the Ohio Valley that it would be Cincinnati or Nashville. That alone is because of proximity to family, because otherwise I've never felt like I was a fit for this part of the country.
Top six things I hate about Cincinnati:
1. Winter. Cold, but not cold enough to produce ongoing white beauty (although I enjoyed that 8" coating we had in February.) I prefer warm weather, but I have this weird philosophy that states that if it's gonna be cold, than doggone it dump a bunch of snow! It's just cold and damp enough to produce a seemingly ongoing wet, cloudy layer over much of the city. Oh, and while the hillsides are beautiful during the spring and summer, the bare look with the vegetation not blossoming during the winter just makes the entire city look depressing IMO.
2. Lack of friendliness of the people. I will say, people here are more engaging in my experience than our friends in Louisville and Lexington. And they are polite. But friendly, truly?!?! I agree with the clique arguments posted on this thread. And StrangeLand is right, many can be outright rude, especially on the roads. I seriously would, based on driver politeness, rather drive in Southern California.
3. Hate to say it, but folks here "ain't that 'mart" overall. (More of an Ohio Valley thing than just a Cincy thing, IMO.) THAT SAID, there ARE great school systems in places like Sycamore Twp., Madeira, Montgomery, Mason, Wyoming, Ft. Thomas, and Beechwood (Ft. Mitchell/Crescent Springs area) that are among the best in the region and, in the case of Wyoming, the nation. But, my job requires me to deal with unemployed and underemployed people daily, which entails an incredibly large segment of people who are very white or ghetto trash, never attended school beyond eleventh grade or who have, for thirty years or more, been content with working the "eight hour, five day, just gettin' by" factory job with no real life ambitions.
Now, we need factory workers and not everybody wants to attend college. Fine. However, of all the places I've been to in the United States, the only place with a collective citizenry as undereducated (or at least as undereducated-acting) as Cincinnatians is not too far from us in downstate Kentucky (especially eastern Kentucky). I've met plenty of middle-aged people from 'Bama, Jawja and Texas that are more technologically sophisticated and culturally educated than the average middle-aged person in the Ohio Valley. And yes, as far as customer service goes, many of them have to have their hands held.
4. Traffic. Seriously, ODOT. You got it together for Dayton and Columbus. Cincinnati is a far more important city in your state's economic base. I would expect I-75 to be as bad as it is on the 350,000-car-per-day Southwest Freeway in Houston, or Orange County's El Toro Y, which literally handles ONE-SIXTH (500,000 people) of that county's 3,000,000 residents DAILY. Okay, maybe I'm making a hyperbole of Cincinnati's I-75 by comparing it to such larger examples, but my point is that the road system here needs some fixin'. The only city I've ever been to with lower quality freeways was Los Angeles.
5. Customer service. Generally, it's surly, almost as if cashiers and even managers don't want your business. I'm polite and put a smile on my face, but it's beginning to fade. Of course, it was no better in Louisville, Lexington or Frankfort, either.
6. CVG (really, the KCAB). I don't hate CVG itself; heck, I work there part-time. Great airport, clean, efficient, and a beautiful facility. Even most of the TSA folks are chill and polite. But it's ran by the Kenton County Airport Board--Kenton County (KY) residents. The airport is predominantly in Boone County; its employees, myself included, pay Boone County occupational taxes. There is NO input, that I'm aware of, on KCAB from Boone County, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, or the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Selfish control like this, as it seems, could be why CVG is in the mess it's in. Oh, and bring in Southwest AND Jet Blue; the people of Greater Cincinnati will be grateful!
I will shortly post a list of six things I love about Cincinnati. I don't hate it here, but I have more of a like-dislike relationship. Still, I'm not as comfortable here as I thought I would be and found that many of the stigmas of Central Kentucky hold true here in the Queen City. Must be all the Appalachian/Scots-Irish influence...
I've always wanted to live in Texas and, over the last couple of years, have considered parts of coastal Southern California and western Washington. I've recently expedited my job search in those parts of the country, especially SoCal.
That said...as for the people, they're obviously not all bad or not my type. My co-workers are decent and salt of the earth, and I can say the same about nearly every place I've ever worked. I've made tons of good professional references in internships and college classrooms throughout Kentucky. I went to a nice house party in suburban Dayton, OH recently and everybody could not have been nicer and more laid-back, it was just an enjoyable experience; college students, blue-collar types and soccer moms just drinking beer, eating brats and shooting the breeze. If you can find a neighborhood or community where you have a strong sense of belonging, the Ohio Valley can be a great place to live; unfortunately, I have never lived in such a locale, and that's what I am looking for. I'm young, so gotta start somewhere...
I still think the customer service sucks around these parts, though. Admittedly, as a CS employee myself, I look forward to dealing with the few people I receive originally from places like the L.A. metro (actual, real natives), Seattle, Iowa, and much of Canada. Parts of Texas, away from the very urban cores, have very friendly folks, too, in my travels. I think Mississippians are the friendliest folks overall I've met from the deep South. Some days, the Cincinnati and Kentucky customers are generally some real tools to work with. Columbus, OH and possibly Nashville are really anymore the only places in the entire Valley that I would be interested in trying to live in.
Last edited by EclecticEars; 06-21-2010 at 03:57 PM..
I can tell you after living in the Ohio Valley for a short period of time that the people generally love predictability and routine. I have found many of the middle age lifelong residents seem to despise newer technologies. The plant mentality is still alive and well with a number of factories. Yes, their is a large undereducated percentage of the population. That is what is holding the entire region back from seeing stronger job growth, greater levels of entrepreneurship, and in-migration. Some people are geniunely friendly here, but many have this "tough guy/gal chip on the shoulder attitude" that gets quite draining after awhile. I assume it is due to the fact that the economy has generally not been good for a long period of time.
have you ever considered that maybe you just dont get along with people well. "the ohio valley" is not really an entity, culturally, economically, politically, really in any way besides the fact that their rivers flow into the ohio. perhaps you just dont like your home state because its your home state (sometimes you just gotta get out) and then you apply that hate to the surrounding regions.
as said earlier, people really arent that different everywhere you go, as far as how they interact with each other. cultural things can be different, but if youve lived in lexington louisville, tennessee rural kentucky, cincinatti and dayton, youve been to a whole lot of area that are not the same culturally.
you may be in for a rude shock when you find out that these people that you percieve as rude are just the same when you move to texas, or chicago or wherever the hell. ive always found people in the "ohio valley" (at least the lower part) to be extremely polite and freindly. perhaps the problem is on your end, bud.
I can tell you after living in the Ohio Valley for a short period of time that the people generally love predictability and routine. I have found many of the middle age lifelong residents seem to despise newer technologies. The plant mentality is still alive and well with a number of factories. Yes, their is a large undereducated percentage of the population. That is what is holding the entire region back from seeing stronger job growth, greater levels of entrepreneurship, and in-migration. Some people are geniunely friendly here, but many have this "tough guy/gal chip on the shoulder attitude" that gets quite draining after awhile. I assume it is due to the fact that the economy has generally not been good for a long period of time.
I haven't heard it referred to as the "plant" mentality, but I like that term! There are truly some intelligent people here, but many dreams subside or leave the area with those innovators for places like CA, TX, NC, etc. A shame, really, but it is what it is.
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Originally Posted by JimmyJohnWilson
have you ever considered that maybe you just dont get along with people well. "the ohio valley" is not really an entity, culturally, economically, politically, really in any way besides the fact that their rivers flow into the ohio. perhaps you just dont like your home state because its your home state (sometimes you just gotta get out) and then you apply that hate to the surrounding regions.
as said earlier, people really arent that different everywhere you go, as far as how they interact with each other. cultural things can be different, but if youve lived in lexington louisville, tennessee rural kentucky, cincinatti and dayton, youve been to a whole lot of area that are not the same culturally.
you may be in for a rude shock when you find out that these people that you percieve as rude are just the same when you move to texas, or chicago or wherever the hell. ive always found people in the "ohio valley" (at least the lower part) to be extremely polite and freindly. perhaps the problem is on your end, bud.
Well, aren't you ever the smart alec.
And yes, I do make an effort to get along with people. In fact, I'm one of these people that actually likes a person at first until they give me a reason not to. (Sometimes, first impressions matter, sometimes you have to get to know a person more.)
And yes, I do make an effort to get along with people. In fact, I'm one of these people that actually likes a person at first until they give me a reason not to. (Sometimes, first impressions matter, sometimes you have to get to know a person more.)
smart alec or not, this is the truth buddy (plus you asked for advice). but i do think you should leave, because theres no reason not to it seems, and quite a few reasons that you should (mainly becuase you dont want to be there)
but seriously, as ive said earlier, people really are, on average, the same wherever you go when you get deep down to it. there arent certian areas where people are naturally smarter, or naturally nicer. that doesnt happen. there are areas where certian cultural traits exist, such as expressed politeness (which ive always found to be quite prevelant in KY, and TN, not ohio though) or political views, but youve already been to areas that vary quite a bit in those ways throughout this so called "ohio valley". i think youll find, when you get to texas, that the people there are, on average, just the same. the accent may be a little different, they may even be more polite (though i doubt by much compared to rural KY and TN) but at the end of the day theyll be the same.
as i said earlier, perhaps you just need a change of pace. the false that that people are better in texas actually could help you find the right people there. or perhaps just going somewhere different could be enough to make you happy and you could possibly end up finding a community to your liking just by chance
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