I must say that the topic of this discussion I owe to a friend who came a posting on the city-data site about urban turnaround in Cincinnati that essetially stated that Cincinnati had shot itself in the foot because due to rampant homophobia by the religious right that drove many in the gay community away to other cities like Indianapolis Indiana and Columbus Ohio.
In large part they may have a valid point. Coming from Indianapolis I can tell you that many people born and raised in Cincinnati moved here to Indy. I think driven more by our vibrant economy than anything else. But the gay community here has been largely responsible for the Urban Pioneering and gentrification of the downtown here. In fact many in the gay community have made millions on the "revitilization" of the downtown.
Having said that Cincinnati makes perfect sense to me. I for one, dont care what some Evangelical Christains thinks. Last weekend on our trip to Cincinnati I saw alot more gay couples around Findlay Market than I expected. True mostly 20 somethings, but they were open and I found most people not really seeming to care.
Were Cincinnati's gay community to create a Marketing and Public Relations organization geared towards marketing to gay people in other cities they might have some sucess. But it needs to be done in one or two concentrated areas like OTR. Cincinnati looks alot like San Francisco and look at property values there. In order to be sucessful they need to get their act together with quality bars and entertainment. Night life in Cincinnati is not up to par with other cities in the Midwest. Not all gays want to watch a drag show. They do want a good neighborhood restaurant or pub. And there has to be a Lowes or Home depot close by.
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