Ram23

But it still wouldn't make sense for Republicans to buy an anti-streetcar endorsement from the Green Party. Most of the anti-streetcar sentiment comes from suburbanites vs. people who would actually use it, not really based on politics. To me, at least, local issues like this aren't really that much of a Republican/Democrat thing. I don't care at all who's in what party when I vote for city council, I just care which issues they choose to focus on. The Green Party seems to be concerned with using more electricity to move people around, and feel that ridership would be from people who aren't driving cars now anyways, so the reduction in emmisions will be minimal. At least, that's what I get from them. As for the NAACP, I think we've talked about it a few times now. Smitherman is a joke, and lord only knows what he's up to, but I doubt it's being a Republican pawn. It's my opinion that he is against this type of development because of the gentrification aspects associated with it, and the envisioned displacement of blacks that would come from this.

I walked around the high line a bit to see what some of the new condos that interact with it are looking like so far. There's some good, some bad, but definately interesting buildings going up there: This is Highline 519, by ROY Design. This is next door to "HL23" (under construction) posted above. This is Jean Nouvel's "100 11th" across the street from the IAC building. The cladding is going up now... And of course, Gehry's IAC building: The "Chelsea Modern" And the international style, beautiful in it's very own way, Maritime Union Building: This is called "The Porterhouse" and is an interesting modern addition that is purposely and clearly differentiated from the existing part of the building: And finally, the "Standard Hotel" is nearing completion and is already open. They were kind enough to give me and a few coworkers a tour: Here is the building hanging over the Highline, with Diane von Furstenberg's studio in the forground (which has a beautiful intereior, itself): And, the view from what will soon cost someone quite a few hundred per night: There is some interesting stuff going on, it appears it may have slowed a bit, but isn't stopping. The hotel staffer who provided the tour assured us they were at 80% capacity over the weekend. There are a few more shots of these buildings in the gallery here: http://www.daapspace.daap.uc.edu/~feinze/galleries/photography/newyorkarch/index.html

Yes, there is a vast right wing conspiracy and the NAACP and the Green Party are just Republican fronts. This is all part of our plan... I shouldn't have told you all this!

It's tough to be too critical of the single, tiny rendering avilable. The "Glass Box" style skyscraper (mid-rise in this case) has always been about efficiency. It is the single most efficient way to build a building. It can be made attractive or ugly depending on few details, such as how the entrance is ornamented, how the curtain wall is designed, and the color/reflective qualities of the glazing. You'd be amazed at the intracacies of designing a curtain wall, and one can never tell how it's going to look until it's up.

This study won't delay the project any more than waiting for the Amtrak study to finish right? I think once the Amtrak study is out, unless it shows something surprisingly bad (and that would be a huge surprise) many Republicans will come on board here. I support passenger rail, but I don't think waiting for these studies to come out is stalling or being mean. In fact, I'm really, really excited for the Amtrak study.

I've been doing this, too. Saves me $15 every month and a half or so. I see it doesn't apply to poor folk like me, with our "blue" cards. Thanks for the link though, I forwarded it to my parents and a few others.

There are some... interesting condo buildings popping up all along the highline. I really like the area. I took a few photos the other day that all post here soon, my web host is going to have downtime today and tonight.

I've never been a fan of the route up Vine, preferred Clifton but understand the feasibility problems, and feel that Gilbert would be a bit out of the way (while it would hit some nice places, as a resident of University Heights I still think I'd take the bus down Clifton over a Gilbert Ave. Streetcar). The hill on Vine seems like it'd make it tough to stand up/not get sick if it were taken at any speed. Of course, any development along Gilbert could easily change my mind. The beautiful art-deco theater at the corner of McMillan is the first thing that comes to mind. I have no idea what renovations over the years have done, but a small theater with a few bars below could be a hit.

What do you guys think about this OTR "project?" http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090323/NEWS0108/903240304 City wants stimulus for OTR crime Cincinnati City Council may restore the $100,000 it cut in December from an Over-the-Rhine gun and drug elimination program, thanks to the federal economic stimulus package. Council member Leslie Ghiz introduced a motion that council is expected to vote on Wednesday committing $100,000 this year and $100,000 next year from the $3.4 million in Community Development Block Grant money the city expects from the federal economic stimulus package passed by Congress last month. Click link for rest of article. It seems not much money at all, yet a lot of reward. Every criminal taken off the street, every illegally owned gun siezed, and every illegal drug confiscated will lead to an even better OTR, in my opinion.

You shop all the way down there when you're living by Columbia? Only for the beer selection :-D The Bowery Beer Room is the greatest place I've found in the city, I usually stop down there after work, but it was such a nice weekend I felt like going out a bit. Oh OK. I guess. Are you some kind of beer hater?? Or have you any suggestions for where I can find $30/bottle Belgians a bit closer?

You shop all the way down there when you're living by Columbia? Only for the beer selection :-D The Bowery Beer Room is the greatest place I've found in the city, I usually stop down there after work, but it was such a nice weekend I felt like going out a bit.

I can confirm that I'm fairly positive it was originally going to be ceramic tile panels. They opted for EIFS which was an up and coming material at the time, but hadn't really been perfected. That's why there is currently a lot of staining/mildew buildup on the north side of the building. Today, EIFS is used on something like 70% of commercial/industrial construction. The pastel colors were based on a favorite painting of Eisenman's, but I cannot recall what it's called. I'm sure Google would turn it up after not too long though. I actually like the DAAP building interior. Remember the complex is 4 seperate buildings built across 50 years, and the Eisenman addition did a good job of linking them all and providing some much needed common space.

I probably walked right past you down there yesterday! I always go to the Whole Foods on Houston at Bowery (for the beer). A couple blocks from "Grace's office building", if I'm correct, although I had no idea that was it. These are all pretty neat photos.

Yeah, ever since apple switched processor types to Intel (which they had to do or die, basically) they've started to become more similar to PC's. This is why I can run Leopard on a PC I built, for example. Inside, they're basically the same computer nowadays.

I built a PC a few months ago for about $1100 (buying the parts at newegg.com and Microcenter), and then went to the MacStore and (just for fun) customized an iMac with what was essentially the exact same hardware... $4000+. The markup was ridiculous! I now have the fastest computer I've ever used, and have configured it to dual boot in either Vista 64bit or Leopard (don't tell Steve Jobs about this), but I hardly ever find myself using Leopard. Before I built this computer I had a PowerBook that I used for about 3 years before getting tired of it.

Well, I'm glad my point has been recieved with an open mind and understood here.

I'll let you add 100,000 annual visitors to the stats and you're still about 1000 times more likely to die there than in a plane crash or lightning strike. Even then, the fact that it attracts outsiders to come there and commit crime doesn't make it any better.

I'm not claiming OTR is a warzone, but these perceptions are a bit off. You've had a safe existance there, but nevertheless last year almost 300 less fortunate people were robbed, 125 assaulted, 8 murdered, 18 raped... in a nieghberhood with a population of 7,000. That is ridiculously unsafe. Not being involved with drugs might help you, but it still doesn't make the odds as minimal as dying in a plane crash.

The difference is that Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Colbert Report and other late night shows bill themselves as comedies. They may comment on the daily news, but it's the basis for comedy and they don't try to make it out to be something it isn't. If 700 WLW wants to promote themselves as a comedy sketch station with color commentary then fine, but as of right now they bill themselves as the spot to come for "News, Weather, Traffic and Sports." This doesn't sound like the bill for a comedy show as much as it seems like the bill for a news station. I can/do appreciate good political humor from both sides of the aisle, but it should not be mistaken for news, fact or reality. This is why 700 WLW is so dangerous. While they may be kidding around with the gun shot sound effects it plays directly into the fears of many suburbanites and reinforces those negative sterotypes they have about the city. This is why you get the lady from Colerain Township claiming that she doesn't go downtown "because of the bodies piled up on the street." WLW has different segments. They have the news reports break in every half hour, the traffic and weather every 10 minutes, the talk shows in between, and the sketch promos during the commercial breaks. They are distinguishable and not one pretends to be the other. I know most crimes in OTR are black-on-black and/or drug related. If I'm white and don't do drugs, I shouldn't care about that because I'll probably be fine? The main reason no "random suburban white people" get killed in OTR is that they don't go there. The percentage of people willing to put up with a nieghberhood where the police are called more than twice a year for every single person that lives there isn't very large. My point is that the crime limits the amount of people interested in living/visting the nieghberhood. It's my opinion that it's the biggest contributing factor to that limitation.

Save this one for the archives. Again, if you get worked up over the promos you need to lighten up a bit. I've seen Saturday Night Live and some of the late night shows do things along similar lines, not to mention the likes of Chris Rock, Carlos Mencia and Dave Chappel who base their entire routines/shows on racial jokes and stereotypes. That's all the promos on WLW are: gags. Did you visit the link I posted above and listen to a few of them? Their Doppler 700 promos are the best depiction of what they're all about. They can't get financing because financers believe the projects won't be profitable, based upon demand. There will always be a steady but limited group of people willing to live in or visit OTR unconditionally, but with less crime it could be a much, much larger group. If they could get financing more easily, I think the only difference we would see is a lot of vacant new construction. Back to the original point, the few guys on WLW that talk about this issue represent a good chunk of suburban Cincinnatians. They all visit places like Oakley, Hyde Park, and Newport but not OTR. Crime is the reason they make that choice. Crime is limiting a demand that could be quite a bit larger.

[*]um...like trying to take away playgrounds in Central park for tavern on the green? [*]or...tearing down homes, to build "concentrated" housing project. [*]maybe...giving us a bad name with his "deceitful" fair [*]Segregating Riverside park. Ever notice why it stops near Columbia then picks up again above Washington Hts. [*]Fought against LIRR expansion and purposely planned parkways with low rises to prevent buses to pass. and who does that affect, low income - i mean...people of color. The dude was bad news. I was thinking: Triborough Bridge The public authority he set up to run the toll system Battery Tunnel (he wanted a bridge for practical reasons, but settled for the tunnel) Pretty much every other major interstate bridge in the city Overall, he made the city accessible by automobile. All of the parkways, bridges, and tunnels he's responsible for are filled almost every hour of every day. Some of your other points are really just opinion that your entitled to. I never said the guy was a saint, I just think he had accomplishments that contributed more to the city than he ever hurt it. It's just opinion though. If you think the city could be what it is today without his freeway and parkway contributions than you'll disagree with me.

He arguably did more to make the city what it is today than anyone. He often gets chastised for the Manhattan Expressways, but people quickly forget his accomplishments. There's a lot to learn from what he accomplished, both positive and negative. I'd also like to add that my two favorite lunch joints would be pavement if the midtown expressway had been built!

The sliver through the facade makes me a little uneasy. My other criticism is the flat top on the turret, although I like the turret overall. The handrail on the roof is a problem for me as well. I worked on a proposal for a project that was a renovation of a contributing structure to the historic district, with a huge flat roof and a beautiful view. Being a historic building, the handrail for an accessable roof couldn't be visible from the street, so we set it back about 6' and hid it from the line of sight. This is something I'd like to see on more of these roof decks, because the handrail really puts it out of context. Making a parapet into a handrail works too, which I have seen done in a few places.

No, it's not serious. Often times their commercials for recent news are supposed to be sarcastic/comical. Like when Griffey was traded they would cut in with sad, slow music and the announcer would say "Ken Griffey Jr. has been traded, no longer will Cincinnati fans get to see him half ass it to first base, warm the bench as his injuries heal..." Yes, I think you need to talk to the oddly-pirate-like Scott Stanley if you have a problem with the promos. http://700wlw.com/pages/onair_scottstanley.html No one takes the promos seriously, and I doubt anyone can find one on that page that you can't laugh at.

Most people that listen to Cunningham and the likes do it for entertainment. I think "city-hating contingent suburbanites" is really a made up generalization of people, and not a correct depiction of the average WLW listener. I would honestly say I'm one of the average listeners.. a middle class white guy who grew up in the suburbs, went to UC, and loves his city. As for your other point, I have never heard Cunningham or anyone on WLW contribute to any racial stereotype. In fact, I've heard a number of callers that start to sway toward the topic get cut off and called out for their ignorance. I would say this is more so an opinion based debate than fact. I can cite a number of tax incentives that come along with development in urban areas, as well as plenty of examples of low property values and land costs. There's also the issue of residential vs. commercial development. There are certain demographics of people that will generally live in urban areas, and certain others that won't. Residential development has and always will be affected by this. Business on the other hand is the more fluctuating of the two mentioned development types. Crime is the biggest issue facing business development. The common opinion of OTR and downtown held by suburbanites is that it is more dangerous and difficult to get to than closer neighborhood business districts. The amenity doesn't outweigh the danger, or at very least - perceived danger.