Ram23

Yeah, I would say this study is a good thing for uptown. It would increase the accessibility of uptown, as well as the Madison corridor. Seemingly, easier accessibility at one end of the potential streetcar would increase its ridership. The one exit from 71 in the area at Taft and McMillan is not the greatest, and an exit at MLK has been on the plate for years. Hopefully the study incorporates light rail, a 71 corridor Uptown stop here, linked to a complete streetcar from uptown to Hyde Park via Madison would be a dream.

While "pennies to the dollar" was an exaggeration, bike and pedestrian travel costs are lower than rail/highway. For all of the costs you mentioned, highway/rail require the same at a greater rate, and rightfully accommodate higher and quicker rates of travel. Bike and pedestrian travel is also usually lumped in with leisure activities, rather than commuting, which adds to the average costs. I walk around 2 miles to and from work (through the New York City winter), so don't get the wrong idea. I just think tax dollars should be spent primarily on maintaining current highways, and building new rail (such as the topic of this thread, for example!).

^ That'd be amazing, but I have always envisioned the top floor as my loft, and the roof as my personal party deck.

Yes, it clearly does. Abd it says most Americans are idiots. I agree that we should spend much more on public transportation, while trying to maintain the current level of spending on our roads (which isn't even enough to keep the ones we have from crumbling). But 22% of transportation on bike and foot traffic? Do they want a completely enclosed, heated bikway connecting cities or something? A mile of bike/walking path - even a nice one - is worth pennies to the dollar of a highway, let alone a rail. I'd also like to state transportation and infrastructure are one of very, very, very few things I think the government should spend MORE money on.

That was actually the Chrysler Building with the surprise spire. They were competing with another building in downtown Manhattan that had announced it was going to add a few floors to be the tallest (I think this is the Trump Building now). I think an observation deck wouldn't be quite as good as the Carew ($2, open air, the tiny stairs are all classic) so a restaraunt/bar would be a great move.

This is great. So long as no one restores the Crosley Building, I have dibs on that one. I've already started saving.

170' of elevation change seems like an awful lot. 531' sounds about right, but 705' seems quite high, especially for the basin. *edit... I just checked CAGIS, 3rd and Sycamore is at 513.9', and 5th & Vine is at 551'. Carew will be at 1125' above sea level, and the flag pole will top off at 1210'. Great American will have the tip of it's spire reach 1174' and most likely appear slightly taller, since the spire is bulkier than the flag atop Carew. It will not be by much, though. It will also depend on where you see it from; from Newport QCS will definitely appear taller, and probably from Covington as well, but from the west or north they may end up appearing different.

Interstates are built using mostly federal funds because they are exactly that - they aren't limited to geographical areas. A highway like I-75 is more important for it's freight shipments than it's commuter role, in the eyes of the feds. I'm all for federal funds going towards rail on a regional or national scale (an extension of the Acela NE corridor, for example, to Chicago/midwest, and down to Atlanta/southeast), but I think streetcar funds should probably come from local sources. This is just my opinion, of course, and based on my belief that I'd rather pay more taxes to my local government and less to my federal, but that's a whole other discussion.

If the subject of this thread is either of the two schools I think they are. I wouldn't go there. And when I say, you should go there, you shouldn't! I wonder how those folks got in, as both the schools are wrapped in prison style fencing and barbed wire. Also 148 between Lenox and 8th is not a cute area. Yeah I've drivin through that area before and it didn't look like a place I'd want to stop, and I've been into some pretty shady abandoned buildings in Over-the-Rhine back in Cincinnati. From the snow in the photos though, I'd say it's pretty likely they were from this past weekend, which means there's a hole in that barbed wire somewhere.

These are some awesome shots. Awesome enough to make me consider the trip 30 blocks north...

Mike Morgan summed it up nicely. As for the claim they spent more on maintenance than they could make in rent: there are dozens of apartment buildings like this around the Mt. Auburn and Clifton areas that operate in the green every year. If they can't manage to make a profit, they should probably try and sell to someone who can properly manage the property. Check these images out on the auditor's page, and you'll see it's hard to believe these buildings are too dilapidated to be profitable:

It would be great if they published a schedule too. Is there one available anywhere? I haven't been able to find it. I'm about to graduate from UC for architecture, and I've co-op'd at quite a few companies so I'm very familiar with the process. Usually there is a calendar planned out, and any part of the job that doesn't get done within the timeframe bid upon incurs penalties(certain issues like weather, etc. permitting). The calendar is avialable to all the clients/contractors. In this case the city is the client, so it'd be nice if some of the info was made public somewhere. I'm not saying it's behind schedule at all, I have no idea. I'd just like to know what to expect and when.

If you ever move, don't ever consider a loft apartment! I don't think I've seen anything but in any of these new condos in OTR. I actually prefer the open staircases, but would fall to a spiral as a last resort only. They're actually not permitted as the only access to a "full floor" per fire code. If it's a full floor up there, keeping the steep stair would be a better bet. I'm currently living in NYC so when you said attic like space, I figured it was something a little bit bigger than the 4' high "loft" in some of the apartments I have looked at here.

Jason Haap is an idiot, and the NAACP is aimed at maintaining the status quo. That about sums up these recent developments. Changing the city charter for issues like this is silly, and even if they can get the signatures, I don't think it would pass. We elect people to make these decisions for us, and only in extreme cases should the electorate attempt to override our representatives. Technically, it's almost exactly what the system was designed to be protected against - uninformed decisions based upon emotions.

There are always small spiral staircase that you can buy in pieces and assemble, like you see in a lot of loft apartments. Otherwise, rebuilding a stairway is usually pretty expensive and intensive.

It was supposed to have been torn down a few years ago, to make way for a mixed use streetfront building. I saw the drawings for it somewhere, it wasn't the prettiest of places, and it was quite large, but it was built up to the sidewalk, had storefronts, and rental units above.

Most people don't understand the complexity of designing/building a modern building, let alone an entire complex of buildings. This is to be expected though, I see it quite a bit. There are a myraid of issues that come up between architect/contractor/client that slow things down (although these things are usually alloted time for within schedule, so the project shouldn't ever fall too behind). Although I do remember the quote about how we'd be eating at the Banks by opening day, and I remember laughing at the time.

That's just step 1 right? Step 2 is to build some internment camps for evil Republicans, if I remember correctly. ..Blatant partisanship is rarely the answer.

I'll second this. Since NAFTA, especially, it makes much more sense to do the simpler end of things in Mexico, where a wage of $2.00 an hour provides a factory worker with a decent living. Someone in the US doing the exact same job will need $30-$40, plus a full benefits package. Basically, the better manufacturing treats US workers, the poorer the goods are going to compete in a globalized economy like we have today. Either cheaper labor (in Mexico) or an investment in mechanization and robotics is needed to save American auto makers, which is why the Republicans refused to sign on to the bailout. The UAW obviously has motives that make it difficult to see this fact, which is only going to compound the problem. Unless the UAW can concede that the workforce is about twice as large as it should be, there won't be any employers left.

First I've ever heard of this, anyone have any more information?

That is the worst train line in the system. How many trains do you let pass before boarding? I go to UC and co-op in NYC for 3 months at a time. The last time I lived there over the summer, I took the N/W in from Queens, and took the 6 down to my office at 30th and Lex. Trying to squeeze on that train was a joke. Luckily there's a ton of people transferring there so there's a window of opportunity to run in. Now that the W is ceasing to exist, I can only imagine what the N into Queens will be like during the afternoon rush hour, I would bet worse than the 6. Well the W is a new line so people will go back to what they had. Secondly, if you work or 30 why didn't you just stay on the W all the way to 28? I actually worked up at 32 & lex, and sometimes I'd make the walk over to 28 on the way home if I had the extra time, it's a few blocks over and a few blocks down, whereas the 6 at 33rd was one block away. Switching to the 6 actually saved a few minutes though.

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Remote-Switch-RS60-E3/dp/B00004WCID/ref=pd_cp_p_3?pf_rd_p=413862901&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001G9Y98I&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1H3XP33TKVWDVZV26VGY It's a wired remote, that you can push and lock into place until the 3 shots are taken. The wireless remote is a bit more expensive, and I think there's an off brand that's $5 cheaper.

That is the worst train line in the system. How many trains do you let pass before boarding? I go to UC and co-op in NYC for 3 months at a time. The last time I lived there over the summer, I took the N/W in from Queens, and took the 6 down to my office at 30th and Lex. Trying to squeeze on that train was a joke. Luckily there's a ton of people transferring there so there's a window of opportunity to run in. Now that the W is ceasing to exist, I can only imagine what the N into Queens will be like during the afternoon rush hour, I would bet worse than the 6.

I would venture a guess that the problem is associated with a "sustainable" feature of some sort. The John Hancock in Boston had a problem with the pressurization of the double-paned system. I hope no one repeated that mistake. To clear up any confusion in my previous post, I don't doubt the buildings have been evacuated around, I worked in NYC for 3 months over the summer and heard about it quite a bit. I think the problem is with the falling glass panels, which probably weigh well over 500 pounds each, and maybe a crane/scaffolding collapsing, but not the entire building itself.

I use an XTi as well. What you need to do is take three photos; either hit the button 3 separate times, or set it to "continuous" mode and just hold the button down, and you will hear the camera take 3 exposures. Moving objects can cause problems, and usually need to be edited out, although sometimes it creates an interesting ghosting effect. Trees on a windy day are a huge problem, as well.