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Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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People think is more dangerous because major attractions/ institutions like Churchill Downs, U of L's Belknap Campus (or areas just south of it), and the Downtown Med Center complex are all in dicey areas, so people from out of town see L'ville's bad areas more often than Cincy or Lex, where the bad areas are basically non important/ less traveled areas for visitors.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Reputation: 12187
I visited Lou today to go hiking in Jefferson Memorial Forest and it is AMAZING how much faster you can get around than Lex.
Using my cell phone's stop watch, I clocked the following times
Gene Snyder Freeway @ I-64 to U of L Belknap Campus - approx. 15 miles in15 minutes
U of L Belknap Campus to Fairdale - approx 8 miles in 10 minutes
Fairdale to Paul Horine Park in Jefferson Memorial - approx 3 miles in 5 minutes.
In Lexington it routinely takes 15 minutes to get from Man O War to New Circle Road on Nicholasville Rd (a distance of 1.5 miles) and another 15 to get from New Circle to UK (a distance of 2 miles)
Huh? You are making up statistics JCM. You simply cant do that. First off, we have NO IDEA of what the population of the old city is because it will never be measured exactly like it was before. Second, where is there a source that says 41 murders in the old city? Anywho, its not an equal comparison as the old city of Louisville is much smaller in square mileage than Cincy. I think a much better comparison woul dbe to crime rates in Jefferson County KY versus Hamilton County, OH. Cincy is MUCH more dangerous, trust me!
Trust you???
Because based on your opinion you lack very many facts!
I just got back from a three week long trip in Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati and Dayton. So I can speak very well on many subjects here.
I remember telling many in the Louisville forum that I was going to be going there. Well I did, and had some good times, and some bad too.
First off, Cincinnati is the most urban city out of any of the three, its economy is the most diverse, and home to more fortune 500 companies than Lexington and Louisville combined.
Cincinnati's projects have had the backing from the right people. I went down to SW Ohio and Kentucky on business to talk to the city councils of all four cities.
Cincinnati's new projects have already been backed, and have more new companies investing in them, knowing and seeing the future in Cincy's market place. The Banks in moving along well, and the Riverfront Park, the city's front yard, which I took great interest in seeing the ground breaking of is one awesome project, and is also part of Cincinnati's grand new riverfront construction.
Lets also not forget about Cincinnati's new tallest building under construction, the site is already prepped, with drilling for the supports about finished, and a construction crane was just moved on site last week.
A new mid rise hotel was just approved for the Banks project, and construction has already started on that. New midrise condos are finishing up in Mount Adams.
I had a great time in Louisville, it was an awesome city that offered a lot. But it was less than I expected. I have many friends from Louisville that live in Columbus, and they told me what to expect, and I did see some of that, but missed out on some.
Starting with the central business district. Louisville has a very spread out skyline, lots of parking lots, which isn't a good thing. A city skyline with density is awesome, it makes many cities feel bigger than they actually are. Just compare Cincinnati's density to Louisville's, you will see what I am talking about, and it really makes a bigger differance on the ground than viewing it from the air.
Musuem Plaza, the site was dead almost everytime we passed by. I talked to some planners in Louisville, and they insisted the site was just slowing down because of the economy, but they had many fears that the project might stop full swing because of how bad the economy is getting, and they also told me, that the project did not have the appropriate backing from large companies. I hope to see this thing go through. Louisville and Cincinnati get their new tallest at the same time would be awesome.
Nashville's Singature Tower, is already about 95% dead. I really liked that tower, but thats what happens when half of the tower is condos, and we know how bad that market is doing. If they could have got a company to back it and be in the tower, it would have probaly been under construction by now.
Also, crime wise....
Cincinnati's crime rate has dropped by 12% in Cincinnati compared to last year at this time, and its homicide rate is down by 25%!
Also, about the square miles, Louisville is much larger in area, 399 sq. miles compared to about 80 sq. miles for Cincinnati. That makes Cincinnati's density about 4,300 people per sq. mile compared to about 1,900 for Louisville.
I did notice many bad areas in Louisville. I guess I got the feeling that the city was really safe, and took that for granted. Mostly from what I have read on here. We got in one bad area where many boarded up buildings where, and were bothered by a homeless man, we were touring the area because there was some new low income housing coming to the area.
There were some awesome districts too. I wish I could remember the name of the one restaurant we ate at, best steak I have ever had.
Overall, Louisville was an awesome city, many great projects, but some were on hold, and I hope they can get back on track. The people were great, friendly and helpful, and didn't mind the fact that we were planners from the "hated" Cleveland/Cincinnati/Dayton areas.
Lexington was amazing. The setting was great, and the city was very clean and organized. Really remided me of a smaller Columbus. It is taking a new approach, just like Columbus. It is growing at a great rate, and has a stable unemployment. Nice new projects that will really take the city far into the future.
But, to clear things up, esp on the Cincinnati/Louisville front, I will post some of my findings...
(Notice, Cincinnati is larger in population, so it is probaly going to see a larger number of growth in raw numbers, but is also saw a .1% faster increase in percentage growth as well)
Just clearing things up, keep everything calm in the thread, and stay nice! I had a great time in both Louisville and Lexington, and have made some great friends and memories down there. Look forward to going back, especially to Lexington.
I asked this same question in the Cincinnati forum. This is the answer I posted just about 10 minutes ago.
Quote:
I had the pleasure of driving around Cincinnati all day yesterday and visiting some neighborhoods. I got the highlights of Clifton, Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout, Mt. Adams, E. Walnut Hills, and the City of Norwood. All are unique neighborhoods that appear to be bustling, clean and safe (with exceptions of portions of Clifton.) The old working-class homes of Clifton and Norwood, the hillside, densely-packed homes of Mt. Adams (possibly the most "homely" looking urban neighborhoods I've ever seen), and the well-kept, nationally historic homes of Mt. Lookout all give Cincinnati a wealth of diversity when it comes to architecture. In fact, I dare call it a playground for one who really likes that sort of stuff.
In areas like Clifton and the gentrifying parts of Over-the-Rhine, among others, Cincinnati has many areas with old, industrial grit, and yet the crime rate in the city isn't any higher than the old Midwestern industrial urban cores of Indianapolis and Louisville. (I know west Over-the-Rhine still has some drug and social issues that result in a fairly high murder rate, but I can't say that I feel any more unsafe there than western or parts of east-central Louisville.)
I would actually like to take a couple of days this spring, park the car, walk the Cincy neighborhoods, eat at the local delis or coffeehouses, and talk to the locals. Mt. Adams was my personal favorite; with all the bars, restaurants, old churches/monastery, types of house architecture, and vista overlooks in that one neighborhood alone, one could spend an entire day or two just reveling in that part of town.
I've lived in metro Cincy before (Highland Heights, KY, actually), and had the chance to take in some museums and the Cincinnati Opera, but not many of the other gems the city had to offer. I missed it, came back, and fell in love with the city again.
What do I like about Cincy?
The anchors of the park system: Krohn Conservatory, Eden Park, and and Ault Park. No telling how many millions of dollars have gone in to building, maintaining, and keeping a diverse array of ferns, shrubs, and other plants from six continents in the observatory. And the bluff views from Eden and Ault are beautiful. No wonderful Winston Churchill called Cincinnati the most beautiful American inland city.
Downtown Cincinnati, minus the vagrants, has not just the sports and the river. It has old Victorian-era and German-derived architecture. It has the CAC, Taft, Aronoff, Music Hall (actually in OTR), Fountain Square, and lovely Carew Tower.
The local chili. Okay, I'm much more a fan of Texas-style chili, but the three-way, as well as the cinnamon-style flavoring commonplace in Cincinnati-style chili, is something that is hard pressed to be found elsewhere. But it's still good. And that leads me to my next point...
The local culture is one that, even with the downputting of the city by many of its locals (here on C-D, anyway,) there still seems to be a lot of pride in. Folks here understand how well endowed they are in terms of arts, culture, and parks. There's always the debate of Skyline v. Gold Star (Which chili is better?) Even with the down times of the "Bungals" and Reds, the town literally shuts down when the games are playing.
Cincinnati Observatory. If you haven't visited there, you've missed out on a true gem in Cincinnati and astronomical history.
As I was back in Cincinnati, for the second time this year, and re-exploring the city, I drove back out to Highland Heights and NKU, where I lived for a summer program. I saw all the development that was occurring on that campus and remembered the great times I had.
Additionally, I became rather disenfranchised with Louisville as a student at UofL; in fact, I now dread the thought of even returning to Louisville for anything. The people weren't very friendly (sometimes even outright rude) in Louisville, the only real cool parts of town are downtown, Old Louisville, the Highlands, and the area immediately around UofL is rapidly becoming a high-crime area (even Old Louisville). I think I would've done better at NKU.
And Lexington? I don't really like it, either, but it's like a farm town compared to Cincinnati or even Louisville. If you like the Atlanta developer's philosophy on historic architecture ("tear the da*n thing down,") or want to live in a city with horrible traffic for its size b/c of a grossly inadequate freeway system, then Lexington's your town. (That would explain why many of Lexington's drivers are so dag-blame rude.) Oh, and where Cincy just shuts down for its sports games, Lexington WORSHIPS everything UK, and it becomes old quickly unless you're a die-hard UK fan. But at least the beautiful horse farms lie just outside it!
Last edited by EclecticEars; 11-21-2008 at 02:22 PM..
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,480,204 times
Reputation: 12187
JCM, was the "unfriendly and rudeness" you expericence in Louisville just general experiences or stuff related toward you as a U of L student. My experiences with UK fans in Louisville turned me from someone who rooted equally for UK and U of L into someone who absolutly hates UK.
JCM, was the "unfriendly and rudeness" you expericence in Louisville just general experiences or stuff related toward you as a U of L student. My experiences with UK fans in Louisville turned me from someone who rooted equally for UK and U of L into someone who absolutly hates UK.
Just general experiences throughout the city, really. Some UofL staff were a pain, but the large majority were actually quite pleasant and professional; the student workers on campus were mostly impolite and very unfriendly.
I must honestly say that I still AM a University of Louisville fan. Can't stand UK. But I'm also not the passionate UofL fan I was all through middle and high school and my first two years of college; reality sunk in. Ironically enough, 90% of the people I call friends are UK fans; only 10% or so for UofL or other programs. Aside from the constant joking-jabbing with UK fan friends, some of the best people I know are die-hard UK fans.
BUT, to allude to your point censusdata, a small contingent of UK fans (that I'm not friends with) are so outright obnoxious and arrogant that they're a blemish to the fan base.
Kinda hard to when you can't land a job up there, and I've been applying alright.
I know what you mean.
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