jim uber

Kaid Benfeld blogs regularly on urban and sustainability issues for NRDC. He had a recent post discussing his opinion that center city redevelopment needs to move beyond "increased density" in ways that make places that we really will enjoy. He featured a good pic of the gateway quarter redevelopment as an example of what he considers good sustainable urban design. Didn't mention OTR - even though he has visited the area - but thought it might be of interest anyway. The post is here: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/getting_more_smart_growth_mean.html

In answer to my question, Cincinnati is not doing too well. The national average is closer to 66% solved homicides compared to Cincinnati's 45% last year. But some places are doing a lot worse. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2010/may/24/unsolved-homicides/ I don't think that's a valid comparison. The 65% seems to be the ones solved before they are closed. 45% were solved of those committed last year. So presumably the unsolved cases from later in the year (at least) would still be under active investigation and some will end up as solved.

You have the right to feel sorry for whomever you wish. Others might focus more on personal relationships than on relationships with nature. Neither is wrong.

Absolutely.

Thanks! Yes this is getting much closer to what we need for rational analysis of crime data, but it's still a far way off. As implied by natininja, we need rates first of all (which is problematic itself because the right "denominator" isn't necessarily the nighttime - i.e. census - population). Next, we should want to look at more than homicides, and we obviously need to look at ranges of time that extend longer than a single year. I wish that the FBI would request standardized crime data from all communities above 10,000 people (instead of just those over 100,000 which I believe is the current cutoff), provide data entry software that would automatically geolocate crimes, and then make those data available to the public through shape files that would aggregate data to the census tract level (for anonymity). While they were at it, why not also collect the available data on the time each crime was committed, since we all know it's less safe to be out after dark, right? Then various independent groups could easily publish maps showing aggregate crime rate stats on a census tract scale, and develop more rational rankings (e.g., rankings based on the worst census tract rate, relationships between crime rates and density, etc) We could then dispense with the various organizations that "analyze" crime data for us and tell us which cities are "safer" than others.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense to me -- thanks. I realized, but had forgotten, that all of the infrastructure we take for granted (even bathrooms and plumbing!) were added after the fact, on the buildings that we are now trying to mimic. I guess that something's gotta give...

I get that they are cost prohibitive. I just don't know why. On one hand, so many factors should make it much cheaper these days. Imagine what it used to take to deliver all of the bricks, sand, cement, lumber to the site, and then lift it all multiple stories, for three-course brick walls! I'm told that plumbers used to be the big bad-asses of of the tradesmen, cause they were handling heavy iron all day long. Yet these were working class homes and tenements, mostly, and they got it done -- without omitting the details. I realize this is theoretical. But is it that we are just not used to doing it any more, and are therefor inefficient? Or is it something different, like the fact that we live in a lot more square footage per person than they did back then, and in order to get that space we have to be satisfied with the cheapest possible way to build a box with R20 walls? I dunno - this all makes me depressed about our ability to actually revitalize a significant fraction of the current OTR housing stock, and then take care of it. I mean, if each cornice is going to cost $20-30K, then we might as well just tear down all of the current housing stock that needs new cornices, and focus on the rest.

Do you know of any sites that compare crime rates in a fashion that is more meaningful than on a City or County scale? For example, crime rate by census tract. Is the worst census tract crime rate in Cincinnati significantly higher than 98% of the worst census tract crime rates in other US cities? If so, I might be more compelled to think there is a policy or social problem here that is deserving of attention. Obviously, if we annexed portions of Butler and Warren counties, then our crime rate would go down... to no real effect.

I'll accept that last statement since I'm no architect -- but I find it depressing and amazing. I also don't think it necessary to adopt a particular style for OTR infill. I just want pleasing proportions and relationships (as how jjakucyk described them, very generally) and good execution in terms of workmanship and material quality. It seems to me that different building styles can intermingle quite nicely, provided that this is done. It also seems to me that excellent execution and materials are the most difficult to realize. If I see a building I hate, usually it's because it's built cheaply, or because some design features were omitted because it needed to be built cheaply. Most of the obstacles to "good" infill I see are of an economic nature that I can't completely understand. For the life of me, I don't get how 30 feet of decorative tin cornice can cost more than $30,000 to manufacture and install. Why is it so difficult (or expensive?) to specify and install a decent looking lintel, or door. Plastering is becoming such a lost art that you would think it is magic sometimes, to talk to someone about doing it instead of drywall. I read recently about the next round of OTR rehabs (3CDC, but not Mercer commons) where the finished single family homes were going to be selling for $500K+. These are for buildings where the purchase price was probably in the range of $0-50K. Just where is this money going? Not to the guy installing the shower pan for $500 or the crew installing drywall at $6 per sheet. I'm well aware of the "difficulty" of rehabbing old structures but come on... I guess that we are just not a Nation of craftsmen, any more, and so we're paying too much money to corporations and their shareholders to implement our designs. Maybe it's that simple. Do we only know how to look up factory manufactured stuff in catalogs and order it, and then it comes in a box and we employ guys on site that know just enough to use a tube of construction adhesive? I hope this is not off-topic, and I'm happy to be educated about how it all really works in the world of big architecture. But maybe if we really want high quality infill, we should also consider how to train a new generation of modern craftsmen so they can efficiently implement high quality architectural features, even if it's at the scale of an individual single family home. And figure out how to make most of the money go into their pockets.

When I lived in Urbana-Champaign, IL, I thought that place had the most lovely sunsets, washing over vast fields of grain (would have been better over vast fields of native prairie, but oh well...). One benefit that comes from extreme flatness. Sitting in a chair grilling chicken and drinking a bottle of beer, I was in heaven. I still think that, and have tried to convince many people over the years of the value of sunsets, while they were talking to me about the value of mountains. It never worked. I guess it goes without saying that, except for the crappy sunsets here, I am content in Cincinnati. Oh, yeah, and I really like the people that I've had the pleasure to get to know here as well. I guess I shouldn't just forget about that. If I started to feel stuck here and wanted to move, I'd like to think it would be to find new people, or get rid of old people. Not mountains or sunsets or beaches or, even, weather.

^ I think he is implying that if the sewers need to be moved because of the streetcar, and there isn't a way to move them that preserves 10' of space between them and water lines, then the EPA could object.

A person who has worked extensively with the dying put down their five most frequent life regrets: http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html In my mind, "stuck" would have to equate to one big-ass regret, in the end... But there is nothing in that list sounding like "I wish I had moved to Portland." In fact, it is hard to understand how an increase in "mobility" as defined by Florida, would reduce the severity of those regrets; in fact I think it's much more likely to be the other way around. Because of the pop-science way that Florida does research, I'm sure he could put together the graduate students and the database searches to try and define our happiness and lack of regret, but I just hope he doesn't try.

I disagree. I went Mac (Mac Mini) and turned back. I wouldn't go back to Mac even if the hardware was similarly priced. But I am likely not the average user (more technical/geeky). I built a PC which blows away the Mac Mini (no comparison) after I sold it, for less than the what I originally purchased my Mac Mini for. If you are more technical/geeky then I can't understand why you would turn your back on a Unix-based machine like the mac.

I have no idea why you would have such a fear, or be surprised at all. There has never been any "ye olde trolley" flavor in any official announcements or descriptions of the streetcar; only by the COAST crowd.

- Identify the intersections of streetcar lines and sewers - Assess the current condition of the affected assets (sewers, manholes, etc) and determine their normal replacement schedules, outside of the streetcar - Value the affected assets as they are today, accounting for estimated remaining service life and maintenance; call this amount $X - Subtract $X from $3M that the City is willing to pay. This is the amount that the City is donating (positive) or stealing (negative) from the MSD ratepayers. Asset managers do this on a regular basis (or should). The "value" step is important and will always be a combination of judgement and data, but it must and can be done. I'd bet most or all of this information has been available for a long time. I wish the Business Courier and other news outlets would spend more time interviewing the asset managers and printing their maps, than talking to the likes of Finney and Monzel, and printing their opinions.

This latest discussion reminds me about the form-based codes that had been discussed quite a bit, being pushed by Councilwoman Qualls. I think they would be designed, in part, to prohibit some of this by describing things like the relationship between the building and the street. Does anyone have any information about whether a form-based code is likely to be proposed for Cincinnati in the near future?

There are a couple of things that go into this. First, when OTR was originally built, labor cost was low. This set up lends itself to the detailed ornamentation you see all over OTR, as it cost very little to have 20 guys working long hours on small details. Today, labor cost is huge, and the goal of most construction projects is to have things put together as quickly as possible. This is why you get things like huge bricks (think University Park Apartments) – masons are expensive, and big bricks = less time to stack. As for replicating the Italianate details like the cast iron cornice – this can’t really be done today because cast iron is a lot more expensive and no one would ever pay for it if an architect did specify it. Instead, it would be done in EIFS or something similar, and it would start to look like crap after 15-20 years instead of the 100+ years cast iron will look nice. As for Hollywood sets, I believe they simply use plaster which is quick and easy to work with if you have a couple talented guys doing it, but it can’t be used on the outside of a building. Sets are temporary and it doesn’t matter if they leak, buildings have to last. First, I really like Civvik's arguments, saying why I am for the modern design much better than I could have put it. Jake, I think the difficulty is that we would be asking an architect to design, at once, 150' of Italianate buildings. It seems to be unavoidable that the "differentiation" between adjacent "buildings" ends up looking artificial, and that's the source of the displeasure for me. Maybe if we asked 7 different architects to design 7 different Italianate buildings, and then stuck them together randomly, it would start to look interesting (though probably, then, too expensive -- which is the point). Probably, if OTR had been designed in an office over a 6 month period by a single group of architects, it would have looked just as strange as the faux historic renderings we see today. As for the cornices, I don't think very many are cast iron. Most are tin, and they last a long time as they are protected -- so long as you don't let the box gutters deteriorate. And they are still done. I had one made for a building I'm rehabbing - wasn't really all that expensive. And the Habitat for Humanity folks just put one up on their building on Elm st. But again, the problem with all the little cornices adorning the tops of the vertically oriented "buildings" is going to be that they will end up looking too similar, cause they were designed by the same architect or obtained contractually from the same firm. Look at the cornices on a nice block in OTR and you'll be more impressed with the often subtle but sometimes stark differences, than with the fact that there are cornices. Bottom line is that if we can't achieve, in one stroke, the look of a series of Italianate buildings designed and built by different people over a 20 year time frame, then we probably shouldn't try it.

^ Well, that's a cheery thought for the day. Given the countless hours of effort that some have put into getting a streetcar to almost come to Cincinnati, over an amazing time span, overcoming major roadblocks, to get to the cusp of actually doing it, well... saying that it is "too difficult" is probably an understatement. I am continually amazed and appreciative that there are many people in this community who just don't give up on ideas they know are great. For me, about all I do is get into the occasional helpful argument now and then, and write a check or two. Which, by the way, is an easy way to help with a difficult job.

Sherman, your distinction between a "public utility" and a streetcar system needs an argument. Especially since the larger point you are straining to make is founded on it. We're talking about public dollars being collected and spent by government for the public good. I fail to see the distinction between a "public utility" and any other infrastructure spending. They all cost money, they all have benefits, and those benefits are always unevenly distributed among the broad base of tax payers who contribute.

Since nobody else seems to, I'll go ahead and say I like the rendering of the vine street building. It will boil down to the quality of the finish work, but I have nothing against glass. With respect to the trideca unit, that is a very expensive remote controlled blind, not a piece of plastic. Now, it may not look good from the outside, but that's because the windows in trideca, including the two story one at issue here, are clear glass. I would assume that a building constructed with a glass facade will be using a reflective glass that manages the heat load, while also reducing the visibility to the inside. By the way, I'm a big fan of the historic OTR architecture. But a healthy neighborhood will eventually mean learning to fill in the open spaces with high quality modern architecture that is not necessarily intended to blend in with the historic. I think that it is much more likely to be truly ugly, if we insist that all new buildings mimic the old.

We had our wedding party at "The Point" - what a fantastic experience. Consider it for a special event sometime - you won't be disappointed. Ed Moss and the folks he brings in are the real deal.

Houses can be obtained for very little money or for free (see: OTRADOPT). The time for individual property owners to step up and do a rehab, is now. The problem for most people is obtaining the initial financing to do the work. That's the problem that 3CDC has solved for the developers. The really great thing, in my opinion, would now be if 3CDC could figure out a way to help with the financing piece for the individual owner/resident. Though I just bought a condo, I would love to do a rehab. I am seriously considering it, though funds are obviously an issue. Obviously every situation is unique in terms of the project and the personal financial details, but... you should consider contacting the Cincinnati Development Fund. They are not really set up for helping the individual owner, but on the other hand their mission is ideally suited to viable OTR rehabs.

Wow. I had no idea. Do you have any details or pointers to where to look for information?

Houses can be obtained for very little money or for free (see: OTRADOPT). The time for individual property owners to step up and do a rehab, is now. The problem for most people is obtaining the initial financing to do the work. That's the problem that 3CDC has solved for the developers. The really great thing, in my opinion, would now be if 3CDC could figure out a way to help with the financing piece for the individual owner/resident.

I like the vine street Kroger. I hate any sort of big grocery store that requires me to park and then walk walk walk to get the small number of things I want, and then wait in lines to get out. It's an energy drain for me. I feel blessed to be able to walk two blocks to that small store, get in and out quickly, no stress. And the people are really nice. People who trash the place probably haven't been there. Between vine street Kroger for toilet paper etc and Findlay market, I am happy.