Cincinnati, Ohio

What are the pros and cons of living in Cincinnati Ohio?

Pros:

• Beautiful setting with verdant hills and the Ohio River.
• Great architecture, especially Art Deco highlighted by the magnificent Union Terminal (now Museum Center).
• A variety of urban neighborhood choices, from historic Over The Rhine and Clifton to tony Hyde Park to cozy Mount Lookout.
• A great downtown.
• World-class arts, especially music with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, May Festival, etc. And don’t forget the Contemporary Arts Center, Art Museum, Aronoff Center, Music Hall and College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.
• Excellent healthcare and hospitals.
• Generally strong and diverse economy for a Midwestern city.
• Friendly people.

Cons:

• Cincinnati has a history of racial trouble, most recently with the 2001 riots. The city has worked on this but it has a long way to go.
• Pockets of entrenched poverty.
• Icy roads and sidewalks a few times a year.

What are the pros and cons of living in Cincinnati Ohio?

If you like biking tough terrain we have lots of hills for you. The cost of living is very affordable. We have pro sports teams and an active cultural scene. We have one of the best library systems in the country and a terrific university. It's a manageable urban environment. You can drive most places in the city in 20 minutes. We dont have a subway but the buses are good. There are more than 100 neighborhoods and they all have their own character and their own economics and politics. Where you live will greatly influence how you feel about living here.

Cincinnati has a lot of history. We have a lot of wonderful Art Deco and Victorian architecture. We have the second largest cemetery in the country and it is also a historic site and botanical garden (a favorite place to bike and jog) we also have one of the largest urban forests in the country. The water treatment and groundwater management is progessive. This fall I had a wonderful day canoeing the Mill Creek, a former dump site for industrial waste that cuts through the city and has been reclaimed. The parks and the river are lovely. We have a great zoo.

The worst thing about the city is the city govts tendency to impede economic progress with indecision and short sighted planning. That, and I-75 has been a mess for the last 10 years. Because it is hilly people drive everywhere so it's easy to put on weight. The city tends to be a bit stodgy but there are pockets of progressive thinking, so it's not hopeless. Because we are in a river valley, some folks experience more allergies here. We have more chili parlors than anywhere in the US but it has Greek and Turkish roots and they dump it on spaghetti. I'm not sure if that's a pro or a con.

What are the pros and cons of living in Cincinnati Ohio?

I love Cincy, so this might be a little biased.

Pros:

•A cultural melting pot (Jewish, German, African, you name it)

•A “Safe Haven” city

•Finlay Market

•Headquarters for P&G, Kroger, and a handful of other companies

•UC campus

•Beautiful old architecture (from Gothic to Art Deco) and lots & lots of history

•Flying Pig Marathon

•The Reds baseball team

•Skyline Chili

•Beautiful sports stadiums

•Vine Street and all of its wonders

•Graeter’s ice cream (yes, it's spelled that way!)

•Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame & Museum

•Ice skating at Fountain Square in the winter

•Cincinnati museum & historic train station

•LaRosa’s pizza

•Annual LGBT+ Pride

•Comic Con at the Duke Energy Convention Center

•Overall a clean, beautiful city

What's it like to live in Cincinnati?

The cost of living is cheap compared to most other "major" cities. I have that in quotations because Cincinnati is a large city with a small town feel. I personally like that, but others may not.

You can live well on $50k if you don't have expensive tastes, it's pretty moderate but if you can't get a place where you want chances are there's a neighborhood 10 minutes away that's more budget friendly.

As for activities, lots of bars and breweries, plenty of green spaces and sports activities for almost everything if you're willing to go minor league/college on some. Don't discount that, they're still good teams. I also personally think we punch above our weight class in regards to the arts. We don't get as many concerts though, which is a pain but if it's something you really want, chances are it's within a moderate drive. Places like Columbus, Indy, and Louisville are all approximately 90 minutes away.

Pros and Cons of Living in Cincinnati, OH.
I've lived in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for over 30 years, and I've surveyed local residents to find what they LOVE and HATE about living in Cincinnati.