Getting There & Getting Back

No one stays in the same place forever, which means any city, town, village, or outhouse has to have a way for people to come and go. With a city of Cincinnati's size, it's also necessary to have a way of moving people between points in the city limits. Cincinnati discharges these obligations admirably. Whether you're coming to Cincinnati to move in to a brand new place in Leslieville Lofts or on your way out to vacation in the Australian Outback, you'll be glad that the city is so connected to the world around it. Read on to learn the best ways to come and go in Cincinnati.

Road

Road is the means of transportation most Cincinnati residents, and indeed most Midwesterners, use to get around. The city has an impressive tangle of major highways congregating in the city and no fewer than five bridges over the river. Though the cars going over the bridge mean the river needs a lot of waste water grit removal, they allow residents to get where they're going on their own terms. The major interstate highways serving the city are Interstate 75, which runs north south, Interstate 71, which runs northeast, and Interstate 74, running west into Indiana. Interstate 275 circles the city, and numerous other smaller highways feed into this system.

Rail

Cincinnati was built upon railroads and industry in much the same way other Western cities were built upon the land speculations of an estate agent. Canada, the eastern United States, and other cities in the Midwest all have rail ties to Cincinnati. Amtrak provides passenger rail service through the main depot in Cincinnati Union Terminal. There are several companies in the city devoted to freight rail transport, with the largest being CSX Transportation. They have a large rail yard west of the main north-south highway artery.

Air

Cincinnati shares its airport with Northern Kentucky, with the facilities actually being located across the river in Kentucky. The majority of the region's air traffic comes through Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International, including many an Etobicoke real estate agent bound for vacations in the City that Rocks. Primary carriers operating from this airport are Delta and Comair. Cincinnati does have several smaller commuter airports as well: Luken, Butler County, Cincinnati West, and Blue Ash, that primarily deal with business jets and private planes.

Inner-city

In a city the size of Cincinnati, it's unfeasible for every citizen to have a car in which to get around. You know yourself when you're trying to find a parking spot near your midtown Toronto condominiums that it's almost impossible, and that's with only a small fraction owning cars! Nevertheless, the car-less have to find a way to get around somehow. Cincinnati's answer is the SOTRA or Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority bus system. There were also plans for a subway at one point but that eventually turned into a tunnel for cables, but the plans for the streetcar between Over-the-Rhine and the University are coming along with estimates suggesting it could be ready by 2011.