So I got this from a Syracuse fan on my sports message board.

I would love to hear some insiders' perspectives as to what makes Cincy great - both objectively and subjectively. So please share your opinion, stories, and so on.

 

Feel free to chime in and I can share over there.

 

One reply was interesting,

 

I've lived all of my adult life in two cities - Denver and Portland

Over the past 20 years, Denver and Portland (like a handful of other cities) have turned their urban cores into creative, vibrant places without having much history to play with. Cincinnati is now enjoying this same revival, but has the architectural bones remaining that will make it one of the most exciting, interesting places to be over the coming decades.

 

Pretty much that. Its history has been neglected for decades, all it needed to be great is redevelopment and repopulation.

It has the bones and it already 'feels' like a great place. The scale is there. And it's entirely unique in the Midwest. The city needs a lot of immigration.

It is not about what makes Cincy Great, it should be what makes Cincy the Greatest.

The people who live there really care about the city and have strong opinions about what goes on in their city. If you've never lived in other cities where citizens are apathetic you might not notice this as much.

Absolutely!  The passion Cincinnatians have for their city is what lured me in a decade ago.  As much as people hate to admit it, Cincinnati's conservative nature is one of its core assets.  The battles that need to be fought for every little detail are what keeps the city from becoming generic.  I think Cincinnati operates more like a European city with an American spirit.