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I'm a born and Westside-raised Cincinnatian.  So I will immediately admit a bias to the city.  As a boy, my parents took me to all the places of note – Eden Park, Mt. Storm, Ault Park, the Krohn Conservatory, the Art and Taft Museums, the Zoo, Coney Island.   I was taught to appreciate the diverse and unique architecture of the city ranging from churches to theaters to concert halls to hotels.  I learned about the rich heritage of the city's inclines, riverboats, and trains.

From the age of 12 I had the privilege to travel by bus – ALONE!  Saturday excursions would begin with a bus ride downtown from my Price Hill home for an early morning music lesson, followed by meeting friends and touring downtown – maybe taking in a show at the Albee, Grand, Palace, Capitol or Keith's – then an excursion ride through the city on other bus routes before heading back home.  As I grew old enough to drive, I was lucky enough to "inherit" a car of my own which allowed me and my friends to expand our investigation of the outlying Cincinnati neighborhoods of Greenhills, Finneytown, Sharonville, Montgomery, Indian Hill.

What this provided us was the opportunity to experience a diverse Cincinnati and appreciate its ethnicity, charm and beauty in a way most Cincinnatians today (native or transplants) never have.   And it's nurtured a pride in this city that I readily proclaim.

My daughters never had the chance to experience that 1950s freedom to jump a bus and ride throughout the city, but that didn't stop them from learning about downtown and how Cincinnati was laid out.  As a game when they were little, we memorized the names of the north/south streets in order from Plum to Broadway.  We showed them the church where we were married, the hotel where we had our reception.  As they grew up we would take them to shows at the Taft and Aronoff, concerts at Music Hall, visit the CAC.  We shopped at Findlay Market and went to the Ensemble Theatre.  Their knowledge of downtown Cincinnati always amazed their friends at school, who were usually clueless about the city beyond Kenwood Mall.

So when the first wedding became a reality….a downtown Cincinnati wedding in May was my daughter's choice.  Her new husband's family and friends (from the suburbs of Detroit) were so impressed with the city, the downtown area and all it had to offer.  Their many compliments and good remarks about Cincinnati fanned the hometown pride in me and allowed me to see my city in a different way – through the eyes of a guest – and it looked good.

Now all the girls live out of town, one because of school and two because of marriage, but there is a warm spot in their heart for Cincinnati, downtown/suburbs, arts & culture, Bengals/Reds, the Zoo…they all are on their list of things to do when they come home to visit.  The grass may look greener on the other side, but there's no place like home.

Robert P. Kellison
Executive Director
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra