JoeL

Despite all the Monroe mockery goiong on (which is probably deserved ... that flea market sucks) I have to say that this outlet mall is a really good thing. Those of us with a wife know that we will be forced to go shopping at an outlet mall somewhere at some point. There's simply no choice in the matter. So when she drags me to go shopping, I will be thrilled to drive 28 miles to Monroe, rather than 65 miles to Jeffersonville. Round trip, that will easily save a couple gallons of gas, and an hour of my life.

Unless the article is ignoring some important piece of information, look for a quick summary judgement in favor of the county. What on earth is this company thinking?

Yes, that is the Southern perspective. No one under 40 calls it the War of Northern Agression anymore, but yes, Southerners consider the CSA to have been a different country, thus it was not a true civil war.

I'd love to find out who "Crust" really is, so I could go over to his apartment and/or mother's basement and dump a few cans of paint all over his room. I'd call it art.

It's a nice interior renovation. It's a little whimsical, but you certainly get the impression that it's a nicer facility than Tri-county. But people can do all the market studies and analysis of parent company bankruptcy all they want. The problem is location location location. People who live in-town and on the east side are obviously going to find Kenwood 10x more convenient. And if they choose to trek up to the beltway, they're going to go to Tri-county. Why travel the extra miles to Cincy Mills? I've never been to Northgate, but I presume the situation is the same. If you live out west, why pass the closer generic mall, to get to the next generic mall a few exits away? There's no reason.

No way is Kenwood specifically in any financial trouble. Was anyone else there last weekend? No sign of a financial crisis there. It was more slammed than any mall I've ever seen on a non-holiday weekend.

I'm glad this thread got bumped. I'd been wondering what the heck that purple tower was. You can also see it pretty clearly from various points in Hyde Park, Mt Lookout, and Oakley.

Interesting statement. I agree Jindal is a bright guy, and in all honesty (even though I'm a card-carrying Dem) he might make a pretty decent prez. I don't know if I'd call him the smartest ever. He's got an ivy league education, but so does Barack, and W, and Bill, and HW etc... He was a Rhodes Scholar, but so was Clinton. After triple-majoring at an Ivy, Jindal was simultaneously accepted to the world's best law school and world's best medical school, which he turned down to attend (arguably) the world's best liberal arts graduate school. He also did it a generation later than Clinton, when all these schools were even more difficult to get into. So Jindal is still on a whole other level.

Haha ... this thread is totally absurd. It is absolutely too early to speculate!! But I will anyway ;) I'm hoping for Bobby Jindal. He's the most sincere politician I've ever met, and he would probably be the smartest presidential candidate in modern history. His academic credentials are amazing, and he completely backs it up in person. Jindal could also do well in Ohio because he's Catholic, and he would also have that "historic" factor in his favor, because he's Asian.

Yeah, it's certainly off-topic for this thread, but I'd still like to know more about the interchange project to which you are referring. Can someone find a link or another thread that talks about this interchange?

This whole "change" mantra is really running wild in the media and on the streets tonight. I'm curious to know specifically what you all think will change? Obama was extremely careful to avoid detailed policy plans during the campaign, often explicitly taking both sides of most issues at various points this year. I really think everything is up in the air at this point. So ... as Obama supporters, now awash in euphoria over this historic victory ... do you dare articulate the specific policy "change" that you expect? What exactly happens now?

"Ridge Point" looks like a pretty standard office/strip mall, but it will certainly be an improvement. That immediate area is pretty nasty right now - an unholy combination of ugly suburban streetscape and blight. That Walmart has got to be one of the most depressing I've seen, which is really saying something.

I would suspect that the trend is the opposite - less community-oriented. Voting patterns are shifting towards early voting and absentee ballots. As a transplant from Florida (where absentee ballots are extremely popular) I can attest that remote voting is a superior experience to in-person voting.

I went to the Zoo for the first time a couple weeks ago, and to be perfectly honest, I was very disappointed given all the praise that people have given it. In particular, does anyone know what happened to their cat house? It must have flooded, because it was filled with an extraordinary stench from moldy carpet. The smell was so oppressive that people instantly turned around to exit. Also, all the indoor plants - including a large tree - had died, and the facility looked like it hadn't been cleaned or updated since the 1980s. If it weren't for the animals on display, you would honestly assume that the building had been abandoned. The worst part of all was that there wasn't any staff, or even a simple sign, explaining why their exhibit was in such unacceptable condition. I got the horrible feeling that it's been like this for awhile and they just don't care. I'll give the zoo another chance once they finish the new entrance and convert the parking lot into a Savannah exhibit. Until then, I'm certainly going to suggest that people avoid it.

Great photo, and a great building. They only have 4 units left on the MLS, and all of them are listed as "pending." They couldn't possibly have sold out already in this market? Perhaps they are switching agents? Anyway ... I'd absolutely love to live in a place like this, but I just can't reconcile the price point. You're certainly looking at $350-$400 per square foot, plus about $1,000 a month in taxes and condo fees on top of that. Whereas the rest of the metro area barely seems to eclipse $200-$250 per square foot, even in really nice areas.

Again, as opposed to the countless government projects of all stripes that are partially (or even totally) funded through the taxes and fees of people who don't even live in the same state, let alone the same municpality ... This is how every government project in the history of government projects works. Non-users almost always indirectly provide a portion of the funding. Including for whatever road projects would be built in-lieu of a streetcar. If you are furious because Duke is a state-sponsored monopoly, who has the authority to make these decisions without the customer having an option to defect to a competitor ... then I'm right there with you. I totally agree. Utility monopolies are stupid and inefficient. But using that as a reason to bash the streetcar proposal - and claim that it causes you a harm - just doesn't make sense.

As opposed to the roads we drive on every day? They are all partially funded by the tax dollars of people who will never ever use each particular road.

No Arn, the last thing a developer wants to do is return 35 deposits and walk away from a project half sold. Coldwell has to be steamed over this as an agent typically isn't paid until closing. There has to be more to this than we are hearing as they were close to their 51% mark and I hear that FHA is getting ready to extend its limits to 600,00. Not enough information here for me, they are leaving out something. Perhaps the developers and their families had personally bought several of the units that counted towards the pre-sales mark (with the goal to "flip" them upon completion). I don't know about Ohio, but that's a very common practice in Florida. This would mean that the developer's own personal money was at risk - as opposed to investors or the LLC's money - and that can change the equation in a heartbeat.

Same here. I only knew about it because I stumbled upon it while staying at the Westin, before I ever moved to Cincinnati. Since I moved here, I've never heard a reference to it, outside of this thread. I wouldn't have even known it existed.

I'm very creeped out by the fact that this is a deal for one particular business. It would seem a whole lot more logical to zone a particular area as acceptable for gambling, and then let the private sector fight it out for superiority among multiple operators. That being said, I'm still voting Yes. I don't have any problems with casinos per se. So if this casino is authorized, there would theoretically be enough political will to authorize additional casinos, and end the monopoly, if the market ever warrants it.

I'm from Florida originally. Our only two seasons are Summer and Christmas. Basically, we would get quasi-fall weather around the holidays, and never any winter. Some leaves would change, but it was sporadic, and lots of broad leafed trees never dropped at all. Consequently, I really like the fall up here. It's nice and refreshing. However, I hate winter with every fiber of my being. I don't understand how the hell you people handle it up here.

Newport Crime Shrinks FBI report shows drop in major categories NEWPORT - Most major crimes in Newport have declined the past two years, FBI crime statistics show. Newport Police Chief Robbie Hall attributes the change to more concentrated patrols and the hard work of the city's police officers. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081008/NEWS0103/810080404/1167/NEWS Rape 2006... 26 2007... 16 2008 ...10 Robbery 2006... 72 2007... 52 2008 ...32 Aggravated assault 2006... 31 2007 ...21 2008... 27 Simple assault 2006...668 2007...667 2008...345 Larceny 2006 ...1,020 2007... 837 2008... 687 Theft from motor vehicle 2006...233 2007...167 2008...126 Drug violations 2006...359 2007...254 2008...252 ------------------------------- This is nice news and all ... but it's really amusing how the article totally fails to mention the demolition of those housing projects. That probably had an impact.

The reality of a "Green" roof is often very underwhelming. They are usually just gravel beds with sparse patches of brown colored lichen. Prepping a roof to grow bushes or even grass (nevermind making it accessible to people) is almost always cost prohibitive. You can google images of Stuttgart, Germany for lots of Green roof examples. Honestly, they are usually less attractive than shingles.

^ That article was written by Wendell Cox, one of the nations most vocal and prolific pro-sprawl, anti-transit commentators. So please read his articles with a huge grain of salt. If I had to guess, he's simply having a little fun with urbanists, by trying to minimize and devalue such an amazing project as Atlantic Station. He knows that some urbanists care about urban design, while other urbanists are more interested in specific liberal social goals. He's simply trying to exploit a philisophical rift and pit the latter group against the former. But, whether you like all of the details or not, Atlantic Station is one of the biggest and most financially successful New Urbanist developments. We can only hope the Banks will be such a success. The fact that it could happen in Atlanta serves as notice that quality redevelopment can - and should - happen in any American city. The Banks will indeed be similar to Atlantic Station. It will have underground parking, chain store retail, and expensive living units (and for the record, I fail to see how any of those things are cotnrary to urbanism, so I find Cox's argument impossibly weak) But the Banks will also have a fully urban layout, and hopefully it will be as wildly popular as Atlantic Station.

^ I think that Indian Hill house was in a youtube video. At least someone, somewhere posted a drive-by video of it under construction. I don't have the slightest problem with big absurd mansions in general. However, I do have a problem with idiots using McMansion architecture for actual mansions. Why would you copy the style of a LOWER market segment?? Don't they understand that McMansions have 10 rooflines and ugly asymmetrical windows because they are specifically designed to make a 4,000 square foot house seem even bigger on first impression? If you are building an ACTUAL 15,000 sqft mansion, you can use ACTUAL style, and the house will still look impressive. The builders of that house are obviously trying to mimic a Tuscan villa. Why the bloody hell didn't they build one for real? Or for that matter, they could have copied a Palladian villa. It would have probably increased the resale value of the house anyway.