What To Expect When In Downtown Cincinnati

I have tried to start each of my weekday mornings with a leisurely thirty minute jaunt at Coffee Emporium on Central Parkway, but with the recent lack of available funds, it has been harder and harder who start my mornings with the jovial cup of Joe so when I do get a chance to go I do not want anything to disturb my morning.

While I am there, order the usual egg and cheese croissant and a large caramel latte (hold the whip cream) and I spend the thirty minutes people watching, proof reading writing created by others or ripping through the pages of my current read, entitled, Freedom In this Village. All this before I head out for a full day of hard labor.

Incidentally, this morning, I edited Chapter Four of the novel I am writing.

Anyway...

On my way to Coffee Emporium, driving, I crossed Liberty St. via Sycamore and at the intersection of Orchard and Sycamore streets, there was a man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, violently waving down traffic that was moving south on Sycamore. The black S.U.V. just in front of me was hesitant to stop, but did so out of the kindness of their heart. Not passing the S.U.V., I waited to see if it was some sort of emergency. In reality, I was just being nosey. The man spoke to the driver through the passenger side window for only a few seconds and then the S.U.V. sped off, leaving the stranger in the middle of the intersection, thanking the driver with his middle finger.

Seeing this, I had no intention of stopping and was thanked in the same manner, along with the white station wagon that followed. What do people expect? Even if you are in dire need of help (which didn't seem to apply in this situation), it is less likely that a stranger is going to offer you a hand to repair a flat tire or offer his services to help jump your dead car battery if they have witnessed you offending a person that does not or can not stop and give assistance. I know that it is frustrating not to get help when you really need it, but clearly the person was not a downtowner, and may have not been aware of how to ask for help.

In a more rural setting, the average Joe may be more willing to stop for an up-turned thumb than most downtowners would be. There is not a common look for a person who resides downtown, but this stranger's worn baseball cap, faded blue jeans and confrontational demeanor told me that he "was not from around these here parts". I am sure this is why the stranger was more upset than he should have been, but that didn't persuade me to for go my morning escapade at Coffee Emporium.

When in Rome...

Living in a downtown environment has many benefits which is the reason it has drawn so many young professionals and empty nesters into its realm.

During the 1970’s, Downtown Cincinnati experienced and large exodus of its residents. From 1990 to 2000, population in the central business district declined nearly 17 percent from 3,838 to 3,189, according to a report from Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and U.S. Census data covering the same period shows that Cincinnati's population had dropped by more than 9 percent to 331,000.

The residents of downtown Cincinnati, along with help from the city’s government has mad great strides in attracting more people to live downtown, despite the Cincinnati’s Civil Unrest of 2001.

Want to find out more about living downtown or in Over-the Rhine? Try visiting the following Web sites ...

IRHINE
A nonprofit organization founded by Metaphor Studio creative director Ran Mullins in 2000, iRhine boasts links to developers, activities and all things Over-the-Rhine.

DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, INC.(513) 521-4440
Also a nonprofit organization, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. has a goal to "revitalize" via the dissemination of information about everything there is to do, see, experience and take part in around the Queen City.

INVEST IN NEIGHBORHOODS1821 Summit Road, Suite 108, Roselawn (513) 921-5502 Founded in 1982, this non-profit agency works with Cincinnati's 51 neighborhood community councils in hopes of assisting them with financial resources and "to promote self-sufficiency and leadership skills of the councils and their residents.