John Fox

September is like a Venn diagram of the best of summer (warm days, green trees, blooming flowers) and the best of fall (cooler evenings, Oktoberfest, new football and arts seasons).

Do our kids spend less time outdoors these days than we did at their age? It sure seems like it. (Spoiler alert: Here comes a “back in my day” story.)

Life has just a few milestone moments when we face radical, disrupting change. Otherwise we swim steadily in the “now,” usually unaware of the incremental changes around us. Our city's lifespan can be viewed in a similar fashion.

This handy guide helps you see which city best fits your current travel mood.

Summer is one long memory factory. File back through childhood highlights, and many if not most are tied to summer: last day of school, camp, your neighbor’s backyard pool, the ice cream truck, Fourth of July fireworks, Reds games, family vacations.

After living in Cincinnati for 30 years, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to appreciate this city even more, so I was grateful for the push to expand my food and geographic horizons.

That forlorn, graffiti-covered brick building in Evanston visible from I-71 was once home to King Records, which launched the career of James Brown and put Cincinnati on the map as a key birthplace of rock and roll.

Cincinnati might not be Music City USA, but our history is intertwined with musical milestones.

We are increasingly on the map now, and there’s a real vibe and positivity about Cincinnati. But the biggest shift I’ve noticed in my life is that we believe it now. You can’t sell something you don’t believe in yourself.

There’s no denying Cincinnati’s upward trajectory these days.