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Cincinnati
City of Cincinnati
Clockwise, from top: Downtown Cincinnati skyline, Cincinnati Union Terminal, the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, Cincinnati Music Hall, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, and Cincinnati City Hall
Clockwise, from top: Downtown Cincinnati skyline, Cincinnati Union Terminal, the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, Cincinnati Music Hall, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, and Cincinnati City Hall
Flag of Cincinnati Official seal of Cincinnati
Seal
Official logo of Cincinnati
Logo
Nicknames: 
Athens of the West, Cincy, Little Paris, Paris of America, Porkopolis, The Queen City, The Nati, The "513"
Motto(s): 
Juncta Juvant (Latin)
"Strength in Unity"
Cincinnati is located in Ohio
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Location in Ohio
Cincinnati is located in the United States
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Location in the United States
Cincinnati is located in North America
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Location in North America
Country United States
State Ohio
County Hamilton
Region East North Central
Settled 1788; 236 years ago (1788)
Incorporated (town) January 1, 1802; 222 years ago (1802-01-01)
Incorporated (city) March 1, 1819; 205 years ago (1819-03-01)
Named for Society of the Cincinnati
Government
 • Type Mayor–council
Area
 • Total 79.56 sq mi (206.07 km2)
 • Land 77.84 sq mi (201.59 km2)
 • Water 1.73 sq mi (4.47 km2)
 • Metro
4,808 sq mi (12,450 km2)
Elevation
482 ft (147 m)
Highest elevation 959 ft (293 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 309,317
 • Rank US: 65th
 • Density 3,887.85/sq mi (1,501.03/km2)
 • Metro
2,232,907 (US: 30th)
 • Demonym
Cincinnatian
Time zone UTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
Area code 513
FIPS code 39-15000
GNIS feature ID 1066650
GDP $119 billion USD
Primary Airport Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
Interstates I-71.svg I-74.svg I-75.svgI-275.svg I-471.svg
Public transportation Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority
Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky
Clermont Transportation Connection
Commuter Rail Cardinal
Rapid transit Cincinnati Bell Connector
Waterways Ohio River

Cincinnati ( SIN-si-NAT-ee) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. With an estimated population of 2,190,209, it is Ohio's largest metropolitan area and the nation's 29th-largest, and with a city population of 309,317, Cincinnati is the third-largest city in Ohio and 64th in the United States. Throughout much of the 19th century, it was among the top 10 U.S. cities by population, surpassed only by New Orleans and the older, established settlements of the United States eastern seaboard, as well as being the sixth-most populous city from 1840 until 1860.

As a rivertown crossroads at the junction of the North, South, East, and West, Cincinnati developed with fewer immigrants and less influence from Europe than East Coast cities in the same period. However, it received a significant number of German-speaking immigrants, who founded many of the city's cultural institutions. By the end of the 19th century, with the shift from steamboats to railroads drawing off freight shipping, trade patterns had altered and Cincinnati's growth slowed considerably. The city was surpassed in population by other inland cities, particularly Chicago, which developed based on strong commodity exploitation, economics, and the railroads, and St. Louis, which for decades after the Civil War served as the gateway to westward migration.

Cincinnati is home to three major sports teams: the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball; the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League; and FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer; it is also home to the Cincinnati Cyclones, a minor league ice hockey team. The city's largest institution of higher education, the University of Cincinnati, was founded in 1819 as a municipal college and is now ranked as one of the 50 largest in the United States. Cincinnati is home to historic architecture with many structures in the urban core having remained intact for 200 years. In the late 1800s, Cincinnati was commonly referred to as the "Paris of America", due mainly to such ambitious architectural projects as the Music Hall, Cincinnatian Hotel, and Shillito Department Store. Cincinnati is the birthplace of William Howard Taft, the 27th President and former Chief Justice of the United States.

History

Cincinnati I
Cincinnati in 1812 with a population of 2,000

Cincinnati was founded in 1788 when Mathias Denman, Colonel Robert Patterson and Israel Ludlow landed at the spot on the north bank of the Ohio River opposite the mouth of the Licking River and decided to settle there. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it "Losantiville". In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, made up of Revolutionary War veterans, of which he was a member.

Ethnic Germans were among the early settlers, migrating from Pennsylvania and the backcountry of Virginia and Tennessee. General David Ziegler succeeded General St. Clair in command at Fort Washington. After the conclusion of the Northwest Indian Wars and removal of Native Americans to the west, he was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1802.

The introduction of steamboats on the Ohio River in 1811 opened up its trade to more rapid shipping, and the city established commercial ties with St. Louis, Missouri and especially New Orleans downriver. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819. Exporting pork products and hay, it became a center of pork processing in the region. From 1810 to 1830 its population nearly tripled, from 9,642 to 24,831. Completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1827 to Middletown, Ohio further stimulated businesses, and employers struggled to hire enough people to fill positions. The city had a labor shortage until large waves of immigration by Irish and Germans in the late 1840s. The city grew rapidly over the next two decades, reaching 115,000 persons by 1850.

Cincinnati-in-1841
Cincinnati in 1841 with the Miami and Erie Canal in the foreground.

Construction on the Miami and Erie Canal began on July 21, 1825, when it was called the Miami Canal, related to its origin at the Great Miami River. The first section of the canal was opened for business in 1827. In 1827, the canal connected Cincinnati to nearby Middletown; by 1840, it had reached Toledo. During this period of rapid expansion and prominence, residents of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the "Queen City".

Cincinnati depended on trade with the slave states south of the Ohio River, at a time when thousands of blacks were settling in the free state of Ohio, most from Kentucky and Virginia and some of them fugitives seeking freedom in the North. Many came to find work in Cincinnati. In the antebellum years, the majority of native-born whites in the city came from northern states, primarily Pennsylvania. In 1841 26 percent of whites were from the South and 57 percent from the eastern states, primarily Pennsylvania. They retained their cultural support for slavery. This led to tensions between pro-slavery residents and those in favor of abolitionism and lifting restrictions on free people of color, as codified in the "Black Code" of 1804.

The volatile social conditions produced white-led riots against blacks occurred in 1829, when many blacks lost their homes and property. As Irish immigrants entered the city in the late 1840s, they competed with blacks at the lower levels of the economy. White-led riots against blacks occurred in 1836, when an abolitionist press was twice destroyed; and in 1842. More than one thousand blacks abandoned the city after the 1829 riots. Blacks in Philadelphia and other major cities raised money to help the refugees recover from the destruction. By 1842 blacks had become better established in the city; they defended their persons and property in the riot, and worked politically as well.

After the steamboats, railroads were the first major form of commercial transportation to come to Cincinnati. In 1836, the Little Miami Railroad was chartered. Construction began soon after, to connect Cincinnati with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and provide access to the ports of the Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie.

Cincinnati-civilwar
Cincinnati in 1862, a lithograph in Harper's Weekly.
Tyler-davis-fountain-1906
The Tyler Davidson Fountain, a symbol of Cincinnati, was dedicated in 1871.

In 1859, Cincinnati laid out six streetcar lines; the cars were pulled by horses and the lines made it easier for people to get around the city. By 1872, Cincinnatians could travel on the streetcars within the city and transfer to rail cars for travel to the hill communities. The Cincinnati Inclined Plane Company began transporting people to the top of Mount Auburn that year.

In 1880, the city government completed the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the only municipality-owned interstate railway in the United States.

In 1889, the Cincinnati streetcar system began converting its horsecar lines to electric streetcars.

An early rejuvenation of downtown began in the 1920s and continued into the next decade with the construction of Union Terminal, the post office, and the large Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building. Cincinnati weathered the Great Depression better than most American cities of its size, largely because of a resurgence in river trade, which was less expensive than transporting goods by rail. The flood of 1937 was one of the worst in the nation's history and destroyed many areas along the Ohio Valley. Afterward the city built protective flood walls.

Geography

Geographic regions ohio
Cincinnati is in the bluegrass region of Ohio.

A major city of the Ohio Valley, Cincinnati is situated on the north bank of the Ohio River in Hamilton County, which is the extreme southwestern county of the state of Ohio. It is midway by river between the cities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cairo, Illinois. The city lies opposite the mouth of the Licking River, an important factor in its being sited where it is.

Cincinnati's core metro area spans parts of southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 79.54 square miles (206.01 km2), of which 77.94 square miles (201.86 km2) is land and 1.60 square miles (4.14 km2) is water. The city spreads over a number of hills, bluffs, and low ridges overlooking the Ohio River in the Bluegrass region of the country. Cincinnati is geographically located within the Midwest and is on the far northern periphery of the Upland South. Two-thirds of the American population live within a one-day drive of the city.

Three enclaves lie within Cincinnati's city limits: Norwood, Elmwood Place, and Saint Bernard. Norwood is a significant business and industrial city, while Elmwood Place and Saint Bernard are small, primarily residential, villages. Cincinnati does not have an exclave, but the city government does own several properties outside the corporation limits: French Park in Amberley Village, the disused runway at the former Blue Ash Airport in Blue Ash, and the 337-mile-long (542 km) Cincinnati Southern Railway, which runs between Cincinnati and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Cityscape

Fountain Square
Macy's Jazz Festival held in Fountain Square.

Downtown Cincinnati is focused around Fountain Square, a public square and event location.

Cincinnati is home to numerous structures that are noteworthy due to their architectural characteristics or historic associations, including the Carew Tower, the Scripps Center, the Ingalls Building, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, and the Isaac M. Wise Temple.

PNC Tower
The PNC Tower, with the Carew Tower in the background.

The city is undergoing significant changes due to new development and private investment. This includes construction of the long-stalled Banks project, which will include apartments, retail, restaurants, and offices and will stretch from Great American Ball Park to Paul Brown Stadium. Phase 1A is already complete and 100 percent occupied as of early 2013. Smale Riverfront Park is being developed along with The Banks and is Cincinnati's newest park. Fountain Square was renovated in 2006. Nearly $3.5 billion has been invested in the urban core of Cincinnati (including Northern Kentucky). Much has been done by 3CDC. A new streetcar system opened in September 2016.

Queen City Square opened in January 2011. The building is the tallest in Cincinnati (surpassing the Carew Tower), and is the third tallest in Ohio, reaching a height of 665 feet. In 2013 the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati opened, the first casino in the city and fourth in the state of Ohio.

The mile-long Cincinnati Skywalk, which was completed in 1997, remains a viable way to traverse downtown on foot in an indoor environment, despite the removal of several segments based on modern urban-development initiatives.

The Cincinnati Zoo in Avondale is the second oldest zoo in the United States.

Downtown Cincy
Downtown Cincinnati

Climate

Cincinnati belongs to a climatic transition zone, at the northern limit of the humid subtropical climate and the southern limit of the humid continental climate zone (Köppen: Cfa/Dfa, respectively). Summers are warm to hot and humid, with significant rainfall in each month and highs reaching 90 °F (32 °C) or above on 21 days per year, often with high dew points and humidity. July is the warmest month, with a daily average temperature of 75.9 °F (24.4 °C).

Winters tend to be cold and snowy, with January, the coldest month, averaging at 30.8 °F (−0.7 °C). Lows reach 0 °F (−18 °C) on an average 2.6 nights annually. An average winter will see around 22.1 inches (56 cm) of snowfall, contributing to the annual 42.5 inches (1,080 mm) of precipitation, with rainfall peaking in spring. Extremes range from −25 °F (−32 °C) on January 18, 1977 up to 108 °F (42 °C) on July 21 and 22, 1934. Severe thunderstorms are common in the warmer months, and tornadoes, while infrequent, are not unknown, with such events striking the Greater Cincinnati area most recently in 1974, 1999, and 2012.

Hydrography

Flood in East end of Cincinnati - 1913 (LOC)
Cincinnati's East End neighborhood during the Great Flood of 1913.

Cincinnati includes 22 miles (35 km) of riverfront along the northern banks of the Ohio River, stretching from California to Sayler Park, giving the river and its movements a prominent place in the life of the city. Frequent flooding has hampered the growth of Cincinnati's municipal airport at Lunken Field and the Coney Island amusement park. Downtown Cincinnati is protected from flooding by the Serpentine Wall at Yeatman's Cove and another flood wall built into Fort Washington Way. Parts of Cincinnati also experience flooding from the Little Miami River and Mill Creek.

Since April 1, 1922, the Ohio River's flood stage at Cincinnati has officially been set at 52 feet (16 m), as measured from the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. At this depth, the pumping station at the mouth of Mill Creek is activated. From 1873 to 1898, the flood stage was 45 feet (14 m). From 1899 to March 31, 1922, it was 50 feet (15 m). The Ohio River reached its lowest level, less than 2 feet (0.61 m), in 1881; conversely, its all-time high water mark is 79 feet 11+78 inches (24.381 m), having crested on January 26, 1937, during the Flood of 1937. Various parts of Cincinnati flood at different points: Riverbend Music Center in the California neighborhood floods at 42 feet (13 m), while Sayler Park floods at 71 feet (22 m) and the Freeman Avenue flood gate closes at 75 feet (23 m).

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1800 850
1810 2,540 198.8%
1820 9,642 279.6%
1830 24,831 157.5%
1840 46,338 86.6%
1850 115,435 149.1%
1860 161,044 39.5%
1870 216,239 34.3%
1880 255,139 18.0%
1890 296,908 16.4%
1900 325,902 9.8%
1910 363,591 11.6%
1920 401,247 10.4%
1930 451,160 12.4%
1940 455,610 1.0%
1950 503,998 10.6%
1960 502,550 −0.3%
1970 452,525 −10.0%
1980 385,460 −14.8%
1990 364,040 −5.6%
2000 331,285 −9.0%
2010 296,945 −10.4%
2020 309,317 4.2%
Population 1810–1970.
Population 1980–2000.
Population 2010.
Demographic profile 2019 2010 2000 1990 1970 1950
White 50.7% 49.3% 53.0% 60.5% 71.9% 84.4%
 —Non-Hispanic 48.2% 48.1% 51.7% 60.2% 71.4% n/a
Black or African American 42.3% 44.8% 42.9% 37.9% 27.6% 15.5%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 3.8% 2.8% 1.3% 0.7% 0.6% n/a
Asian 2.2% 1.8% 1.5% 1.1% 0.2% 0.1%
Race and ethnicity 2010- Cincinnati (5560448832)
Map of racial distribution in Cincinnati, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic or Other (yellow).

In 1950, Cincinnati reached its peak population of 504,000; it has lost population in every census count from 1960 to 2010. In the late 20th century, industrial restructuring caused a loss of jobs. More recently, the population has recovered slightly: the 2020 census reports a population of 309,317, representing a small increase from 296,945 in 2010.

At the 2010 census, there were 296,943 people, 133,420 households, and 62,319 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,809.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,471.0/km2). There were 161,095 housing units at an average density of 2,066.9 per square mile (798.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 49.3% White, 45.0% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population.

There were 133,420 households, of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.2% were married couples living together, 19.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 53.3% were non-families. 43.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 3.00.

The median age in the city was 32.5 years. 22.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 14.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.4% were from 25 to 44; 24.1% were from 45 to 64; and 10.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.

As of 2019 estimates, the Cincinnati-MiddletownWilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 2,221,208, making it the 30th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the country. It includes the Ohio counties of Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Clinton, and Brown, as well as the Kentucky counties of Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton, and the Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin, Union, and Ohio.

Arts and culture

Taste-of-Cincinnati-2009
Approximately 500,000 attend Taste of Cincinnati annually, making it one of the largest street festivals in the United States.

Cincinnati's culture is strongly influenced by its history of German and Irish immigrants and its geographical position on the border of the Southern United States and Midwestern United States. In the mid to late nineteenth century, Cincinnati became a major destination for German and Irish immigrants. In 1830 residents with German roots made up 5 percent of the population, as many had migrated from Pennsylvania; ten years later the number had risen to 30 percent. Thousands of German immigrants entered the city after the revolutions in the German states in 1848 and by 1900, more than 60 percent of its population was of German background.

Cincinnati's Jewish community was developed by immigrants from England and Germany.

Fountain Square serves as one of the cultural cornerstones of the region.

Findlay Market Cincinnati
Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest operating market

Food

Cincinnati's food specialities reflect the city's German heritage. Many restaurants specialize in schnitzels and in Bavarian cooking, as many immigrants originated in southern Germany. Two annual festivals focus on traditional German foods: Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, billed as the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside Munich, and Bockfest, the oldest German-style bock-beer festival in the United States.

Cincinnati has many gourmet restaurants. The Maisonette in Cincinnati had the distinction of being Mobil Travel Guide's longest-running five-star restaurant in the United States of America, holding that distinction for 41 consecutive years until it closed in 2005. Jean-Robert de Cavel has opened four new restaurants in the area since 2001, including Jean-Robert's at Pigall's; this closed in March 2009.

One of America's oldest and most celebrated bars, Arnold's Bar and Grill in Downtown Cincinnati has won awards and accolades from several national and regional media publications, including Esquire magazine's "Best Bars in America", Thrillist's "Most Iconic Bar in Ohio", The Daily Meal's "150 Best bars in America" and Seriouseats.com's "The Cincinnati 10". America's Foremost Cocktail Guru, David Wondrich stated that "if Arnold's were in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, or Boston – somewhere, in short, that people actually visit – it would be world-famous."

Cincinnati is noted for two unique foods common in the area but seldom found outside Greater Cincinnati: Cincinnati chili, and Goetta.

Cincinnati chili

Cincinnati chili, a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce served over spaghetti or hot dogs, is the area's "best-known regional food." Several chains serve it, including Skyline Chili, Gold Star Chili, and Dixie Chili and Deli, plus independent chili-parlors including Camp Washington Chili. Cincinnati has been called the "Chili Capital of America" and "of the World" because it has more chili restaurants per capita than any other city in the United States or in the world.

Goetta

Goetta is a German-inspired meat-and-grain sausage made of ground pork and pinhead oatmeal, usually fried and eaten as a breakfast food.

Events

The Belle of Louisville docks next to the Natchez in Cincinnati for Tall Stacks 2006
Cincinnati's Tall Stacks festival

Cincinnati hosts a number of large annual events. Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, Bockfest, and the Taste of Cincinnati that feature local restaurateurs. Music-related events include the Cincinnati May Festival, MidPoint Music Festival, and Cincinnati Bell/WEBN Riverfest. The Flying Pig Marathon is an annual event attracting many serious and amateur runners. Tall Stacks, held every three or four years, celebrates the city's riverboat heritage.

Dialect

Cincinnati lies at the periphery of a region that speaks Midland American English, a dialect closely associated with General American. Unlike the rest of the Midwest, Southwest Ohio shares some aspects of its vowel system with northern New Jersey English. However, the most distinctive local features have gradually diminished among younger speakers in favor of Midland American. There is also some influence from the Southern American dialect found in Kentucky.

An element of German culture remains audible in the local vernacular: some residents use the word please when asking a speaker to repeat a statement. This usage is taken from the German practice, when bitte (a shortening of the formal, "Wie bitte?" or "How please?" rendered word for word from German into English), was used as shorthand for asking someone to repeat.

Theatre

Photo Collage, USITT 2015
A photo collage of some of the views of the USITT Conference and Stage Expo in Cincinnati, OH, 2015

Professional theatre has operated in Cincinnati since at least as early as the 1800s. the world), and the Mariemont Players.

In 2015, Cincinnati held the USITT 2015 Conference and Stage Expo at the Duke Energy Convention Center, bringing 5,000+ students, university educators, theatrical designers and performers, and other personnel to the city.

Transportation

Cincinnati Union Terminal Rotunda
Cincinnati Union Terminal serves Amtrak's Cardinal line and houses several museums.

The city of Cincinnati has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 19.3 percent of Cincinnati households lacked a car and increased slightly to 21.2 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Cincinnati averaged 1.3 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.

The development of a light rail system has long been a goal for Cincinnati, with several proposals emerging over many decades. The city grew rapidly during its streetcar era of the late 19th century and early 1900s. Public transit ridership has been in decline for several decades and bicycles and walking has accounted for a relatively small portion of all trips in the past. Like many other midwestern cities, however, bicycle use is growing fairly rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s. In 1916 the Mayor and citizens voted to spend $6 million to build the Cincinnati Subway. The subway was planned to be a 16-mile loop from Downtown to Norwood to Oakley and back to the east side of Downtown. World War I delayed the construction in 1920 and inflation raised the costs causing the Oakley portion never to be built. Mayor Seasongood who took office later on argued it would cost too much money to finish the system.

Cincinnati Bell Connector on Race St at Glass Alley (2017)
The Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar line

Public transportation

A century later, the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar line, which opened for service on September 9, 2016, crosses directly above the unfinished subway on Central Parkway downtown. Cincinnati is served by Amtrak's Cardinal, an intercity passenger train which makes three weekly trips in each direction between Chicago and New York City through Cincinnati Union Terminal. Cincinnati is served by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) and the Clermont Transportation Connection. SORTA and TANK primarily operate 40-foot diesel buses, though some lines are served by longer articulated or hybrid-engine buses. SORTA buses operate under the "Metro" name and are referred to by locals as such. In 2012–16, Cincinnati constructed a streetcar line in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. This modern version of the streetcar opened in September 2016. The Cincinnati Streetcar project experienced railcar-manufacturing delays and initial funding issues, but was completed on-time and within its budget in mid-2016.

A system of public staircases known as the Steps of Cincinnati guides pedestrians up and down the city's many hills. In addition to practical use linking hillside neighborhoods, the 400 stairways provide visitors scenic views of the Cincinnati area.

Fort Washington Way at night
Fort Washington Way, one of Cincinnati's major freeways

Air transportation

The city is served by Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (IATA: CVG) which is actually located in Hebron, Kentucky. The airport is a focus city for Allegiant Air and a global hub for both Amazon Air and DHL Aviation. In addition to that Delta offers daily nonstop flights to Paris, France. Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport (IATA: LUK), has daily service on commercial charter flights, and is located in Ohio. The airport serves as hub for Ultimate Air Shuttle and Flamingo Air.

Streets and highways

Bus traffic is heavy in Cincinnati. Greyhound and several smaller motor coach companies operate out of Cincinnati, making trips within the Midwest and beyond. The city has a beltway, Interstate 275 (which is the longest beltway in the Interstate Highway System, at 85 miles) and a spur, Interstate 471, to Kentucky. It is also served by Interstate 71, Interstate 74, Interstate 75 and numerous U.S. highways: US 22, US 25, US 27, US 42, US 50, US 52, and US 127. The Riverfront Transit Center, built underneath 2nd Street, is about the size of eight football fields. It is only used for sporting events and school field trips. At its construction, it was designed for public transit buses, charter buses, school buses, city coach buses, light rail, and possibly commuter rail. When not in use for sporting events, it is closed off and rented to a private parking vendor.

Sister cities

Cincinnati has nine sister cities.


Sports

Downtown cincinnati 2010 kdh
View of downtown Cincinnati in 2010, showing city arenas
Cincinnati Cyclones Game - US Bank Arena
A Cyclones home game at Heritage Bank Center

Cincinnati has three major league teams, seven minor league teams, five college institutions with sports teams, and seven major sports venues. Cincinnati's three major league teams are Major League Baseball's Reds, who were named for America's first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings; the Bengals of the National Football League; and FC Cincinnati, promoted to Major League Soccer in 2019.

On Major League Baseball Opening Day, Cincinnati has the distinction of holding the "traditional opener" in baseball each year, due to its baseball history. Children have been known to skip school on Opening Day, and it is commonly thought of as a holiday.

The Flying Pig Marathon is a yearly event attracting many runners and acts as a qualifier to the Boston Marathon.

The Cincinnati Reds have won five World Series titles and had one of the most successful baseball teams of all time in the mid-1970s, known as The Big Red Machine. The Bengals have made three Super Bowl appearances since its founding, in 1981, 1988, and 2021, but have yet to win a championship. Whenever the Bengals and Carolina Panthers play against each other (an interconference matchup that occurs every four years), their games are dubbed the "Queen City Bowl", as Charlotte, North Carolina, the home city of the Panthers, is also known as the Queen City. The Bengals enjoy strong rivalries with the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers (both of whom are also members of the AFC North).

Cincinnati is also home to two men's college basketball teams: The Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers. These two teams face off as one of college basketball's rivalries known as the Crosstown Shootout. In 2011, the rivalry game erupted in an on-court brawl at the end of the game that saw multiple suspensions follow. The Musketeers have made 10 of the last 11 NCAA tournaments while the Bearcats have made six consecutive appearances. Previously, the Cincinnati Royals competed in the National Basketball Association from 1957 to 1972; they are now known as the Sacramento Kings.

FC Cincinnati is a soccer team that plays in MLS. FC Cincinnati made its home debut in the USL on April 9, 2016, before a crowd of more than 14,000 fans. On their next home game vs Louisville City FC, FC Cincinnati broke the all-time USL attendance record with a crowd of 20,497; on May 14, 2016, it broke its own record, bringing in an audience of 23,375 on its 1–0 victory against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. FC Cincinnati has since broken the USL attendance record on several additional occasions, and moved to Major League Soccer (MLS) for the 2019 season. FC Cincinnati was awarded an MLS bid on May 29, 2018, and moved to a new stadium in the West End neighborhood just northwest of downtown in 2021.

The Western & Southern Open, a historic international men's and women's tennis tournament that is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 Series and the WTA Tour Premier 5, was established in the city in 1899 and has been held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in suburban Mason since 1979.

The Cincinnati Cyclones is a minor league AA-level professional hockey team playing in the ECHL. Founded in 1990, the team plays at the Heritage Bank Center. They won the 2010 Kelly Cup Finals, their 2nd championship in three seasons.

The Cincinnati Sizzle is a women's minor professional tackle football team that plays in the Women's Football Alliance. The team was established in 2003, by former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods. In 2016 the team claimed their first National Championship Title in the United States Women's Football League.

The Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G will debut on the LPGA Tour in 2022 at Kenwood Country Club. It is the first time since 1963 that women's professional golf will return to Cincinnati.

The table below shows sports teams in the Cincinnati area that average more than 5,000 fans per game:

Cincinnati Teams (yearly attendance > 5,000)
Club Sport Founded League Venue Avg attend Ref
Cincinnati Reds Baseball 1882 Major League Baseball Great American Ball Park 23,383
Cincinnati Bearcats Football 1885 NCAA Division I Nippert Stadium 33,871
Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball 1901 NCAA Division I Fifth Third Arena 9,415
Xavier Musketeers Basketball 1920 NCAA Division I Cintas Center 10,281
Cincinnati Bengals Football 1968 National Football League Paul Brown Stadium 60,511
Cincinnati Cyclones Ice hockey 1990 ECHL Heritage Bank Center 5,051
FC Cincinnati Soccer 2015 Major League Soccer TQL Stadium 21,199

Notable people

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cincinnati para niños

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