City Blights

That camera being used is superb. Excellent equipment to supplement spectacular photography.

I used to work in Northern Lights, I'll never call that area Lil' Somalia :wink:, but I understand why the city would want to. The area is 50's simplicity in full effect, but some nice, open parks and a lot of green. It's amazing how Columbus has become such a destination for immigrants, not just Somali refugees. The diversity in Columbus is taking the city to the next level.

^You had never been through Northern Lights??

Yet another overrated OSU team, what a shock

The city, particularly downtown, has come a long way in the last five years, there's no denying that. If we want to single out the 3C project and the streetcar, I'm not sold that the rest of the nation is as delusional as Ohio is about change considering Cincinnati is the largest city without an inch of rail transit and Ohio is a large state with very few Amtrak lines. If Houston, in the backdrop of big oil can get rail rolling, why is Ohio so resistant?

City Blights, please feel free to keep these sorts of comments to yourself, because they are petty, information-less, and insulting. There are many many people here and elsewhere who have been fighting for change for a long time, and with results. Why don't you think from their perspective. Also, at some point in your life, perhaps, you may find a source of happiness in fighting for something you believe in, and contributing to the social fabric -- even though it is very hard with many setbacks. That sort of happiness can, surprisingly, be more long lasting for some people, than the one which comes from packing up your bags and moving to the next spot of green grass. Who are you to tell me what I've done during my lifetime? Please do not attempt to abstract the truth, which you just confirmed. Many on this forum alone have went far out of their way to support Cincinnati in various capacities, yet the collective effort was just diminished by one individual. One might say that the joke was on them, the whole time believing and sweating their way to a defeat that was so sudden and aggressive, yet familiar like your favorite dish at your favorite restaurant. Most of us have experienced idealist-colored egg on the face at one point or another. Most of us won't take no for an answer because they are "all in". Not halfway or partly, but dedicated to the city of Cincinnati. Dedicated to the point of embarrassment, embarrassed that their contemporaries and elders are so foolish and out of touch, deficient of integrity or cognition of the world outside of their personal space. Some mock others for taking the time to believe, others are mocked for interpreting the information as it was given, not how they wish it was presented to them. Cincinnati hasn't gained population in six census cycles. The city rid itself of streetcars in the 50's and has been sliding ever since, yet the idea is far more unpopular on March 23, 2011 than on April 29, 1951, the last day of full service for the Cincinnati Railway. 1950 to 2011, the state has been in a steady decline featuring all but one of its largest cities. Sixty years is indeed a lifetime, quite a long time, to hope, pine, and convince oneself that events will happen that have not. People leave Ohio because it proves time and time again to decline change when change is glaringly essential.

^The pic the Enquirer is using in the link above is one of the best views of the new skyline. I'd like to see that featured in an aerial on tv. Or better yet, in Clooney's new film.

Ohio is a joke and that's the honest truth. Waiting for this state to change only places the joke on you.

^They still probably have more HDTV's than the suites down at the Jungle.

^ The double-cross is complete.

^ I concur, but the before was awful as well....part of me says that if the city took better care of the basin half of it wouldn't have disappeared.

One thing that tempers my frustration about what could have been in Cincinnati if the West End survived the freeways a little better is that there's no gurantee that downtown wouldn't just be a more dense and potentially, more dangerous slum than it currently is. The city hasn't shown the ability to make the right moves even when the stiffs in Columbus or Washington weren't standing in the way. I believe the city would be in a much stronger position for things such as the streetcar but as far as gentrification goes, I'm just not sure it would have taken off much sooner than it did in the Gateway.

People choosing to live downtown is far more important than the signage. I must admit though, I'm a fan of old Cincinnati myself.

Anyone who believed or had a measure of faith in Bortz or Berding was sadly mistaken to begin with. These are human calculators, constantly counting the money they take from others.

OTR's lots will fill in, well that is if the streetcar happens.

Kasich is killing the two most progressive projects this state had come up with in decades in the 3C project and the streetcar. Things changed so fast, but change for the worse is the only time change comes quickly in Ohio so I don't know why I'm surprised.

I'm glad you are enjoying the Twin Cities! I know how much you love Cincinnati, but I'm happy you are experiencing a modern city while you're still young. Congratulations, I'll send you a PM.

I dont know if I like that attitude. KJP is right though. The faster we ween ourselves off of artificially low priced oil the better we will all be in the future. It sucks for people that simply don't have the extra money to afford this increase in gas prices, but the price increase needs to happen. I've seen stories in the last week about people who drive 50-100 miles round trip for work and are really hurting because of the price of gas. Am I supposed to feel bad for that person? Move closer to work or find a job closer to home! Its not fair to tell people where to work, as if that is completely in anyone's control.

Any leader that has come off as this clueless in such a short time has to be bullish and driven by allegiance to someone other than their constituents.

cincySAL, osogato understood exactly what I was saying. The streetcar downtown-uptown is intended to reinvigorate an area long neglected and increase access to Cincinnati jobs and entertainment. Mariemont is anything but neglected. The areas that the streetcar will serve are populated by an overwhelmingly African-American majority that has endured economic disenfranchisement time and time again. The streetcar is supposed to be an economic catalyst for two of the nation's poorest neighborhoods, OTR/West End and Uptown. Mariemont is the farthest thing from that. I want to be clear - being white doesn't make you anything but a white person, same for blacks, hispanics, Asians, etc... ...but when the city newspaper is backing up their bias against the streetcar (and urban core for that matter, see coverage of the Banks) with commentary from a community that one could safely assume will not benefit immediately nor will form a sizeable group eligible to patronize the streetcar and its intentions, the media paints themselves as virulent opponents to the city core and the people who live there.

^Sometimes I wish Cincinnati really wasn't in Ohio as many Ohioans believe. The first local quote the Enquirer uses is some lady out in Mariemont. Mariemont??? Her opinion is extremely valuable of course, seeing how she lives downtown and not in one of the wealthiest and whitest suburbs in Ohio.

Strickland was corrupt and ineffective at even formulating a stance on education, but he did see the light when it came to economic catalysts, the casinos and the corridor rail project. Kasich is corrupt, will be extremely disruptive to Ohio's schools, AND is such a crony of big oil and banks that he won't even consider dragging his state into the 20th century with rail transit. Is Ohio doomed forever?

Get used to it? People are killed over oil, you have to be kidding.

Who says these prices are insane? And do people really have a choice to not pay for petroleum? Our economy runs on oil. If the price of oil goes up then so do consumer prices on damn near everything. Are there ANY "petroleum free" products or industries? The global war over oil has forced prices to a ridiculous level. Isn't that at the crux of the oil conversation? It's high because nations want to control their own destinies concerning their availability and access to oil in the future. People don't care about Libya. But with the civil war going on, their sweet oil is at stake.

Why folks are willing to pay for insanely priced petroleum is just as valid as the prices themselves. Tunnel vision isn't healthy.