2010 ColDay Series:

 

Part 1: Cincinnati, Columbus, & New York City

Part 2: Indianapolis, Detroit, & Cincinnati

Part 3: Bloomington, Indiana

Part 4: Smoky Chicago

Part 5: A New York Minute

Part 6: Cincinnati

Part 7: The Lake Erie Cities

Part 8: Toronto

Part 9: Hamilton

Part 10: The NFC East

Part 11: Louisville

Part 12: St. Louis

 

 

Hamilton! - Probably Ohio's best midsized, non-major city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodnight, from Atlanta

 

Thanks! :D

I've always liked Hamilton, and that in the middle of the mostly sprawled Butler county there is a definite city.  I know that Hamilton has also seen a significant increase in its Hispanic population.  I wonder if this has helped keep the city occupied, and given new life to a place that one would assume would be on the decline (smaller city in the middle of a larger metro).

 

  Hamilton lacks interstate highways. That probably helps keep sprawl to a minimum, and perhaps gives a hint of what our other cities would look like without highways.

 

 

certainly seems like its held its wealth and avoided major disasters like tornados and teardowns.

 

  Hamilton lacks interstate highways. That probably helps keep sprawl to a minimum, and perhaps gives a hint of what our other cities would look like without highways.

 

 

 

Excellent point that I never thought of.  Definitely helps explain Hamilton's unique and self contained atmosphere.  To me, Hamilton doesn't feel like greater Cincinnati at all.  There are restaurant and store chains in Hamilton that are no where else in the Metro, the look of the core neighborhoods almost reminds me more of Columbus, and there's the aforementioned self containment.  I always thought Hamilton was kind of like a mini Dayton growing up, even though I know the two probably aren't very similar now.

Fantastic city.  Beautiful sculpture and architecture.  This picture contains two buildings in styles that commonly look terrible, but here they look fantastic.  I hope we don't lose them:

 

And what is this building?

 

 

Cincinnati-Hamilton really needs a commuter rail connection.

It's a gorgeous library in the German Village.

It's a gorgeous library in the German Village.

 

Nice, that is really sexy.

The neat thing about Hamilton is how that busy street coming down from the west side focuses on the big county courthouse, terminating the vista down the street.

 

The place still has a lot of gritty old factory buildings, too. 

 

  High street terminates in a landmark in BOTH directions! There is a bend in the road, right downtown. Going east, the street view terminates at the county courthouse. Going west, the view terminates at the soldiers and sailors monument. Yet, the street itself is not interupted. This is a remarkable pattern. Compare to Indianapolis and many other cities with a single monument at the center, but no through streets.

 

Hamilton lacks interstate highways. That probably helps keep sprawl to a minimum, and perhaps gives a hint of what our other cities would look like without highways.

 

 

 

Excellent point that I never thought of. Definitely helps explain Hamilton's unique and self contained atmosphere. To me, Hamilton doesn't feel like greater Cincinnati at all. There are restaurant and store chains in Hamilton that are no where else in the Metro, the look of the core neighborhoods almost reminds me more of Columbus, and there's the aforementioned self containment. I always thought Hamilton was kind of like a mini Dayton growing up, even though I know the two probably aren't very similar now.

 

Hamilton's core neighborhoods hold quite a bit of street presence a la Cincinnati.  The German influenced styles don't really resemble Columbus or Dayton to me there.

 

C-Dawg,

 

There certainly has been a dramatic drop-off there.  Post 70's how it has survived economically this long without filing for bankruptcy is a mystery to me to be honest.

When I saw this thread, I thought it read Hamilton, Ontario.

 

I've never seen pictures of the late Ray Combs' (former host of Family Feud) hometown, but, it's VERY NICE! That architecture is gorgeous, and it does have the look and feel like a mid-sized, non-major city! Great pics of Hamilton, Ohio.

Most impressive! It has the look of a clean, prosperous city; there are so many solid-looking historic buildings.

 

The Butler County Courthouse reminds me, though, that Ohio probably would win a contest to determine what state has the greatest number of once-grand and elegant courthouses that have been mercilessly butchered by thoughtless remodeling or inapproprate repairs. If I remember, courthouses in both Hamilton and Tiffin lost their original domes to fire, and both replacement towers are travesties juxtaposed against the original style of the buildings. I think it's Defiance that has one of J.C. Johnson's designs that's been butchered by having its mansard roof and other superstructure removed and replaced with a drab and inappropriate third-floor addition.

The Butler County Courthouse reminds me, though, that Ohio probably would win a contest to determine what state has the greatest number of once-grand and elegant courthouses that have been mercilessly butchered by thoughtless remodeling or inapproprate repairs. If I remember, courthouses in both Hamilton and Tiffin lost their original domes to fire, and both replacement towers are travesties juxtaposed against the original style of the buildings. I think it's Defiance that has one of J.C. Johnson's designs that's been butchered by having its mansard roof and other superstructure removed and replaced with a drab and inappropriate third-floor addition.

 

Indeed, although I do not think Tiffin had a fire, they were just looking to modernize. The same happened in Erie County, where the entire Second Empire courthouse was recladded in a sleak 1930's facade. Lorain County's courthouse in Elyria lost its tower altogether, just like its duplicate in Marion, Indiana. Finally, in Steubenville, the Jefferson County Courthouse lost its mansard and tower in a 1950's storm and was never replaced.

 

Interesting info. The one in Marion, Indiana, did lose its tower from fire I think. The tower in Tiffin isn't bad in itself; it's just terribly inappropriate on that building. An entire new courthouse in the style of the tower could have been quite striking.