snow! December 5, 2007
We got our first snowfall of the season in Cincinnati this morning. It began before dawn and we had about 2″ of snow on the ground when I left for work (about 7:15am). Surprisingly, my commute wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated… although there were plenty of accidents everywhere else around the city.
i heart louisville… September 4, 2007
Charlie and I just got back from a couple of days in Louisville. I think we’re in love…
Louisville is what I wish Cincinnati could be. Granted we stayed in the “East Market/Main” district… But you can tell by just treking around a bit that this is a city who cares about it’s downtown area and has a vision of what they want it to be. This is an old river town and developers have made good use of the building stock, instead of simply letting it go to waste and then either tearing it down or sit and become an eyesore. It also brings a visual consistency, which adds to the character of the area. Louisville is ranked among the safest large US cities and you can tell… We walked around the city quite a bit and never once did we feel unsafe and we were never approached by anyone asking for money. Charlie was impressed by how clean the city streets were kept, the building codes (even the alleys were well kept), and how many people were out on the bike routes. I love Cincinnati and I’ve enjoyed my time here… however I also pay attention to what happens around town. The city is divided in so many ways… politically, socio-economically, racially… shall I go on? 89 homicides last year. Where do I live the bowels of hell? Millions of dollars were spent on the Fountain Square renovation. But who wants to go downtown? I’ve lived here for nearly 5 years and have seen absolutely no progress on “The Banks.” So, I’ll continue to go across the river to see a movie or grab a drink and put my money into Newport’s economy. I went to Party in the Park last week… I drove across the Big Mac bridge and paid $3 to park in the Levee garage, just so I could feel some sense of security and not worry about coming back to a broken car window. On thing I’ve learned in my brief time in the Queen City is that Cincinnati think it’s very important. The town and it’s citizens are, with some exceptions, stuck on themselves. It’s almost “Stepford”-like in that it portrays this certain image, but internally it’s so divided that it can’t get anything done. The city is a mess. I’m certain that Louisville has it’s share of problems too… What urban area doesn’t? But it obviously has a vision and it’s running with it and it’s working.
a nice surprise August 19, 2007
Every weekend I take the AA highway from Cincinnati to Grayson, KY on my way to Huntington, WV. It’s usually an uneventful drive through rural Kentucky. But this Friday I got a nice surprise when driving through the tiny little town of Maysville, KY. The sunset was filled with about 20 hot air balloons. Call me a dork, but I’ve never gotten over thinking these were cool. My irrational fear of heights would never allow me to actually take a ride in one… but I think they are beautiful. I love all the vibrant colors against a bright, blue sky… or in this case, the setting sun. Unfortunately I didn’t have the digital camera with me on this trip, but I was able to get a few shots with the camera phone.
