Ram23

Sometimes I find it's less about different quality than it is about different atmosphere. Papaya Dog doesn't exactly make that case either though... On a side note I have a gallon jug of kimchi, some pork belly, and a Korean girlfriend at home, I know what I'm doing for dinner.

I went to Papaya Dog down the block from my office in NYC for lunch yesterday, had two dogs, fries, and a soda for $5. What exactly is on the Korean Dog anyways?

On this note, there's free 15 minute parking in the driveway up by the entrance. Great if you just want to peak in for a quick look and a few photos.

I don’t get why everyone constantly points out that the design of this bridge is similar to the one that collapsed in MN. Yeah, they were both trusses. There were undersized structural members used on the bridge that collapsed, it’s not like there is some inherent structural problem with trusses. As long as the sizes were properly calculated, there shouldn’t be a whole lot wrong with this bridge. I would like to see more of the logic behind the reasoning for replacement.

That's what it all comes back to.. you're just still angry about the "racist" hot dog, Sherman! Anyways, on street dining like they had is an excellent urban feature, and Cincinnati should make an effort to make it easier for restaurants to have it. It’s difficult now because of an abundance of narrow sidewalks, but a variance issued here or there would be fine by me.

The framing doesn't affect the acoustics as much as the gypsum board and insulation. If something is really loud, like a mechanical room or a wall that separates commercial from residential space, you can put sound attenuation insulation or panels in the walls. Between separate residential units any building should have (but is not required to have) double layers of gypsum on either side of a partition. That will significantly reduce sound transmission between units, whether the framing is metal or wood. A lot of cheaper buildings don't double up the GWB, and instead you have apartments where you can basically have a conversation with your neighbor, through the wall, like in "Office Space."

More importantly, does the height of the cube include the parking garage? It is below street level, but technically above grade right? or do we just count height from street level?

Or, if you simply want to do renderings like these, take 30 minutes and completely learn Sketchup, then take a 15 minute intro tutorial to Photoshop. Also download a very diverse set of people image maps to paste on.

^ They solved it by filling the creepy hole with a diverse, rambunctious yet pleasant crowd of hundreds of people. The unintentional utopian undertones here are simultaneously glaring, scary, and hilarious.

With the new biking rules recently discussed, I have a question somebody here might be able to answer. Do all traffic laws apply to cyclists as well as motorists? Are there any laws specific to cyclists? There seems to be a lot of lawlessness surrounding biking. If there are laws, they certainly aren't enforced.

Honestly, I'm just glad everyone parks in garages. If Cincinnatians ever realize that they can park on the street for free, I'll be upset. I usually park downtown or in OTR without even having to circle a block. Hell, I parked on Elm at Third and walked over to a Bengals game the last time I went, while people were dropping $10-$20 to park in the lot around the corner.

From the comments: I truly HOPE & PRAY NOT!! The gay mayor has his gay mind in the wrong place. This city is in such disaray and distress it's horrible. This is the only city that does not have a McDonald's downtown. Where the is there to ride the Streetcar to? Be serious. There is already the joke of Cincinnati hosting a casino, this lame, deadwood town. Please........ Jun. 21, 2010 3:44pm EDT | from Careless This is an example of someone being an idiot on purpose. It's probably a streetcar supporter, who comes here and gets his laughs off of everyone whining about it. I don't know why anyone cares.

I've been out of Ohio and back in NYC for a couple months and haven't posted a single photo on here yet, so here's the first; it's the view from the roof of my place in Astoria: The Pano is better, but a pretty huge file: http://zfein.com/photography/newyork/images/IMG_6841_PANO.jpg

Why not just have the streetcar and bike lanes take separate paths up the hill? If the streetcar runs up Vine, add bike lanes on Clifton and/or Auburn, or even a side street like Loth with a fully separated path through Inwood Park. Trying to have so many forms of transportation compete for the same space on such a steep hill, where speeds of bikes, cars, and the streetcar are going to vary much more dramatically than level surfaces, just seems a bit too precarious.

Good job figuring out how to look these things up. Now figure out exactly how the sewer district decides to expand, and then we can talk about that. I will add that the City of Cincinnati used to have a policy of only constructing water and sewer services for areas within the city. The policy basically made it so that in order to get those services, landowners had to allow their land to be annexed into the city. I can't remember if it was state legislation or the state supreme court that outlawed this practice, likely because they feared having Cincinnati become too large a city and overshadowing the rest of the state.

I'm guessing that's from Corry St. I'm not sure if this is the latest site plan or not: http://www.uc.edu/cdc/images/community_projects/environment/univ_plaza/cl_08_plan.jpg

Good point. I see way, way too many Cincinnati Reds hats around NYC (where I'm living now). Needless to say, when I wear mine, I don't think anyone is mistaking me for being in whatever gang that is being used for. True story: http://liftingfogblog.com/2009/04/15/resolved-you-look-retarded-in-your-cincinnati-reds-cap/

The cream color just made that wall a lot more attractive. I'm just sad Cincy doesn't have enough of a street art scene to combat the faux street art Fairey stuff that is everywhere now.

Does anyone really think a majority of Cincinnatians are in favor of building the streetcar? My evidence is anecdotal, but after going door to door every weekend for a month for the “No on 9” campaign, most of the people I talked to weren’t fans of the streetcar, but were against Issue 9 after I explained the extensive effects of the wording, and how it would stand in the way of any rail being built, ever. Most of the people I talked to were exactly the type that fit into the “no land line” demographics.

It's a good idea to start just east of I-71. There's no way they can convert McMillan and Taft to two-way west of 71 before the entire interchange is re-worked and/or the mythical MLK interchange is built. Those streets are overworked from 7-9 am and 3-6 pm, respectively, as is. The Kroger/uptown commons project and a re-worked Vine St. intersection should probably also come first...

Yeah, but it goes on to say a gated parking lot. Knowing Uptown Properties, it’s going to be like most of the other stuff around UC, nothing too different from what they normally build.

With all due respect, the Friars Club building wasn’t contributing much to the urban atmosphere either. It was very standoffish and uninviting, I knew what it was but most people didn’t, including a lot of friends who live on the same street. The program the Friars offer would probably be best served in a different place, and the immediate community would probably be best served by something else on that site. That said, the building itself seems decent, but it’s placement perched up on a hill above street level and the way the design of it approaches the street on all sides makes it almost as standoffish than a gated community, in my mind. It’s a shame no one considered dealing with it via some excavation and façade treatments, though. That would be a fun but challenging project. I’ll also offer my biggest criticism of LEED here too.. how this project will be able to get LEED certification despite the fact that they’re wasting an entire functional building. So long as they buy their gyp board and lighting fixtures from the right companies and pay their dues to the USGBC, they’ll be “sustainable.” Also, where’s it say this will be a gated community? I see that the parking will be gated (which makes sense considering the crazy parking conditions in uptown), but don’t have access to the full article. I’m interested to see some plans eventually.

Freshmen year architecture/urban design lesson: street names on any and all drawings, especially if they're going public. I’m pretty familiar with OTR and urban design in general and I still had to stare at that for awhile before I could place myself.

I love how all the bums that perpetually inhabit Washington Park have been miraculously removed in the new renderings!

Maybe so, but I also pointed out that Vine Street's slope is very consistent as well, and that's what's important. If modern streetcars are going to have travel and maintenance problems with relatively steep grades, then that is a huge argument piece for the pro-bus people, COAST, etc. I thought John or someone had claimed earlier in the threat that 9% was the max grade the Scota cars can handle, so I don’t see why Vine St. would present a physical problem in that regard. It would be great to get the manufacturer of the cars to guarantee or provide some warranty with regards to any issues due to the slope, if they do in fact claim they can handle 9%. That said, I take the N/W train in NYC every day and there’s a sharp 90 degree turn at what seems to be a 3-4% grade, and it can feel like a roller coaster when the occasional driver decides to take it at a high speed.