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It caught all of my friends and I off guard - we didn't even know where Cincinnati was, let alone have any feelings about the region or its inhabitants. I honestly had no idea there was such a "division" of the state before I met these Cincinnati residents
I'd been to Cincinnati many times before I moved there from Cleveland, enjoyed my trip, appreciated the city, etc. etc. But until I made the move, I did not realize there was such a difference in attitude, and such rancor and resentment on the part of Cincinnati residents toward Cleveland. Where on the other hand, Clevelanders I knew would say that they enjoyed their visits to Cincinnati, or had no opinion one way or the other about the city.
I think Cincinnatians are just jealous. Frankly, that rancor was part of the reason I detested living in Cincinnati for about the first five or six years I lived there. Resistance was futile, as they say ...
The attitude caught me off guard, too, especially since I went to college in Dayton, where there were plenty of people from Cincinnati and Cleveland on campus. Perhaps kegs were the great levelers.
I wasn't going to open that can of worms, but since you did, here's my take: SW Ohio just has an inferiority complex. Cause honestly, nobody up here cares. We don't dislike Cincinnati, but y'all seem to hate us!
Ha, this is SO true! I grew up in Cleveland and went to college at Miami. When I first got to campus, Cincinnati was still some "abstract concept" to me. Southern Ohioans would seem as though they had prejudiced feelings towards the Northern parts of the state, telling me how horrible Cleveland was and how much they despised the North. It caught all of my friends and I off guard - we didn't even know where Cincinnati was, let alone have any feelings about the region or its inhabitants. I honestly had no idea there was such a "division" of the state before I met these Cincinnati residents!!
Similar experiences, anyone??
Yeah, I've noticed that too. Maybe it has something to do with the seemingly higher percentage of Neo-Cons here or the proximity to the Mason-Dixon line. When I hear Cincinnatians pick on northern Ohio it almost always has something to do with politics.
Ha, this is SO true! I grew up in Cleveland and went to college at Miami. When I first got to campus, Cincinnati was still some "abstract concept" to me. Southern Ohioans would seem as though they had prejudiced feelings towards the Northern parts of the state, telling me how horrible Cleveland was and how much they despised the North. It caught all of my friends and I off guard - we didn't even know where Cincinnati was, let alone have any feelings about the region or its inhabitants. I honestly had no idea there was such a "division" of the state before I met these Cincinnati residents!!
Similar experiences, anyone??
That's so funny because I know a few people from the Cleveland area or other towns in OH that I never knew about who moved to Cincy after Miami and they all say the same thing! It's fun to give them a hard time - but it's all in good fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by boardmanite
I wasn't going to open that can of worms, but since you did, here's my take: SW Ohio just has an inferiority complex. Cause honestly, nobody up here cares. We don't dislike Cincinnati, but y'all seem to hate us!
It's really not that we hate or dislike cleveland or other Ohio places (except maybe the nasally northern accents ) - I guess it just goes back to the point of the thread... things are just different here. I'm not saying its better (or "cooler" as one person surmised), just different, from culture and climate all the way down to the way people talk, which for better or worse often creates divides between different places. However, even if only by a few feet, the actual dot on the map that represents the center of Cincy metro resides in Ohio, so the town is at times compared with and associated with these other areas by outsiders, which many people either find mildly annoying or outright unsettling... this may give way to some amount of heckling.
I'm pretty sure people in Louisville and Indianapolis (or Northern Indiana) don't share this kind of dynamic- I wonder if it would be different if whoever founded Lousiville happened to put the center of it on the other side of the river instead....
Great responses from all in this thread... different points of view are very interesting! Keep 'em coming!
3. When you get down to it, with the exception of metro Cleveland, Cincinnat is just as hillbillyville as the rest of Ohio.
I suggest you visit Columbus metro these days. Columbus is politically so different than the Cincinnati Metro.
When we say moving forward and being progressive we mean not having a place like Cincinnati in our state that has groups within it that create laws trying to evoke the social norms of the 1950s era.
Columbus and Cleveland metro are much more alike, politically, these days. Except, Columbus is more of a progressive, liberal mindset based upon the idea of a free business class but little social control. Columbus is often fighting for similar laws as other "progressive states."
Cleveland is blue because of its blue collar background. Change there is not as social as it is fighting for more traditional democrat viewpoints.
Cincinnati is the place where the gay marriage ban, a ban on stripping, the fight for learning "creationism" in schools, laws against red light camera and cities having their own control of gun bans, and the fight for cancer causing smoke in public places comes from. The Cincinnati area has more "Southern" race issues. Race plays less of a role in Columbus. Cincinnati and the other southern and very far western parts of Ohio have the largest number of "hate groups" in Ohio. Cincinnati area is also where the idea for making "English our only language" came from.
Most of these "Cincinnati" very socially conservative view points are not shared by the Columbus/Cleveland metros. This makes Cincinnati very politically, and culturally different. Thus I do wish Cincinnati was not part of Ohio so we could "progress" forward and not have our state senate and house being held hostage by a republican majority led by south western Ohio.
SW Ohio is held hostage by an evangelical Christian mindset that Metro Columbus and Cleveland cannot understand. Religion can be a great thing but in places like Columbus and Cleveland is not believed that one's literal interpretation of religion should dictate laws for all.
Last edited by streetcreed; 12-18-2007 at 08:31 PM..
Wow - I'm not sure what to make of what I'm reading here ... but I've been gone for decades except for a year-and-a-half I recently spent back in the Cincinnati area and the occasional trip for a funeral - but I have two things to mention ... maybe they'll end up being questions.
1) I have mentioned NE Ohio - as if it's a bad thing - and I don't really want to give that impression (although I do have personal opinion on the matter) - but I never, EVER lumped Cleveland in with NE Ohio - just northern - along with Sandusky and Toledo, etc. Is that concept incorrect? Is Cleveland, in fact, part of northeast Ohio?
2) Now, there seems to be some confusion about who bashed Cleveland. I grew up in Columbus and went college-ing down in Cincy ... and returned a few years later to work in Columbus for a spell ... and I have known many people all around the country from Cleveland. I have never met a Clevander IN Cleveland. But the people I always heard bashing Cleveland were from Cleveland. They'd given everything to get out of there. Even though I grew up with the Browns and the Indians as my teams ... and the Reds ... I never heard anybody bash Cleveland that hadn't come from there ... and I think that's how the general movement to bash Cleveland came about ... could be wrong.
Now, over the years, strange things have happened: The Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland; Drew Carey and his show in Cleveland; The Dogpound!! (woof, freaking woof) and now, I'm seeing some people on this site defending Cleveland ... and I'd just like to know what's up with that?
Now, back to Cincy seceding .... I don't see any feasible way for Cincy to secede and take Cleveland with it - just too darn far - don't want Manchester and Bucyrus and Wooster and all that jumping on board - kinda destroys the notion of secession in the first place.
So, since I walked into the middle of y'all talking about Cleveland ... just thought I'd see where my notions went wrong at. Thanks!
Hey, Rocky - it can be hard to keep up on these darn boards with how quickly the topics morph. I'll break down some points on your post here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyMtnr
1) I have mentioned NE Ohio - as if it's a bad thing - and I don't really want to give that impression (although I do have personal opinion on the matter) - but I never, EVER lumped Cleveland in with NE Ohio - just northern - along with Sandusky and Toledo, etc. Is that concept incorrect? Is Cleveland, in fact, part of northeast Ohio?
Cleveland is very much a part of NE Ohio. Generally, everything from Erie County to Lucas county is Northern Central Ohio. Now, NE Ohio does include such areas as Youngstown and Akron, but the first thought that comes to most peoples' minds when one says "NE Ohio" is Cleveland. If you're unfamiliar with the area, I can see how it would be a little confusing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyMtnr
Now, back to Cincy seceding .... I don't see any feasible way for Cincy to secede and take Cleveland with it - just too darn far - don't want Manchester and Bucyrus and Wooster and all that jumping on board - kinda destroys the notion of secession in the first place.
So, since I walked into the middle of y'all talking about Cleveland ... just thought I'd see where my notions went wrong at. Thanks!
Ha, I don't think anyone is suggesting that Cleveland follow suit - in fact, most have said the opposite. And since we know this is all hypothetical, anyways, I don't think we have to consider Wooster's feelings (sorry, ex-gf goes there. I'm not bitter.).
My husband's family was part of migration from the Appalachians that moved to Cleveland several decades ago. In that group included many of those from southern Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and even western Pennsylvania. He said the people from southern Ohio were made fun of because of their accents, but the people from KY and WV were made fun of the most and generally were treated the worst. But he also said that the people that tended to dislike Cleveland the most were the natives, not people from southern Ohio or the other areas. He still has relatives in the Cleveland area and he says that it still seems to be that way.
Cleveland is very much a part of NE Ohio. Generally, everything from Erie County to Lucas county is Northern Central Ohio. Now, NE Ohio does include such areas as Youngstown and Akron, but the first thought that comes to most peoples' minds when one says "NE Ohio" is Cleveland. If you're unfamiliar with the area, I can see how it would be a little confusing.
Ah Gee, I did it again. I've really gotta pull my map out before I say things - I was putting Ray "BoomBoom" Mancini in Youngstown just a few posts ago ... but he's from a town near Dayton I think ... I need two 'puters now - one for playing with you folks and one to keep GoogleEarth up at all times!
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Ha, I don't think anyone is suggesting that Cleveland follow suit - in fact, most have said the opposite. And since we know this is all hypothetical, anyways, I don't think we have to consider Wooster's feelings (sorry, ex-gf goes there. I'm not bitter.).
I went to camp near Wooster for two or three years - a church camp at Round Lake. I liked the area. Watched Neil Armstrong step on the Moon while sitting under a tree at Round Lake. Got some of my first kisses from girls somewhere around there. Hot spot for me!
However, I am surprised that Cleveland is considered NE. I'll have to adjust my thinking ... again!
There's a little area I like to pick on around Akron, Cambridge, Steubenville - and I haven't even been there for several lifetimes. It's just, I had a cousin from out there and he was snooty - and later in life I worked with a fellow born and raised in Akron and he was snooty - so, my take on the area is tainted. I remember playing golf as a young'un at that famous course by Akron - "Goodyear" or something - and the groundhogs that infested the fairways were waay large ... and snooty (well, they wouldn't get out of the way!!)
Now, I'm a fan of Cincinnati - especially the Cincinnati of 1969/70/71 - coming from Columbus, it was quite the international type of town. It was definitely one of three "cool" places in the country then, outside of Ft. Lauderdale (those 3 "cool" places were NYC, SF and Cin'ti ... and sometimes Philly). Last I saw of it though, it had lost it's edge - seemed just like anyplace else ... which was real disappointing - but I'd still vote for secession ... except for the "hanging chad" thing going on back there would negate my vote fer sure.
Thanks for the help Miami! Apologies to Cantonites and Akronites and the rest of them Pennsylvanians!
Cincinnati metro only should sucede from Ohio. It does not politically fit into the state.
The rest of the state could then function with "one political voice."
Cleveland and Columbus metros would make a great pair and their populations would be enough to balance out most of the very conservative voices in the NW Ohio area.
The state would be more balanced politically. We could move in a more united direction.
The idea that Cincinnati should sucede comes from the belief that Cincinnati is kind of the odd man out in the state and throws everything off. Yes, you would still have differences from SE ohio to NE ohio and NW Ohio and Central Ohio. But those 4 regions have much more in common than different and could function together.
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Frankly, that rancor was part of the reason I detested living in Cincinnati for about the first five or six years I lived there. Resistance was futile, as they say ... 
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