neilworms

The Amish speak dietsch better known as Pennsylvania Dutch. It's a German dialect.

Nitpicking here, but Pendleton is actually not a part of OTR. But I agree with the sentiment. Still wondering how that happened its so weird considering all the other subneighborhoods that were either absorbed into OTR, West End or Queensgate.

BTW the s at the end of a prominent store name isn't just found in Cincinnati: http://www.head-fi.org/t/157721/chicago-slang-for-any-in-coming-people-to-our-great-city

No different than a large group of Trixies in River North in an equally obnoxious "Trolley" - though the term "redneck shuttle" and the "camo bus" is a higher level of trashiness.

Btw, the pedal wagon has its equally obnoxious equivalents in Chicago, I'm sure they are also in NY. Chicago also has these horrible "douchebag" "Trolleys" (think Southbank shuttle full of drunk bros) which constantly feature bros/trixies yelling woooo and trying to out pace each other in levels of being obnoxious. To someone from Chicago or NY, that's a sign of a vibrant city, albeit and extremely annoying one.

Once upon a time in Portland the pedal wagon was a hipster thing lol

I don't think a barrio will be what arrives as the rate of immigration of latinos is way off from its peak in the 1990s, however there is an opportunity for asian/middle eastern/african immigration going ahead. I'm going to agree with you, there is overall a vibe that is closer to Oakland - once you get outside the main basin area, the city does feel quiet a bit like oakland though less consistently dense. Btw, my reference point for Midwestern towns is Dayton, Ohio and Indianapolis, both of those have no where near the number of victorians that Oakland does, so that alone makes it feel a bit more like Cincinnati than a lot of the other cities. I get way more of a Dayton or Indianapolis in rain-forest but suddenly turned cool and hip vibe out of Portland IMO than I do Cincinnati even though both have hills (Midwest city with touches of SF/Oakland around downtown and I'm talking vernacular now ). The architecture of Oakland is a lot better than Dayton and Indianapolis and somewhat better than Columbus (though Cbus' core neighborhoods are slightly more east coast in feel) - I get the feeling that historically Oakland while industrial was still affluent and the architecture reflects that much like Cincinnati where as Portland was more of a working class town and feels a lot more like other midwest towns as stated above. Cincinnati is really at this weird transition point between east coast style and midwest style, you can see a bit of a similar transition (but further along) in areas like Noble Square in Chicago (probably the most Cincinnati-like neighborhood in Chicago - compares quiet a bit to Clifton Heights), or much of St Louis (though St. Louis's neighborhood of that era are so decimated that its hard to really see that). St Louis is weird beast, I think you could draw more parallels to it and Pittsburgh than it and Cincinnati given how much more affected by the Great Lakes industrial cities it is (even the accent in St. Louis is more Chicago meets the South than other river cities) I hope to visit there soon, though I wish I had a time machine to experience it before de-industralization hallowed it out far more than Cincinnati was. All and all the River Valley cities are all kind of uncharacteristic and all unique though I'd argue that Cincinnati really has overall the best architectural stock (though there are parts of Pitts,St Louis and Old Louisville that compare favorably).

Even in the big cities where things are more gentrified Immigrants are more likely to go to the suburbs these days: http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2014/10/29-immigrants-disperse-suburbs-wilson-svajlenka Cincinnati I believe missed out on getting them in the urban core, other than a small Desi (Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Sri Lankan) community around Clifton and a few small Latino communities in Lower Price Hill and Carthage. The region is getting more diverse, but much slower than the national average and much of that new diversity is concentrated more in the suburbs - the lack of diversity is a huge culture shock when I come back into town...

Mixed but not terribly diverse as it has a low population of foreign born residents - there is no where near the Asian and Hispanic populations you get in many other parts of the country with the only culturally significant group of immigrants being North Indians in the region. (Man the Indian food is good in Cincy).

What an unholy alliance that was...

jmicha[/member] Cincinnatians need to be schooled on their architecture. I also really want some kind of confirmation that Cincy "Greystones" come from the same place as Chicago ones. Logically it makes sense given the origin of the Chicago ones, but I would like some kind of confirmation from someone who has deep knowledge of this sort of thing.

I also want to add that this is a trend up here in Chicago, not one I'm fond of, but I've seen a lot of different new buildings with this staggered windows look, its completely a contemporary design that is forward thinking for Ohio (forward thinking doesn't always = good IMO). The company formerly known as Dunnhumby USA's building is on the better looking side of this trend, but its still ugly. I hope it ends soon as I'm not a fan and this will date poorly. Examples: http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/51ee85fdf92ea16e4a010502/Tower%20of%20Pizza2COVER.jpg http://wibiti.com/altthumbs/hpmain/425/295425.jpg http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/1345-Wabash-Rendering-1_c.jpg

I think there are a handful of areas in Cincy that actually do remind me of an eastern version of San Francisco - similar architecture though in the second pic not as dense and missing the ubiquitous ground floor garages (the ones that have ground floor garages btw are infill for the most part): 2 areas: Hollister street - http://tinyurl.com/prjhwrz (this reminds me of some of the older hillside areas of SF though there are brick buildings you wouldn't find in there on this street) Tusculum Ave - http://tinyurl.com/qyuqqss (these are more spread out but the architecture is very similar, also go up the street and look left, there is a row of houses that are very SF) There are also places in NKY and isolated in the city that have New Orleans style shotguns: https://realtybs.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/img_0636.jpg Also from what I've heard that wrought iron in OTR is the same wrought iron used in the French quarter as it was generally manufactured in Covington and sent down river. Finally there is an odd architectural quirk in Cincy where there are a handful of "greystones" in OTR (I'm pretty sure its the same stone as in the Chicago grey stones as the Chicago stone is Indiana limestone from the southern part of the state) but the architecture looks different than Chicago's more ubiquitous ones, more like an NYC brownstone but with Indiana limestone instead of the stuff they got on the East coast. One of these is mislabeled as Brownstone Apartments, it drives me nuts everytime I see the sign: http://tinyurl.com/jkqeekk One other looks pretty close to what you'd find in Chicago as I'm pretty sure its one of the later buildings in OTR: http://tinyurl.com/zdfvjcp Older greystone in Chicago (not as tall as the OTR one, but circa 1890 Cincy was a denser city as a whole than Chicago): https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/124/408819778_5cac3ce738.jpg

I first saw hipsters in Ohio around 2004. It's mainstream in Chicago but not as much as on the west coast. I agree that it's not totally mainstream in Ohio yet but at least in Cincy it's influenced broader culture the craft fairs are attended by people who aren't hipster for instance.

Ocean Beach, San Diego. Yeah OB is like a time warp. There are other places like that all over the west coast, not sure when it will completely die. Though one time in SF about 4 years ago I did see what looked like a super old beatnik with a cane, probably was in his 90s and was an original 0_o. I guess there are some people who never let go of old subcultures, I'm kind of waiting for grey haired hipsters. I also need to make a trip up to Logan Square to see if hipsterism is dying in Chicago. Last time I was there it was still going strong, though we are a few years behind the coasts (though a pretty good indicator of when trends will begin to filter into the midwest - we'll get it before Ohio does).

I think Cincy will - there has been a pretty nice balance of affordable housing vs market rate. The only thing that might be a problem is serving the middle but literally only in OTR - there is so much more to save in Cincy that there is room for more people. Btw, Chicago's core may get more like SF/Manhattan but one key difference is our attitude towards building up - skyscrapers are a proud part of Chicago's architectural tradition and while places like Lincoln Park or the far northwest neighborhoods hate density much of the city is far more welcoming of it than SF is especially. There are huge developable swaths of land out around the United center for instance that are zoned for mid to high density housing - considering how hot the West Loop is that land is next - there is lots of room, the only issue Chicago has is developing more TOD near stations to satisfy demand (being addressed) and expanding transit (not being addressed as well as it should - after Ashland Ave, there should be an East-West BRT to cover undeserved areas - perhaps on North Ave from Western Ave to Oak Park - that area is very under-served and also is experiencing some degree of spillover growth from Wicker Park and Logan Square getting more pricey. Not only that but there are huge areas not far from downtown that are almost empty fields in the South Side - you could have reasonable commutes with good transit access (add a few infill stations on the Green line, which already has been done in a few places) and redevelop those areas. While not as conservative as Cincinnati Chicago is still Midwestern and has a pragmatic streak you don't find in Cali, the biggest difference being a willingness to try new things that isn't as prevalent in the rest of the region.

You nailed why that Soho comparison bugs me. Again the closest the Midwest has to that a once derelict now hip area of manufacturing and warehouses that went though an arty phase and now attracts very wealthy urban elites from around the world is river north in Chicago. I don't see anywhere else being like that in the Midwest.

I'll be an old man, but I cannot wait until there is fully restored/populated neighborhoods in Cincy from downtown to the University - it would be like a mini Boston in the midwest :) I'm also going to add that instead of direct rent control, there still is a requirement that 30% of all 3CDC development is reserved for the affordable housing - while not gritty it will mean that the neighborhood won't quite be the same as SF, the outcome will be more balanced. There are also PLENTY more areas for spillover effects. There are even some large boarded up warehouses in the west end for instance. I don't think supply levels will be that severely constrained.

Since you haven't been in Cincy for awhile, I'll tell you that the progress in OTR has been like 30 years of Cincinnati pace gentrification in 10. Its causing old timers to go nuts (both frustrating outer neighborhood types who hate change and idiot homeless advocates - google Buddy Grey to get an idea of how they see the world - who want the neighborhood to be a kumbayaa homless refuge). Its mindblowing for Cincinnatians but comparable to the level of hyper-gentrification that's been going on in Chicago for the last 20 years - just shy of SF insanity but way more than anyone in Cincy has ever experienced in their lifetime. I'd give OTR another 15-20 (esp. with teh streetcar) years not 50. IMO from here on out Cincy should be talked about like Chicago as far as gentrification progress goes, I think its reached a turning point.

Midwest version of Soho is really river North in Chicago, but otr is still an important neighborhood, perhaps the Midwest version of Greenwich village but with out as deep an arts legacy. Very little of sf is still gritty other than the south east neighborhoods and some of the tenderloin. Just ask c-dawg. Otr is going the same way...

It's pretty easy to explain it's a work in progress and to come back in a few years as there may be more stuff.

Chicago is still pretty affordable, the only areas getting pretty crazy are near the loop (esp. the west loop). There are still huge swaths of the city that are pretty much like every other great lakes area rust belt city - its like if San Francisco was blended with Detroit, its really that extreme. Wish Cincy would get the level of hype that Pittsburgh is getting - people down there need to try harder.

People should see it as a work in progress so they are more impressed every time they visit ;)

Cincinnati had so many unique things that it's afraid to sell it should start doing so - tons of economic development is being lost due to this. It's stupid you got something unique sell it! Cincy is to happy with a dysfunctional status quo. Selling the subway and beer tunnels the way the much less interesting Seattle underground is sold would give dividends! If the culture of Cincy acknowledged anything past west chester as worthwhile then culturally and economically it would be in a way better place than it is!

That guy is an @#%#@ for not allowing that kind of publicity for Cincy. Does he want the city to remain a backwater?