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Shit to do in Cincinnati!
Loren Michael
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My girlfriend is studying there. She's Chinese and her English is really bad. She needs to make friends.
Need suggestions re: cool shit to do in Cincinnati!
Need suggestions re: cool shit to do in Cincinnati!
Loren Michael on
0
Posts
Wherever she is a student, she should have free access to the sports games, you just sit in the student area. For some sports you have to get tickets in advance due to demand, but they are still free.
The art museum in Eden park is free to get in, but they charge for special exhibits. They also charge 2 dollars for parking because (I think) people living in Mt. Adams were using it as a parking area...
An orange membership in enjoy the arts is a pretty economical way to get around too, and I'm sure she can meet people at exhibits and such...
https://www.enjoythearts.org/membership
There is a really nice museum at union terminal that she will be able to go to with that. It is at the train station. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_Terminal
Whatever school she is at will have co-ed leagues for games. She might like indoor soccer (it can be rough!) or softball, volleyball... Whatever.
does she have a car?
edit 2: City Beat will have info on happenings around town, it is free and if she reads it will help her english. http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/
Cheap seats for Red's games are 5 bucks, and she can move to a better seat once the game starts. The season is coming to a close, but next year... Bengal's games are expensive and aren't worth going to, the crowd can be kind of rowdy.
My general rec? Hit up Travel wiki
Newport on the levee and Covington on the Kentucky side have some cool strips of bars. Kings Island has their halloween thing coming (or is going right now I should know this I live like a mile away).
Some people are into the church festival scene, that's winding down but there are so many of these damned things that have cheap beer and gambling of various types.
I think everybody should try the Comet Bluegrass Allstars on Sunday nights.
Where is she studying, it might help to know how old / what school / where she is living specifically.
Newport is a big shopping / restaurant / movie place just across the river into KY. The hookah bars on McMillan near UC are popular with the under-21 crowd. Eden park is nice.
Is she going to UC or another school? There are always events on campus, and UC has an amazing rec center for full-time students.
A little googling shows that there's a Chinese American Association of Cincinnati, which might be of interest.
Cincinnati is fucking dangerous though, even right around UC. Watch it. I say this as someone who lived there, and now lives in LA.
Edit: The Newport Aquarium is nice. Stay the hell away from the Cincinnati Zoo.
Wha? The Cincinnati Zoo is one of the best in the country.
mostly thanks to OTR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-Rhine
I lived in Cincinnati for 30 years. I never felt unsafe. And I lived in or on the edge of Over the Rhine. But I wasn't a chinese woman. I was a gay white male though.
All good suggestions so far. Having a better idea of her interests would help us to zero in on some good activities that would work specifically for her.
Clifton is the biggest melting pot of culture in the city - you can find a number of different cuisines and eateries and there's several good bars to hang out at. Newport and Mainstrasse have some pretty good places to eat/drink/visit as well. For movies, I'd say either Newport's AMC and Springdale have the best offerings (IMAX, first runs, etc.), but the Esquire has the smaller, art-house style releases (it's a staple for anybody in the Clifton area).
I'm a little mystified on why Saddler says to stay away from the Zoo, though I do agree that the Newport Aquarium is pretty cool, as is the Art Museum and Union Terminal. I could suggest Reds or Bengals as well, but seeing as they're both perennial losers, I'd say you could find better uses of the money you'd typically spend for either - though the Reds Hall of Fame I've heard is a pretty cool place to visit.
Again, having a better idea of what her interests are would be helpful.
And yeah, OTR, depending on where you go, can be very hit or miss. There are some great shops and cafes as long as you stay on Main, or on the first 3-4 blocks of Vine just north of Central Parkway. But even those can be dodgy late at night. It's all about awareness of what's going on around you.
Clifton is definitely where it's at, but it has been mentioned several times now. Northside, which is just down the hill is also pretty cool these days. Melt is a great little vegan friendly cafe, and there are a few bars and coffee shops and little stores there as well.
Actually, I'm not 100% on the IMAX at Newport since I'm not typically in that area (Colerain/Fairfield area is where I hang my hat), but it's still a pretty good theater. Springdale definitely has IMAX though. Speaking of Fairfield, it was mentioned already, but Jungle Jim's is an amazing place to visit - it's a little bit of a drive from the UC/Downtown area, but if you live in the tri-state area, you owe it to yourself to visit/shop there every now and then. Also along route 4 on the way to Jungle Jim's is a recently opened arcade with a ton of old school games (www.arcadelegendsohio.com). I mention this place because it's been a long time since there was a dedicated arcade in the Cincy area.
Murphy's also correct about Northside being a pretty cool place as well and just down the street from the Clifton area.
holy crap! There hasn't been a decent arcade since the mid 90s. I will be going there soon for sure!
Ah, Colerain. My old stomping grounds. Well, until I got out of HS, and then I made a beeline for downtown.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center just into KY is worth seeing, as is the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Crazy to see so many Cincinnati forumers in here. Who-dey?
I think there was a big Cincinnati thread made a few months ago. There was a nice list of bars and stuff. I highly recommend Ault Park or Eden Park for some nice parks to go to. Kenwood Mall is the nice yuppie mall, Tri-County is the less-than-nice mall, and Cincinnati Mills is the empty mall (it's really nice, but NO ONE ever shops there).
No who-dey for me. I hate the Bengals. I hate the players, the coaching, and especially the team owner. And how no matter how bad they are I had to support the stadium in my taxes. Thank god I'm a Fairfield resident now (soon to be West Chester...no city tax whooo!)
I definitely felt less safe in Cincinnati than I did in LA, go figure. Crackheads knocked on my door in Clifton at 3 o'clock in the morning, one of my friends got robbed at gunpoint while out walking, one had her house broken into and her stuff stolen. UC students would frequently run away with personal artifacts from our office, like jackets, cameras, and backbacks. I don't know how unusual it is, but they have the only campus library I've ever seen with persistent armed police presence. Mostly be careful after dark, be sensible, lock your door, don't turn your back on your stuff. I'm not trying to scare you, just take precautions.
Edit: Oh, and one time a crackhead climbed my friend's fire escape up to the second floor and tried to get in her window. I think she scared him off, though.
Shiiit, haha.
I don't blame you for moving to downtown - it's not too expensive to live in Colerain and it's still not that bad for the most part, but all you need to do is drive down Colerain Road and see how it's been going downhill from years past.
Yeah - Cincy Mills is on life support. Shame too considering Bass Pro Shop is still there as well as a decent first-run theater and The Old Spaghetti Factory.
And I share your hate for the Bengals - Mike Brown needs to go, and from what I hear, he needs to take the entire family with him. Being a Cincy follower has turned me into more of a mercenary fan.
Kudos on your upcoming move to West Chester, that part of town is really up and coming and seems really nice.
I miss my buddies from there, though. *sigh*
By "Clifton" I assume you mean Corryville. Because there aren't exactly a lot of crackheads hanging out in Clifton. Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience, though.
Don't get me wrong, like any city of its size, Cincinnati has a fair amount of crime. Maybe even more than others depending on the neighborhood. But as long as you avoid those particular areas, you shouldn't have any problems.
This has not been my experience with the city at all. I've been living here since 2007, and haven't had any serious problems.