Cincinnati: City of Romance

"I love Cincinnati" is a slogan in my beautiful hometown. It's a jingle on local radio and television stations, and is adhered to bumpers all over the city.

I know what you're thinking, and you're probably laughing! My city has been the target of insults and bad publicity for far too long. Mark Twain even said, "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it' s always 20 years behind the times."

Around 1835 Cincinnati was nicknamed "Porkopolis" because it was the country's leading pork packaging center and herds of pigs traveled through the streets. I know, what a lovely thought.

Last summer I ran across a book by Dave Gilmartin entitled The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America. You guessed it, Cincinnati made the list! Gilmartin writes: "...what little excitement does exist often comes in the form of race riots and related activity (unless one considers the dismal meanderings of the Reds and the Bengals 'exciting')."

Okay, so Cincinnati has been singled out for some rather dubious distinctions:

• Jerry Springer was our mayor (1977-78). But he was a good mayor and the people loved him!
• Cincinnati did have race riots in 2001. But that was the distant past. Sort of.
• In 2009, Cincinnati's Over the Rhine area ranked as America's #1 most violent neighborhood. No neighborhood is perfect.
• Cincinnati is maligned as the home of the "Bungles" and "The Big Dead Machine." Well, the Bengals almost made it to the Super Bowl in 2009.

Now, for you readers and lovers of romance, read on!

• In 2009 Cincinnati was ranked as the 9th Most Literate City in the US with a population over 200,000. Findings were based on data including library resources and newspaper circulation. See www.utexas.edu/ce/exploitas/cities/cincinnati for more information on this study and more positive publicity for Cincinnati!
• In Febrauary 2010, Cincinnati was ranked as the 15th most Romantic City in the US with a population over 100,000 by Amazon.com. Amazon's findings were based on citywide purchases of, among other things, romance novels, romance DVDs, and Barry White CDs! Feel the love!

Men beware, if you're not from Cincinnati, but you marry a woman from Cincinnati, you'll end up living here. That's what happened to my husband--and singer Peter Frampton, too!

If you've never been to Cincinnati, don't be so quick to insult it. Cincinnati is a beautiful city filled with history, culture and romance. Check out my hometown at www.cincinnatiusa.com/arts/ and tell me what you think!