Cincinnati · USA

Overview

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Over the past 200 years, proud Cincinnati has captured the fancy of many renowned individuals. Winston Churchill dubbed it the most beautiful inland city in the Union. Charles Dickens called it thriving and animated. And, most famously, Longfellow labeled it the Queen City. For otherwise common folk, Cincinnati today is a livable city offering steady economic growth, low crime rates, and easy accessibility. Perhaps its location right on the bend of the Ohio River overlooking northern Kentucky has something to do with it.

Cincinnati's position on the Ohio River lured shipbuilding companies to the area at the height of the steamboat craze. The city's coffers grew even more when the Miami and Erie Canal was connected to the Ohio River in 1829. In the final analysis, however, Cincinnati owes its development to the lowly pig. In 1835, the city was the largest pork producer in the nation, a title that would later pass to Chicago and St. Louis. Look for the famous flying pigs in the Bicentennial Commons, the 22-acre riverfront park the city dedicated in 1988 to celebrate its 200th birthday.

In Cincinnati's rapidly growing downtown area-with its museums, entertainment, restaurants, and sporting venues, including the Great American Ball Park, which opened in 2003 -- you can take in everything from a Bengals football game or a Reds baseball game to a performance by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra or the Cincinnati Ballet. There is also a variety of museums -- the Cincinnati Museum Center, in the renovated Union Terminal (1933) railroad station, houses the Cinergy Children's Museum and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.