natininja

Bike around the city looking for something to do. If you don't find anything, at least you killed a couple hours exercising and exploring.

DanB!!! :clap: Where ya been?

Anyone know when the final bicycle plan will be available to the public?

This may help you understand the neighborhood situation. CUF is one neighborhood, with thee sub-neighborhoods: Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview. Clifton is a totally different neighborhood, as is the Heights (which is where the university is actually located). Corryville is just east of the university (West Campus), and is not labeled on this map. Lots of people (including the local news) will lump all these neighborhoods under the tag "Clifton", but it's incorrect, and creates a scenario where a lot of people make false associations (including suburbanites thinking any crime happening in Corryville is going on in Clifton, because of the sloppy way local news agencies speak). Few other neighborhoods' boundaries are abused in such a way, and none are "stretched" so amazingly far from their true position. (Sometimes Pendleton disappears under the "OTR" moniker, in a similar way to CUF/Heights/Corryville under "Clifton", for example, but Pendleton is tiny and shares a lot with OTR, including a street grid.) I got the map from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUF,_Cincinnati

^ (See, this is proper usage. Keepin' it on topic!) I was in NOLA over NYE. Nice place, but the drinking culture crosses the line into pathetic. Not that being pathetic can't be fun, on occasion. Will be in Chicago in a few weeks.

Grumpy seems awfully happy today. MTS, on the other hand...

Belated Happy Birthday! :wink2:

andrew, please let us know how it went! Also, we wouldn't mind seeing any pictures you might have taken. :wink: Ha! I just noticed you posted some. Silly me. Thanks :)

Sounds good, but your topic is misleading...I went in here thinking it already happened!

Statues are an interesting idea. I still prefer the (tall, colorful) sculptures idea. Both run the risk of them looking crappy.

Oh man, I can one-up you there. I got a text once at around 3-4 a.m. from some number I didn't recognize. "u up?" it said. I was about to reply "thanks, now i am", when a second text came through. It was a picture text (I didn't even know my old-ass phone could receive those), and in my groggy stupor I sat there looking at the pic, not being able to make anything out. After seriously a minute plus of looking at it, I figured out it was a big black d!ck, with Tony the Tiger boxer shorts around the guy's ankles. LOLWTF?!!!

^ Hahahaha, love it!

Sounds like a perfect place for an urban garden.

Good point. Agreed!

How exactly do you pick your favorite team? By which mascot is your favorite animal? Because they win most of the time? Because you have a crush on one of the players? I don't get it. I live in Milwaukee but I LOVE Cincinnati, so I'm a Reds fan even at Brewers games. Where are you from? It's cool you are so passionate about Cincy, particularly without being from there. It certainly is an awesome city! :) I'm glad you discovered it.

Clifton is a certain place, with a certain character. Using the name as a blanket term for the majority of Uptown is an injustice. Yes, I should have included the skyline vantage from Devou Park. It's a classic view. There are many other good views around the city, on both sides of the river, but Devou is definitely special. It also gives you an excuse to explore a bit in KY. Just make sure you bring your passport.

Yes, I'd say Carew has the opposite problem. Too narrow on the narrow side.

Calhoun doesn't run through Clifton. Please, let's not confuse/corrupt yet another individual, regarding the boundaries of Clifton. So the question is, what neighborhood is it? I'm not totally sure, because people don't usually distinguish. Is it Heights? CUF? Definitely not Clifton! It's a decent hookah bar, though. I was there once.

I think you mean Optimus Prime.

I think that's the most bothersome of the common spelling errors, to me.

I don't know how to tell you to spend just two days. Because of that, I will ignore the fact your visit is so short, and you can choose from there. One of the best ways to see the city would be to buy this book: http://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Walking+the+Steps+of+Cincinnati Neighborhoods I recommend you check out: Mt. Adams/Eden Park, Mt. Auburn, Clifton, Columbia-Tusculum, Walnut Hills/East Walnut Hills, Northside. If I had to pick one of these, I'd say Mt. Adams. If I had to pick two, Mt. Adams and Northside. I would also recommend checking out one of the neighborhoods on the river, like Sedamsville or California, but I don't know which is best. As for gay clubs, I am kind of out of the loop for what is good on a Tuesday. Back in the day, it would have been Vertigo in Corryville, but that doesn't exist anymore! Northside has several gay bars on its main strip (Hamilton Ave.), so you could maybe stop in one of those and ask where the happening club is that night. Things I'd recommend doing: eat some Cincy Chili, followed by Graeter's ice cream (Clifton is good for both -- the best Skyline restaurant in the city, plus a Graeter's about a block away, both on Ludlow). There are lots of museums to pick from, from the Underground Railroad Freedom Center to the Creation Museum. There's a nice zoo. You definitely should go to Union Terminal, it's an exceptionally cool landmark. You could go to the observation deck in the Carew Tower. Also in the Carew Tower, walk around the Netherland Hilton Hotel. That, combined with the Union Terminal rotunda, will give you an Art Decogasm (have a martini at the Palm Court bar in the hotel to soak it all in). The university has possibly the coolest urban campus in the country. Yeesh, I could keep going, but I don't see a point.

It's Friiiiiiiday. Wonder if we will hear anything. I'm feeling antsy now! :lol:

If nice architecture is your criteria for a premier neighborhood, then of course most are near UC. That's because they are near Downtown. And that's because they're old neighborhoods. I thought we were talking about trendy or upscale neighborhoods, which unless I am unaware of some kind of shift, Mt. Auburn really isn't. I know this is probably getting into an overly subjective realm, but I would say Hyde Park "feels" closer to UC than Mt. Adams does, because of topography and major arterials running between the two areas. I think ignoring topography and street layout when talking about this kind of thing in Cincy is really bogus. Oh well, this is pretty far off topic now. That's why I didn't want to go into details initially. Edit: Apparently it's not just my gut feeling (thought "closer" may have been an overstatement, Hyde Park definitely doesn't feel further): To Hyde Park, 11 min. To Mt. Adams, 10 min.

If you include Mt. Auburn as a "premier" neighborhood, that kind of opens the flood gates, IMO, for that term. That's one gripe I have. Mt. Adams being "near" UC is sketchy. As the crow flies, it's true. Given topography and street layout, it's a world away. Mt. Adams is practically its own island.

I do think OSU is a big part of what defines Columbus. Much more so than, say, UC to Cincinnati. I also agree the state government is obviously the reason Columbus exists, but then OSU came along and now they kind of both share enormous pieces of the pie. I would definitely say a larger percentage of the people I know who went to OSU stayed in Cbus vs. UC grads in Cincy. Not sure why. I guess jobs, but then it's a chicken vs. egg thing. Since the university is such a strong force, it gives Cbus a progressive edge which is my best guess at what helps to retain grads. Another factor towards OSU defining Cbus, I think, is the lack of pro sports teams. Another factor is simply being a newer city. Cincy has its rich history to give it its soul. It grew organically, while Cbus had the state government and the university planted there to do exactly what they do. I think ColDayMan's assessment of Cincy neighborhoods is a bit off, but I don't really want to dissect it. I will just say I think it would be awesome if UC started using some buildings in OTR. They could be an anchoring force for the NoLibs/Brewery District section. I think abandoned breweries would make flipping amazing university buildings, and running shuttles up and down Vine or W Clifton (at least until the streetcar is built) would be easy as pie. Heck, move DAAP down there. I'm sure there's another use for the existing DAAP building.