12 May 2008

A Vistitor's View of Cincy

I'm interested in how a visitor sees Cincinnati. This time, an Indianapolis native gives his perspective:

There is simply not a city in the Midwest apart from Chicago that has anything near the great assets of Cincy. It is an embarrassment of riches.
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Drive around Cincinnati and you'll notice that much of the great architecture is in a shocking state of disrepair. While the buildings weren't wholesale cleared as part of the botched urban renewal movement, the city still has a sort of bombed out feel in many places.
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it is interesting me that such an incredible place hasn't experienced one of America's great urban renaissances. I believe the potential is still there, albeit latent at the moment.

It just goes to show that ... cities are about people, not just buildings. All the great geography, architecture, etc. in the world isn't a sufficient condition to create a thriving, dynamic city.

...Many of the other great urban neighborhoods are best seen by car.

5 comments:

VisuaLingual said...

How do you find this stuff? It's fascinating to read what an outsider perceives, correct or not. This assessment seems fairly accurate, too.

CityKin said...

Its also interesting how they see their own town. He loves Indy. If you read his post you also see he listens to AM radio here and hears the worst of it.

Paul Wilham said...

As someone moving from Indianpolis to Cincinnati. I see the incredible potential in OTR and other Urban neighborhoods there. I participated in the turnaround of several downtown areas in Indianpolis and I see the same thing happening in Cincinnati, which is why I and my business are moving there.Once the ball starts rolling with restoration, it becomes a freight train and I think many will be surprised how fast things turn around.

VisuaLingual said...

Yeah, I lived in Indy for two years, so it's interesting to read his thoughts on it now. It's also strange to visit it now and already see evidence of initiatives that were being proposed when I lived there [00-02]. It's inspiring to know that things can move quickly in the right climate. On the other hand, I dare say that Cincinnati has a more interesting urban culture and a more distinct infrastructure than Indy.

Randy Simes said...

Before things got totally out of hand, in that discussion, I had to set the record straight on several items regarding Downtown and Cincinnati in general.

Facts don't lie...only people.