Who really knows what started the current green love fest that is taking over our city and the rest of the country?  All I know is that I love it. I hear people reference Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," which made the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide, as the watershed moment. That's good enough for me. What interests me most is seeing more people take action against this global environmental crisis. Fortunately, we live in a city that takes green seriously.

As long as I can remember, I've had a passion for the planet. My interest in turning off light switches to save electricity, taking care of the animal kingdom and riding my bicycle started when I was a little kid growing up in the 1970s right here in Cincinnati. I lived
in mostly older neighborhoods that encouraged walking and bicycling to school, parks and local stores. We rarely ate fast food. And we certainly didn't buy bottled water.

As a teenager, I lived in Madeira. This built-out older suburb on Cincinnati's northeastern border is a model for community involvement and now has the county's highest recycling rate. I helped organize paper drives, wrote papers on wildlife conservation and took the bus downtown whenever I had the chance. I was obsessed with saving wildlife and natural areas. I still don't know why I didn't pursue a career in that field.

I ended up studying urban planning at the University of Cincinnati, where my taste for environmentalism became more focused. I gave up meat, desired to never own a car for any real length of time and lived in apartments around the university and downtown so that I could walk or take the bus to class. I knew I wanted to save older places such as Cincinnati in this era of continued suburban expansion.

It seems fitting that I now own and operate the city's first green general store, Park + Vine. I love that the store has quickly become a vital part of Cincinnati's link to the green movement. It gives me the chance to combine all my interests in one place. I meet some of the most amazing and impassioned people in the city. Plus, I get to align my entrepreneurial ambitions with local causes.

So while I've moved around a bit and lived in and visited other places, it's Cincinnati that molded my convictions about how to live a full and responsible life. Cincinnati has all the makings of a city that can mastermind great ideas, nurture creativity, and chart new directions.

With the exception of Findlay Market, or the monthly Final Friday Gallery Walk, Over-the-Rhine doesn't have the distinction of being a shopping destination.

But that's changing. In less than one year, five stores have opened in the two blocks of Vine Street between Central Parkway and Thirteenth Street: Park + Vine, City Roots, MiCA 12/v, Metronation, and Lucky Step. At least three more, including Embrace Sweets and Outside, are scheduled to open this spring. Including the new Lavomatic restaurant, this little stretch will feature nine stores and places to eat before summer gets here.

And this is just the first two blocks of Vine Street's southern stretch, which also includes the Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati. Further down, there's Venice on Vine and Suder's Art Store in the 1300 block. Go two blocks to the east and find the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Below Zero
Lounge, Coffee Emporium, Know Theater of Cincinnati and Lucy Blue. One block over, Race Street has Devroe's and Enzo's.

These are pretty impressive numbers considering where this area was just two years ago and that a large number of people had largely written off downtown as a place to shop or visit. Now, it's common to find organic bedding, houseplants and apparel for little ones…to name
a few.

Sure, shopping choices have shrunk downtown in recent decades, but people are finding something new in our city's center. And they're not just downtown workers. In fact, our biggest days of the week are Friday, Saturday and even Sunday. Collectively, we've created a new
destination for Cincinnati.

The proof is in the numbers. A majority of Park + Vine's customers, for instance, come from downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Mt. Adams—all in zip code 45202. Large numbers come from Clifton, Clifton Heights/University Heights/Fairview Heights, Hyde Park and Northside.

While all these neighborhoods possess some of the most coveted business districts in Cincinnati, it's clear the city sees value in shopping in Over-the-Rhine.

It is working. Maybe people really do want things they can't find at a chain store. Maybe people are craving a different experience with a downtown vibe where local ownership and independence rule. Or maybe our combined passion for Cincinnati is rubbing off.

It may be all these things and more. Of course, we have our challenges, but we have the upper hand. The local Web site buycincy.com is helping the shop-local movement gain momentum. More people are living downtown. There's broad-based support for the Cincinnati Streetcar. To me, this says that a majority of Cincinnatians want this city to work. 

I was born on the west side, grew up on the east side and ended up in the middle. This is my third time passing through Over-the-Rhine as a resident and my first as a business owner. I lived in my first Over-the-Rhine apartment on Main Street in 1990-91 when I was a senior finishing up my urban planning degree at the University of Cincinnati.

It was one of the best years of my life. There was a nice mix of Appalachian and Black families, artists and college students, but there wasn't much happening (yet) business-wise. It had a wonderful bohemian neighborhood vibe.

After graduation, I moved to San Diego and lived there for one year before heading back to Main Street. I had a fun part-time job at the spunky Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce. Kaldi's had just opened.
Quirky art galleries and stores we're filling up formerly boarded-up storefronts. There were more people on the street. It was a neighborhood undergoing incremental change.

After another four years in Cincinnati, I left for New York City and then Chicago. I returned in February 2007 almost 11 years later to open Park + Vine, our city's first green general store, at 1109 Vine Street. We were the first new store to sign a lease north of Central Parkway and join longtime business institutions such as Suder's Art Store. We shared our June 1-3 grand opening weekend with City Roots, Metronation and Below Zero Lounge.

There was never a doubt in my mind that Cincinnati was ready for a store like Park + Vine. After gaining inspiration for the store from Chicago's Green City Market and locally owned operated businesses around the country, I knew it was time to come home. My friends in Chicago encouraged me to open the store there, but even more people were optimistic about me doing it here in Cincinnati. It didn't take much convincing.

Many people thought I was nuts for deciding on Over-the-Rhine. There may be some truth to this, but most any new business venture is risky.

My top choice was always Over-the-Rhine. I've always admired the neighborhood's fierce independence and its resolve for self-improvement despite the unfair criticism it receives around the region. Plus, my heart is in the city. The suburbs, especially the older ones that ring Cincinnati's boundaries, certainly have their advantages. However, the city itself is what makes this region tick and is our one common denominator.

Living in other cities helped me appreciate Cincinnati. I love this place. I've never bought into Cincinnati's reputation as a conservative city. Maybe it's the circles of people in my life, but my Cincinnati embraces creativity and new ideas. It's the reason our store is thriving. Maybe more of us need to move around a little bit more to see what's happening in other cities while spreading the good word about Cincinnati.