Local Yokel...


I love Cincinnati.

I'm not completely sure why, but there's this innate pull inside of me to enjoy my city.

If you want to irk me, and I mean really ruffle my feathers, start talking about how much you hate living wherever you're from. It drives me nuts.

The reason this drives me particularly crazy is because most of these complainers haven't been elsewhere. Now I'm no world traveler myself, but I have been to a few places. I haven't lived anywhere other than my hometown of Cincinnati. <----Oh man, I really hope they don't think I like Cincinnati because it's all that I know. ----> What I've seen though is that everywhere is Cincinnati. Cincinnati is everywhere.

Here's what I mean: Go somewhere. Stay there a little while. Look around. It's all the same eventually. We've all got the malls, movie theaters, historical districts, airports, city traffic, tourist areas, music venues, restaurants, "secret" local dives, universities, etc..

At least within 25 miles or so.

Even when I was in the middle of Nowheresville Montana it became the same as Cincinnati after a few days. You may agree or you may not, it's an opinion of mine and we all know what those are like.

Anyway though - this rant was not the initial intent of this blog entry. My original target was to talk about doing things local style. We had a few people over for dinner tonight and for dinner I did my shopping at the local markets. I went to Langen's Meats for some beef tenderloin shoulder and potatoes. After that, I ran over to Piazza Discepoli for some wine. It was great. I love local shops.

You can pretty much always expect to spend about 10% more for what you're going to buy, but you know what? Price isn't everything. Sometimes it's worth spending a little bit more to support your local businesses. I'm not anti-big business or anything like that, I'm still Sam's Club's number one fan. For some things though, my money is going toward the quality local stores.

What are your favorite local places to shop?


6 waggish utterances thus far...:

Unknown said...

Dunkin' Donuts! Whatever, it is totally a local shop. There aren't any here in Redding and no place comes close to it! I also enjoy Bridgetown Finer Meats-good chicken salad. I'm sure there's more, but my brain is fried at the moment. :)

Unknown said...

I've lived all over the U.S., but this is home. Has been since I was 15.

I could spend easily spend all day at Findlay Market

I like the funky little shops along Ludlow in Clifton, they're fun to browse. Spend an afternoon there, hit Ambar for some good Indian food, and bring home a bottle of wine from Ludlow Wine.

I prefer getting my meats from place like Bridgetown Finer Meats and Wassler's. Better quality, they'll cut it how you like it, and they actually try and help you with questions instead of pushing some plastic-wrapped package at you.

I love the Front Porch Coffee House. There's a Starbucks going in at Krogers on Glenway, and I'm afraid of what that would do to the Fro Po. And speaking of Kroger, there's a great grocery store near work, Remke's Market, that could show Kroger a thing or two about quality and customer service.

Inner Blessings in Cheviot has the same things Family Christian does. Of course you'll pay more, since they don't have the buying power FC does.

Elaine said...

While I agree that every place has malls, universities, restaurants etc. what actually makes a place unique is the spirit of the people who live there. In that respect, I don't think Cincinnati is just like everywhere else. There are some things that I can appreciate about the "spirit" of Cincinnati and some things that I will be glad to leave behind. In any case, I definitely think Cincinnati is a city unto itself. Oh yeah... and Adriatico's is by far my favorite local spot.

Ryan Allen Doan said...

boy do I miss cincy. Being away has made me miss the nati and going to Meijer. Vancouver has given me an appreciation for local, specialized shops. It is more time consuming. I can't wait to see what is available these days in Ohio. Hoo-Day

Helen Ann said...

I love my old fashioned Moore Pharmacy at the end of my street. They know my name, they're always friendly and they even put a little piece of candy in your bag. And it's awesome because I can walk there in 2 minutes. Graeters has fabulous ice cream (not crazy about their baked goods though), United Dairy Farmers makes the best hot fudge sundaes, West Side Chili serves up fine cincinnati-style chili (even for vegetarians!) And of course Front Porch.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more... if you can't stand the place you live in, just MOVE! The world's plenty big and unbelieveably diverse. Go find somewhere you'll like!