3 C's? How About 4! Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Covington in 2022

[MplsTodd]

Thanks everyone for your comments! I really appreciate them!!

LAsam & mrnyc: There are significant plans to expand Bridge Park to both the north and the south (on the east side of the river). While the current phase is mostly 5 and 6 story buildings, both new phases are planned to include buildings in the 12-14 story range. While I really appreciate what they've done at Bridge Park, with the beautiful pedestrian bridge, the city market and number of restaurants, the architecture is pretty basic and monochromatic. Hopefully the new phases will have more variety of design.

Anyway, Covington, Kentucky is a city directly south of Cincinnati. It was founded in 1815 and currently has a population of 41,000. In 1860 it had 16,000 residents, which increased to 65,000 in 1930 (its peak). It has three major commercial nodes--the traditional downtown which aligns Madison Avenue, the Mainstrasse area along Main Street and the riverfront area (which is probably a northern extension of downtown but feels very different).


Wunderbar, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Turkey Reuben at Wunderbar, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Dotty's, Lee Street, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Pike Street is a diagonal street heading northwest to Madison Avenue. Where they meet is the heart of downtown Covington. I think downtown Covington is almost like Over-the-Rhine of 20 years ago--an unpolished gem of interesting 19th century storefronts and buildings. Looking north along Madison Avenue, it's easy to see the Carew Tower in downtown Cincinnati across the river. No doubt there was a streetcar that connected the two in the early-mid 20th century. It would be interesting to see if the Cincinnati Streetcar could be extended southward to downtown Covington.

Pike Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Buttercup Cake House, West Pike Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Sam's Ice Cream & Candy, Pike Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Signs along Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Theater, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Sims Appliances Furniture, Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison & Pike, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

(former) Liberty National Bank, Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Mother of God Roman Catholic Church, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Motch Clock, Madison Avenue at Pike Street, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Madison Avenue at Pike Street, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Casse Frocks Storefront, Pike Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Pike Street & Madison Avenue, downtown Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Covington Buildings, Pike Street by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Pike Street Storefronts & Sidewalk obstacle course, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

I didn't take many pictures of the area along the riverfront as it lacks the character and interest of the traditional downtown area. Below is a photo of the Covington Riverfront skyline from The Banks in Cincinnati.

Looking Across the Ohio River & Roebling Bridge to Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Here's an older photo of the Covington Riverfront from the Carew Tower in 2007

Covington, KY from the Carew Tower, Cincinnati by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Back to 2022:

Covington Kentucky and the Ohio River by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Covington's Riverfront Skyline from Devou Park, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

We're now headed to the Mainstrasse area, which is just west of downtown. Great collection of 19th century homes and numerous bars and restaurants along Main Street:

Homes along Willard Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Main Street at 9th Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Main Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Shops & Homes along Main Street, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr


Plaza along West 6th Street at Main Street, Covington, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Looking to Mother of God Roman Catholic Church from West 6th Street, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Homes along West 6th Street, Covington, KY by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

A few photos from areas just south of Covington:

Emerson's Bakery, Decoursey Avenue, Latonia, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

Dari-Crest, Madison Avenue, Latonia, Kentucky by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

[Steely Dan]

Outstanding sets all around!

Of course the 3C's shine brightly in your beautiful captures, but I was really waiting for the Covington set because of its far more under-the-radar stature, and you didn't disappoint.


Additionally, OTR is a national treasure.

It really is.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by edale

I love the diversity of the 3Cs...each has their own style and personality.

Yes!

Ohio is lucky to have one of each of the 3 main archetypes of Midwest cities: a classic great lakes city, a classic river city, and a growing "New Midwest" city with the state capital/big 10 special sauce.

[BigDipper 80]

Cincinnati, in my humble opinion, is one of the most "surprising" cities in the country simply because it's so far off most peoples' radar that they have no idea how nice it is. You ask a random person off the street what they think Cincinnati is like and I think they assume it's a bunch of sprawl in a cornfield (no offense, Columbus!) and have no idea that it's hilly and has some of the best architecture in the United States. Union Terminal is simply one of the best pieces of Art Deco on the planet, and yet there are people who have no idea it exists!

Speaking of Columbus, I'm super impressed with how much work has gone into preserving the ground-level urbanism along its main corridors, especially High Street. If the Short North were in Atlanta, it would have a very different built form than how it is today. Now, that said, for the rate that Columbus is booming, I wish we were seeing a lot more big skyscrapers like in Austin or Nashville, but that's purely my SSP selfishness side of things. From an urbanist perspective, what Columbus is building seems to be poised to age a lot better than some of the hostile crap being thrown up in the New South, which I think will be good for long-term prosperity.

[geomorph]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

James A. Garfield Monument, Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio by Todd Jacobson, on Flickr

I did not realize how large the Garfield monument is!

[DetroitSky]

Great collection of photos!

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by geomorph

I did not realize how large the Garfield monument is!

yeah its quite something — the beautiful cemetary has lots of notable grave sites like rockefeller, elliot ness, alan freed, garrett morgan, harvey pekar and others if yr into that — so well worth a visit:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jame...field_Memorial

https://www.lakeviewcemetery.com/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Cemetery

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by BigDipper 80

Cincinnati, in my humble opinion, is one of the most "surprising" cities in the country simply because it's so far off most peoples' radar that they have no idea how nice it is. You ask a random person off the street what they think Cincinnati is like and I think they assume it's a bunch of sprawl in a cornfield.

Yeah, Cincinnati does fly under a lot of people's radar screens.

Especially those outside the region.

I distinctly remember one time telling a co-worker of mine here in Chicago (who grew up out in bos-wash) that I was heading down to Cincinnati to visit some relatives for the weekend, and he kinda did this sarcastic eye-roll scoffing thing like "oh man, I'm so sorry to hear that. That sounds like a super-fun trip. hopefully you don't get too bored down there".

He was an otherwise fairly intelligent person (working in the architecture profession), and open-minded enough to move out to flyover country and live in Chicago for a spell, but he had never set foot in Cincinnati and had no real idea what the city was like beyond maybe a vague, hazy memory of the old WKRP theme song. In his mind, it was as generic and unremarkable as a Midwest city could possibly be.

I had to educate him. So I whipped out my phone, googled some OTR pics, and blew his preconceived notions about the place to smithereens.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures!

I thought Covington's Downtown, or combined Downtown since I saw the three places that you mentioned as one general area, as pretty interesting. The modern stuff along the river gives some added layering of architecture, and shows that it's a real corporate area, as opposed to "just" a historic core with bars and restaurants.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Half my family lives in NKY (Fort Thomas, Cold Spring) and I was just in Cincinnati this past weekend. It always amazes me (I'm an idiot) how Covington and Newport are basically extensions of Cincinnati despite being separated by a river and another state entirely.

Also, lots of trips through Mariemont on Wooster Pike as a kid to see relatives. All of the nostalgia

[plinko]

My experiences in Ohio are limited to Toledo and Cleveland. Never managed to venture further south.

Cincinnati in particular always stuns in photo threads here.

One of these days.