I got this flyer promoting Northside from a local realtor a week or so ago.

Inside are a list of some of the businesses in the neighborhood (bars, restaurants, retail, hair salons) with index numbers and one panel has a map that shows the locations by the index numbers.

It's interesting. I don't know how the neighborhood business association plans to distribute it.

Frankly it kinda looks like preaching to the choir to me.

Shouldn't it be "live differently"?  I will call my HS english teacher and ask.

Northside is so cool that their ads don't necessitate perfect grammar. Northside is a great neighborhood...very diverse and improving greatly. It's already experiencing a lot of gentrification but I think it's going to happen at a much faster rate soon. Full of artsy/gay/bohemian/impoverished people and even some professionals.

Well, I think they are just ripping off the old Apple advertising campaign, "Think Different" (that had some pretty funny parodies).

Northside has a lot of professionals, actually. The number of graphic artists (who probably use Macs) constantly amazes me.

Still, I think they should be doing more to market the area as a place to buy a home and as a place to start a business.

Quimbob do you live in Northside? I thought you stayed in OTR or the west end or something. I love Northside; you can't beat the mom and pop places there. So much character. I think a lot of neighborhoods can use a lot more marketing; especially since Cincinnati suffers from decentralized entertainment. I do see a lot of "I <3 Northside" bumper stickers on cars but how else can we raise awareness? As cool as Northside is and as much as it has to offer, I feel that not enough people in Cincinnati are aware of it.

 

    ^--- Put up a sign visible from I-74 and I-75.

 

    Thousands of people pass right by Northside, and I suspect that very few of them have actually been there.

 

   

Yeah and imagine if the freeway blocked access as it was proposed (btw what is going on with that?). I was just talking to Atlas about how we think Northside should be the equivelent of the short north (obviously on a smaller scale). Perhaps access and an awkward landlocked location is all thats been holding it back. Cincinnati does need to invest in more signage. Each neighborhood has a distinct character. Might as well turn it into a brand. It can only help.

Hey, it's Carrie and Don!

Hey Quim, the brochures are in Northside businesses but also at local hotels, every meeting Northside folks go to (which is a lot!), and that kind of thing.  Just as one example,  we gave all the teachers and staff at Chase brochures, a group of folks who are in the neighborhood every day but might not necessarily hit the business district, they're great for that kind of thing.

As for getting the word out, I agree we could use some signage.  Somebody proposed a Hollywood type Northside sign for the top of American Can Factory Square but I'm not 100% sure that wasn't in jest.  I know that ODOT indicated some flexibility for signage off I-74 (and in answer to the highway question above, last I heard all access was via Colerain, off 74, which would be improved and made  into a full motion interchange, there is a pdf on the community council page at northside.net) whenever that whole thing gets done, but I'll believe it when I see it....