Funny, I actually lived in the Forum and had a great experience. Depends on which building you live in I suppose, I was in the South tower, the really tall one. Had no bug problems, only once in the two years did I have a problem with electric going out (though that was during the great ice storm of 2007), the gym was always functional, indoor and outdoor pools were GREAT, especially for the grill they have by the outdoor pool in the summer, nice grillout parties... would play tennis on one of the two courts and that was always a blast. Granted this WAS a few years ago, maybe things went down hill, but I tell you was sure as hell a lot nicer than a lot of the places I looked at around clifton. Also, you have the back entrance which leads you right up to the University avoiding the MLK traffic. My neighbors were great and remain good friends of mine, one was a resident at Good Sam, the other a PhD student both now moved on but we all loved our places.
Anyhoo as I said maybe things have changed, but when I was in the building I had a great experience.
Also a shout out to B-Dubs over by the campus and Panera as well. I lived at both, especially Tuesday night at B-Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings). 30 cent wings and 5 dollar tall boy Cherry Wheat Sam Adams...
I am actually considering going back to the Cinci-nasty, I miss it a lot, Hyde Park as that great strip of restaurants like Red... best steak I have had and I live in NYC... Also if you want some great late night grease, go to Steak and Shake and get the Patty Melt and a chocolate milkshake.... trust me.
I am shocked no one has mentioned either Gold Star or Skyline Chili??? Coney's are crucial food. Also, I used to walk over from campus to Spicy Pickle, AMAZING sandwiches (located right across from Chipotle). Also, right by campus is a great morning spot, Bruegger's Bagels... I prefer the cinnamon sugar bagel warmed up and buttered .
I have so far really only mentioned semi fast-foody places (aside from the fine restaurants on the Hyde Park strip). But there are so many other great places I just don't have space to discuss. If you move there I would also check out Newport, great food, decent shopping, a great date spot or spot for fun with the aquarium and all. Also the Southgate House is a GREAT music venue and has some fun nights (like 80s night etc).
If you like music, Bogart's is world-famous, just check out the website and who they have had play there over the last few decades. There is also the PNC Pavilion down by the water... great place for shows (though sometimes more expensive shows cause of the types of bands that go there).
You are also within short driving distance of Columbus which is a great city as well. And only ~4-5 hours or so driving to Chicago for a weekend.
The Cincinnati campus is really very nice and the Medical Park where the UC Med School is also features CCHMC, one of the best Children's Hospitals in the country, the VA is there with active research and the Vontz center (designed by a certain someone named Frank Gehry) with cutting edge research. The Cincinnati Zoo is surprisingly good, even compared to SD, DC and Bronx zoos (been to all of them, its comparable no doubt). As a Cincinnati student you have access to the brand new work out center and pool they have on the main campus, they also have a lot of intramural sports which grad students get involved with. And hopefully some day soon UC will recover from losing a certain coach to ND and have a good football team again.
There is so much more, there really is and its all so affordable, especially now having lived in NYC, I miss Cinci, I miss the great art gallaries downtown, and the first friday art shows, I miss the fourth of july fireworks show over the Ohio River, one of the best I have ever seen. I miss driving down to the Kentucky Derby or to the Indy 500, miss the great music scene and bands that pass through there.
Go there, its worth it.
ps to the person that asked about jobs post grad school, its a GREAT city for engineering, aside from P&G, the engineering program has one of the better co-op programs, I had quite a few friends that did engineering at UC and had jobs before they even finished their degrees. Its a really competitive school but its also a really well-connected university for engineering as well as business.
Best
AJ
