Ram23

I think the explanation for lower TV viewership is due to a few things. One is that virtually every game is only shown on cable, and the number of households with cable has been decreasing since 2000. Anecdotally, I consider myself a big Reds fan and have only watched one game this year (Opening Day), and have maybe caught parts of others at various bars. I listen on WLW or just keep track of scores/stats on my phone. There’s no good way to track online interest, but I’d wager there are millions of people who don’t watch games, but still participate online as a fan in some fashion. What MLB really needs to do is get rid of the blackout restrictions on MLB.tv, and broadcast games themselves. The cable deals are obviously worth much more than MLB thinks they could make selling subscriptions themselves, but as cable viewership continues to decline, they won’t be. MLB.tv could also make millions selling commercials during breaks – the last time I saw a game on MLB.tv they just showed a black pause screen between innings.

In my opinion there are three ways to go about landscaping. The first is to do it on the cheap – get the smallest size plants available (1 gallon or 3 gallon shrubs, 6’-0” trees etc.) and wait 3-5 years for something decent looking to grow. The second is to spend a bit more and get some larger plants (5 or 7 gallon shrubs, 10’-0” trees etc.) and have something good looking the next year (or two, depending upon winters). The last is to go all out and have something lush on the day you plant it. This option is the most expensive, and also the most likely to fail as full, established plants aren’t able to be transplanted as successfully, and many die within the first few years. The middle option is preferable, but with a public project (especially a park) I have no problem with the cheapest option being pursued.

I agree, all that Liberty needs is a road diet. I believe there were road diet plans for Liberty proposed by the Neihoff Studio or another DAAP venture at UC years ago. A narrower road, sidewalk bumpouts, and a dedicated crosswalk at Republic (with flashing yellow light at all times) would be around the same price as a bridge but deliver better results. On the topic of dedicated crosswalks, has anyone noticed the one across Central Parkway at 15th Street is basically ignored by everyone? That one could also use some better signage and lighting. I was once beeped at for stopping for pedestrians there. I think drivers don’t realize that it exists, or simply don’t understand that they’re required to stop when pedestrians are present.

This was all over Reddit the other day, and I looked up the address of the supposed community center he was trying to build. It's a house in Evanston and it is owned by his family. However, there are no permits for any construction there. As it is a house, converting it to a community center would require a variance and lots of work in order to make the space compliant as an assembly occupancy. While that doesn't indicate this is a scam, at very least it indicates that there isn't a well thought out plan in place.

Will some of the Democrats on Council back away from their preferred (more expensive) option? Will Cranley still push for it, so that he can use the high price tag to cut streetcar service?

Did the original feasibility studies not account for the full scope of utility relocation? I wonder if some of the alternate uptown alignments may be more feasible given the large utility cost the Vine Street route would entail. Clifon to Ludlow, and then on to Northside (eventually) seemed to be much more of a commuter route to me than Vine Street, anyways, though a lot of the development along that route is already occurring.

I have heard that argument before but never understood the logic behind it. Property values will increase substantially if they are within walking distance to a light rail station. That’s exactly why higher density development follows. If I’m a property owner, whether or not I want higher density development, I’m going to welcome the rising property value with open arms. If residents along Wasson really think their property is so high-end that the light rail will lower their property values, they’re mistaken. Hyde Park is a nice neighborhood, but it’s not exactly elite.

I will give you Mallory was more of the vision person but he did not know how to get things done in a safe manner that protected the integrity of city finances. Often times, he was scattered and was difficult to work with per many influential business leaders. This cost the city a number of significant opportunities during his tenure. That being said, in 2007 he was what the city needed, he was a shot in the arm and #1 cheerleader. By 2014 though, we did not need him and a third term would have taken the city backwards. Cranley is less visionary but he understands the finances and mechanics to get things done. He knows how to work the inner workings of the system. He has the contacts and trust in the business community, and he has the experience as a developer to know what is feasible and what is not economically feasible. It may mean we have to dial back on the shiny objects but it will mean that more things actually go from vision to fruition. The city needed one more term of Mallory to get the city to a superstar status. The finances could have been cleaned up once the city was there (and the city would have been in a MUCH better position to do so when it was there due to increased tax revenue from investment and tourism). You do realize Cincinnati was on the verge of getting some unbelievable national press? Cranley set the city back 5 years IMO. (After he set the city back 10 due to his poor handling of the public safety meeting which led to the riots). You give him way too much credit. Cincy would have been focusing on stage 2 of the streetcar instead of some dumb bridge to Cincinnati State that costs just as much, focused on form based code to better revitalize neighborhoods and play to the assets that Cincy already has (its historic housing stock hopefully prevent more U-Squares), focused on improving bicycle infrastructure, a proper urban grocery that would have scared Kroger into actually being competitive in the core, as well as continued neighborhood investment with an urban instead of suburban bent. Wasson way could very well ruin the possibility of light rail on an excellent corridor, the MLK interchange is totally an old school way of thinking of economic development - one that is awkwardly trying to put walkable neighborhoods on top of a fundamentally auto oriented development and finally Liberty Street which is way underutalized would have been turned into the urban corridor that it deserves to be - its my understanding that was cranceled as well. (Don't get me started on the pump house either, yes it was a croney move, but the resulting benefit would be yet another one of those underutalized amazing buildings in Cincinnati of which there way too many of ACTUALLY being put to good use!) I tend to agree with this more than anything. It seemed like so much more was happening in terms of development and announcements, etc. Maybe I am wrong and that is just my perception, but it seems like things are moving slower development wise and I am not certain if that is the Mayoral change or not. The Cincinnati State bridge seems like a complete waste of money. The city would do better to put that money into it's urban core because that is the future of the region. I always felt that if the city could re-develop the whole urban core up to UC, that it would be a huge boon because of transit options and because young people want to live in a city. No other city in the MidWest besides Chi-Town has that old school Chicago / New York type urban fabric that Cincinnati has in Over the Rhine / Downtown / Mt. Auburn up to Corryville / CUF / Walnut Hills. Pouring more money into that area as investments is the best thing the city could spend it's money on, whether it is the streetcar, street makeovers, more funding in the development pot, etc. This is a turnover effect that thankfully is already starting to pay off. Don't get me wrong, I think that the Incline Public House and possibly even the new theatre up there could be a decent investment, just because it will bring West Side people into the city who maybe wouldn't go otherwise, but the matter of fact is that people want to live in an exciting urban environment, employers are increasingly looking to locate where people want to live, and Cincinnati has the goods to make it happen in the urban core. Pitting the center city against the neighborhoods is just bad policy, period. Look at what all the investments have done so far, as revenues have increased consistently over the last 1.5 years. I also get the feeling that Cranley will never be happy until much of this development receeds. It wasn't his doing (or his buddies) and he's mad as hell that this happened. I'm glad Mallory set so much into motion that I don't think Cranley will throw it all out of wack, though Cincinnati needs to watch him like a hawk. Its part of why I'm glad things like UrbanCincy exist now and people like Ryan Messer exist just to do that. I agree with you here. Cranley’s only concern has been ensuring his ideas are successful. He doesn’t care that the streetcar will be a huge step for the city, or that OTR is growing to be the most popular neighborhood in the city. Nor does he care that we have a sheriff who is successful and has reduced crime. My biggest concern isn’t what his ideas are, it’s that he’s willing to sacrifice other, already successful ideas in order to ensure his succeed. He’s already demonstrated this intent with the streetcar, the 4th and Race tower, etc. It’s really apparent to me that John Cranley is in this just for John Cranley, and not for Cincinnati. In fact, I think he’s demonstrated many qualities indicative of antisocial personality disorder.

If a layperson looks at a new building and can’t tell the difference between it and its neighbors, than the historic conservation board as failed, in my opinion. Some of the buildings by the architect jmicha mentioned above come close to looking historic until you look at the detailing. Several of them, in context, seemingly disappear. That’s also a nice way to do infill in a historic neighborhood, but I don’t know that many clients would be happy about that.

I'm thinking the tower crane is because of how deep down the parking is below the surface of McMillan, but I too was surprised they were using one for this job. It should have a pretty cool view from the top, should there be any urban explorers (or drunk college kids) trying to climb it. Also, a 42" TV is simply not enough for a college kid, let alone an entire house full of them. I had a 55" TV in college, bought with all the money I saved living in cheap rentals.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/05/19/sorta-board-hitler-reference/27577635/ A real life application of Godwin's law - and of course, the comment stems from Painter's opposition to a federal program because it promotes streetcar systems.

If you like this building, check out Herzog & de Meuron's 56 Leonard Street in NYC. It was designed pre-recession but is underway now. Some of the early renderings were amazing, though the design has since gone through some value engineering.

I'd bet the majority of what they do is routine maintenance like oil changes. Every single car on the road needs one or two of those a year, and most people just go to whichever place is closest or has the best coupon.

The only thing the Enquirer has going for it is that it's usually first to have a story up. Sometimes the local TV stations beat them to it, but their websites are so poorly designed that I refuse to even visit them most of the time.

Washburn is out: "Executive editor Carolyn Washburn’s last day at @Enquirer was Wednesday, publisher announces. We thank her for 4 years serving her hometown."

No I think that's actually a great idea. They could even auction them off every year and give the funds to the parks department. The problem is that Smale Park is turning out to be heavily programmed, ie, there isn't a lot of blank grassy space similar to a college quad. That's appropriate for the urban space that it occupies. I just don't know where they would put a bunch of tailgater tents. I think it's be better to just shut down all of Front Street Freedom Way from Walnut to the stadium and let that function as a tailgate space. The big plaza in front of the Freedom Center would work well for public tents or stalls, and people could rent out parking spaces along the street. By then, the whole area should be an open container district, anyway.

Saw this on Reddit, some people just can't deal with change:

I can only view 2011 aerial images on CAGIS. You have to go through the County Auditor's property search feature to get their aerial images. Their site uses CAGIS maps, bur for some reason CAGIS doesn't have the birds-eye images that the Auditor's site has.

^ I imagine that in most of our lifetimes we'll see self-driving cars, and I'd imagine most transportation methods will be almost autonomous by the next generation. If we really had jet packs and flying cars, I'm sure the user wouldn't be doing the flying, they'd just put in a destination. I think it'd take at least a generation for people to get used to that amount of flying, though. I took almost 40 round trips via air last year alone, and I’m still afraid to look out the window during a landing. I imagine if you plopped someone from 1920 into a compact car going 70 on the highway they'd be petrified, but just a generation or two later and it's a completely normal activity.

What about near college campuses? There's a GameStop near UC's campus that is always pretty crowded and in an urban location.

Even Covington and Newport have on street parking permits, and the Cincinnati Municipal Code has an entire chapter dedicated to the process of creating on street permit parking zones in residential areas. This is just another example of something completely mundane and normal for most cities. Cranley is catering to his voter base, many of whom haven’t been outside of Cincinnati much, if at all during their lives, and don’t know how the real world operates. It's the same mentality that is at the core of the streetcar opposition. Nearly every city in America the size of Cincinnati or larger has a form light rail, but people still think it's the worst idea in the world.

Sound isn't working for me. Anyone else? Nope, I get videio but no audio. I tried a few different browsers before checking Twitter: "We are unable to provide the live video of the mayor’s talk with our editorial board. Follow @cweiser for updates."

This is short notice, but you can email any questions about Cranley's veto of the OTR permit plan to the Enquirer by 1:00 and they might just ask them to Cranley at 1:30: Here’s a link to the info: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/05/07/cincinnati-mayor-john-cranley-parking-otr/70939386/

In the CBD, we pay $155/mo - $1860/yr for a surface parking lot space that isn't guaranteed. I pay $45 a month for the lot adjacent Paul Brown Stadium. I didn't realize how huge the disparity was just a few blocks away from the periphery.

I make a huge vat of chili about once a month, and freeze some for later use. I think my recipe is pretty good – sometimes I do alternates like lamb instead of beef, or step the spiciness way up. I’d be all up for an artisan chili parlor if only I had “someone with high wealth to sign the loan “ because “That’s how people get their start in this world.”