Simply the best description of Cincinnati I've ever read

Here's an ESPN article in preparation for the NFL draft (knowing that Marvin Lewis had better pick someone of impeccable character like Ted Ginn from OSU and not another Chris Henry) that details the bundle of contradictions that is Cincinnati. I've often said that Cincinnati suffers from low self-esteem. The families here go back generations and very few ever leave. I call it "fly-paper." Once you land, you stick.

It may also be true that when you promote one aspect of a community (conservatism moralism) you will automatically call forth its shadow (liberal sleeziness).

Read on if you are curious at all. Honestly, in reading this article, I felt validated that I had successfully analyzed this city as an outsider. And, since I've been here 8 years, I can also say that for all her problems, I do love Cincinnati.

Here's hoping Marvin and the Bengals have a great draft. Excerpt:

Conservative and uncomfortable
When it was founded in the 1700s on the northern banks of the Ohio River, Cincinnati quickly grew into what has been called America's first inland boomtown. It rapidly became a gateway to the untamed West.

Today, nobody calls this a boomtown. The metro area population is around 2 million, placing it in the top 25 nationally, and there are many major corporations located here. But its residents admit that Cincinnati is as likely to think small as it is to think big: resistant to change, wary of the outside world and happy within its own cultural cocoon.

"From the day I got here [from New York], I was totally struck by how much better this place is than our own people give it credit for," says nine-year Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski.

For comparison's sake to other cities, Cincinnatians might need to get out more. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer says he has neighbors in his suburb whose idea of a vacation is to go downtown and stay in a hotel.