What I Miss

This is "Best Of" week in Cincinnati. It's CityBeat's biggest issue of the year and it celebrates all the good stuff in this town.

Every year and a few weeks before the issue, Editor John Fox contacts his writers and asks for input. He e-mails me every year about this and most years I can't come up with anything.

Now before you start screaming at me and sending me nasty comments, please know that I’m not good at this type of thing. Let me say right now, there are plenty of good things about Cincinnati and I’ll let the other writers handle that, because they’re a lot better writing about it than I am.

However, for this post, I want to simply state what I miss about Cincinnati. If some of you want to take me to task for doing it and say I’m living in the past, go right ahead.

I miss healthy downtown activity at night. I moved here in the early 70’s and I can remember downtown being packed at ten o’clock at night. There were people everywhere and it felt like a big city.

I miss feeling safe. 20 years ago, I would never have a second thought about being downtown late at night, because there was traffic. Now, I’m looking over my shoulder constantly.

I miss the live television. It was such a staple in Cincinnati for so long. Ruth Lyons, Paul Dixon, Nick Clooney and others kept the city busy with people wanting to get in to see the shows and it was great for downtown business.

I miss having restaurants that are affordable. Once upon a time, you could have lunch downtown at a reasonable price. Not that I’m a fan of fast food chains, but if a person was on a budget, most of those chains were downtown. Now, unless you want to go to Skyline, you’re looking at close to ten bucks for lunch.

I miss winning sports teams. I remember The Big Red Machine days and even when The Bengals would win. This was a sports town. Now we have new stadiums down by the river and teams that are losers.

I miss going to the movies downtown. It was fun to catch a show, then walk to a restaurant afterward to get a bite to eat. Now I have to get in a car and go to a Showcase Cinema? To me, that’s not fun.

Let me stop here before some start saying I'm throwing a wet blanket on the week.

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again. Sometimes you have to look at the past to make the future better.

- Larry Gross

(Photo from www.eh.uc.edu.com)

Comments

[Barbara]

Saying you can't find a cheap lunch downtown is foolish. There are plenty of restaurants that serve lunch for under $10. Do you even live here?

[RealDeal]

I visit other cities and they seem to be able to support movies in their downtowns. I don't understand why Cinti. can't.

[brian]

whatever. again.

[Chris S]

Hmmmm, too much to address here really. But of all the things you miss, you certainly don't have to miss affordable lunch downtown. I eat lunch downtown every day of the week, and I can go for weeks without eating at the same place and never spend more than $10. How about Mythos, or Sunshine Foods, or O'Malleys, or ... the list is quite long really. And I haven't even touched the cheap chains...

[Debbie]

If I pay over 5 dollars for lunch, it screws up my budget. Not all of us make a lot of money. Brown bagging gets old but that's usually all I can do.

[Tim]

In some ways, you are living in the past. You'll never see real live television here again. Paul Dixon is dead and Nick Clooney isn't coming back.

But asking for a safe downtown and wanting winning sports teams isn't living in the past, that would only help downtown.

As far as wanting cheap lunches, do a little walking around. You can find cheap eats.

[Chris S]

Hmm, well under $5 for lunch is doable, I just had a $4.80 lunch from Sunshine... I can think of at least 4 places within an easy walk of my work where I can get lunch for under $5, and none of them is a national chain. That said, show me a major city in the country where there are a lot of lunch options under $5 in the downtown/central business district. (without hitting mcdonalds, or BK, which is not food). The only places I can think of that have a wide variety of places below that price point are places where there are alot of food carts, and even then, on my latest trip to NYC I paid $4.50 for one hotdog at one such vendor... So even that is pushing it for $5. $10 opens the range up to dozens of places downtown.

[hard as nails]

bring back white castle.

[JGU]

"Sometimes you have to look at the past to make the future better."

Really? Give me a relevant example where someone focusing on the past has implemented a better future. I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of any. But certainly you have a bunch at your fingertips.

Since you are looking over your shoulder constantly while downtown, can I assume you are stoned most of the time when you are downtown? I was always one of those paranoid stoners myself - drove my friends crazy. Come to think of it, that would explain a lot.

[CincyCapell]

Good god, You are fucking idiot. You obviously haven't have not been downtown in years. There are loads of people downtown, and the restaurants are packed, as are the bars

Your rampant hatred of Cincinnati has never been more obvious. Please do us a favor and stay in the 'burbs, we do not want you Downtown.

[Matt]

Hey, fucking idiot CincyCapell,

Larry lives downtown. Larry works downtown. He doesn't live in the 'burbs. You don't come here often do you?

I take it your a hometown type of person with his or her head up his or her ass.

There are not plenty of people downtown. Have you ever left the state? Do you ever travel?

If you don't want honest talk about Cincinnati, Go over to Cincinnati Blog. That's where the cheerleaders are.

[Tate]

CincyCapell,
Larry blows it often but not when it comes to Cincinnati. This city is fucked up. If you can't see that, then you're fucked up.

[Matt]

Larry, you're getting blasted over at the Cincinnati Blog. I think you upset the cheerleaders.

[JGU]

Matt,
Gosh, I was going to invite you over for dinner, but forget it. You'll just have to get drunk at Madonna's with Larry. He likes cheap drinks that aren't fancy. And he likes to be a curmudgeon. But he calls it being "real."

It's so much more interesting and - oh yes - so much more hard... I mean really difficult... to be "real." Thanks so much to you both for resisting your natural temptations to be "cheerleaders." That is really such a waste. Who would want to waste an entire life being a "cheerleader"!

Cheers!

[Donald]

Hey, Matt,

I guess YOU don't come here often. Larry moved to Newport. He announced it here, alongside his pangyric to how much friendlier the folks on that side of the river are than us dumb hicks that still live in Cincinnati.