The New Year brings on the opportunity for a fresh start and new beginnings, and there is no better way to embrace change and growth than by moving to a new city. Often times the decision of where to move can be a daunting task, but this year one city takes the cake as the greatest place to call home: Cincinnati.
While often mistakenly thought of as a sleepy metro, this unique town brings together a Midwestern industrial city and southern country feel to provide a perfect place to settle down. Ranked by U.S. News as both one of the top 100 cities to live and one of the top 100 cities to retire, here are the best reasons on why you should call Cincinnati home in 2018.
An important part of any city is the cost of living, which includes housing prices, everyday expenses, and the job market. The cost for housing in the Cincinnati metro area is significantly cheaper than the national average and is often considered one of the most affordable cities to live in around the country. While utilities are also very low, other services like groceries and health care are on par with the rest of the country. That being said, Cincinnati has a fairly low unemployment rate with projected job growth and his home to several major corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Kroger, and Federated Department Stores making it a city that you can afford while having a serious career. Combined with the very successful reform of public school education, it’s also a great place to raise a family.
With a riverfront location, moderate climate, and well-developed park system, Cincinnati is a great city for an active, outdoors lifestyle. Over the course of the year, the weather typically varies between 24o F to 86o F, with an average temperature of 77o F in the summer and 49o F in the winter. Most of the year it is pleasant to be outside enjoying both the city and it’s impressive surrounding park system. There are more than 100 parks such as Shawnee State Park, Sharon Woods Park, and Perfect North Slopes that provide access to lakes, camping, running, golf, skiing, and more all within a few hours driving distance. Finally, the city’s location on the Ohio River means you’re never too far from nature and provides a scenic charm that’s hard to beat elsewhere. If you enjoy a city that can provide both a bustling city center and quick access to nature then Cincinnati is definitely at the top of the list.
While you can love many qualities of a city, often times the traffic, long commutes, and poor public transportation systems can be huge reasons on why people decide to stay away. However, with three major highway systems, Cincinnati boasts an impressive average commute time of only 22 minutes, shorter than the national average. It’s also much shorter than the 40 minutes spent commuting in NYC and 33 minutes spent in Chicago (you can compare your own commute time here). Traveling in and around the city is relatively easy as it is served by metro buses, it’s easy to own a car, and you can use the multiple airports and Greyhound stations to travel from Cincinnati to other areas. This robust system of highways, buses, and airports makes Cincinnati an incredibly easy city to navigate so that you can spend more time doing things that you love, a great reason to settle down anywhere.
There is also no shortage of entertainment in Cincinnati from history and the arts, sports, breweries, and concerts. First and foremost, Cincinnati is home to some major sports fans and has an impressive amount of professional teams for its size. Baseball is practically a religion in this city, and the whole town shuts down for Opening Day of the baseball season. It is also home to the Cincinnati Bengals and has seven major sports venues downtown so you’ll never miss a game. If football or baseball isn’t your sport then the suburb of Mason also hosts the professional international tennis event, the Western and Southwestern Open. So whatever sport you’re into, whether you like to watch or place yourself, you will surely find it in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati also has some incredible museums, zoos, and architecture.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a great place to go and learn about the history of freedom heroes, while the Cincinnati Museum Center has an amazing Imax theater and children’s center. You can also spend time at the Cincinnati Zoo, the second oldest zoo in the United States. Outside of museums and the zoo the city also has some impressive architecture, ranging from Gothic styles to Romanesque, and even its incomplete subway system provides a network of tunnels beneath the city for the ultimate urban exploration experience.
Finally, the city has an awesome beer and concert scene. With a strong German heritage, it’s no surprise that the city loves its beer, and its most popular breweries include Rhinegeist Brewery, Listermann Brewing Company, and Moerlein Lager House. The city even hosts Oktoberfest Zinzinnati which always makes the top Oktoberfest lists in the country. For concerts, there are many venues to catch a show, but the most popular is the Riverbend Music Center which helped to revive the outdoor concert movement in the US. With river views and the ability to hold over 20,000 fans, it is the ultimate concert venue in town. Few things go together as well as sports, music, and beer, and luckily for those who live in Cincinnati, they get all three.
While there are many great places to live within the U.S., few cities can offer you year-round entertainment, mild weather with great accessibility to nature, a thriving city with a short commute, AND affordable housing. It almost sounds like too good of a deal, but fortunately, Cincinnati is still somewhat of a hidden gem of the Midwest. With all the opportunity there is to better yourself and your life in 2018, moving to Cincinnati will surely help you reach your personal goals and help you to have a fuller life without breaking the bank. Maybe if you’re lucky you can even get there before opening day of baseball season, this year is set to be its earliest date yet.