jim uber

jdm00[/member] is correct that your method of interacting with people will affect what sort of feedback you get. I'd assume that would be completely obvious. I am guessing that the differing opinions expressed here, based on differing experiences, end up being explained to a large degree by these differing ways of interacting on the street. Although I'm 5'-7" and 140#, I never look down when I'm walking, I make eye contact with people and say hello, and when I'm asked for money or to listen to a story I've already heard, I look at them and politely explain that I don't have any change, or I am a little busy and don't have time right now. I might be lying sometimes when I say those things, but I'll live with that. I also don't go out of my way to call the cops on suspected activities outside my window, knowing that all it'll do is to aggrevate the cops and result in no arrest. But if there are loud folks on the sidewalk after 11:00 pm, especially on a weeknight, then even though it's a hassle I'll go outside and say, pretty firmly, that I'm trying to get some sleep and would they please lower their voices. This is all pretty much city living 101 in my opinion, but I get the idea that some visitors are so freaked out they telegraph either their fear or their disgust, or both, and of course that would anger people, and maybe make them want them to have their own fears realized just a bit, so to speak.

There is not much that can be done by the police, realistically, about selling drugs or public drinking. There is not nearly enough jail cells or police officers. I live in an area of OTR where I am seeing the wave of gentrification and economic development pass right before my eyes, and I experience the conflict of being a person who has a decent job, a nice house, yet interacting with people that are often desperate and making bad choices over and over again. Economic development will soon solve the problems of drug dealing and abuse, public intoxication and urination, and excessive trash in my immediate neighborhood, even when the police are relatively powerless. But this also doesn't really solve the problem; all it does is provide some separation distance between us. The root problem has been that folks like TroyEros[/member] can live far away and only recently venture into this area, and interact with very different people, just because enough of it has been made nice again. In my dreams enough of them will do that, and look at this issue a bit more analytically and compassionately. Then they'll realize that its going to be better for everyone if we tax ourselves and empower government to use that money to solve this societal problem, as opposed to just maintaining enough of a buffer that we can imagine it doesn't even exist.

In case it is useful for folks who are doing an historic rehab, I was able to find two places with competent and competitive rates for Builder's Risk + Liability insurance. This insurance is normally required by the lender. Many places won't even quote for a historic property let alone one that has been vacant for 30 years (e.g. Great American). And I've received quotes for the same coverage where there was a 4X difference between the minimum and maximum quotes. Anyway, if you're ever in this boat, try one of the following: Barry Schmidt Siemens Insurance Agency, LLC 513-469-8877 ([email protected]) Dan Driehaus Driehaus Insurance Group, LLC 513-977-6860 ([email protected])

^ So the ultimate goal to be striving for is wider sidewalks, narrower streets, and no or limited street parking. Is that right? I get that as a goal, but that's also separate from what is realistic, of course.

This is pretty "out there" I know. But as parking gets more difficult, and cars get smaller, we might consider means to make our use of the street (for parking) more efficient. I've posted about this before, but in some very dense cities such as Seoul, they have legal double parking (see picture below). Everybody who double parks, by agreement, leaves their car locked and the wheels straight, but the transmission in neutral. If someone is blocking you, you just go out and push their car (or cars) out of the way. I experienced pushing a car like this and thought it was a hoot. But she couldn't really understand what the big deal was and why I wanted to have a picture of something so boring.

^ Again I'd say there is little to worry about here. Drive around OTR and imagine that every current vacant lot is a building with a driveway/garage on the first floor. Even that, which is an extreme case, wouldn't really destroy the pedestrian experience in my opinion. Even with recent changes the historic board won't be approving demolitions or first floor garage conversions of existing historic properties, so this is about as bad as it could ever be.

On this subject of garages... I live a stones throw from Wade and I agree they are not a big deal. In terms of historic character they are not altering what is there currently. The one structure is currently a one story "non-contributing" garage, and the other parcel is vacant. And Wade is purely residential. It's not like they are taking what was once a storefront and creating a garage out of it. I doubt that our historic board would approve that sort of modification. And on a higher level, I am ecstatic about this development in terms of what it will mean for the very local situation near Liberty and Elm. While I might not confront a car backing out of a garage while walking the sidewalk, I do encounter numerous drug dealers, deal with threats when I confront drug users in the rear of my property, and face a continuous barrage of people who think my property looks like a toilet. I don't even get to the point of complaining about the trash... I've seen these things change in other areas and know they will here also, and it won't be police it'll be economic development. That's why on a very practical level I don't complain about gentrification (even while supporting a diverse development plan), and I also won't be complaining about garage doors that are part of a tasteful and impactful development.

Maybe it's not fair, but if you can't own a diner that makes at least a very good hamburger, then I'm losing confidence in what your standards are for accomplishing something.

^ Of course, they are going to reapply. If they continue to get feedback that says they were competitive and just need to try again, they'll probably keep applying. The money is too significant not to do that. But it has little to do with whether, or not, they could make the project work financially without the credits. I mean, everyone would like 10% profits, compared to 5%.

^ I was surprised that 600 sq. ft. studios at this banks development will rent for between 1300 and 1600/month, or perhaps more than $2.5/ft !

I need some help from those who've completed OTR rehabs. I'm getting ready to start a rehab next week, and just had my "builder's risk" insurance cancelled. Reasons are complete B.S. in my opinion -- this insurance business has been a complete pain in the butt. Does anyone have a good source for builder's risk insurance for an OTR rehab? Any sources would be very much appreciated.

^ OK. It would be great if someone like you could spend a few hours just putting in the projects that you know about. I think after that it would be useable. Let me know if you want editing access. I'll put in my two projects ;-)

^ so how would we move beyond theory here? What's the technology to use and who can set it up?

^ I thought this was a place for people who are obsessed with development, and letting life slip by... ;-)

^ Yes that would be a good idea. I don't think that any one of us likely has tons of time to devote to this, but we could do it collaboratively. One approach is to just make a google map. This is trivially simple, and anyone who can use a mouse can contribute. I just threw together a quick map and put two projects on it - the 4th and race condos and the GE operations center (actually, I'm not sure I got the GE building shape and location exactly right...). You can see it here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z6Hr96JyZCbU.klI_kQhRwrl4 If we wanted to go this route, we could make *anyone* have edit rights, which is probably not a good idea. On the other hand, any specific person who wants to be able to edit this could just send me an email and I'll invite you as an editor. This is set this up so that editors can add other editors, so this wouldn't need to go through me at each step, and the editors could just evolve naturally based on our interests. We could evolve a style and some basic "rules" for the editors to follow. The features are pretty basic. We can have different layers for "proposed" "completed" "in progress" or whatever we like. Each shape drawn on a layer can have a uniform style, which is basically just how it's labelled and its color. To draw a new project, you just: 1) select the layer you want to add to; 2) select the "draw a line" icon and then "Add line or shape"; and 3) then just draw a polygon. You can add a label and a description, and also attach photos. Frankly I think this is all we'd need and it really is soooo easy.

Was proposed but never passed IIRC. For the 1527 elm project my architect said that there is a 50% streetcar reduction for properties on the line. Further, if after the reduction you need less than 5 spaces, then none shall be required. However it's a little complicated because there are zoning specs and the zoning changes inexplicably within the OTR boundaries. Bottom line is that we plan to not have to supply parking for 1527 elm, but we might need to get a variance.

Yes this is absolutely true. Criminals just do not like "nice" places. That means places that are clean, and have good and well maintained facilities. I've seen this work first hand at my place on a small scale. For a while I had a problem with public urination and defecation, and I also had some fill material stored on site from my patio project. One time I caught a neighborhood dude pissing and chewed him out. He pretty pointedly told me "hey if you want to solve this problem, then clean your place up. People have been doing this here for 30 years so don't expect it to change just cause you want it to." I decided to listen to him and since that time it's been much quieter. So yeah, good lighting can be helpful, but mostly if the lighting indicates "hey someone here cares." It has to convey a sense of a quality space, not a warehouse. I'm sure a good landscape architect would have lots of ideas about how to improve that Shell corner, and I hope they take that route.

If I'm reading everything correctly, that's the way it is designed. You'll be able to drive from Short Vine directly into the parking lot and the front of the store will be on your left. The eastern sidewalk will continue across Corry along the front of the store. The two story glass facade will line up with the street wall on the east side of the street. Thanks - then I agree with you, it doesn't really need a front entrance to the north. That's much better than I had been expecting.

Oh I didn't understand that's how it was. So you are saying the section with two story windows shown on the north elevation, will be an extension of the east side of short vine?

^not sure. But one problem is that the new cornice is just bad, in my opinion. Note they added the return between the time they first installed it, to now, possibly in response to HCB comments (I do not know that, however). If they had installed some brackets along the front and the return portion, it would look better. But, I think that roof has a hip rafter and slopes toward the front and the east (the side in the picture). I think they installed a seamless gutter all along the east roofline to catch that rainwater. That would have had to be a box gutter in the original configuration, which would have meant a cornice of some kind was there. It certainly could have been, and probably was, simpler than the front cornice. This is the auditors photo of that building circa 2000. Seems to show a more significant front cornice and possibly a continuous east cornice as well. Too bad this was lost sometime in the intervening years.

The National Park Service has a pretty simple opinion - the following are both not recommended: "Applying paint or other coatings such as stucco to masonry that has been historically unpainted or uncoated to create a new appearance. Removing paint from historically painted masonry." Sometimes its hard to tell, except maybe to an expert, but a lot of OTR buildings were painted originally. But some were not. For example I'm guessing that the YMCA building above (undergoing restoration) has never been painted, and from the uniformity and detail of the brick, it should never be. But it's quite possible that both of those buildings at 15th and Pleasant were painted originally.

Wow I'm amazed at the scope of the Wade street development described for the August 24 meeting. I live just around the corner on Elm and had no idea - I thought Wade street would happen, but that it would take a little while. I mean right now, and for the last 4-5 months, this little half block of Elm@Wade has been a camp for people without homes. I spend time nearly every day trying to get people to stop using my space as a bathroom. People really do have so much more confidence in the neighborhood than they used to. Not sure if its the streetcar or just seeing other areas be transformed, but it sure is encouraging.

^ I don't know - we'll hear what others say but overall, my impression of the drop-in-center move is that it has been kept extremely quiet, by all sides involved. I remember a few times being surprised by the schedule because I hadn't heard anything at all, and this is a really big deal. It's gotta be a strategy.

This happened on elm about a week ago. The mother of all vacuums.

Thanks for that link. That project sounds like a mess. Example: “The general organization of the project and the support to DDOT from the contractors appears to be uneven. Many areas of support may be buried deeper in the organization than need be. As stated previously, there needs to be one person in charge who takes responsibility for the project,” according to one of the report’s new observations." This sort of fundamental organizational disarray has never plagued our project, no matter what the skeptics try to say. That it would lead to a host of other problems in D.C. seems pretty easy to understand. I say TGFJD (Thank God For John Deatrick).