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Valentine’s Day UrbanCincy style


Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and it’s probably best that you are prepared for the “big day.” You’re in luck, because UrbanCincy has the perfect evening for you. May we recommend a trip to the Ensemble Theatre…it is a very intimate theatre that hosts great productions and will be something unique and fun to do with your significant other. Mary’s Wedding by Stephan Massicotte (Feb 6-24) will be going on during the Valentine’s time-frame and should definitely make for a romantic evening.

You could make a night of it by grabbing some of the city’s best Italian at Nicola’s just a few blocks away. Take a lovely stroll from dinner to the show…If dinner gets out a little early you could always do some browsing through the many great businesses in the Gateway Quarter.

After the show, take a stroll down to Lytle Park and take in the night with that special person.

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New and hopefully improved

This work in progress called UrbanCincy has evolved some more…and I thought I should keep everyone apprised as to what has happened.

First off, I’ve changed the header graphic around slightly to something I think is a little more visually pleasing. Secondly, I have removed the Downtown Cincinnati News Bits section (on the left), and replaced it with a news feed from Cinplify.com. The other change is the big one (at least to me…maybe not you). No longer is it http://urbancincy.blogspot.com…oh no, now it is simply www.urbancincy.com.

Tell your friends, coworkers, family, and loved ones. UrbanCincy continues to get better for all of you. Be on the lookout for more improvements down the road as UrbanCincy will continue its maturation into your Cincinnati blogspot.

***EDIT: The proverbial glitch has now been fixed…you can now simply type in “urbancincy.com” and it will direct you to the site. All is well!

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Cincinnati Public Schools making the grade

Many cite schools as a reason they don’t live within city limits (or within the CPS district). I have said before that it is more of an excuse than an actual reason, but it is what it is. Cincinnati Public Schools have been improving their state rating over the past few years, and recently have been receiving some national praise.

In a recent Education Week article (PDF) they say:

Despite being plagued by the problems that beset most urban school systems, the Cincinnati public schools have managed to increase the four-year high school graduation rate from 51 percent in 2000, to 79 percent in 2007. Perhaps more important, they have, as of 2007, eliminated the gap between African-American and white students in graduation rates. This feat was accomplished, moreover, as the state of Ohio was raising academic standards and requiring students to pass more-challenging assessments to receive their diplomas.

While a 79 percent graduation rate isn’t necessarily anything to write home about…it is a strong improvement. This strong improvement has certainly not gone unnoticed, and is going beyond an article in Education Week. CPS Superintendent, Rosa Blackwell, will be on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight show this coming Tuesday night at 8pm. Blackwell will be joined with Withrow University principal Sharon Johnson to talk about the district’s improvements.

Furthermore the district has broken ground on what will become the nation’s first public K-12 arts school. Just to reiterate…crime is down, schools are improving, and you can get a property tax abatement for moving into the city. So what’s holding you back?

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IKEA Cincinnati!


It’s official…IKEA has announced the opening day for their new Cincinnati area store. Clear your calendars for March 12th, and get a good nights sleep…the store opens at 9am.

OHIKEA has been keeping tabs on all things related to the Cincinnati store and has the press release available for viewing. At OHIKEA you can get more information about employment opportunities and everything else juicy that you may or may not want to know.

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Cincinnati film festival?

As with many other things in Cincinnati lately…things are starting to heat up for a “major film festival” in Cincinnati. CityBeat had a fantastic article about this very subject last week, and it has since stirred some interest on the topic.

Mayor Mark Mallory has commented on the issue and said, “Let me tell you, I am very interested in that concept. We have a very rich film industry in the city of Cincinnati, considering we are not L.A., Chicago or New York.” He goes on to say that CityBeat’s reference of it only costing $120,ooo, “doesn’t seem like a lot of money to me.”

So what do you think…is Cincinnati capable of hosting a major film festival here? CityBeat highlighted the many niche film festivals that are already prevalent in Cincinnati. It seems as though our arts community is capable enough, but do we have that extra umph to make it happen? Furthermore, what could a marque event like this do for Cincinnati’s image nationwide? Sure we’ve got fantastics arts here, and they are supported well…but it doesn’t seem like all that many people know it. Could an event like this put Cincy on the radar of young professionals, and thus enlighten them to everything else Cincinnati has to offer?

External Links:
Cincinnati World Cinema
Cincinnati Film Commission