Where do you shop?

As an Over the Rhine and greater downtown Cincinnati resident, I get really tired of that question. It happens far too often. From people at work, friends, and family. I honestly do not get it sometimes. I am pretty sure most people in the suburbs get in to their cars and drive to a nearby grocery story. How is that so different?

When I lived in Kenwood . . err Sycamore Township, I lived .8 mile to the nearest grocery store. And 1.6 miles to the nearest Kroger (closer if you could cut through the mall). Never once did I walk to any of them. How could you? I would have bags and bags of groceries to carry home. But no one then ever asked me, "Where do you shop?" So why is it always a question now? Why is it so odd that I would have to drive a few miles if I even wanted to go to a Kroger. And for the record, it is .5 miles to Kroger on Vine in OTR, 1.8 miles to Kroger in Corryville, and 2.0 miles to Kroger in Walnut Hills. Not much different than in any suburb I suspect.

Now, unfortunately, I have never been to the OTR Kroger. Yes, I hate to admit it. If I could only be like Mike . . . But so far I have never gone there. I should walk there . . . But if I am going to drive to get groceries so I don’t have to carry them all the way home, I drive to Corryville or Walnut Hills. True, selection is not always the best. But for the reasons or items I go there for, they work.

All that said, it is really rare that I even have to go to Kroger. A majority of my shopping can be done at Findlay Market. I still drive there as I again couldn’t carry everything home. (Bring on the Streetcar!) But for meats, cheeses, produce, and some specialty food items there is no reason to go anywhere else for the most part. I get a number of things at Avril's on Court Street too. Plus, you cannot beat the service that you get there and there I can also walk. I used to go to Kroger or the Target on Marburg Ave. say to get things like cleaning supplies for clothes and kitchen. Yes, I drove the 7.1 miles to Target. The distance of most of the rest of the tri-state drives to go to a big-box store I imagine. I don't think too many are walking to that particular location. But now I go to Park + Vine to pick up that kind of stuff. It really is like a new General Store. They got a little bit of everything. I expect to see Mr. and Mrs. Olsen behind the counter and not Dan. And I can walk there . . . just like in Walnut Grove. (Yes, "Little House on the Prairie" references.) So that leaves things like beverages and over the counter medicines and toiletries (aspirin, toothpaste, razors, etc.) left to still get. And it is for those items I generally still trek to a nearby Kroger or the Target. However, all of those items too I can, conveniently enough, pick up at a number of downtown drug and convenient stores. Yes, I probably pay more for them but in a pinch they work quite well. Heck, if I am say baking cookies some evening and I run out of butter, eggs, and chocolate chips, I can get all of those at the Walgreens at 6th & Race. And they are open until 10:00 pm. Not quite like those suburban, 24-hour places but good enough.

So next time, please do not give me these horrible looks with head cocked like I am so unfortunate in my shopping situation. I’d rather have that "problem" than say other problems: daily parking fees, commuter headaches, or awful traffic at the Fields Ertle Road exit. I’ll happily get up about the time most of you have to leave for work. And I'll walk home and be on my couch 10 minutes after leaving the office. Will all that extra time, maybe I’ll make a nice dinner . . .