What are the best streets in Ohio's cities?

[David]

Best is a broad term but lets just go based on looks and I guess functionality can influence it as well. What in your city really stands out to you? Show pictures if you can.

I think Neil Ave. in Columbus is exceptional. It's mostly residential but it's so full of life. I love it. People are always out jogging and walking their dog.The Victorians are stately and are propped up from the street level but they're very dense to the point of almost touching each other. Very impressive street.




I guess a close second would be City Park in German Village. There's also a really cool little intersection in German Village but I can't recall the names of the streets involved. Maybe someone could help me out and provide a picture of it. I'm sure someone knows what I'm refering to.

Here's City Park Ave.






For Cincinnati I want to go with St. Gregory for its views of the city and the scale of the buildings/street. Well, the buildings themselves are cool too. Plus it has that statue of the drunk monk with the receeding hairline.




State your case for the best of Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, etc.

[MyTwoSense]

Cleveland:  Shaker Blvd. Between 130 Street and Coventry!

[Htsguy]

Lake Avenue from Edgewater Park in Cleveland to the county border (Bay Village).  I say this as an east sider...oh the horror.

[Living in Gin]

Great thread idea!

My favorites (All are in/near Cincinnati):

Just about any side street in Mount Adams. New York and Chicago wish they had a neighborhood like this.


Eighth Street / Piatt Park in downtown, one of the city's most underrated public spaces.


Fourth Street, downtown. The one street in downtown Cincy that resembles a Chicago or Manhattan-style skyscraper canyon. Hopefully, Fifth and Sixth Streets will follow suit over the coming years.


Vine Street, OTR. So much potential.


And as a personal sentimental favorite: Fort Thomas Avenue across the river in my hometown of Fort Thomas. When I find myself driving or walking down this street, I know I'm home.

[Hts44121]

East 4th in downtown Cleveland hands down.  450 feet of urban bliss.

Lake Avenue from Edgewater Park in Cleveland to the county border (Bay Village).  I say this as an east sider...oh the horror.

You are officially exiled.  Enjoy life on the other side of the river.

[David]

Living in Gin - I forgot about 4th St! It does remind you of Manhattan. McAlpin and such. Personally I think Main St. is cooler than Vine in OTR. When Vine is totally revitalized I will probably change my mind about that.

[Living in Gin]

I didn't have a photo of Main.

[edale]

Great idea for a thread, David! PS your pics of Columbus reinforce that I NEED to get up to Cbus and explore.

For Cincinnati (in no particular order):

Erie Avenue: Goes through Hyde Park Square, one of the best business districts in Cincy.  It continues on through a great residential area, passing the famous Mushroom House, and the business district of East Hyde Park before terminating in a cool part of Madisonville.

Madison Road: I love that it goes through so many diverse neighborhoods, and that it is the main artery through most of the neighborhoods it passes through.  It starts as MLK where it passes UC, and the hospitals, then crosses the highway, goes right through the middle of East Walnut Hills and all the mansions.  The it goes through Obrionville, then travels all through Hyde Park, passing really awesome apartment buildings both midrise and highrsie, and passes the beautiful Withrow Highschool.  Then it goes through Oakley and the heart of its business district, Madisonville and the heart of their NBD, and terminates in Indian Hill.

All the streets on the top of Mt. Adams

Ludlow Ave in Clifton: My favorite business district because it is so complete and has everything you could need.  I love how there is a variation in the architecture, and in the streets behind it.

[ColDayMan]

Commercially, High Street in Columbus.  No other street in this state is that prominent.  There are a lot of little nice commercial nodes throughout the state that are interesting: Fifth in Dayton; Market in Akron; Summit in Toledo; Coventry in Cleveland Heights; Clifton in Cleveland; 10ish in Cincinnati; hell, even 3rd in Grandview Heights.

Residentially, that's tricky.  Neil in Columbus is perhaps the most opulent large-scale residential urban street in the state.  Of course, every city/suburb has that one or two street that make people drop their jaws like Fairmount/Shaker in Cleveland Heights/Shaker Heights; Shaker Run in Indian Hill; Ridgeway in Oakwood; N. Parkside in Bexley; blah blah.  Cincinnati has endless small streets with "wowzers" and Cleveland's lakefront streets are fantastic.

But we all know, really, the best street in the state is International Street at Kings Island.  Tudor, nice rows, Graeter's, La Rosa's, funnel cakes, water features, nice lighting, sight-lines = yay, and an Eiffel Tower.

[Johio]

4th Street in Cincinnati is probably my favorite because of the aforementioned Manhattan feel of the building scale. It is not only the most big city street in Cincinnati but in all of Ohio.

[Hts44121]

It is not only the most big city street in Cincinnati but in all of Ohio.

And here comes the pissing match....

[Cincinnatus]

+1 for O'Bryonville and 4th St. ... I'm starting to dig Walnut lately.

[X]

Cleveland-

Hessler Rd.
East 4th St.
W. 31st Pl.
Market Ave.
Newton Ave
E. 65th St. from Broadway to Lansing
Mayfield through Little Italy

I named a lot there, but in my defense most of these are very short streets- one or two blocks.  We don't do long streets well, apparently.  Or at least we don't preserve them.

[Hts44121]

The Grand Army of the Republic Highway

[unusualfire]

 I like Columbia parkway as it snakes around the Ohio river lined with high rises.

[David]

+1 for O'Bryonville and 4th St. ... I'm starting to dig Walnut lately.

I like how Cincinnati's business districts aren't so overly popular that they go stale quickly *cough High St. cough*. So many streets in Cincinnati will remain underrated forever. O'Bryonville is a perfect example of that.

[C-Dawg Njaim]

Toledo
Huron: main spine of Toledo, urban canyons, warehouses, 1800's rowhousing north of Downtown
Madison: narrow two-lane urban canyon in the heart of the CBD, very ornate buildings
Collingwood/Robinwood/Scottwood/etc: most ornate architecture in Ohio, Old West End, 'nuff said
Lagrange: heart of Polish Ohio, long commercial stretch, narrow, built up, etc.
Main: heart of East Toledo, excellent architecture/density, good dive bars, tons of potential
Broadway: heart of Mexican Ohio, good density, Catholic landmarks, Toledo Zoo, Ivy League
Consaul: heart of Hungarian Ohio, narrow, active district, Tony Packo's, 'nuff said
Monroe: Art Museum, OWE, Beirut, Lebanese culture, industrial/commercial landmarks
Adams: hub of Uptown Toledo, good bars, high density in Downtown too, nearly all historic
Bancroft: runs from UT/Old Orchard to Lagrange, tons of variety, solid architecture
St. Clair: very active couple blocks in Warehouse District, urban canyon Downtown
Summit: mix of skyscrapers, 1800's rowhousing/commercial buildings, and shipping industry
Sylvania Avenue: dense built up areas from early 1900's Toledo, pretty vital spine
Detroit Avenue: some might question this inclusion due to the general reputation of the area, but it runs all the way from Detroit to Maumee, has great density in some stretches, big ass factories, absolutely no limit to the grit, and more than lives up to its namesake. Overall, highly underrated and wasn't hit with urban renewal like nearby Dorr Street.

In terms of the winner, it's Huron Street. For at least three miles, it's almost entirely built up and quite dense, not to mention the baseball stadium, arena, bars, high-rises, mid-rises, historic warehouses, rowhousing in Vistula, etc. Huron is the de facto hub of Toledo and the survival of its historic buildings speaks to that.

Bancroft might win for most variety since it contains everything from 1800's townhouses in Lagrange, Chicago-style courtyard apartments in Old West End, mansions in Westmoreland, collegiate gothic landmarks at UT, and then an early 1900's streetcar suburb with Old Orchard.

Any of the prominent streets in Old West End would win for best residential. The mansions, apartment buildings, and rowhouses are ridiculously opulent. It's pretty unmatched by just about anything in the country.

And the thing about Toledo is there is no agreement on what is the best street in the city (though more and more are leaning towards Huron). There is no dominant commercial or residential street. Thankfully a good number of historic urban areas have survived and this has led to multiple neighborhood nodes, many which carry their own ethnic enclave (Mexican on Broadway, Polish on Lagrange, Arab on Monroe, Hungarian on Consaul). There is no dominant nightlife district in Toledo (Warehouse District, Downtown, Uptown, UT, and East Toledo all duke it out), and this has led to many neighborhood dive bars surviving against all odds. Due to this lack of a clear "winner", Toledo is harder to get a grasp on, but it also offers a surprising amount of variety.

[bumsquare]

Ooh I'll second W. 31st Pl.

[StrapHanger]

Newton Ave

Hear hear.  Been meaning to post a photo thread of this short gem for about 4 years or so.

Not at its best now, but you can't not mention Euclid Ave. in this thread.  You just can't.

[Clueless,Ohio]

Not at its best now, but you can't not mention Euclid Ave. in this thread.  You just can't.

Not at its best now is right... but someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, this will be one of the best again.

[MyTwoSense]

Lake Avenue from Edgewater Park in Cleveland to the county border (Bay Village).  I say this as an east sider...oh the horror.

.....and you couldn't name one east side street?      You need to move, immediately!

[MyTwoSense]

The Grand Army of the Republic Highway

AKA Superior!  LOL

[Hts44121]

The Grand Army of the Republic Highway

AKA Superior!  LOL

...AKA Euclid, AKA Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, AKA Clifton Blvd, AKA Lake Road.  I chose it for its versatility  

[buckeye1]

For its name alone, Yankee Doodle Drive in Reynoldsburg/Cols.  Try to drive past that street every day and not have "Yankee Doodle went to town..." playing on your internal jukebox all day long.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,78.837891&ie=UTF8&cd=3&geocode=FScxYQIdGDsQ-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&ll=39.923956,-82.823203&spn=0.006377,0.009624&t=h&z=17

[MyTwoSense]

For its name alone, Yankee Doodle Drive in Reynoldsburg/Cols.  Try to drive past that street every day and not have "Yankee Doodle went to town..." playing on your internal jukebox all day long.

[url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,78.837891&ie=UTF8&cd=3&geocode=FScxYQIdGDsQ-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&ll=39.923956,-82.823203&spn=0.006377,0.009624&t=h&z=17]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,78.837891&ie=UTF8&cd=3&geocode=FScxYQIdGDsQ-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+Franklin,+Ohio+43068&ll=39.923956,-82.823203&spn=0.006377,0.009624&t=h&z=17[/url]

 
Are you for real?  Good Lord!  Look where it's located!

[Clueless,Ohio]

Newton Ave

Hear hear.  Been meaning to post a photo thread of this short gem for about 4 years or so.

Just as soon as I can find the right SD Card I have a great little picture of Newton Ave. And will post it.

[X]

In the meantime, all anyone has to do is watch the opening scenes of "American Splendor".  Though the apartment buildings at the end of the street have been renovated.

[Clueless,Ohio]

Near the intersection of E. 101st & Chester is Newton:

[thomasbw]

Orchard Ave in OTR

[Hts44121]

Not at the very top of my list, but I am surprised no one has nominated Magnolia in UC.  South Park Blvd in THE Hts and the bit of Lakeshore Blvd running through Bratenahl deserve some praise as well for their glamour.

While maybe deserving of a new thread, I will also like to nominate Chagrin Blvd as the absolute WORST street in Ohio.  If you made an entire City out of Chagrin Blvd, you would have Charlotte.