Jeffery

The Dayton...er..Montgomery County...numbers were a big suprise to a lot of folks. While it was assumed that the metro would be growing by some amount, it wasnt expected to see the core county grow.

RTA could go to the Kohls part of Austin Landing, and RTA is already in Miami Twp. I think you wont see it south of the interchange, though (within Springboro city limits).

...yeah, I noticed that "pedaling on air" feeling when i was doing my first ride and playing around w. the shifting. I dont want to go overboard just starting out..true... @@@@ Anyhow, I notice that people using the bike/bus combo here in Dayton are not the hipster/alternative types or even generic commuters, but mostly this hardscrabble set that usually rides RTA. Teens (probably high school kids) and young adults but quite a few "homeless joe" types, too (just a term, they probably really arn;t homeles) ...in short its not middle class white folks who are doing this. I think this is because that public transit is seen as declasse...

Ah, thanks GCrites80!....that explains it! I should say this bike is an experiment. Probably if I like it or get used to it I might buy one of those hipster urban bikes. The fender was something I wanted, but then I thought I wont be riding in wet weather much anyway...at least not at first....so maybe not super-necessary at this time. I am really excited about this bike, though. It opens up some new options in transportation and I also feel Im part of a sort of "community" of bike riders. I also see a lot of folks riding bikes & using the bus, so have a bit of confidence level as one of that group of transit riders...

Its's been over a year since I started this thread, and I am still using tbe bus. For awhile, I was really slacking off on this (more in the fall & winter, due to various personal reasons) but have returned to bus riding & walking.... ...but, guess what.... ...i finally bought a bike, at a pawnshop for $175. I took it home with me on the bus, too!!! Boy was I worried about that, being able to figure out the bike thingy in front. But I did and made the return trip OK. After the bus I took it on one of my walk routes...to the "gray barn" @ Yankee & Spring Valley roads (familar intersection to south suburbanites). This is about 3-4 miles, but I am going to do some runs to get an average speed, to compare with walking. The idea is that I finally got tired of walking for errands around my house and want to take a bike just to speed things up. But I notice that even with all the walking Ive been doing (and Ive been doing some agressive---for me---long distance walks), I am a bit worn-out using the bike, notice I'm using or working different muscles. More of a workout. Something I need to build up to. Also, Im going to experiment with biking/walking in distant parts of the metro area. For example the bus that goes past my house also goes up to Vandalia. I took a test ride this past weekend up there, and saw that I can probably get down to the Taylorsville Reseve and then the bike path from Vandalia, get some hiking in or even ride up to Tipp City and back. So, my carless thing is about to become even more so. Oh, yeah, more about that bike... I should also say I didn't get one of those hot new "urban" bikes that the hipsters ride (the ones with fenders, etc), but a plain old black Schwinn Sierra GS mountain bike, but with a red flasher in back, white reflector in front and a little cargo shelf in back which I need to do a fix on. Just got a chain & lock, too, so I can use it to go places. Noticed at Wal-Mart I can get some basket accessories if I need to, horns, bells, and front headlights. Lots of possibilities here. To be honest I don't really know how to ride it. It has these handlebar speed shifts...on on the left and the other on the right. Not sure how this is supposed to work (even after reading the online stuff). Guess Ill figure it out. This weekend I'm thinking of taking it into the city (via bus) to ride around...to 2nd Street Market, Press coffee shop, Smales to get some pretzels, etc....

The better parallel is with Dayton where they really are trying to tear down a lot of the city and the local city-wide preservation group is on its last legs (Ive been told). That is the place that is going down the tubes when it comes to demolitions and abandoment and loss of urban fabric. I think whats going on in the Gateway Quarter part of OTR is pretty much selective demo and some pretty good infill, too. Outer parts of OTR are still under threat, IMO....places like Brighton Corner, Mohawk, areas west of Central Pkwy, areas N of Liberty, areas along McMicken, areas in vicinity of Findlay Market. Ive seen stuff come down in these area in the short time Ive been walking OTR. No not out of the woods and the survival of the urban fabric in these areas is of concern..yes.. ....but I think enough is left in the Gateway Quarter for infill to still really be infill. That will be a save. Maybe Pendleton, too (since that place is remarkbly dense still!).

BTW, very correct about Findlay Market as being a destination, but suprised that its a tourist thing. I always thought it was more locals using it. Good call on OTR as heritage tourism. I mentioned upthread there is a new guidebook out on OTRs German heritage. This would be an example of a sourcebook if one wanted to feature OTR as a place related to German-American heritage.

I think I've posted a bit here on how the "OTR-esque" neighborhoods surrounding whats left of downtown Louisville where wiped out by urban renewal. In fact the "frame areas" closer in (places equivilant to Court Street or Main Street south of Central Pkwy) have also been wiped out. Downtown Louisville...which wasn't too dense to start with.... is surrounded by block after block of urban renewal wasteland of parking lots, housing projects, suburbanesque offices, and bland insitutitional uses. Its as if you surrounded dwtwn Cincy with a "Queesngate", and took it in as far as Walnut and Garfield Place.

Excellent~! Thank you all so much!

Ive discovered Cincy is excellent for long distance walks and mixing city walking with hiking. I have a route or itinerary planned out for this @ Northside, working a Mnt Airy hike with a city walk from & to Sidewinder Coffee/Hamilton Avenue. I'd like to do the same thing with the Columbia area. Ive already done some neat walks/hikes here...working in a woods hike in Alms Park with a city walk down the hill thru Tusculum to Columbia and down to the river at that new high school Plan is to walk all along the river to "Fulton" (St Rose of Lima church..the one with the clock) and back again. Question: are there any coffee houses or coffee shops in the Columbia area, or would I have to walk up Delta to the Mnt Lookout business district? If there arnt any in Columbia i have to walk up Delta to Mnt Lookout could you give me a recommendation for a place to get a latte in Mnt Lookout (that would be open on Sunday)? Thanks You! (and I love exploring your city on foot!)

^ ...they are moving to Austin Road, so soon to be out of Washington Twp.

From February. Dont know if this has been posted or not, but the leading indicators point to a growing economy: LEI Increases Again Released: Friday, February 17, 2012 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.4 percent in January to 94.9 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5 percent increase in December and a 0.3 percent increase in November. Said Ataman Ozyildirim, economist at The Conference Board: “This fourth consecutive gain in the LEI reflected fairly widespread strength among its components, pointing to somewhat more positive economic conditions in early 2012. The LEI’s increase in January was led not only by improving financial and credit indicators, but also rising average workweek in manufacturing. These both offset consumers’ outlook about the economy, which remained pessimistic, though slightly less so. Meanwhile, the CEI rose again in January as employment, income, and sales data all point to improving current economic conditions despite a lack of contribution from industrial production.”

Lets Talk Streetcar.... .....in another post I mentioned my recent visit to Bockfest with my folks and that we spend a lot of time walking up and down OTR (Vine and Main, mostly, but also on Race). I'd occasionally see the streetcar stop signs and told my folks that when this is open we'd be able to hop on and quickly get downtown (or Findlay Market) without all the walking. Which brings up a question on fares. Is there a plan to make paying easy. Like maybe a swipecard system for ATM or credit cards if you dont have exact fare?

So best wishes to Marcy Kaptur. Hope she defeats whoever the rat-bastard GOP puts up against her.

I was a Kucnich fan ever since I saw him on Tom Snyder back in the 1970s...probably before some of you were born, and well before I ever thought Id end up in Ohio. Liked him them and like him now. But Im cool with Marcy Kaptur, too. She's just as liberal as Dennis, but without the "hot" personality. So a win either way. It will be interesting to follow Kucincih after this. He might end up like Fred Harris (former left-populist politico from Oklahoma of all places) and get a teaching gig.

I think I was at L'Auberge maybe three times in the 20 + years I lived here. For french, C'est Tout is still in business. Rue Dumain is getting some very good press. It was named as one of Cincinnati's better places in a recent Cincinnati Magazine issue on the local dining scene.

Ive been to the Springboro location. If this is the same one. They are a bit too heavy for me, but I can see it appealing to some. Springboro village has lost a bit of retail. I still have fond memories of going there for xmas. There was a place that specialized in xmas stuff in an old house. They had hot spiced cider, too. oy vey. @@@@ I am going to have to go to Jimmys. Its great to see a save like this for once, in Dayton. Maybe on 1st Friday, since thats my "day out in the city" now that I dont come into town much. A buddy who keeps up with this stuff tells me they are going to start having live music when the patio is open.

..this was the comment during the Clinton years, that job creation was at the lower end of the wage spectrum, that "jobs are plentiful but you needed two to survive". Thats what this recovery will look like. Probably locking into a higher rate of structural unemployment and then weak job creation at lower-paying jobs.

I figure things will be in stasis until after the election...then its back to economic brinksmanship btw Obama and the GOP Congress.

That part of Columbus is one of the reasons the place reminds me of a western city. Its like the outer areas of Sacramento, that are on a grid but most likely were platted during the early 1900s, just in time for "Model T suburbia", or are failed or underdeveloped interurban RR- driven plats..spec development driven by new transportation lines. So you get this a collection of little street grids with open space and low density industrial between them. Basically an underdeveloped area that was more or less lower end of the working class. In Sacramento these areas became latino barrios or outlying black areas. Re the discussion of retail.....I wonder if there ever was much corner or busy-street retail in this area? Maybe just enough to serve the residential areas but these possibly closed with the advent of supermarket shopping and early strip-centers, say in the 1940s or 1950s.

OTR is just fascinating for me. I wasnt around for the Main Street heyday, but what is their now is interesting in its own right. A mix of stuff. I tend to go to Iris Bookcafe a lot on Main (found out via tip from Sherman...thanks, Sherman....), and get notecards at Park + Vine. A place on Main thats really neat is the T-shirt printing place that puts pix on T-shirts. I had them make a cool Dayton t-shirt for me from one of my pix.

Spent a lot of time in OTR for Bockfest. In fact took my folks to see it. Stayed at Garfield Suites. Followed the parade up to Bockfest Hall (that old brewrey) and then walked back to hotel. Later at night, took the shuttle bus to Graemmers, for old times sake since the last time we were there was in the fall of 1977 (one of my first ever visits to Cincy). Place has changed. Was expecting it to be more restaurant-ish. But after a few beers and the band playing all was well. The next day we walked OTR some more. A walk up to Findlay Market (Krauses) to get some wursts and stuff for my Ma, plus a little bit of other shopping. Then we took that church tour...saw two old Lutheran churches, a Methodist church, and the amazing St Francis Seraph....did you know it has an inner courtyard and was built on the site of the first cemetary and catholic church in Cincy...and some of the cemetary remains were reinterrred as a crypt, with the flooring made up of the old tombstones?! Wow....the place just oozes history. Great interior too. After the church tour we took a short drive thourght the Liberty Hill area, which I had walked a few weeks ago. This would have been too much on foot for my elderly parents. But this is a neat sub-neighborhood of OTR, I guess. A bar in Liberty Hill was on the Bocfest shuttle route, though. Sunday was the Continental Sunday which we spent at Bockfest Hall. We did some other Cincy stuff (Freedom Center, Museum Center, Fountain Square/Maceys, Rookwood Commons, dinner at Lenhardts), but the bulk of the trip was in the basin...a we did a lot of walking/riding up and back from Garfield Place and OTR. Big miss was Washington Platform, which is mentioned in Tolzmanns' new tour guide to German OTR as a nearby site w. German connections. This trip was more about German Cincy, since my ma is German and retains her German cultural identity (though a US citizen) Dad was really impressed with what was going on. Ma was a bit saddended about the small congregations of those churches we saw (parlty because she, too, belongs to a small donwtown Lutheran congregation in Louisville). They both are in love with Findlay Market, though, just as I am.

So whats the concept for that Tin Roof place that I saw the sign for?

I may be visiting Toledo in March (rendezvous with my folks) and plan on staying downtown. I want to do some local Toledo-esque things and prefer to patronize locally owned places or places that are part of the local scene and local urban culture.... 1. I'm very interested in live music for night time fun, so am wondering if there are any live music venues downtown and in nearby neighborhoods. I tend to like singer-songwriter performers...more of the folk or folk-rock side, and alternative/indy rock, and bluegrass? I think the Vistula area was mentioned for this...any particular places: 2. I'm interested in any local coffehouses or coffee shops that are either downtown or in the city, for some latte or cappucino? 3. A good place to get postcards &/or notecards? 4. A good, old-time downtown bar or tavern that is patronized by the locals? 5. Polish stuff. I know LaGrange Avenue used to be the "Polish Corridor", and am wondering if there are any good food places..groceries, bakeries or restaurants...in that area or elsewhere in Toledo...I did go to one on Lagrange but was wondering about others... 7. Other ethnic foods. I think there was a Hungarian area in town at one time, so would like some recommendations on neighborhoods, restaurants, and groceries or bakeries, same as the Poes. Not just Tony Packos..other places... 5. Finally, German Stuff!!! The reason I am going! I am going to an event (maybe) with my folks at the German music society, possibly at Oak Shade Grove (?) in Oregon (??) but was wondering if there are any other German places, as in a good German restaurant or deli. A related question, and this is just a historical one, is where the old German neighborhood was located? Esp. if there are any old Catholic or Protestant churches associated with this historic German community. I want to do a bit of hertiage tourism and take my folks on a windshield tour of what was the old German neighborhood...assuming there was one like there was in Cols, Dayton, and Cincy.

ALEC is becoming a focus of Occupy. Occupy Dayton is going to have a protest on this on 29 Feb.