Cincinnati - Ohio - Culture

Demographically, the city of Cincinnati squeezes 364,000 people into just 77.62 square miles. Geographically, it is at the midpoint of the 981-mile-long Ohio River and sits 540 feet above sea level. The Cincinnati area is more than just the city, though. It is a region that encompasses three states, eight counties and dozens of smaller cities, unincorporated townships, incorporated villages and tiny one-horse towns. Collectively, the area is better known as the Tri-state or Greater Cincinnati.

Put it on a map and Greater Cincinnati engulfs the south western-most portion of Ohio, the northernmost portion of Kentucky and the south eastern-most portion of Indiana. As a whole, this Tri-state region takes up 3,810 square miles and includes 1.8 million people, making it the second-largest city in Ohio and the 23rd largest in the country.

It has five major highways and an airport with a Delta hub, and a river runs through it with eight bridges tying the area together. Besides the main transportation methods, the area also has buses and boats, limos and taxis, river ferries and horse drawn carriages Two major highways run through the Queen City, meeting up downtown to cross the Ohio River together.

Cincinnati has four distinct seasons, with warm summers and cold winters. While the summer months see average lows in the mid 60s F/17 C and highs in the mid 80s F/29 C, temperatures do climb above 90 F/32 C—even to 100F/38 C on occasions. July can have somewhat uncomfortable humidity (57-85 percent). Nonetheless, summer and fall are the best times (and fall is much sunnier than spring and early summer). Winters can be cold and snowy, with occasional lows below 0 F/-18 C. January temperatures range from 20 to 37 F/-6 to 3 C. Still, a snowy morning on Fountain Square is a wonderful experience.

The downtown is in the midst of a retail and lively arts renaissance. A mighty state-funded theatrical complex is bringing a taste of Broadway to the city. The Main Street entertainment district is a supercharged new concentration of eateries and nightclubs.

Across the river, hotels have sprout up in reaction to the new Northern Kentucky Convention Center and the brand-new Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium. To the west, riverboat casinos are changing the face of rustic Indiana river towns. And on the Ohio River itself, the Tall Stacks museum of 19 riverboats is the biggest collection of vintage steamboats in the world.

Cincinnati is very scenic with some prominent landmarks and a very beautiful skyline. The scenic Ohio River twisting between the hilly banks. The riverfront, the high-rise office buildings and downtown, surrounded by neighbourhoods seeping into the hills all around the city. The Carew Tower, Cincinnati's tallest building, which was built in less than a year during the height of the Great Depression .        

It is the Ohio River that gave birth to the city and made Cincinnati at one time the second-largest city west of the Alleghenies and the sixth-largest city in the nation. The river continues to be one of the things that draws people downtown. There are some beautiful parks and restaurants that flank both sides of the river.

It's like a big city with small-town people. People enjoy spending their lunch time on Fountain Square along the Tyler Davidson Fountain, talking to each other and watching the world go by. Low crime rates, for one--the sixth lowest among major U.S. cities. The area also has some of the lowest unemployment figures and has affordable housing.

Greater Cincinnati has an abundance of nightlife. There's something for everybody, regardless of musical preference, age or social status. You can boot scoot, disco, line dance, slam dance, sumo wrestle, arm wrestle, rub elbows with celebrities, watch five games at once, drink alcohol, drink Perrier, play pinball, play volleyball, sing along, sail, laugh, cry or even do your laundry all in the name of nightlife.

Greater Cincinnati offers a wide variety of house styles, from ultra-contemporary to historic, and an equally wide variety of neighbourhood types. There are golf course communities and enclaves of Victorian and antebellum homes on streets with gas lamps. And none of the neighbourhoods are far from community or county parks, churches or shopping.