Ram23

That's right. They're not upset that Metro exists. They're upset because the trains were too crowded. Most metro systems in the US have massive amounts of wasteful spending. I don't see how it's stupid to point that out when your stated goal is to point out wasteful government spending. COAST is one organization who I disagree with on this one issue. Talk about the issue, don't try and make enemy with an entire half of the country.. that's only going to hurt the case for the streetcar.

There are medium density rental units in West Chester, Mason, Fields Ertal, etc. All of the places with low paying service jobs often have these units nearby. Maybe I'm just not seeing the huge failure in the market here. I grew up in Loveland (where the only jobs are low paying service jobs) and there were quite a few rentals and Section 8 as well.

You started strong enough, and then progressed into some of the worst ideas ever.

Unnaturally forcing the integration of classes isn't going to solve any of the problems associated with affordable housing. No one is entitled to live in Hyde Park. you live where you can afford to do so, and if you can't afford to live anywhere.. you'll live where the government can supply basic, simple housing at the most affordable price to the taxpayers. I don't think West Chester residents should have to buy there way out of subsidized housing, that just makes it too much of a political tool.

You should try and go to the West Virginia game later in the season. That one is always exciting. Fresno St. is at noon and not broadcast nationally.. the atmosphere at night and when ESPN is there is amazing.

This video just wasn't offensive enough to be funny. If you're going for the offensive shock-humor laughs, you've got to go a lot farther than that. I'd post examples but I'd probably get banned.

Just think, if you would have been gambling at casinos at Broadway Commons in Cincinnati when you had your heart attack, you would have been just minutes away from some of the best hospitals in the country.

Did I miss something? Was there a COAST shoutfest about health care somewhere?

I don't think it would be possible to patch up steel that's been overstressed for years. I doubt the bridge was designed to carry anywhere near as many vehicles per day as it currently does. Plus, it's only 2 lanes with tiny shoulders. I've noticed that all along I-71 bridges and roadways are being widened in preparation for 3 lands of traffic throughout. This bridge would be no different. Anyways, I'll take the DOT's word for it if they say it needs replacement, and they have been saying that for years. Our infrastructure is aging and sadly most of it was designed with a 40 year shelf life in mind. That said, I don't think we'd be considering this projet at all if it weren't for the flawed stimulus bill. I've seen all sorts of low-priority projects getting bumped up because the feds are printing and handing out money. There's no way to really tell if this project is a priority or not.

Have you seen a rendering? Are there any? I don't remember ever seeing one. There's no reason a casino couldn't be designed tastefully, and big signs and lights might not be a bad thing. They tend to attract crowds, and any historic photo of Cincinnati I've seen has signs jutting off of buildings over the sidewalk/street everywhere. I've always viewed it as gaudy but vibrant.

cite sources please. the drain on those casinos has done more harm than good. Detroit isn't experiencing an uptick in people visiting. I visited Detroit and the casinos and was surprised at the crowd. I didn't visit for the casinos by any means, and I didn't even enter them, but i hung out downtown and had dinner at a restaurant that wouldn't have been there if the casino's hadn't been built. Without the casinos downtown Detroit would have been empty. It was essentially the only place any people were at all. Nothing bad about the crowd, and the whole district was clearly bringing in money that would have otherwise gone to the suburbs.

Sherman that's a nice video, but I just wanted to say.. Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time... Best videos of all time.

It's my personal opinion that the entire system needs to be reconsidered.. but putting that aside I feel that government provided housing should be provided in 1,2, 3 or 4 family units at most. The units should be located where affordable housing is actually affordable, not where real estate values are extremely high. The one building approach seems to historically fail more often than it succeeds, and locating public housing in high income neighborhoods artificially has too many detrimental effects on society. I'm also not opposed to a concept like Fay Gardens in Cincinnati as an alternative. Dispersal of public housing comes with a huge NIMBY effect, so consolidating it may have to work at times. I think proper design and planning can encourage or discourage crime, community interaction, etc. Vernon Manor doesn't have that design, and was never intended for that type of usage.

^ To add to that response, I think the biggest issue is that affordable housing for the elderly doesn't lead to an increase in crime. Using other large scale affordable housing projects in Cincinnati as examples, they do lead to an increase in crime. English Woods and Fay Apartments come to mind as examples. Continuing with those examples, you never really see a building the size of Vernon Manor utilized as public housing (outside of New York, at least). It reminds me of the iconic image of failure that Pruitt Igoe was.

Little Kings is one of my favorite beers, even though it's somewhat pricey. I also think Burger beer, when you consider the fact that it comes out to $0.50 a can, is the best value taste you can get. It'd be great if the Lager House offered these. By your seventh or eighth beer you start to run out of money and not care about taste so much :-)

The casino's in Detroit are surprisingly busy at night, and probably saved a big chunk of downtown. Without them, I doubt there would be very many people visiting downtown Detroit at 10pm on a weekend night. I'm voting for casino's because of the proposed location in Cincinnati (downtown) and how I think it will help the surrounding economy and nightlife. I'd probably only visit a few times, but the surrounding bars and hotels might become more of a draw.

Please expound. Without explanation, your statement his highly offensive. On one end there is the affordable senior housing idea (which is great, considering proximity to hospitals). On the other end is consolidated government housing (basically "the projects"). The latter almost always leads to detrimental effects for the surrounding neighborhood. Affordable housing is the way to go here.. but not government subsidized, aside from potential tax breaks for the developer.

Nice, I lived just off the right side of your last pic (off of Roosevelt Ave) for the past 4 months. I had a girlfriend who lived in the building in the dead center of the photo.

Up to #17 in the AP. I think that Ohio's best college football team is in Cincinnati again this year. Unless the Bearcats blow it, they should go undefeated. Rutgers was "the team to beat in the Big East," according to ESPN.

I was a part of UC's DAAP input on this project early on, so I thought I'd share for those interested: From Mike Morgan (OTR Foundation): Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study Exploring the Intersection Between Environmental Sustainability and Historic Preservation Findings of year long study to be announced in a public presentation on September 18, 2009 at 5PM On Friday, September 18, the findings of the "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study" will be revealed in a public presentation that will be held at the University of Cincinnati campus, 2624 Clifton Ave., (the DAAP building), in Auditorium 4400. The presentation is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5PM for welcome and reception. Presentation begins at 5:30PM. Question and Answer period will begin at 6:15PM, and the program will conclude by 6:30PM. The Study In the spring of 2008, the Over-the-Rhine Foundation began work on the "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study." The goal of the study was to test a common assumption: that historic buildings are inherently energy inefficient. The study compiled a cross-disciplinary team of professionals to look at conflicts and commonalities between the goals of "green design" and historic preservation. The project was co-managed by the Over-the-Rhine Foundation and historic consultants Gray & Pape, Inc. It was funded, in part, by grants from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and Duke Energy. The "Over-the-Rhine Green Historic Study" took over a year to complete. A full study report will be printed later this month. The study brought together an unprecedented cross-disciplinary team, including: LEED certified architects, historic preservation consultants, developers, building code experts, solar and geothermal experts, and a structural engineer. It also utilized a University of Cincinnati DAAP course and a graduate level design seminar.

I like simple computer pranks. My personal favorite is to a screenshot of the desktop and set it as the new background image, then hide the taskbar and delete all the shortcuts. Of course you can still work by hitting the Windows key and bringing up the start menu, but it annoys the hell out of people when they can't click on anything. I stumped a coworker, plus the IT guy for a good 30 minutes with this one.

Go get a sports car, I hear that cures the woes of getting old. :-)

I'm sure you have all heard of the game Grand Theft Auto, and the most recent installment (IV) takes place in "Liberty City" and is modeled after NYC (see here for how closely it resembles it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewj/sets/72157604988911230). Anyways, I got the game just to drive around and see how closely the city matched up to the game, and driving around Queens I stumbled upon Forest Hills Gardens and was pretty amused.

Living in NYC the past two years, there are plenty of times I've needed to drive through Manhattan (okay, well more like a dozen or so times), and because I live just off of Queens Blvd I drive it every couple of days and don't mind it at all. It gets worse once it gets farther out into Queens and towards the suburbs, though.