City Blights

Sure, but that leads me back to my original question - is this building as tall as Carew without the 130 foot crown?

http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=41410767 The diagram reads 689 feet, as originally billed, but 86 feet indeed puts it at 201.2 meters. Any ideas about the disparity?

I'd really like to know how tall the crown will be, and how tall the office tower will be. 660 makes the building sound short unless the crown is an apparatus that extends down the large faces of the structure for X amount of feet.

Care to elaborate? In a nutshell... http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/commuterrail.html The tracks are well-located, even for today's priorities. The trains are expensive, but what isn't? SORTA is supposed to be forward-thinking now that it's officially a real regional authority, but what exactly is Hamilton County saying to Montgomery County to keep high-speed rail in Southern Ohio a non-story? Dayton doesn't have a motive to discourage the kind of investment that could come from passenger rail to Cincinnati. Also, think about some of the cities that have accomplished at least one line of passenger rail. You can't just get behind and be content to stay behind.

Hamilton County is taking too long to get heavy rail off of the ground. This is a major issue.

I still want to know what happened to the original architectural layout for The Banks...

One of the truest comments in this entire thread. The way St. Louis is described is EXACTLY how it is in St. Louis. STL is surprisingly quiet downtown day and night, even with the Metrolink. Actually, ridership is steady, but it's not dramatic. The cars are slow, and many areas off the train are, well, dilapidated to say the least. The reality of transit isn't economic unless it's a damn good system. Otherwise, you might as well call it a People Mover (no offense Detroit). Citywide streetcars/LRT to Dayton is the only way to get the idea of rail transportation ingrained into thick Cincinnati skulls, as well as cash in on the PROMISE of economic benefit.

Dayton is right up the road from Cincinnati. Once you leave the Cincy metro, you enter the Dayton metro. This will change in 2010. 3 million is more than most of those cities being named off. The point is, Cincinnati is a big city that could support an NBA team. It's amazing how many Cincinnatians love to shrink this city even more than it already has. If you don't think cincy could support a team, do you think Cleveland was thinking, "Oh shoot, we'll never get the Browns back...". No, people stepped up and said, "This city is getting a team back, bottom line." They pressed the issue. Cincinnati refuses to, in a GREAT basketball region. It smells like money to me, but...

I was aware of what the Consortium is doing in Avondale, and I certainly hope it works out in a timely fashion. It still stands that the Consortium is a collective of employers and organizations, none of which are the City of Cincinnati. Just hospitals, corporations, and developers, the same group of people that run the city, and have been given free reign Uptown for decades. If anything, they are giving back from an area they've took so much from.

Cincy is the biggest city (3 million) outside Seattle to not have an NBA team. KC didn't get a team because the 2 million in the metro is all that's out there. There's nothing around that city.

The city grew because of our good Mayor and his study. We're in a recession and homicide has not leveled off the way general crime has appeared to. My money is on crime rising in 2009.

Thanks for bringing it back to the central issue - Why is OTR so vacant? You're missing the big picture. Smitherman knows this won't work. People need representation, and he is representing for those disenfranchised in Cincinnati. This is a segregated city that is attempting to revitalize a segregated core. OTR used to be white. Whites lost interest, and poor blacks were encouraged to live there due to the location of social services and cheap rents. Now that whites have taken a renewed interest to urban living, blacks who have put up with the pathetic policies of this city should have no say, no voice in what is going on in this city. Why do you think proportional representation has been such an issue in this town, going back to the creation of proportional representation in this country? The NAACP is doing due diligence by garnering media attention to what is indeed very vague language concerning the future of OTR and the streetcar. The NAACP has been screaming about Avondale for the longest. In fact, the local chapter is located on Reading in the areas of Bond Hill and Avondale. Residents elect officials under the law because it is a more effective way of delegating municipal duties, as well as promoting progress for that municipality. In other words, it's the City's job to fix the City. You don't have a problem with developers doubling as politicians? I know it's always been a very fine line, but wow...politicians have a responsibility to their constituency. Developers have a responsibility to their firm.

Cincinnati's murder rate is that of a dying city. At 23 per 100k, that's not good at all.

Brighton is my favorite area. There's a load of potential in the area of West End/Brighton/Fairmount/Camp Washington.

Cincinnati is more than large enough to support three teams, particularly if that third sport is basketball in Southern Ohio. In 2010, the media market should change as well. Broadway Commons will remain a good idea, so why not try to attract a team?

This is the nugget that means something. For everyone hopping on Smitherman's back, remember that OTR was abandoned by whites after WWII and the city destroyed The West End/Queensgate, where blacks never wanted to leave. This is nothing more than Cincinnati's racial tension creeping up again. Other things: There should not be a conflict of interest between developers and council members. This is highly unethical and should be considered corruption. The city had an opportunity to support OTR at Broadway Commons and chose the riverfront because they were listening to suburbanites and those who have negative impressions of downtown and its black youth. When is the city going to do something about Avondale? Smitherman isn't as wacky as he's made out to be. The city is upset because he sniffed out some of that same 'ol, same 'ol in Cincinnati. FWIW, I'm pro-rail.