Matthew67

Cincinnati is both awesome and an abyss at the same time. It is both stodgy, set in its ways, and innovative. There is hope! There is static. There is despair. Where's the water cooler? :P However on a more serious note. I think we all can agree that Cincinnati has its own challenges and there is room for improvement. I think our discussions would be more productive if we talked more about meaningful ways forward instead of getting caught up in semantics, details and naysaying. We're all urbanists (supposedly) on this board so really we're all on the same team. Picking apart arguments might be fun for some but it seriously ruins the posters credibility. My entire point in posting here is to show that there is "room for improvement." I don't know of an American city that does so little with so much as Cincinnati. I just wish Cincinnatians could really see what their city has and have the confidence to tell the world about it. Almost every Cincinnatian that posts on this forum does see the potential that Cincinnati has, and wants the city to achieve more. That's why they spend time on this forum. That's why many of them have been involved in various efforts in their communities. Coming onto this form and constantly beating the "Cincinnati isn't living up to its potential" drum without adding more substantive ideas to the discussion is not helpful. If that's their view, they don't do a good job of expressing it. This forum is filling with explanations of why Cincinnati must accept its place in the world...'it's hard for Cincinnati to attract conventions and concerts because of....' or 'growth in other cities is just an illusion and Cincinnati is really better off without it." It reads like a list of excuses shared between people who see an inevitability in Cincinnati's current situation. I'm just disagreeing with that narrative. Increased spending on promoting Cincinnati as a destination is a "substantive idea" that I've offered. Some gleefully tripped over each other in a rush to immediately dismiss it. That response is the most illuminating thing I've seen on this forum. It speaks volumes about Cincinnati. You're shooting the messenger here.

Cincinnati is both awesome and an abyss at the same time. It is both stodgy, set in its ways, and innovative. There is hope! There is static. There is despair. Where's the water cooler? :P However on a more serious note. I think we all can agree that Cincinnati has its own challenges and there is room for improvement. I think our discussions would be more productive if we talked more about meaningful ways forward instead of getting caught up in semantics, details and naysaying. We're all urbanists (supposedly) on this board so really we're all on the same team. Picking apart arguments might be fun for some but it seriously ruins the posters credibility. My entire point in posting here is to show that there is "room for improvement." I don't know of an American city that does so little with so much as Cincinnati. I just wish Cincinnatians could really see what their city has and have the confidence to tell the world about it.

https://www.inc.com/jeff-barrett/you-probably-havent-thought-to-start-a-business-in-cincinnati-heres-why-you-should.html. Cincinnati is getting some attention as a place to try new things. Let's hope that this gets some traction in the months and years ahead. Cincinnati can't depend on established companies forever. It needs new blood. Maybe that is starting to emerge here.

And what, might I ask, is your area of expertise? I'm a full-time resident of Cincinnati. Don't worry about whether my credentials or social standing are of a sufficiently high status for you to acknowledge my comments. I have no desire to challenge anyone's position as respectable upstanding gentlemen (I get the impression that this is a boys club). If my ideas are useful to you, say so. If not, so be it. I'm just putting it out there.

What is getting tedious? I posted some links showing how small Cincinnati's promotional efforts are in comparison to other cities it's size. I'm still struggling to understand why some find an honest and informed discussion of Cincinnati's convention and tourist business so upsetting.

I don't think that statement could be further from the truth. Nearly every thread in the Southwest Ohio Projects & Construction board is full of serious discussions about specific projects. A large percentage of people on this board are architects, urban planners, developers, historians, or long-time urban residents who have the expertise to discuss the ins-and-outs of various projects happening in the city. Really!? That's surprising. Even professionals can get confused or be misguided when straying beyond their area of expertise. That's what I see in many posts here. I'm sure we'll all be fine if we just respond to that which we find useful or interesting.

The problem is that you don't bring up serious or challenging ideas at all. You only come to this forum as a whiny ^[/member]#$%$ with little real information to share and even less understanding of the issues you bring up. This loser, Eeyore mentality you bring with you without proposing any ideas on ways to improve situations other than spend millions of dollars on vagaries is draining and pointlessly trolly. Just ignore me. I ignore much of what is posted here because I find it naive, foolish, or just not useful or interesting. This is just an online forum. It's not a religion.

It's a direct measure of your argument's quality that a counter-argument of "nuh-uh" would have equivalent soundness and evidentiary support. If you wonder why people don't seem to be responding to you as directly as you'd like, that's why. I don't really understand your first sentence. Most here use this forum as a sort of electronic water cooler to gather around and relax while getting things off of their chest and they use Cincinnati as a sort of 'meme' through which to do it. They don't come here looking for challenging or carefully thought out discussions about Cincinnati. I'm the nerdy annoying guy who joins the group who are laughing and joking by bringing up serious or challenging ideas. That's fine with me.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/lisnr-2018-disruptor-50.html Here's a promising example to demonstrate to investors what can be achieved in Cincinnati. Still, we should remember that it was the state of Ohio that provided key investment in Lisnr's initial stage, not anyone in Cincinnati itself. There is hope brothers and sisters! Being realistic about Cincinnati's place in the world will not destroy us. It will make us stronger!

Who said that?

Can you imagine what Cincinnati could do if it quadruped it's tourist promotion spending to match that of Columbus? What if Cincinnati could just match Columbus' growth in hotel rooms? Cincinnati convention/tourist trade would be unstoppable!

I'd agree. They won't be able to get the people they want in Cincinnati. O really you think so? No way..... Yes way no way doesn't make for a very useful discussion. Any reasons for your assertion? I gave some reasons. You could respond to those. Actually, no, you didn't give any reasons. I said i think that Cincy is too small and doesn't have enough professionals to satisfy the demands of a multinational like Vantiv/worldpay. If you think otherwise, tell us about it.

Who wrote that?

I'd agree. They won't be able to get the people they want in Cincinnati. O really you think so? No way..... Yes way no way doesn't make for a very useful discussion. Any reasons for your assertion? I gave some reasons. You could respond to those.

Er...you mean til I looked it up for you? Because you don't conduct any research before making your wild claims? Yeah? List the new hotels Columbus has added to its downtown. I'd love to see it. Any proof of this? Any examples you can offer? How about the Freedom Center and Zaha Hadid designed CAC? How about American Sign Museum, which is a new attraction. How about the zoo expansion and renovation of Union Terminal and Music Hall? Are those not new or improved things that would specifically attract people to Cincinnati? What about the whole push to get FCC in the MLS? Until you can site any sort of example, your claims are worthless. From your earlier postings, it seems you are frustrated that you've been unable to break into the Cincinnati social scene. Maybe the problem is you and not Cincinnati :-) Are you disputing that Cincinnati's tourist and convention trade isn't actually significantly smaller than its peer cities? The numbers and references I put here make it clear that it is. Maybe the problem is you, or rather, that you aren't even in Cincinnati. Even Jake accepts that Cincinnati has a small convention and tourist trade...he says it's because Cincinnati's leadership was savvy enough to realize that conventions and tourism make no financial sense and not because its part of a larger agenda of exercising their control over Cincinnati.