So, I've been telling everybody I know in Milwaukee that I'm in love with Cincinnati and I'll be moving there next year.  But whenever I say this, it quickly becomes clear that they're actually picturing Cleveland.  I seem to have to explain the difference between the two cities regularly to people.  I would understand this, considereing they're both large cities in Ohio with similarly long names starting in C...but no one ever seems to confuse either of them with Columbus.  That's where I'm at a loss.  I can't find the common factor in Cleveland and Cincinnati that's missing in Columbus.

 

Maybe it's that both have pro-football teams or that Cin and Cle make headlines more often...but it could be something different.

 

This may be a difficult topic to grasp if you're living in Ohio, but this has happened to me MANY times in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Wausau, Des Moines, New York, and Rhode Island...so there must be some psychological distinction.

This same thing has happened to me in Atlanta and Baton Rouge.  It's normally something like...

 

Person A: "Where are you from?"

 

Me: "Cincinnati...Ohio"

 

Person A: "Oh neat...I've been to Ohio before.  Very nice."

 

Me:  "Cool, what part?"

 

Person A: "Well I have relatives and I think we've driven through Cincinnati before."

 

Me: "What highway were you on?"

 

Person A:  "I don't remember"

 

 

After this goes on for awhile, and I describe that Cincinnati is located on the mighty Ohio River, and Cleveland is located on Lake Erie they then start to sort things out in there head...you can see the look on their face of trying to remember whether they saw a lake or a river.  By then I'm usually frusterated and show them a picture and say something like "does this look familiar."  Ugh.

I'd say that a professional sports team helps more than anything, especially the NFL and MLB.

That is really what it comes down (and WKRP).

Tell 'em it's the city with the pro football team which has the orange helmets.

Even Pennsylvania's cities are spread very far apart, though. Ohio is really unique in that we have so many large metro areas so close together in one small state.

 

A lot of folks don't realize Cincinnati is so hilly - I've heard many people from Michigan say they were surprised by that. They think all of Ohio is flat with cornfields.

^When in fact, that's Michigan :D

I think they have trees in Michigan too.

FFW to 4:18...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3q5KLg2i5E

I think they have trees in Michigan too.

 

I just checked, nope.

Detroit has trees but the branches are usually poking out of the vinyl siding or windows.

Let me just say there are tons of people up here in Michigan who have no clue what Cincinnati looks like, or even where it's located.  They most likely can't even spell it either "Cincinatty looks right!"

 

They picture it flat like Detroit, except with more buildings, and the stadium where the Bengals play.  Except they can only picture the OLD stadium because they've only seen the implosion video.

 

Surprisingly a handful can identify Carew Tower because they saw it above the other buildings when driving by on I-75.

 

 

 

Then again, many Michiganders don't know their own state.  The tri-cities are somewhere "The U.P???"  Except they accidentally place Flint in with Saginaw and that nasty chemical place Midland.  They forget Bay City, but it's somewhere on the Bay isn't it?  Grand Rapids?  If you are from the East side of the state few people have ever been there, they might as well be part of Chicago.  Meanwhile Grand Rapids wishes it was part of Chicago's CSA and wonder when Detroit will shrink further enough to disappear.  Ann Arbor apparently never left the 60's and 70's, but at least we can all agree Lansing is boring.

HAHA, thanks for the insight.  Grand Rapids is a great place, and if I were there, I'd want Detroit to shrink too...

But I still think us Wisconsinites need to revolt and get our Upper Peninsula back. 

^ sure, us ohioans would gladly give up toledo. seriously!  say, why don't we just split up michigan in half with wisconsin and call it a day? :laugh:

They most likely can't even spell it either "Cincinatty looks right!"

 

It was rated something like the 5th hardest city to spell like 5 or so years ago, so I don't doubt it.

5th?  I really want to see that list.  I'd imagine Schenectady was up there too, but I can't think of many other difficult one.  Truth or Consequences?

5th? I really want to see that list. I'd imagine Schenectady was up there too, but I can't think of many other difficult one. Truth or Consequences?

 

Maybe Tucson, Albuquerque, or Wilkes-Barre (I'm not even quite sure how to say this one)!  Wilks-Bar???

5th? I really want to see that list. I'd imagine Schenectady was up there too, but I can't think of many other difficult one. Truth or Consequences?

 

Yeah, I tried finding it. I heard it on CNN or something like that back when I lived in the Memphis region.

5th?  I really want to see that list.  I'd imagine Schenectady was up there too, but I can't think of many other difficult one.  Truth or Consequences?

 

Pittsburgh was one of them...I guess a lot of people leave off the 'H' on the end.

 

Wilkes-Barre (I'm not even quite sure how to say this one)! Wilks-Bar???

 

haha. yeah. fyi here's the answer from the city website:

 

So, how do you pronounce Wilkes-Barre?

 

In addition to being one of the few cities in the United States that features a hyphen, the name of our fine city can also prove to by tricky to pronounce. The two widely accepted ways to pronounce Wilkes-Barre are "Wilkes-BERRY" and "Wilkes-BEAR".

 

http://www.wilkes-barre.pa.us/wbpro.php

 

^^^^I have out of town guests at my place of employment (in the CASE-CCF corner of town) who ask if that radio station is still around.