Place 16 of 52: The Arts Are Flourishing in Cincinnati

Speaking of Cincinnati Arts, don't forget CCM- the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, which has, amongst other treasures, the first and oldest US bachelor's degree program in Musical Theatre. Here in Cincinnati you can see talented artists before they hit Broadway: According to Playbill, CCM is represented on Broadway the second most of any college for the 2017-2018 season.

I used to have a view of the park in the bottom-left photo. Fantastic time when I lived in downtown. Loved every minute of it. Way better than Phoenix, where I live now. For a city of its size, it has great architecture, tons of top-notch restaurants, a very strong arts scene, the Reds/Browns and now an MLS team, plus everything is walkable. I visit 4 times a year to meet up with old friends and love the drive down 71 into the city from the airport where you get that amazing glimpse of the skyline. Always feels like home. For those worried about conservatives, they live outside the city in the beltway, so you'll never run into them unless you drive 15 miles out, or if you go to -- and every Cincinnatian knows what I'm talking about -- across the bridge to ... Kentucky....

My favorite part of Cincinnati is the Cincinnati Nature Center. 1,000 acres with 16 miles of hiking trails that cover just about all of Ohio's biomes, including prairie fields, ponds, an old growth forest, and slate-lined creek with several waterfalls. It's dog and child friendly, and after your hike, you can pick up some Charley Harper prints.

It's good to see Cincinnati recover from the moniker of "Censornnati" and the Mapplethorpe censorship fiasco decades ago.

Small thing, but regarding Carew Tower, you must be referring to Rockefeller Center rather than the Empire State Building.

During the reign of Henry VIII, even prior to the Bloody Code, when Britain had the population of Cincinnati, 30,000 were hanged for felonies which are , by definition, capital crimes. Today, law and order Cincinnati has 30,000 felons walking the streets; in Trump country, can you believe it? Ipso facto, instead of feckless attempts at farmland art, shouldn’t the public entertainment be the televised daily public hanging of 100 or so of the ungodly for 300 days? If you want to be red, own Bannon's and Trump's and Gingritch's deconstruction and follow it to its natural conclusion.

I've been to Cincinnati a couple dozen times over the last 30 years, and I never tire of it. Motor trips to Cinci can be exhaustive, if you're coming in from Kentucky --- the road construction on I 71-75 never seems to end --- but I pull off as soon as I can. There are nice spots across the river in Newport KY, known for its aquarium and shopping/restaurant plaza. There's also a bridge that has been converted to bicycle and pedestrian use; on two trips, I left my car in Kentucky and bicycled into Ohio. I usually make my way to Fountain Square, which is a pleasant outdoor gathering place, complete with its famous fountain (you may remember it from the opening credits of CBS's WKRP in Cincinnati), and there's live music on most days during the summer. Jada, isn't Carew Tower fantastic? Full of nicely preserved Deco elements, the decor almost distracts me from the two reasons I visit there: breakfast inside at Hathaway's, a wonderful diner operating within since 1956; and the trip to the observation deck. Jada, I stood where you did and enjoyed the fine view in all cardinal directions. The new arts attractions, I shall have to check out on upcoming visits. Don't forget the old train terminal, west of downtown, because it was beautifully restored and is a museum. And yes, plenty of great eateries. It's not just Skyline Chili, folks. Thanks for this feature, Jada!

I lived in Cincinnati for over a year (and worked in the Downtown) and went to university an hour away in the late 80s and this city wasn't anything like this article described. On almost a weekly basis I heard citizen's using the 'N' word to describe their African-American residents. There was also a cross burning in the downtown by the local KKK chapter while I lived there and crime in the downtown was rampant. Cincinnati was the most racist place I've ever lived in my life and I lived all over the U.S. and in Europe. In the late 80s, much of the downtown was dead or dingy. I even got chased down the street by a mugger as I left my my place of work as a manager trainee at a large convention hotel one Sunday evening (I made it to my car just in time). I'm happy to see things are finally looking up.

There are very few American cities that I would put on a list of "places to visit." For the most part, the U.S. has produced city-scapes devoid of character, warmth or style. Most are dominated by the automobile which clog the streets and make it virtually impossible to create "public spaces." Tall buildings cast shadows and darken the atmosphere and, god forbid, there be any open plazas or pedestrian zones free from traffic. I can, with confidence, tell you that I will never visit Cincinnati if I don't have to.

An authentic old American city, great place to visit. Rookwood Pottery is back in action and is also on the streetcar line. Definitely worth a visit. The Netherland has an amazing Sunday brunch and the stadium area is lots of fun on game days. Visit Indian Hill and Hyde Park to see some spectacular home from 100 years ago.

Much much more to Cincinnati then this columnist mentions (starting with the hills -- Cincinnati occupies multiple hills). The Cincinnati Art Museum next to Eden Park is very interesting museum both architecturally and in terms of exhibition practices and serves a very good and inexpensive lunch by an outdoor courtyard. The Cincinnati wing pays mucho homage to the well-helled women who carved art furniture in the late 19th C and Rookwood pottery established by Maria Longworth Nichols. (Their website need improvement. NB). Union Station now a museum is known for its Art Deco architecture and murals. Harriet Beecher Stowe lived here -- and her house is open several days a week. The Taft Museum (he was a president from Ohio) is the family mansion is of historical and art historical interest (It's downtown.) Cincinnati Zoo apparently no longer has summer operas. The suburb of Glendale has impressive 19th and 20th C mansions -- no tours of which I am aware. The Interstate highway system and baby boom post WWII led to suburbanization.. Cincinnati unlike Pittsburg (another interesting city on the Ohio River with lots to offer). The Roebling built suspension bridge is of course the precursor (practice) for the Brooklyn Bridge. BTW those who love things ancient Indian might take a drive to Fort Ancient about an hour from the city with more than decent exhibits of life among the Hopewells -- and another terrible website.

We enjoyed our trip to Cincinnati and would definitely return. However, the city needs a plan to overcome the huge disconnect between communities being caused by the gentrification in the Over the Rhine district. It is jarring to see all the fou-fou boutiques, pet boutiques, breweries and restaurants and the lack of amenities for the long time community like a decent sized grocery store, laundromats, etc. Also, we encountered a huge amount of panhandlers - not compared to Mpls but even in context of growing up on NYC in the 80s and 90s. I hope the city overcomes these obstacles because it has a lot going for it.

My husband and I moved to Cincinnati in 2010 and just bought our first home last year. We specifically wanted an old house (ours was built in 1929) and wanted it to be within the city limits (it is). There's so much to do and see in Cincinnati--and so many new things opening/happening--that my husband and I feel like we'll never get to it all! The city certainly has its flaws and is far from perfect (the same could be said for every city), but we're really happy in our adopted home! My cousin is coming to visit this weekend, and I'm looking forward to showing her some of the highlights.

Yeah, Cincinnati is good in many ways. The parks are beautiful and the new development along the river is wonderful. The mayor's largest campaign donor was from Parking Company of America. It shows, with his dislike of bike lanes and affection for parking lots. We need a more progressive mayor to keep the positive momentum going.

I don't care what Cincinnatti is doing. It is patently ridiculous for there to be any American locations on the list this year. No one should be visiting Trump's America, unless they need to.

Yes, the cultural venues are outstanding and the rebirth of O-T-R is truly breathtaking. After six years in suburban Cincinnati, enough was enough. Insular, closed minds and totally ignorant about the rest of the planet in too many cases. Also, that "chili" would make Texan laugh. No, thanks.

Cincinnati does have a lot of cultural options, but, Cincinnati's German heritage is belied by the lack of a good German restaurant. Cincinnati's many communities reflect divisiveness, not much unity. Cincinnati can be a wonderful city,but it as a way to go. The first step must be to end the racial animosity that lingers. I have lived in Cincinnati for 35 years. I have enjoyed pretty much all of the city's cultural delights, but the lack of real cultural unity.

The author didn’t mention Museum Center. If you like architecture and murals this is the place to go. It’s looks as if Wonder Woman and Superman should be standing in front of it. The inside is breathtaking.

I grew up on the KY side and left decades ago when I was twenty one and only returned to visit family. The brick houses in the old neighborhoods of Newport and Covington with their attention to detail are a joy. Even more so now that younger and more affluent families removing into them. Th OTR changing from a blight to a more civilized are has been a plus. The best and original 'Cincinnati Chili' is found on Monmouth Sreet in Newport at the Dixi Chili and the only goetta worth the name is Glier's made in Northern KY. Some mention of the 'glory days' of Newport and Covington when nightclubs, brothels, bookie joints and casinos flourished from the conventions across the river all under the benevolent eyes of the local police and sheriff departments. That might have provided some historical background. It was a most interesting to place to grow up in. Cincinnati was fortunate to have a working class German community that supplied the cratsmen that worked in the tool and die industries and the Jewish community that funded almost all of the art and culture. And finally no mention of the role it played as a first stop on the Underground Railroad?

Cincinnati has much to offer as detailed in this article, but what was missed was even a mention of the art and large projection festival that happened in downtown last October, and will return in October 2019 called Blink. It was free, covered an area from the river up to Findlay Market and featured more than 100 artist from around the world. As I remember more than a million people attended that weekend, and while I was there on Saturday evening I witnessed no drunks, smelled no weed, and saw no foolish behavior. Safe and family friendly. Also remiss in the article was no mention of the Pendleton Art Center, close to the Jack Casino, which is open to the public on the last Friday evening of each month and allows people to see and meet over 200 local artists.

In my 59 years living in the Cincinnati area, I've never heard anyone refer to the Roebling Suspension Bridge as "The Blue Bridge."

I went to graduate school in Cincinnati from 1974 to 1981. I moved there from upstate New York and had grown up in the white suburbs of Long Island. That said, in the mid-to-late seventies, official Cincinnati had an extremely conservative bent just beneath its palpable and seductive charm. At that time, Cincinnati was not a safe-enough place for gays or African Americans. Ongoing police stings to entrap gay men were front-page news. The Black community endured even more. Cincinnati today is, by many accounts, a much more tolerant and progressive city. But it owes much to the bravery of the progressive pioneers of the seventies, who organized, protested, and rejected Cincinnati's longstanding oppressive community standards. Seeds were planted back then for what has now become Cincinnati's more progressive, tolerant--and admittedly praiseworthy--culture. But, in my opinion, any assessment of its current charm should at least contain a nod to its less tolerant past and the pioneering efforts of many enlightened citizens to bring about much-deserved cultural and political change.

I lived in Cincinnati for 30 years and have also experienced NYC, Chicago and, now, Peoria. Cincinnati? Not too small, not too big, just right. And OTR is a gem.

Just a little sample of what you are missing in the “ flyover states”. Hip especially is loaded with gems like these.

I am a born Cincinnatian, having left for NYC at twenty-three, and now residing in Dallas. I cannot begin to explain how happy I am to see the city finally embracing its own beauty, particularly its array of 19th century architecture. The Queen City is truly in the throes of an arts renaissance, and as an illustrator married to a traditional jazz bandleader, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be coming back to stay, and become part of the movement.

Goetta! I grew up eating the stuff, sliced and pan fried in oil. Same color and texture as cinderblock and almost as heavy. Ah, Cincinnati.

Aglamesis Brothers ice cream is vastly superior to the corporate cliche that is now Graeter's. You hit the obvious things but missed many lesser known but much more original gems. Yes, the city has grown up a lot on recent years but still has a long way to go.

The biggest asset Cincinnati has is it architectural heritage. Cincinnati is a city where 85% of the inhabitants of the metro live outside city in the suburbs making it hard for them to have a have a knowledge or appreciation of this.

The Suspension Bridge I believe is more likely to be called the "singing bridge" because the surface of grated steel makes car tires "sing" when they drive across it.

The author must be delirious. I've had the misfortune of living in Cincinnati for the past 6 years. It's great if you've never been anywhere else in the world and have no basis for comparison. People will tell you to go to the Findlay Market. Well...have you ever been to any other market anywhere else? If so, you won't be impressed by this one. Shakespeare Company has a new theater, but their performances are mediocre. The Music Hall, where the symphony performs, has been remodeled. But the concerts are half empty much of the time. Chain restaurants abound here but if you want good ethnic food, you have to drive 5 hours to Chicago. If you are from other places, you may enjoy Cincinnati. If you're from California or New York, don't waste your time.

We visited Cincinnati in the past month given its placement on the 52 Places list (and also to watch the Cubs play). One thing not described in detail is the new streetcar line which loops around to almost all the downtown attractions. You can purchase an all day pass for $2.00 on the Cincy EZRide app. The streetcar stops within easy walking distance of downtown hotels, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (highly recommended), the ballpark, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and the Music Hall, as well as Findlay Market and the brewery district. There is a stop right outside the Rhinegeist brewery, which makes for a fun stop after a concert or play. The streetcar runs until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.