This creator needs to spend more time in Cincinnati. The video vastly underappreciates this city. He starts out saying how boring the skyline is. He has clearly never driven up north I-75 and witnessed the skyline pop up with all its glory. Please take all this video says with a grain of salt.
I agree. There's a LOT of historic buildings here. I've lived here in Mason, Ohio for 3 months but work in Downtown Cincy and am impressed at how the city preserved a LOT of structures. This includes across the bridge in Newport, Kentucky. There's whole neighborhoods of houses from the 30'40s still standing and looking amazing.
Cincinnatian here. We still have quite a lot of historic buildings left in Over-the-Rhine. The 20th Century Modernists tried to bulldoze it many times, but luckily they failed each time.
Also, I would object to the claim that Cincinnati is boring. I’ve been in Cincinnati for almost a decade now, and it’s become my home. From places like Findlay Market to Hyde Park Square where you can see the history living in real time, there’s also a rich social climate in local breweries and a great pride in Cincinnati’s professional sports teams regardless of how good they are. I’d argue that as a midwestern metropolis, Cincinnati is one of the most interesting and fun midwest cities with endless activities and endless neighborhoods to see. Everyone who lives here identifies themself from what neighborhood inside of Cincinnati they’re from - whether that’s the West Side, Eastgate, Hyde Park, Oakley, etc. and it strikes up such amazing conversations between individuals. If only you spread your search up into Hyde Park and Oakley, you’d find that there are so many untouched historical buildings still standing - especially homes. Cincinnati has respected and loves its historical roots, but it has also failed in many aspects in gerrymandering and wiping out African American communities in order to building our modern day skyline. Wish there was a better analysis on this video as a whole.
Amtrak 3 times a week at 11 pm. Hardly progress. Auto centric insanity needs to vanish. The auto and oil barons and all their cronies and commuter airlines threaten any rail projects.
As a native Cincinnatian who has lived in multiple 100yr old homes inside the city, this video is unfortunately massively oversimplified. I walk and bike everywhere in this city. Downtown is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city and the population decline mentioned here reversed ten years ago. We recently passed a tax levy to upgrade rapid transit and are working actively to reconnect our vibrant downtown to one of the most beautiful urban parks in America along the Ohio River. Have too many cool old structures been lost and do I wish the subway had been built? Sure. But, it’s a wonderful place to live that has some of the most amazing architecture and housing stock in the country.
It’s definitely turned around, but it made the same mistake as a lot of America in cutting off its waterfront with interstates and now that is expensive to undo. I hope they can convert more of the downtown buildings into housing, because demand for those offices, like the one my grandfather had in Carew Tower, is never coming back.
Going to have to get the crime rate under control before anything moves forward downtown. There’s multiple shootings daily down there and the neighborhoods around it and it’s disgusting honestly.
I live here and basically everything he said in the first 10 sentences is totally false. The architecture downtown has tons of history with amazing styles that vary from Gothic and art deco to tudor and Victorian to modern . The city is totally walkable or accessible by street car. Festivals and events happening ALL the time. Traffic is light even for a busy city. Great food everywhere. I don't think this guy has ever even been to Cincy
Compared to what other cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, and Detroit suffered, I think Cincinnati still walking out of it with some of their heritage still in tact is a lot more hopeful of a fate than most other American cities.
@@Rapture582 Riiight, the same Detroti and STL that have a declining population and severe amounts of abandoned homes. Unlike those places Cinncinati actually gained population in the past few years.
@@diodelvino3048 Detroit's core is still recognizable and revitalized. Current population gains has nothing to do with how much Cincinnati has lost. There's no way Cincinnati somehow has more "heritage" in tact proportionally than Detroit or STL.
@@Rapture582 Population gains has EVERYTHING to do with it. you just dont want to believe it since that doesnt match with your beliefs. Thats your own problem
I often weep at what has been lost on our great Victorian cities in the UK, as volumes have been written about it and an photographer called Francis Frith recorded much of it. Although urban planning was largely responsible we at least have an excuse of extensive World War 2 bombing. I struggle to explain how America without this reason to undertake these destructive programmes can really justify it
It was the confusion of convenience being some sort of freedom, and that nothing, not even entire neighborhoods, churches, and grand palaces, should stand against it. So we demolished, so that we could conveniently commute. That, and the exponential rise in speculation on property, saw to a vast and still ongoing campaign of demolition and throw-away mentality.
Everyone who used to live in slums near cinci union station now has a house on a half acre lot in the suburbs with a good school system. So yeah some apartment buildings that no one wants to live in were torn down but everyone who lived there generally improved their amenities.
The corporate model requires perpetual "growth", hence planned obsolescenceahd disposable everything ushered in by the propagandists like Ed Bernays. Humans are gullible and the parasites that run the world prey on that weakness.
@@mickeygraeme2201Whilst some of that is true and was the case in the UK. I am afraid the great civic buildings including librarys and Universities and commerce was largely replaced with ugly concrete and glass and only largely used 9-5, and this was definately not an improvement. Before you say high maintenance costs most of these building were very well constructed and even if there a slightly higher cost most prople would prefer the interior and exterior aesthetic to have survived.
Great post. People say the US has no history, bullocks. All these industrial age Victorian city centers span the Anglosphere. I visited Cincinnati last year and loved it as I know architecture. Incredible river towns and cities throughout the Midwest
From Cincinnati, I'm amazed at how you continue to make videos about places you've never visited and don't possess an entry level of understanding. Cincinnati proper never incorporated the surrounding county. Half a million people live in an area less than 80 square miles. Greater Cincinnati is the area outside of the city and is more representative of a population that calls themselves Cincinnatians but doesn't actual love in city limits. That population is 2.6 million people. Cincinnati is known for is historical preservation which is why it is a common spot for movie crews making period films. Your generation needs to understand that Google's and some facts isn't knowledge nor wisdom on a topic. Danke
Old fool just because some parts are preserved most isnt. And congrats on your semantics argument obviously suburbs arent the actual city. Typing up a storm and youre wrong the entire time
It's baffling how people in the past looked at the historic city centers and said "Nah, let's bulldoze this." And then they flock to Europe on Vacation to enjoy all these historic towns.
@@c0rnichon this architectural demoralization was/is by design & most of the people certainly didn't want it to go this way - but, of course, it's just the American Fantasy that ' most ' of the people will have their say & their way - in reality - a very small percentage are in charge
As poor of a reputation as many large midwest cities have, I find they have considerably more interesting heritage and history than many large cities in the west or sunbelt, which are just downright boring and devoid of culture.
the difference between the cities that were built before cars and after cars is incredible. once walkability was no longer important everything changed
You need to check out Charleston SC, Savannah GA, San Antonio TX, Key West FL, St. Augustine FL (oldest city in US), Sedona AZ, Pueblo/Taos NM and Santa Fe NM.
@ChatGPT1111 those examples all still kind of reflect my point as they're either old cities or smaller tourism/recreation focused towns. Sunbelt generally refers to more modern developments in sprawling, urban metros like Dallas, Atlanta, or Phoenix.
@@johnd.2114 if you're only interested in high population cities, the south did not have any back then. For example, the population of Phoenix in 1890 was 35,000. If the north had not destroyed the major cities of the south to where they had to start over, it might've been different, but in any event the north had a 100-200 year head start.
I agree. East Coast and Midwest cities rock. I’m a Philadelphian and I love the saturation of culture and various scenes here. I was recently in San Fran and it was really cool to see a place out West with narrow roads and walkability. Awesome multicultural influences there too. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d love to live in SF
I live in Over the Rhine. While yes a lot of destruction was done to the city to focus on highways and parking, the city itself is still in very good shape and much of the urban areas have been revitalized (gentrified) with lots of work still being done (new builds and rehabbing existing buildings). City is very much so on the up compared to what it went through from 1950-2000 with everyone moving to the burbs
Truly unimaginable. The folks who work in those industrial warehouses between seas of parking lots have literally no idea that a beautiful integrated dense and lively downtown once stood there. It's a lost civilization that built their society in a much better way than we build ours.
German here: The huge fountain shown is the Tyler Davidson Fountain. It was crafted by two Bavarians as part of the "beautiful city movement" that came up right before the emergence of private car ownership. That fountain now stands a little relocated from its original site. For more details on that look up the entry in Wikipedia. Probably because of this landmark fountain Cincinnati is celebrating each year a Bavarian "Oktoberfest".
I’ve lived in New York, San Francisco, Oakland, Philadelphia, Wilmington Delaware, and Cincinnati And even though Cincinnati isn’t like the most exciting place, it might be my favorite next to Oakland Like I said, I wouldn’t necessarily call it exciting but it is far from boring. There is always something cool to do. And one of the things about Cincinnati that seems to go to places and not be surrounded You can go to popular areas and still have your little spot and some sort of privacy. Most cities have popular spots, but they’re always packed.
@@taurusmt5 sorry to break to you kid but that's like the entire United States. Actually the worst I ever saw for drugs where are the small towns in Texas and Missouri. It was actually not that bad and Oakland on top of that you have the great weather the great scenery all the cool stuff and all the cool people it really is an awesome place to live.
@@TomisaLami ruclips.net/video/uAF3w0iaAgg/видео.htmlsi=-PBgNG-WoaN1_znv Oakland has been having many problems for decades kid. The drug issues in rural US is way different than in the bay area
I know Cincinnati is not what it used to be but I was also pleasantly surprised by how walkable and bikeable Cincinnati was compared to many other small cities I been to. I was able to easily walk, run and bike from Northern Kentucky/Covington to Cincinnati and be able to walk, run, bike for quite a bit. Mount Adams was especially really nice and a beautiful walk. I was also really impressed with a lot of the older architecture in Cincinnati. Out of all the other cities from this series, I think Cincinnati has the most potential to turn things around.
Nice work and thanks for sharing it. Cincinnati has many architectural jewels, I used to live there a few months as a former P&G employee and it was always a pleasant surprise to spot them. All the comments left are a good testimony on how much this heritage is valued, I also want to mention the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge(formerly the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge) is a suspension bridge that spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1883. Impressive and still there. It looks majestic on foggy days/nights.
i believe that people in the newer generations have an appreciation for what was lost. hopefully as we get older we will start to see it being rebuilt.
@@elliotwilliams7421 dumbass its not a corporate dream. its my dream. to have beautiful, architecturally relevant, and human oriented design (AKA traditional urban design that has been used for millennia). I am very left leaning on many issues, this is not a partisan issue. His comment was not politically oriented in one way or another you just seem to be delusional lol
@@michaelwatson113indeed. I moved here from a small town in Texas 20 years ago. I hated leaving Texas as I love it and have/had a lot of prodding it. That said, I have grown to love Cincinnati. It’s just big enough and just small enough. The people here I feel exhibit a mix of both southern and northern perspective in their views and the way they live their daily lives. I really like this place. And although I’ll always be biased to Texas, Cincinnati is an awesome place to live.
@@carlmay9532I think this video is massively oversimplified. You guys should watch skate and explore Cincinnati by land yachtz if you REALLY wanna see what Cincinnati is about
Atlanta is another one. Completely unrecognizable. Once an old southern city in a forest is now a mess of buildings and sprawling car dependent suburbs.
Most Americans dont care about cities being sprawl and suburbs as long as it provides, and Atlanta has been providing. What it "once was" was a much higher crime rate anyways.
I’ve lived in Cincinnati for most of my life. I disagree with a lot of this. There is a lot of history still around. It’s like anything else that over time things are lost either to fires, or age. While crime can be an issue, overall I feel like Cincinnati is a safe city. As a home care nurse, I have cared for patients all over the city and have never felt unsafe, even during my overnight shifts.
Amazing Grace being played as if the city is dead and your video is the funeral? Cincinnati has a world class symphony playing in magnificent Music Hall. The professional sports stadiums are all downtown. Fountain Square is a joy to sit in with a Graeters Ice Cream in the summer or outdoor ice skating in the winter. The "empty" station being shown is not empty, it has been transformed from an underused Amtrak train station to Cincinnati Museum Center with the children's museum, museum of natural history, IMAX theater, and rotating display area. You neglected to mention the 2nd largest annual Oktoberfest celebration in the world (behind Munich) and the acclaimed University of Cincinnati which includes the College-Conservancy of Music (CCM), You also neglected the exceptional (and free) Cincinnati Art Museum and Walnut Hills High School. If what you care about is high population density and public transportation, Cincinnati is not your thing. If you want functional living, with fantastic green space provided by the Metropark district, Cincinnati is worth the examination - especially if you have a family.
To expand on your point about population density, it shows that the channel hasn't really thought about that point. They bemoan both the usual sprawl and the replacement of older buildings. Those old buildings were built for a specific purpose. If you want to give a growing population somewhere to live and work, those older buildings are limited in how much population they can support. The choice is often replace them or spread out. I think the area has done a good job of preserving many examples of the older, more interesting buildings, and updating them to meet current needs.
It's too bad a video like this exists. I am a Bostonian who relocated to Cincinnati and find you missed the mark in a majority of points. Yes, there are places of decline, sure. But there is a vibrancy here that doesn't scream at you. Sure, there are places that reflect past architecture; but there are signs of restoration and appreciation of it! A city does not have to be verbosity arrogant to be reserved and classy!
I am also a Bostonian that finds Cincinnati a very cool and nice place to live!!! I find a great mix of history here! This guy states history, but his OPINION misses the mark big time.
I'm a Cincinnati native. First, It's not really boring because there's a lot to do. Those of us from here understand northern Kentucky is a key part of what makes the city nice. There's still lots of original architecture that has been rebuilt. Downtown has been rebuilt, with the intention to reduce crime. But the reality is they just moved a few blocks down. If the subway system has been finished, we'd be just as congested as New York. I lived in several different places all over the country, and I may be biased, but Cincinnati is definitely not boring It's all about how you look at it. I wouldn't say it's a fallen City. I would say it's a city in constant transition It has some issues. And there is a lot of segregation depending upon what neighborhood you're in. Some of the neighborhoods that used to be not so great neighborhoods were just painted over with prettier buildings and richer people. But the history, the essence of Cincinnati is definitely not boring. it might be a concrete jungle like everywhere else that is a city that's not on the ocean, But there is definitely some really cool things here the Parks alone are incredible. Just north of Cincinnati is Dayton which is the home of flight. There is a lot of really cool stuff in Southwest Ohio. It's not as boring as you say at the beginning of this video. Compared to Southwest Colorado, This place is a party But you're not too far off. I just think if you start a video out so negative, it's going to paint the picture of how people see the city from the very beginning. How are you impact others with your opinion from the start of your video is how a lot of people will view a city they've never been to. I encourage others to be mindful of how the impact each other... Just my opinion
His goal is to paint these cities in a bad light. I grew up in Cincinnati, I’ve lived different places as an adult and I’m currently back in the greater Cincinnati area. It’s a shame that some of the old buildings have been leveled but I think he’s misleading the audience if they’ve never visited. Lunken has the art deco terminal still intact and some of the oldest hangars in the country. The Roebling Bridge is older than the Brooklyn bridge and was the “model” for it. While on the other side of the river, Covington has mainstrasse with some very neat old architecture. This city is cleaner and safer than almost every other city of comparable stats in the Midwest. While not his intentions I’m sure, this video does quite the disservice to Cincinnati.
I am French, and in Europe we attach great importance to preserving our cities, and when I see that, I tell myself that it is the right thing to do. I'm shocked to see how beautiful American cities used to be, and how it was all torn down for highways or square concrete shoeboxes. The image of the station is revealing, it is a vile, monstrous waste... I hope that one day, the West will have the means to restore our cities to the aspects of our greatest times, erasing the ravages of the decadent thoughts of the post-war period, which today gave birth to wokism. It's high time to return to the forgotten classics from before 1945.
@@starventure Huh? Paris has some issues but it is certainly not dying, it is a thriving city. History, culture, fine dining, lovely parks and rivers and it is a top international tourist destination, receiving millions more visitors than the highest ranked American entry. Not sure how that compares to the ugly, desolate wastelands American cities mostly are.
1:27 Wen I see these old black and white photos I want to cry for days, because I missed those old city days. I missed it all and it's never coming back.
In the 60s and 70s old time neighborhoods in Cincinnati with fantastic architecture were leveled and high rise low income housing replaced them only to be torn down later because of crime and maintenance issues. When inner city develops and raises real estate values, the inhabitants are economically forced to leave, moving their problems further out into the city and suburbs, where crime and decay increase. It's an endless cycle.
If you aren’t from Cincinnati you don’t understand how inaccurate this video is. What’s referred to as Cincinnati in the video is like two square miles downtown. Literally every bordering neighborhood is filled with historic architecture and homes. I live in a 140 year old home within ear shot of “the city” and my neighborhood couldn’t be more beautiful. Loads of culture and growth here. Just ignore the oddly drawn lines that dictate our districts and municipalities.
Nah, I'm from Cincinnati and he's spot on. The destruction of the then-thriving West End because of eminent domain by way of the Kenyan Barr project, destroying a rich, culturally vibrant neighborhood, tearing down homes and replacing them with ghetto public housing, Stanley Rowe, and running I-75 straight though where beautiful 19 Century homes once stood. It's disgusting, disturbing, and awful what they did to my city.
Cincinnati is a great city and it's not dying. The downtown area has been renovated and is full of activity and things to do. The Banks down on the river front, TQL stadium that host professional soccer. FA. "Cincinnati. Jack's Casino is downtown. The convention center is under a huge expansion and renovation. The 2 professional sports stadiums. The Reds and Bengals. What having you been looking at dude?
I love Cincinnati!! I don't know what the hell this guy is talking about!! I went to a Cincinnati Reds game there a few years ago and before that a Cincinnati FC soccer game when they still played their games at the University. And also Jungle Jim's is awesome, I was just killing time before the Reds game at a park and just happened to walk into a free concert. They're museum there had the first mummy I ever saw in person.
Cincy is anything but boring. It has some of the best bars in the nation, like Ghost Baby, that is built into a cave. It has a lot of cool breweries like Rheingeist. Bachfest and Oktoberfest are the largest festivals outside of Germany and are an incredible display of the cities' German culture and heritage. Haufbräuhaus is a really cool place to get a liter of beer and giant pretzel and hang out in their biergarten. Cincy is just like every other American city. The core rotted away, and everyone moved to the outskirts, but the city is still very much so incredible. West Chester, Amelia, East Gate, Milford, not West Gate are all full of cool, unique restaurants, beautiful parks, and some very old German architecture. Just stay to the North and East of Cincy. The West side is full of the scum and villainy of the city.
It is misleading in some ways, true in others. There’s no mention that the expanding suburbs that were built to accommodate the people moving out of the city core…are actually gorgeous…like Mariemont, Madeira, Wyoming, Hyde Park, Indian Hill, etc. Lots of beautiful architecture…Victorian houses, bungalows, Sears homes, etc there amidst gorgeous, verdant lawns with gardens and mature trees. Plenty of room to stretch out, hosting an abundance of nature and wildlife, and a great place to raise a family. Not everyone wants to live surrounded by concrete, whether it’s pretty Old World concrete, or modern new. There’s a reason people move to the suburbs. Not all of them are great, but many are!
How was this possible? European and Japanese cities were literally destroyed in WW2 and were built back better then this. We lost a lot of beautiful architecture in Britain but thankfully only a small number of cities (Mainly Leeds, Glasgow and Coventry) built urban motorways, most are very walkable still. London and other cities saw fierce protests against motorways so thankfully plans were abandoned. As the end of the Planets of the Apes puts it, "you maniacs!, you blew it up!"
was excited to see a video about my city but this is why you dont let somebody with drone footage and a google search bar try to tell you what the vibe of a city is
One of the best videos about urbanism I've ever seen. Nothing explains better than juxtaposition of old and new photos and maps how much of our cities have been destroyed by "urban renewal". Keep up the good work!
I feel like you haven’t been to Cincinnati in a while to criticize it like this. The revitalization of the city including Covington and Newport is pretty astounding and in a high growth stage. We saved much more than most cities did. Look at Indianapolis or Atlanta and you’ll see Cincinnati did it right. The conservatives killed this town for about 50 years and we’ve finally run most of them out to the suburbs.
Sorry but the opinion of Cincinnati in this video is so fucking bad. Cincinnati is such a gorgeous and fun City. I appreciate the comparison of US history but please don't shit on Cincinnati like this ✌️
You should do OKC, half of the downtown was destroyed and removed due to a architect “I.M PEI” he wanted to reshaped the skyline, but after tearing down a ton of buildings something happened that made him not do it, so they never rebuilt those buildings and you can clearly see that half the city seems to be erased and replaced with gardens and parks in the modern day. Looking at OKC in the 1960s compared to now would make you think that it lost population, it didn’t it’s more than double it’s population in the 1960s but after those buildings were destroyed, they were never rebuilt. Making the city seem sized down It had some awesome looking buildings that were demolished, like the biltmore hotel, and the Baum building.
Ya, ngl, this video is far too fatalistic. Cincinnati still has a lot of life and is still pretty dynamic. It isn’t the boomtown it once was, but it’s not a bad place to go to school/start a family/etc.
Good video. I'd love for you to go deeper into the reasons behind choosing these outcomes rather than livable, walkable urban areas and suburbs. What happened?
It's odd to hear you talk about Cincinnati like this. Coming from STL, when I visited I felt it was amazing. But when you're in STL, everything is up from there
I've lived in Cincinnati for the last two years, and what you're describing as a "fallen city" is far from it. It seems that you have the mistaken idea that any city whose suburbs grow while its own population declines must be "fallen". But this is simply not true. Cincinnati has had more glorious days, yes, but the old buildings and architecture can't last forever. Replacing old buildings that are falling down with new buildings that can serve many more generations is a good and useful thing. Not everything from ages past is worth preserving. Cincinnati does have its more walkable communities and middle-class neighborhoods. Take Hyde Park, Oakley, Madisonville, parts of Norwood (not technically Cincinnati, but that's a story for another time), OTR, for instance (and there are many others!). These are areas of the city that are very livable and are improving. What you romanticize as the glory days of a city usually required people to be crammed into spaces far too small for families, working for far too low wages. Yes, a lot of people live in the suburbs now, but Cincinnati has held a pretty steady, even increasing population over the last two decades. Just because a bunch of old, unsafe buildings are gone is no proof that Cincinnati has "fallen". But you clearly have a handle on the emotion of nostalgia. Anyone can take black-and-white pictures of yesteryear and play Amazing Grace over them. It doesn't prove your point. And as for the suburbs, they are really quite pleasant. Being designed for cars is not inherently a bad thing, and truly, quite a few suburbs, like Milford, Montgomery, Wyoming, etc. are very walkable and have traditional main streets that have been preserved for many years. Some of these suburbs are about as old as Cincinnati itself. And Cincinnati has a huge suburban population of people living comfortably in reasonable distance of many exciting things that take place in the city every week. As a sports fan, I can go to an MLB game, an NFL game, an MLS game, an ECHL game, and a Masters-level tennis tournament all within a comfortable drive from my home. And parking is fantastic in the city. As a music fan, I appreciate that Cincinnati is a central location where many acts want to tour. And there's much more than even I can take advantage of when it comes to things to do. Not to mention the traditions of unique foods and restaurants being kept alive in this city. Do you have some kind of problem with the average American who chooses to live in the suburbs of a remarkable city? But I guess this is about the kind of research and biased reporting I'd expect from someone who would call a green space "useless". Maybe try talking to actual people from the actual city next time before declaring a vibrant city to be "fallen".
@richardcypherrahl THAT S a well-formulated quality countercomment. Nostalgia 4 its own sake becomes fake ! TB was terrrible in those working class kitchenettes wayback, btw.
The title is clickbait. Cincinnati is not a fallen city. And there is plenty of historic buildings and neighborhoods that exist today. OTR is a prime example of this.
Architecture Student here: Those back streets provide car access and garbage collection to those houses, with this alleys the architects create an inviting front facade without the interference of cars, this is also down in other New Urbanist communities around the US
this is so depressing! I hope someone can play this video at their city hall, force every legislator to watch this. Perhaps some good will come out of it..
I live in columbus, and it seems to have a different story than Cincinnati. Most of the urban highways are below grade or along rail lines and rivers, so not as much was destroyed to build them. I live in Southern Orchards, near German Village in the Southside, and it is very well preserved. My house was build in 1914 and I can walk or bike just about anywhere. It doesn't seem like as much was destroyed outside of downtown, compared to Cincinnati.
One interesting thing about Cincy is that, because of the hilly topography, there are a lot of old walkable mini town centers in the other neighborhoods. This video focused on the urban core and the furthest-flung suburbs, but there’s a lot of preserved walkability in other parts of the city, fortunately.
I have never heard anyone ever say Columbus has a more vibrant history, architecture and urban fabric lol. Columbus is literally the most boring city in Ohio, possibly the Midwest and even USA. Everything about Columbus is new and suburban. Of course, there's one section of downtown that is old school, the one that you are describing. I don't think anyone other than the most die-hard Buckeyes would say Columbus is more historically alive than Cincinnati.
In the United States there weren`t the so called 2 WW`s in that way like in Europe. But there was a silent war against the citiziens and their heritage. The so called "burnings and earthquakes", the so called "improvements and innovations" were horrible and destructive for the whole lands/states. It was planned and it was executed by the same people, who financed the war overseas in Europe and elsewhere. It`s important in my opinion that humans learn to distinguish between the executor and the financier for the executor. Great summary with great impressions of a formely great city on the earth.Greetings from Germany
While it is sad that Cincinnati has lost some beautiful older buildings. You really understated the revitalization of Over the Rhine. There’s been over $1 billion in redevelopment of italianette architecture. Secondly, downtown is also making huge strides in transforming vacant office buildings into apartments. Cincinnati led the country in apartment conversion square footage projects last year and still have many more on the docket. Lastly, the city has not “fallen”. It’s actually grown in population every year since 2019. Alright, rant over.
Cincinnati is magnificent city, down river from Pittsburgh on the Ohio. It is named for the "Society of the Cincinnati," an association of George Washington's officers who banded together to celebrate the victory for civil self government which president Washington won when he laid down the presidential power and returned to his farm. The city is named for a society DEDICATED to unseating criminals such as DONALD TRUMP from civil office. Cincinnati is a GREAT city dedicated to a great principle of American government.
We find this all over. Cities traps people into backward, menial paradigms that should have died out centuries ago. And, especially with modern communications technology available practically anywhere in the country nowadays, no one should have to endure the hell of city living.
Cities grow from natural and current focii of production. Where people need to live to earn livelihoods. Cities have no real reason to exist otherwise. Where such resources are weak, cities all fail.
it's a sweet dream to rebuild what was destroyed - and I hope it comes true - but, is it realistic ? the materials - granite, marble, excellent wood etc - costs are exorbitant & then, there is the challenge of finding architects & craftmen able & willing to build such magnificent structures - let's face it, the way things are now - people aren't even able/willing to build residential houses / housing properly - materials & labor are just in a different stratosphere as far as costs now & the people who built these buildings had a deep sense of work ethics & pride - our current demographics just don't & that's just a fact - it's not going in a good direction either - it's so heartbreaking - in literally one lifetime - we've gone from wonderful to worthless 😔
It’s all good, except that you don’t need random pictures from inside the old library you’re talking about outside the buildings mostly in this episode
Dude are you from here? If not how would you actually know what Cincinnati is like? I can do a video on New York that will never even remotely touch the actual culture, sights, sounds, l of that city and I can promise you a video doesn’t do it justice. You said Cincinnati is essentially just boring suburbia which tells me you’re not from here. The city is not just a giant grid from city skylines. Cincy has a very big culture here that unless you come see it yourself you’ll never understand. You said that there is only a pocket of cincy that’s awesome and you’re completely wrong. Most of Cincinnati is the “pocket” you described. You’re massively oversimplifying Cincinnati and your video is a huge disservice to it. IF YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE A REAL VIDEO SHOWING CINCINNATI THEN WATCH THE SKATE AND EXPLORE VIDEO FROM LAND YACHTZ
To the people who aren’t from Cincinnati, this video is lazy, with a huge lack of awareness. This guy spend a day or two googling and finding stats and images and has no idea what the city currently is and how it has transformed. Findlay market union terminal over the Rhine all currently exist within the city and our thriving. If this guy actually did some research, he would quickly find that out. Unlike other cities in the state of Ohio, Cincinnati does not include their suburbs in the city boundary area. If it did, it would be the largest city in the state.
Wow, like St Louis but looks even worse. What a tragedy. Somebody needs to write a book about how the Eisenhower highway system destroyed so many great US cities.
Originally they were supposed to be modeled after the Autobahn and primarily used for shipping... Auto mfrs mass marketed individualism and suburbia, post wwii was the perfect era to sell it, with racism rife creating white flight and erasing mass transit in urban communities.
@@w3bgrl Yeah, it's always "racism" that causes the globalists to do what they do. Gates, Soros, Gore, Schwab, and all the banksters are on your side, but the blue collar worker is holding you back. You're fkn delusional.
Welp its Ohio, your choice is Rural shithole with no future , medium sized shithole cities, or the 3 C's with 1 thats still dying, the other thats FINALLY making a comeback after dying for decades, and 1 thats actually thriving and still growing
I just did a marathon in Cincinnati "The Flying pig marathon" advertised as the best marathon in America. Well I've done a marathon in all 50 states and yes it is one of the best marathons in the country. The course was challenging and beautiful. I had never been there and I was very impressed with their downtown. Most cities lose population because modern America gives its a citizen a choice they didn't have - the ability to live outside a city.
Great video and series. So sad what was lost. Curious why the existing Baltimore George Peabody library is shown here with the demolished Cincinnati library? Its a similar design but comes across as being a lost Cincinnati building.
I live in Cincinnati. Your video was very unfair. This town still has culture, the people are very nice, and it's an affordable place to raise a family.
He didn't say anything about whether the people are nice or whether it is an affordable place to raise a family. The video ist about the architectural heritage of the city, which was very obviously destroyed to a very large degree, replacing a lively, walkable city center with parking lots, glass towers, and highways.
@@MoellerEngineeringCo.You are able to preserve it with heritage bodies and listing, but if you are a true modernist you may resent this preservation process, and each to their own.
Ah my hometown. Even though I've seen these photos many times, it always shocks me to see the overhead shot of the urban basin before freeways. Such a beautiful, dense city to rival those in Europe destroyed in the name of 'progress'.
One question. I see in the photos that they are all old Cities had more beautiful but similar architecture between them. Is it my impression or did they seem like a lot?
There was certainly an American theme from city to city, although there were strong regional differences. It’s not as noticeable in the downtown but in the low rise neighborhood like north side, there is a more specific, local theme, and you see this in different cities across the country. Also, cities in California and Florida had a very different aesthetic. Most of these cities so far in this series are in the same general part of the US. Great question!
Yeah, I really want to go back to the days of horse crap all over the streets. Electric with no ground that would destroy everything including you. Cars with leaded gasoline and no catalytic converters spewing out mass amounts of poison to give you cancer. I really wish I could experience what it's like to live in a house with asbestos, lead paint and pipes. Water that comes untreated and most likely someone else is sewage. Yeah I really think we should go back to the good old days.
While I agree to a degree, and would love to have seen more of the famed industrial era buildings in CBD, OTR, and CUF kept, this video would have been waaaay more depressing between 1999-2010. It was a ghost town, with many buildings falling so far into disrepair, they had to be torn down. I think Cincinnati has done a pretty good job recently with its development, even if some of the newer architecture is ugly, better than having bricks falling off abandoned properties and empty storefronts. It could definitely do a much better job of creating and sustaining affordable housing, esp since they killed a well-written affordable housing measure a few years back. I'm really concerned now about the privatization of the RR. City leaders did not use foresight on that at all, as privatization has caused more RR accidents and issues as the deregulated train cos don't have to abide by rules that keep them more safe.
Sorry, the author obviously has never visited Cincinnati. Cincinnati, and across the river in Covington and Newport, have undergone significant restoration. While the central downtown area did see the replacement of many of the older structures in the 1970's, most of the housing stock from the 1890's and early 1900's has been restored and is breathtakingly beautiful. Hyde Park, Walnut Hills, Mt. Lookout, Mariemont are spectacular. Across the river in Covington, which during the 1950's through the 1970's has some of the worst housing stock in the country outside of Appalachia, has now been completely renovated. I've renovated two homes in Covington, an 1848 Italianate row house and a 1914 Craftsman. Yes, there are ticky tacky tract homes in the far suburbs, but that exists everywhere. Even those homes aren't stacked on top of each other like you see in areas like Atlanta, D.C. or L.A. Actually, this video might be helpful to discourage people from moving to Cincinnati.
Have you ever read into Ogdensburg NY? In my opinion it is the most egregious fallen city in the US. Your last video on Buffalo, it is up northeast of it on the St Lawrence. It is a much smaller city, but unlike its larger contemporaries, its bustling downtown district was never rebuilt after its demise for "urban revitalization". I kid you not when I say its downtown district is just an empty multi-block parking lot. I think you may enjoy looking into it, even if it is not a big enough place to warrant a video.
This creator needs to spend more time in Cincinnati. The video vastly underappreciates this city. He starts out saying how boring the skyline is. He has clearly never driven up north I-75 and witnessed the skyline pop up with all its glory. Please take all this video says with a grain of salt.
I agree. There's a LOT of historic buildings here. I've lived here in Mason, Ohio for 3 months but work in Downtown Cincy and am impressed at how the city preserved a LOT of structures. This includes across the bridge in Newport, Kentucky. There's whole neighborhoods of houses from the 30'40s still standing and looking amazing.
Cincinnatian here. We still have quite a lot of historic buildings left in Over-the-Rhine. The 20th Century Modernists tried to bulldoze it many times, but luckily they failed each time.
And also railroad history, The B&O and New York Central went to union station and there was the Cincinnati lineup
Also, I would object to the claim that Cincinnati is boring. I’ve been in Cincinnati for almost a decade now, and it’s become my home. From places like Findlay Market to Hyde Park Square where you can see the history living in real time, there’s also a rich social climate in local breweries and a great pride in Cincinnati’s professional sports teams regardless of how good they are. I’d argue that as a midwestern metropolis, Cincinnati is one of the most interesting and fun midwest cities with endless activities and endless neighborhoods to see. Everyone who lives here identifies themself from what neighborhood inside of Cincinnati they’re from - whether that’s the West Side, Eastgate, Hyde Park, Oakley, etc. and it strikes up such amazing conversations between individuals. If only you spread your search up into Hyde Park and Oakley, you’d find that there are so many untouched historical buildings still standing - especially homes. Cincinnati has respected and loves its historical roots, but it has also failed in many aspects in gerrymandering and wiping out African American communities in order to building our modern day skyline. Wish there was a better analysis on this video as a whole.
thats the area of cincinatti im looking into :)
Problem is OTR is a diverse area.
Amtrak 3 times a week at 11 pm. Hardly progress. Auto centric insanity needs to vanish. The auto and oil barons and all their cronies and commuter airlines threaten any rail projects.
As a native Cincinnatian who has lived in multiple 100yr old homes inside the city, this video is unfortunately massively oversimplified. I walk and bike everywhere in this city. Downtown is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city and the population decline mentioned here reversed ten years ago. We recently passed a tax levy to upgrade rapid transit and are working actively to reconnect our vibrant downtown to one of the most beautiful urban parks in America along the Ohio River. Have too many cool old structures been lost and do I wish the subway had been built? Sure. But, it’s a wonderful place to live that has some of the most amazing architecture and housing stock in the country.
Shhhhhhhhh.....we are supposed to say how backwoods and weird Ohio is so people stay away
It’s definitely turned around, but it made the same mistake as a lot of America in cutting off its waterfront with interstates and now that is expensive to undo.
I hope they can convert more of the downtown buildings into housing, because demand for those offices, like the one my grandfather had in Carew Tower, is never coming back.
Going to have to get the crime rate under control before anything moves forward downtown. There’s multiple shootings daily down there and the neighborhoods around it and it’s disgusting honestly.
I’ll also agree with the last part of what you said.
@@shamrockshawttyThe crime rate does that on its own
It is just beyond any reason how America destroyed itself and imploded from that bygone glory
Cincinatti got bombed in the late 60s early 70s. Any city can come back from getting hit by an hbomb, but there is no surviving the n bomb.
Corrupt govt and corporations sold the nation out.
Well, as a native Detroiter I can definitely think of one compelling reason: racism
@@adriancarroll685 the car industry played a much bigger role
@@akjdhajkdjhaghjkadh9804 they've got to blame all their failures on whitey like the media and govt trained them to do.
I live here and basically everything he said in the first 10 sentences is totally false. The architecture downtown has tons of history with amazing styles that vary from Gothic and art deco to tudor and Victorian to modern . The city is totally walkable or accessible by street car. Festivals and events happening ALL the time. Traffic is light even for a busy city. Great food everywhere.
I don't think this guy has ever even been to Cincy
Thank you!
Compared to what other cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, and Detroit suffered, I think Cincinnati still walking out of it with some of their heritage still in tact is a lot more hopeful of a fate than most other American cities.
Are you Kidding? At least Detroit, Kansas city and STL are still recognizable, have their cores intact. Cincinnati is like a totally different city.
St Louis has very little left thanks to urban renewal, middle class flight, racial tensions, and a stagnant economy.
@@Rapture582 Riiight, the same Detroti and STL that have a declining population and severe amounts of abandoned homes. Unlike those places Cinncinati actually gained population in the past few years.
@@diodelvino3048 Detroit's core is still recognizable and revitalized. Current population gains has nothing to do with how much Cincinnati has lost. There's no way Cincinnati somehow has more "heritage" in tact proportionally than Detroit or STL.
@@Rapture582 Population gains has EVERYTHING to do with it. you just dont want to believe it since that doesnt match with your beliefs. Thats your own problem
I often weep at what has been lost on our great Victorian cities in the UK, as volumes have been written about it and an photographer called Francis Frith recorded much of it. Although urban planning was largely responsible we at least have an excuse of extensive World War 2 bombing. I struggle to explain how America without this reason to undertake these destructive programmes can really justify it
It was the confusion of convenience being some sort of freedom, and that nothing, not even entire neighborhoods, churches, and grand palaces, should stand against it. So we demolished, so that we could conveniently commute. That, and the exponential rise in speculation on property, saw to a vast and still ongoing campaign of demolition and throw-away mentality.
Everyone who used to live in slums near cinci union station now has a house on a half acre lot in the suburbs with a good school system. So yeah some apartment buildings that no one wants to live in were torn down but everyone who lived there generally improved their amenities.
The corporate model requires perpetual "growth", hence planned obsolescenceahd disposable everything ushered in by the propagandists like Ed Bernays. Humans are gullible and the parasites that run the world prey on that weakness.
@@mickeygraeme2201Whilst some of that is true and was the case in the UK. I am afraid the great civic buildings including librarys and Universities and commerce was largely replaced with ugly concrete and glass and only largely used 9-5, and this was definately not an improvement. Before you say high maintenance costs most of these building were very well constructed and even if there a slightly higher cost most prople would prefer the interior and exterior aesthetic to have survived.
Great post. People say the US has no history, bullocks. All these industrial age Victorian city centers span the Anglosphere. I visited Cincinnati last year and loved it as I know architecture. Incredible river towns and cities throughout the Midwest
From Cincinnati, I'm amazed at how you continue to make videos about places you've never visited and don't possess an entry level of understanding. Cincinnati proper never incorporated the surrounding county. Half a million people live in an area less than 80 square miles. Greater Cincinnati is the area outside of the city and is more representative of a population that calls themselves Cincinnatians but doesn't actual love in city limits. That population is 2.6 million people. Cincinnati is known for is historical preservation which is why it is a common spot for movie crews making period films. Your generation needs to understand that Google's and some facts isn't knowledge nor wisdom on a topic. Danke
Yeah I’m in the middle of watching the 1st couple minutes & this dude is clueless about Cincinnati.
He is massively ignorant of our Cincinnati.
In Cincinnati and this is inaccurate
Cope
Old fool just because some parts are preserved most isnt. And congrats on your semantics argument obviously suburbs arent the actual city. Typing up a storm and youre wrong the entire time
Absolutely heartbreaking. Its nice to see that there is an effort to repair what was broken, but it will never be the same.
It's baffling how people in the past looked at the historic city centers and said "Nah, let's bulldoze this." And then they flock to Europe on Vacation to enjoy all these historic towns.
@@c0rnichon
this architectural demoralization was/is by design & most of the people certainly didn't want it to go this way - but, of course, it's just the American Fantasy that ' most ' of the people will have their say & their way - in reality - a very small percentage are in charge
What effort to repair
It will improve but not until after 2100
This was all done by design. Kenyon Barr. It's heartbreaking what they did to my hometown of Cincinnati.
As poor of a reputation as many large midwest cities have, I find they have considerably more interesting heritage and history than many large cities in the west or sunbelt, which are just downright boring and devoid of culture.
the difference between the cities that were built before cars and after cars is incredible. once walkability was no longer important everything changed
You need to check out Charleston SC, Savannah GA, San Antonio TX, Key West FL, St. Augustine FL (oldest city in US), Sedona AZ, Pueblo/Taos NM and Santa Fe NM.
@ChatGPT1111 those examples all still kind of reflect my point as they're either old cities or smaller tourism/recreation focused towns. Sunbelt generally refers to more modern developments in sprawling, urban metros like Dallas, Atlanta, or Phoenix.
@@johnd.2114 if you're only interested in high population cities, the south did not have any back then. For example, the population of Phoenix in 1890 was 35,000. If the north had not destroyed the major cities of the south to where they had to start over, it might've been different, but in any event the north had a 100-200 year head start.
I agree. East Coast and Midwest cities rock. I’m a Philadelphian and I love the saturation of culture and various scenes here. I was recently in San Fran and it was really cool to see a place out West with narrow roads and walkability. Awesome multicultural influences there too. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d love to live in SF
it hurts seeing those beautiful old building lost forever.
Gives you a sense of perspective on what life actually looked like back in the day, life before the 50s had to feel extremely different.
I live in Over the Rhine. While yes a lot of destruction was done to the city to focus on highways and parking, the city itself is still in very good shape and much of the urban areas have been revitalized (gentrified) with lots of work still being done (new builds and rehabbing existing buildings). City is very much so on the up compared to what it went through from 1950-2000 with everyone moving to the burbs
Truly unimaginable. The folks who work in those industrial warehouses between seas of parking lots have literally no idea that a beautiful integrated dense and lively downtown once stood there. It's a lost civilization that built their society in a much better way than we build ours.
I love seeing the old architecture in this series but also really pains me when you show what is there now.
German here: The huge fountain shown is the Tyler Davidson Fountain. It was crafted by two Bavarians as part of the "beautiful city movement" that came up right before the emergence of private car ownership. That fountain now stands a little relocated from its original site. For more details on that look up the entry in Wikipedia. Probably because of this landmark fountain Cincinnati is celebrating each year a Bavarian "Oktoberfest".
Hast du nichts besseres zu tun?
Don't listen to the rude guy Ruedi
@@ChatGPT1111 No problem, I could in reverse call HIM if HE has nothing better to do.
There are many German immigrants there and that's why they celebrate Oktoberfest.
@@ritchirodenbach8972 Schweinhund.
I’ve lived in New York, San Francisco, Oakland, Philadelphia, Wilmington Delaware, and Cincinnati
And even though Cincinnati isn’t like the most exciting place, it might be my favorite next to Oakland
Like I said, I wouldn’t necessarily call it exciting but it is far from boring. There is always something cool to do.
And one of the things about Cincinnati that seems to go to places and not be surrounded
You can go to popular areas and still have your little spot and some sort of privacy. Most cities have popular spots, but they’re always packed.
You have to be insane to like Oakland
@@taurusmt5 why do you say that?
@@TomisaLamidrugs, crime, etc
@@taurusmt5 sorry to break to you kid but that's like the entire United States. Actually the worst I ever saw for drugs where are the small towns in Texas and Missouri. It was actually not that bad and Oakland on top of that you have the great weather the great scenery all the cool stuff and all the cool people it really is an awesome place to live.
@@TomisaLami ruclips.net/video/uAF3w0iaAgg/видео.htmlsi=-PBgNG-WoaN1_znv Oakland has been having many problems for decades kid. The drug issues in rural US is way different than in the bay area
When “urban renewal” started, the black neighborhood of West End was leveled. That was the beginning of the end.
I know Cincinnati is not what it used to be but I was also pleasantly surprised by how walkable and bikeable Cincinnati was compared to many other small cities I been to. I was able to easily walk, run and bike from Northern Kentucky/Covington to Cincinnati and be able to walk, run, bike for quite a bit. Mount Adams was especially really nice and a beautiful walk. I was also really impressed with a lot of the older architecture in Cincinnati.
Out of all the other cities from this series, I think Cincinnati has the most potential to turn things around.
Nice work and thanks for sharing it. Cincinnati has many architectural jewels, I used to live there a few months as a former P&G employee and it was always a pleasant surprise to spot them. All the comments left are a good testimony on how much this heritage is valued, I also want to mention the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge(formerly the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge) is a suspension bridge that spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1883. Impressive and still there. It looks majestic on foggy days/nights.
i believe that people in the newer generations have an appreciation for what was lost. hopefully as we get older we will start to see it being rebuilt.
Why do you sound like a MAGA supporter
@@elliotwilliams7421 ?
As a young historic architecture enthusiast and a traditional human-oriented city fanatic I agree. The car-centric design will end with my generation.
@pjflynn220 this is nothing to do with human oriented cities, its a corporate dream that doesn't consider humans at all.
@@elliotwilliams7421 dumbass its not a corporate dream. its my dream. to have beautiful, architecturally relevant, and human oriented design (AKA traditional urban design that has been used for millennia). I am very left leaning on many issues, this is not a partisan issue. His comment was not politically oriented in one way or another you just seem to be delusional lol
Your american fallen cities series is amazing!
We need a balanced view.
@@michaelwatson113indeed. I moved here from a small town in Texas 20 years ago. I hated leaving Texas as I love it and have/had a lot of prodding it.
That said, I have grown to love Cincinnati. It’s just big enough and just small enough. The people here I feel exhibit a mix of both southern and northern perspective in their views and the way they live their daily lives.
I really like this place. And although I’ll always be biased to Texas, Cincinnati is an awesome place to live.
@@carlmay9532 very well said
@@carlmay9532I think this video is massively oversimplified. You guys should watch skate and explore Cincinnati by land yachtz if you REALLY wanna see what Cincinnati is about
Atlanta is another one. Completely unrecognizable. Once an old southern city in a forest is now a mess of buildings and sprawling car dependent suburbs.
You can see remnants of old Atlanta on broad street, parts of Forsyth,
and Inman and Candler park.
Most Americans dont care about cities being sprawl and suburbs as long as it provides, and Atlanta has been providing. What it "once was" was a much higher crime rate anyways.
It's boring, but the economy is fairly well, and the population increases. Downside is that the living cost is so pretty high
HOTLANTA burned down a looong time ago ..
A corporate Stonehenge is fireproof ...
Cincinnati has really grown in the 40+ years since I've been here and I think it's a really nice family city
Cincy actually has ALOT of old buildings still around. It’s a very cool city with things going on.
I’ve lived in Cincinnati for most of my life. I disagree with a lot of this. There is a lot of history still around. It’s like anything else that over time things are lost either to fires, or age. While crime can be an issue, overall I feel like Cincinnati is a safe city. As a home care nurse, I have cared for patients all over the city and have never felt unsafe, even during my overnight shifts.
Amazing Grace being played as if the city is dead and your video is the funeral? Cincinnati has a world class symphony playing in magnificent Music Hall. The professional sports stadiums are all downtown. Fountain Square is a joy to sit in with a Graeters Ice Cream in the summer or outdoor ice skating in the winter. The "empty" station being shown is not empty, it has been transformed from an underused Amtrak train station to Cincinnati Museum Center with the children's museum, museum of natural history, IMAX theater, and rotating display area. You neglected to mention the 2nd largest annual Oktoberfest celebration in the world (behind Munich) and the acclaimed University of Cincinnati which includes the College-Conservancy of Music (CCM), You also neglected the exceptional (and free) Cincinnati Art Museum and Walnut Hills High School. If what you care about is high population density and public transportation, Cincinnati is not your thing. If you want functional living, with fantastic green space provided by the Metropark district, Cincinnati is worth the examination - especially if you have a family.
To expand on your point about population density, it shows that the channel hasn't really thought about that point. They bemoan both the usual sprawl and the replacement of older buildings. Those old buildings were built for a specific purpose. If you want to give a growing population somewhere to live and work, those older buildings are limited in how much population they can support. The choice is often replace them or spread out. I think the area has done a good job of preserving many examples of the older, more interesting buildings, and updating them to meet current needs.
Anyone who lives and or migrated to Cincinnati LOVES Cincinnati🙄…u don’t know what ur talking about sir.
It's too bad a video like this exists. I am a Bostonian who relocated to Cincinnati and find you missed the mark in a majority of points. Yes, there are places of decline, sure. But there is a vibrancy here that doesn't scream at you. Sure, there are places that reflect past architecture; but there are signs of restoration and appreciation of it! A city does not have to be verbosity arrogant to be reserved and classy!
I am also a Bostonian that finds Cincinnati a very cool and nice place to live!!! I find a great mix of history here! This guy states history, but his OPINION misses the mark big time.
Population in 2024: ~329,303
Population in 2019: ~313,986
I'm a Cincinnati native.
First,
It's not really boring because there's a lot to do. Those of us from here understand northern Kentucky is a key part of what makes the city nice.
There's still lots of original architecture that has been rebuilt.
Downtown has been rebuilt, with the intention to reduce crime. But the reality is they just moved a few blocks down.
If the subway system has been finished, we'd be just as congested as New York.
I lived in several different places all over the country, and I may be biased, but Cincinnati is definitely not boring
It's all about how you look at it.
I wouldn't say it's a fallen City.
I would say it's a city in constant transition
It has some issues. And there is a lot of segregation depending upon what neighborhood you're in.
Some of the neighborhoods that used to be not so great neighborhoods were just painted over with prettier buildings and richer people.
But the history, the essence of Cincinnati is definitely not boring.
it might be a concrete jungle like everywhere else that is a city that's not on the ocean,
But there is definitely some really cool things here the Parks alone are incredible.
Just north of Cincinnati is Dayton which is the home of flight.
There is a lot of really cool stuff in Southwest Ohio.
It's not as boring as you say at the beginning of this video.
Compared to Southwest Colorado,
This place is a party
But you're not too far off.
I just think if you start a video out so negative, it's going to paint the picture of how people see the city from the very beginning.
How are you impact others with your opinion from the start of your video is how a lot of people will view a city they've never been to.
I encourage others to be mindful of how the impact each other... Just my opinion
His goal is to paint these cities in a bad light. I grew up in Cincinnati, I’ve lived different places as an adult and I’m currently back in the greater Cincinnati area. It’s a shame that some of the old buildings have been leveled but I think he’s misleading the audience if they’ve never visited. Lunken has the art deco terminal still intact and some of the oldest hangars in the country. The Roebling Bridge is older than the Brooklyn bridge and was the “model” for it. While on the other side of the river, Covington has mainstrasse with some very neat old architecture. This city is cleaner and safer than almost every other city of comparable stats in the Midwest. While not his intentions I’m sure, this video does quite the disservice to Cincinnati.
I am French, and in Europe we attach great importance to preserving our cities, and when I see that, I tell myself that it is the right thing to do. I'm shocked to see how beautiful American cities used to be, and how it was all torn down for highways or square concrete shoeboxes. The image of the station is revealing, it is a vile, monstrous waste...
I hope that one day, the West will have the means to restore our cities to the aspects of our greatest times, erasing the ravages of the decadent thoughts of the post-war period, which today gave birth to wokism. It's high time to return to the forgotten classics from before 1945.
Are you joking? Paris is dying just the same way that Cincinnati did.
@@starventure Huh? Paris has some issues but it is certainly not dying, it is a thriving city. History, culture, fine dining, lovely parks and rivers and it is a top international tourist destination, receiving millions more visitors than the highest ranked American entry. Not sure how that compares to the ugly, desolate wastelands American cities mostly are.
@@starventure You haven't understood what I said, it's the whole West that is losing its face, it goes well beyond Cincinnati or Paris
"wokeism" didn't cause this, and today conservatives are the ones who want to keep highways and suburbs.
What exactly does wokism have to do with this?
It's our duty to leave our country beautiful and habitable for our children!
1:27 Wen I see these old black and white photos I want to cry for days, because I missed those old city days. I missed it all and it's never coming back.
In the 60s and 70s old time neighborhoods in Cincinnati with fantastic architecture were leveled and high rise low income housing replaced them only to be torn down later because of crime and maintenance issues. When inner city develops and raises real estate values, the inhabitants are economically forced to leave, moving their problems further out into the city and suburbs, where crime and decay increase. It's an endless cycle.
I'm a Cincinnatian and I love my city.
to think if these survived you may not even care to go to Europe for vacation, various US cities would be just as gorgeous
Not really.
Europe has cities which developed over 1000 years with several different architectural epochs.
EXACTLY!
If you aren’t from Cincinnati you don’t understand how inaccurate this video is. What’s referred to as Cincinnati in the video is like two square miles downtown. Literally every bordering neighborhood is filled with historic architecture and homes. I live in a 140 year old home within ear shot of “the city” and my neighborhood couldn’t be more beautiful. Loads of culture and growth here. Just ignore the oddly drawn lines that dictate our districts and municipalities.
Nah, I'm from Cincinnati and he's spot on. The destruction of the then-thriving West End because of eminent domain by way of the Kenyan Barr project, destroying a rich, culturally vibrant neighborhood, tearing down homes and replacing them with ghetto public housing, Stanley Rowe, and running I-75 straight though where beautiful 19 Century homes once stood. It's disgusting, disturbing, and awful what they did to my city.
Cincinnati is a great city and it's not dying. The downtown area has been renovated and is full of activity and things to do. The Banks down on the river front, TQL stadium that host professional soccer. FA. "Cincinnati. Jack's Casino is downtown. The convention center is under a huge expansion and renovation. The 2 professional sports stadiums. The Reds and Bengals. What having you been looking at dude?
I love Cincinnati!! I don't know what the hell this guy is talking about!! I went to a Cincinnati Reds game there a few years ago and before that a Cincinnati FC soccer game when they still played their games at the University. And also Jungle Jim's is awesome, I was just killing time before the Reds game at a park and just happened to walk into a free concert. They're museum there had the first mummy I ever saw in person.
It's my far the best city in ohio
I still think Cincinnati is a great city. It’s charming when you’re passing through on the I-75.
yeah, that’s the problem (smile)
Compared to most American cities, Cincinnati has a bounty of older, preserved neighborhoods, particularly compared to almost any sunbelt city.
Cincy is anything but boring. It has some of the best bars in the nation, like Ghost Baby, that is built into a cave. It has a lot of cool breweries like Rheingeist. Bachfest and Oktoberfest are the largest festivals outside of Germany and are an incredible display of the cities' German culture and heritage. Haufbräuhaus is a really cool place to get a liter of beer and giant pretzel and hang out in their biergarten.
Cincy is just like every other American city. The core rotted away, and everyone moved to the outskirts, but the city is still very much so incredible. West Chester, Amelia, East Gate, Milford, not West Gate are all full of cool, unique restaurants, beautiful parks, and some very old German architecture. Just stay to the North and East of Cincy. The West side is full of the scum and villainy of the city.
I feel this one is a little misleading. A lot of Cincinnati’s architecture has survived. And Cincinnati had been rebounding and growing as a metro.
Completely agree
It is misleading in some ways, true in others. There’s no mention that the expanding suburbs that were built to accommodate the people moving out of the city core…are actually gorgeous…like Mariemont, Madeira, Wyoming, Hyde Park, Indian Hill, etc. Lots of beautiful architecture…Victorian houses, bungalows, Sears homes, etc there amidst gorgeous, verdant lawns with gardens and mature trees. Plenty of room to stretch out, hosting an abundance of nature and wildlife, and a great place to raise a family. Not everyone wants to live surrounded by concrete, whether it’s pretty Old World concrete, or modern new. There’s a reason people move to the suburbs. Not all of them are great, but many are!
@@TheSwissChalet Hyde Park is not a suburb, it's actually a neighborhood of Cincinnati. That's part of why this video is so misleading.
It's more than a little misleading.
As a Cincinnatian, my whole life I have felt that this place was incredibly depressing. I’ll be evacuating to NYC in the next year or so.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, moved to NYC at 19 yrs old and 25 yrs later I still live in NYC! Love it here!
@ about that age myself
You will just be going from one Roebling bridge to another!
@@donaldoutterson3071 Cincinnati and NYC are VERY different places. Personally, I see that difference very clearly.
How was this possible? European and Japanese cities were literally destroyed in WW2 and were built back better then this. We lost a lot of beautiful architecture in Britain but thankfully only a small number of cities (Mainly Leeds, Glasgow and Coventry) built urban motorways, most are very walkable still. London and other cities saw fierce protests against motorways so thankfully plans were abandoned. As the end of the Planets of the Apes puts it, "you maniacs!, you blew it up!"
was excited to see a video about my city but this is why you dont let somebody with drone footage and a google search bar try to tell you what the vibe of a city is
of course we've lost alot but this city still has an abundance of character, walkability, and good living
sorta goes to show how inexplicably great it really once was that its still pretty great today.
One of the best videos about urbanism I've ever seen. Nothing explains better than juxtaposition of old and new photos and maps how much of our cities have been destroyed by "urban renewal". Keep up the good work!
When a city is changed from being pedestrian oriented to car oriented, it becomes a dead environment.
I feel like you haven’t been to Cincinnati in a while to criticize it like this. The revitalization of the city including Covington and Newport is pretty astounding and in a high growth stage.
We saved much more than most cities did. Look at Indianapolis or Atlanta and you’ll see Cincinnati did it right. The conservatives killed this town for about 50 years and we’ve finally run most of them out to the suburbs.
What does conservatism have to do with it?
If Cincinnati fully built that subway in the past, perhaps it would be a different city.
Sorry but the opinion of Cincinnati in this video is so fucking bad. Cincinnati is such a gorgeous and fun City. I appreciate the comparison of US history but please don't shit on Cincinnati like this ✌️
You should do OKC, half of the downtown was destroyed and removed due to a architect “I.M PEI” he wanted to reshaped the skyline, but after tearing down a ton of buildings something happened that made him not do it, so they never rebuilt those buildings and you can clearly see that half the city seems to be erased and replaced with gardens and parks in the modern day.
Looking at OKC in the 1960s compared to now would make you think that it lost population, it didn’t it’s more than double it’s population in the 1960s but after those buildings were destroyed, they were never rebuilt. Making the city seem sized down
It had some awesome looking buildings that were demolished, like the biltmore hotel, and the Baum building.
Ok Cupid?
@@SomeDudeQC what?
Cincinnati rules I love going up there.
Ya, ngl, this video is far too fatalistic. Cincinnati still has a lot of life and is still pretty dynamic. It isn’t the boomtown it once was, but it’s not a bad place to go to school/start a family/etc.
Good video. I'd love for you to go deeper into the reasons behind choosing these outcomes rather than livable, walkable urban areas and suburbs. What happened?
It's odd to hear you talk about Cincinnati like this. Coming from STL, when I visited I felt it was amazing. But when you're in STL, everything is up from there
I've lived in Cincinnati for the last two years, and what you're describing as a "fallen city" is far from it. It seems that you have the mistaken idea that any city whose suburbs grow while its own population declines must be "fallen". But this is simply not true. Cincinnati has had more glorious days, yes, but the old buildings and architecture can't last forever. Replacing old buildings that are falling down with new buildings that can serve many more generations is a good and useful thing. Not everything from ages past is worth preserving.
Cincinnati does have its more walkable communities and middle-class neighborhoods. Take Hyde Park, Oakley, Madisonville, parts of Norwood (not technically Cincinnati, but that's a story for another time), OTR, for instance (and there are many others!). These are areas of the city that are very livable and are improving. What you romanticize as the glory days of a city usually required people to be crammed into spaces far too small for families, working for far too low wages. Yes, a lot of people live in the suburbs now, but Cincinnati has held a pretty steady, even increasing population over the last two decades. Just because a bunch of old, unsafe buildings are gone is no proof that Cincinnati has "fallen". But you clearly have a handle on the emotion of nostalgia. Anyone can take black-and-white pictures of yesteryear and play Amazing Grace over them. It doesn't prove your point.
And as for the suburbs, they are really quite pleasant. Being designed for cars is not inherently a bad thing, and truly, quite a few suburbs, like Milford, Montgomery, Wyoming, etc. are very walkable and have traditional main streets that have been preserved for many years. Some of these suburbs are about as old as Cincinnati itself. And Cincinnati has a huge suburban population of people living comfortably in reasonable distance of many exciting things that take place in the city every week. As a sports fan, I can go to an MLB game, an NFL game, an MLS game, an ECHL game, and a Masters-level tennis tournament all within a comfortable drive from my home. And parking is fantastic in the city. As a music fan, I appreciate that Cincinnati is a central location where many acts want to tour. And there's much more than even I can take advantage of when it comes to things to do. Not to mention the traditions of unique foods and restaurants being kept alive in this city. Do you have some kind of problem with the average American who chooses to live in the suburbs of a remarkable city?
But I guess this is about the kind of research and biased reporting I'd expect from someone who would call a green space "useless". Maybe try talking to actual people from the actual city next time before declaring a vibrant city to be "fallen".
Skyline or gold star?
@richardcypherrahl THAT S a well-formulated quality countercomment. Nostalgia 4 its own sake becomes fake ! TB was terrrible in those working class kitchenettes wayback, btw.
Skyline
He would probably have been right if he was talking late 90s early 2000
The title is clickbait. Cincinnati is not a fallen city. And there is plenty of historic buildings and neighborhoods that exist today. OTR is a prime example of this.
Architecture Student here: Those back streets provide car access and garbage collection to those houses, with this alleys the architects create an inviting front facade without the interference of cars, this is also down in other New Urbanist communities around the US
Yes, but it seemed like there was quite a bit of space given to those "back streets." They are not as narrow as Chicago's back alleys, for example.
That doesn't quite fit with the carefully constructed narrative, so it's not a surprise that it was overlooked.
@@richardcypherrahl Nah…Technical stuff is hard to understand
That montage filled me with so much anger and hatred, it brought tears.
Meanwhile in China, their major cities are all futuristic looking with high speed rail every where.
Progress is unsympathetic to the past.
this is so depressing! I hope someone can play this video at their city hall, force every legislator to watch this. Perhaps some good will come out of it..
You can't fix a problem using the same logic that created it.
Can you do a video on Binghamton/Endicott? I live here and we have had a saddening downfall since the 1900's
The interior library at 4:41 is the Peabody Library in Baltimore.(not the black and white photo, but the color one with black and white floors)
I love your channel! Keep up the good work!!! ❤
Can you do one of these for Detroit?
I think you need to raise your mic volume. It is very hard to hear you, even on max volume.
I live in columbus, and it seems to have a different story than Cincinnati. Most of the urban highways are below grade or along rail lines and rivers, so not as much was destroyed to build them.
I live in Southern Orchards, near German Village in the Southside, and it is very well preserved. My house was build in 1914 and I can walk or bike just about anywhere. It doesn't seem like as much was destroyed outside of downtown, compared to Cincinnati.
Plus Cbus didnt die like the other C's. Its great to see how much progress is being made in the city
One interesting thing about Cincy is that, because of the hilly topography, there are a lot of old walkable mini town centers in the other neighborhoods. This video focused on the urban core and the furthest-flung suburbs, but there’s a lot of preserved walkability in other parts of the city, fortunately.
I have never heard anyone ever say Columbus has a more vibrant history, architecture and urban fabric lol. Columbus is literally the most boring city in Ohio, possibly the Midwest and even USA. Everything about Columbus is new and suburban. Of course, there's one section of downtown that is old school, the one that you are describing. I don't think anyone other than the most die-hard Buckeyes would say Columbus is more historically alive than Cincinnati.
@@justhereforthefoliage I... never said that? You must have misinterpreted what I said.
@@Miyelsh I thought you said Columbus was in tact and still an old and historic city while Cincinnati was not?
that recessed highway near the riverfront is a perfect place for a deck park
I'm glad that Union terminal was turned into a museum though
In the United States there weren`t the so called 2 WW`s in that way like in Europe. But there was a silent war against the citiziens and their heritage. The so called "burnings and earthquakes", the so called "improvements and innovations" were horrible and destructive for the whole lands/states. It was planned and it was executed by the same people, who financed the war overseas in Europe and elsewhere. It`s important in my opinion that humans learn to distinguish between the executor and the financier for the executor. Great summary with great impressions of a formely great city on the earth.Greetings from Germany
It's the small hats
removing a beautiful church is a scandal. Also, why was that library removed?
While it is sad that Cincinnati has lost some beautiful older buildings. You really understated the revitalization of Over the Rhine. There’s been over $1 billion in redevelopment of italianette architecture. Secondly, downtown is also making huge strides in transforming vacant office buildings into apartments. Cincinnati led the country in apartment conversion square footage projects last year and still have many more on the docket. Lastly, the city has not “fallen”. It’s actually grown in population every year since 2019. Alright, rant over.
Cincinnati is magnificent city, down river from Pittsburgh on the Ohio. It is named for the "Society of the Cincinnati," an association of George Washington's officers who banded together to celebrate the victory for civil self government which president Washington won when he laid down the presidential power and returned to his farm. The city is named for a society DEDICATED to unseating criminals such as DONALD TRUMP from civil office. Cincinnati is a GREAT city dedicated to a great principle of American government.
We find this all over. Cities traps people into backward, menial paradigms that should have died out centuries ago. And, especially with modern communications technology available practically anywhere in the country nowadays, no one should have to endure the hell of city living.
Cities grow from natural and current focii of production. Where people need to live to earn livelihoods. Cities have no real reason to exist otherwise. Where such resources are weak, cities all fail.
Being from Chicago I love Cincy’s old architecture and hilly hoods. Not a far trip.
it's a sweet dream to rebuild what was destroyed - and I hope it comes true - but, is it realistic ? the materials - granite, marble, excellent wood etc - costs are exorbitant & then, there is the challenge of finding architects & craftmen able & willing to build such magnificent structures - let's face it, the way things are now - people aren't even able/willing to build residential houses / housing properly - materials & labor are just in a different stratosphere as far as costs now & the people who built these buildings had a deep sense of work ethics & pride - our current demographics just don't & that's just a fact - it's not going in a good direction either - it's so heartbreaking - in literally one lifetime - we've gone from wonderful to worthless 😔
That what it means getting poorer, as a society - you cannot afford what you could before
And Western Civilization crumbles
It’s all good, except that you don’t need random pictures from inside the old library you’re talking about outside the buildings mostly in this episode
Dude are you from here? If not how would you actually know what Cincinnati is like? I can do a video on New York that will never even remotely touch the actual culture, sights, sounds, l of that city and I can promise you a video doesn’t do it justice. You said Cincinnati is essentially just boring suburbia which tells me you’re not from here. The city is not just a giant grid from city skylines. Cincy has a very big culture here that unless you come see it yourself you’ll never understand. You said that there is only a pocket of cincy that’s awesome and you’re completely wrong. Most of Cincinnati is the “pocket” you described. You’re massively oversimplifying Cincinnati and your video is a huge disservice to it.
IF YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE A REAL VIDEO SHOWING CINCINNATI THEN WATCH THE SKATE AND EXPLORE VIDEO FROM LAND YACHTZ
wtf is this video lmfao Cincinnati is literally one of the best cities to live in the US right now.
Yea he just chatting out city fire
To the people who aren’t from Cincinnati, this video is lazy, with a huge lack of awareness. This guy spend a day or two googling and finding stats and images and has no idea what the city currently is and how it has transformed. Findlay market union terminal over the Rhine all currently exist within the city and our thriving. If this guy actually did some research, he would quickly find that out. Unlike other cities in the state of Ohio, Cincinnati does not include their suburbs in the city boundary area. If it did, it would be the largest city in the state.
Wow, like St Louis but looks even worse. What a tragedy. Somebody needs to write a book about how the Eisenhower highway system destroyed so many great US cities.
The interstates were very destructive to the family structure, community, and society as a whole. Great for corporations though.
Originally they were supposed to be modeled after the Autobahn and primarily used for shipping... Auto mfrs mass marketed individualism and suburbia, post wwii was the perfect era to sell it, with racism rife creating white flight and erasing mass transit in urban communities.
@@w3bgrl Yeah, it's always "racism" that causes the globalists to do what they do. Gates, Soros, Gore, Schwab, and all the banksters are on your side, but the blue collar worker is holding you back. You're fkn delusional.
Welp its Ohio, your choice is Rural shithole with no future , medium sized shithole cities, or the 3 C's with 1 thats still dying, the other thats FINALLY making a comeback after dying for decades, and 1 thats actually thriving and still growing
Thank you 🙏🏼 love history like this! They don’t teach us this in school
I just did a marathon in Cincinnati "The Flying pig marathon" advertised as the best marathon in America. Well I've done a marathon in all 50 states and yes it is one of the best marathons in the country. The course was challenging and beautiful. I had never been there and I was very impressed with their downtown. Most cities lose population because modern America gives its a citizen a choice they didn't have - the ability to live outside a city.
50 years old, born and raised here. Compared to many other cities in america, we are not doing to bad.
Great video and series. So sad what was lost. Curious why the existing Baltimore George Peabody library is shown here with the demolished Cincinnati library? Its a similar design but comes across as being a lost Cincinnati building.
I live in Cincinnati. Your video was very unfair. This town still has culture, the people are very nice, and it's an affordable place to raise a family.
He didn't say anything about whether the people are nice or whether it is an affordable place to raise a family. The video ist about the architectural heritage of the city, which was very obviously destroyed to a very large degree, replacing a lively, walkable city center with parking lots, glass towers, and highways.
@@sebastianzeitblom4668 That happens in every town. It's sad, but it's hard to prevent.
@@MoellerEngineeringCo.You are able to preserve it with heritage bodies and listing, but if you are a true modernist you may resent this preservation process, and each to their own.
You're right! This video ignored a lot of facts in favor of an overly sentimental view of the past through nostalgia glasses.
Cincinnati has done a FAR better job than Louisville when it comes to preserving historic architecture.
So many people say "America was built for the car". No America was destroyed for the car.
This is my favorite series on RUclips by far! Keep up the
good work?
Ah my hometown. Even though I've seen these photos many times, it always shocks me to see the overhead shot of the urban basin before freeways. Such a beautiful, dense city to rival those in Europe destroyed in the name of 'progress'.
It is not in the name of progress, it is deindustrialization and loss of significance
One question. I see in the photos that they are all old Cities had more beautiful but similar architecture between them. Is it my impression or did they seem like a lot?
There was certainly an American theme from city to city, although there were strong regional differences. It’s not as noticeable in the downtown but in the low rise neighborhood like north side, there is a more specific, local theme, and you see this in different cities
across the country. Also, cities in California and Florida had a very different aesthetic. Most of these cities so far in this series are in the same general part of the US. Great question!
@@alexanderrotmensz Thank you very much.
@@alexanderrotmenszprops for knowing about northside. Cincy still has a lot of really cool spots, and thats definitely up there
@@geography_joewe call it "the Nati"
Yeah, I really want to go back to the days of horse crap all over the streets. Electric with no ground that would destroy everything including you. Cars with leaded gasoline and no catalytic converters spewing out mass amounts of poison to give you cancer. I really wish I could experience what it's like to live in a house with asbestos, lead paint and pipes. Water that comes untreated and most likely someone else is sewage. Yeah I really think we should go back to the good old days.
Where did you get the list @ 0:35
While I agree to a degree, and would love to have seen more of the famed industrial era buildings in CBD, OTR, and CUF kept, this video would have been waaaay more depressing between 1999-2010. It was a ghost town, with many buildings falling so far into disrepair, they had to be torn down. I think Cincinnati has done a pretty good job recently with its development, even if some of the newer architecture is ugly, better than having bricks falling off abandoned properties and empty storefronts. It could definitely do a much better job of creating and sustaining affordable housing, esp since they killed a well-written affordable housing measure a few years back. I'm really concerned now about the privatization of the RR. City leaders did not use foresight on that at all, as privatization has caused more RR accidents and issues as the deregulated train cos don't have to abide by rules that keep them more safe.
The NIMBYs in my city prevented it from falling.
Boom exactly
Sorry, the author obviously has never visited Cincinnati. Cincinnati, and across the river in Covington and Newport, have undergone significant restoration. While the central downtown area did see the replacement of many of the older structures in the 1970's, most of the housing stock from the 1890's and early 1900's has been restored and is breathtakingly beautiful. Hyde Park, Walnut Hills, Mt. Lookout, Mariemont are spectacular. Across the river in Covington, which during the 1950's through the 1970's has some of the worst housing stock in the country outside of Appalachia, has now been completely renovated. I've renovated two homes in Covington, an 1848 Italianate row house and a 1914 Craftsman. Yes, there are ticky tacky tract homes in the far suburbs, but that exists everywhere. Even those homes aren't stacked on top of each other like you see in areas like Atlanta, D.C. or L.A. Actually, this video might be helpful to discourage people from moving to Cincinnati.
Have you ever read into Ogdensburg NY? In my opinion it is the most egregious fallen city in the US. Your last video on Buffalo, it is up northeast of it on the St Lawrence.
It is a much smaller city, but unlike its larger contemporaries, its bustling downtown district was never rebuilt after its demise for "urban revitalization".
I kid you not when I say its downtown district is just an empty multi-block parking lot. I think you may enjoy looking into it, even if it is not a big enough place to warrant a video.