Jeffery

Bamberg and the various palaces. They where all for the prince-bishop. In Germany right up to the French Revolution there were territorial states ruled by bishops, monastaries, and convents. So the territorial lord my also have been the local prelate. So you can imagine the extra taxes and church collections forced on the peasants so the prince-bishop could build things like the Resizdenz and a lustschloss like Seehof.

Wow,yeah. This place is pretty amazing. That beer is available here in Ohio, BTW. I know of two places you can get it in Dayton. Bacon in a bottle. Bamberg does have a darker side in history as it was a center for wich trials and executions back in the bad old days. And I think there is a story from either Bamberg or elsewhere in Franconia where a craftsman or carver made this great altarpiece and the bishop had the carvers hand or hands cut off so he could never duplicate such a great work of carving for anyone else.

Here are some Over The Rhine Notes from Saturday. Walk One: Vine Street A second walk in OTR. This time I walked up Vine past the Kroger, then turned east on 15th then worked my way south on and along Walnut. I noticed that Miami University has some sort of storefront studio on Vine. Not sure what that is about. Things are pretty rough north of 14th,, which seems to be the limit of the Gateway Quarter action. The Kroger seems to have had a facelift, though. Historic marker in front notes that OTR was the birthplace of the Kroger chain. There are a lot of black people on the street, a little intimidating. I walk by quickly. Fairly active streetlife here, probably because of the Kroger. One of the things that is noticeable about OTR is the streetcorner society, knots of people hanging out, pedestrian traffic, etc. I wonder how the 3CDC work on this block is going to change the scene here. It seems there is a weird yuppie/hipster/ghetto thing going on in this neighborhood. I wonder if the idea is to totally clear out the blacks or to have a mix of poor and hipster/yupscale in the neighborhood. I turn east on 15th. At 15th and Walnut I notice this old briar woman bringing in her laundry. Thought that was odd as I thought the Appalachians are long gone from OTR. Instead I notice by a sign that this is a Catholic Worker House of Hospitality. I knew CW was in Cincy just didn’t know where. Apparently she was a resident. One thing I observe is that the cross streets seem more intimate for some reason. Maybe narrower or the houses are at smaller scale. Across the street is Graemmers (sp). It barely looks occupied and the vacant lot to the side has what looks like some sort of patio. The back/side of the place looked like it was almost in ruins. I seem to recall this place had re-opened, but it must be for very limited hours. Walking south on Walnut I notice Mercer Street and turn down it. This street is blocked off on the Vine side by construction, but the tenements closer to Walnut seem to be all condemned or vacated. They all have official notices on them. One thing ihat is noticeable is that the urban fabric of tenements and houses has eroded away. There seems to be midblock empty space in this part of OTR, and things like attempts at community gardens or vest pocket parks. I then follow the narrow cobblestone alley between Mercer and 13th. The alleys of OTR are maybe threatened? I noticed some of them going to seed, overgrown or obscured in various ways. The buildings on the northwest corner of Walnut and 13th seem to be “Catfish Row”. Knots of people hanging out in front. I was by here last time and noticed people looking down out of the windows. There seemed to be a bit of energy around this corner. I continue south to ren dez vouz with my partner at the coffeeshop in the Emery. Speaking of the Emery Theatre, is it closed? If so, why? Walk Two: Main Street. I leave my partner and the car on Main near some theater. This would be near 12th and Main, and walk north looking for that coffeeshop Sherman mentioned. Main seems dead. This is around noon, maybe a bit after. There is a knot of people in front of a store on the e. side of Main and my partner turns back..bad vibes for him. I continue on. Not much on this street. Not even as much streetlife as on Vine. Occasional people walking around. Cross Main and then dip back to Clay, via either Melindy Street or 14th. Again I note the somewhat pleasant character of the side streets. Some buildings even have flower boxes. Walking down Clay I note the backs of the Main Street buildings, the sort of tenement court feeling. Heading back to Main, heading south, I am taken by how intact this street is. A fairly solid streetwall looking south. No gaps due to parking lots, demolitions, etc. I find the coffeeshop, Iris Coffeeshop. I seem to recall this was an art gallery at one time in the past. Now its filled with books, for sale, cheap. I liked the backrooms with the little side garden. Very pleasant. Continue to ren-dez-vous with my partner. He tells me that when he was standing outside the car having a smoke some guy asked him if he wanted to buy some crack, and then asked him why he was standing around after he said he didn’t. We sort of had a laugh about that, singing that “drug dealing song” from “Rent” on our way to Findlay Market. Maybe this neighborhood is a bit like the fictionalized Alphabet City in Rent: “Hey Artist, got a dollar?!”. Don't know if there are many artists or creative types living here. Gateway Quarter stuff would be too expensive for bohemians. Next walk: exploring OTR west of Vine. I am going to take a note pad with next time to jot down impressions rather than try to remember them.

On the way back from Cincy yesterday I made a point of exiting at the new interchange and made a loop around the area. I can see how they have Cox Road extended a bit and stubbed out to the north of the interchange. I can see how this could extend north, but that will probably be quite a while due to the land aquisition. "Liberty Way" is pretty impressive now, a big highway. Lots of development to the west of I-75 along Cin-Day Road, too. I guess, for the Warren County side, the northern sprawl frontier is now at Bethany and Princton Roads. Extending Cox would open up more of the land (in the vicinity of that megachruch visible from I-75).

A map of cancelled sales in Mongtgomery County since 2006 (and note Huber Heights, which appeared in another thread). Not sure if this violates fare use, but leave it to the mods.

The Dayton Daily News series continues with this excellent in-depth three-page article: Oweners of Abandonded Properties Hard to Track Down ..the article is set of case studies, but also reports on a legislative solution being proposed in Columbus: >snip< ...State Rep. Dennis Murray, D-Sandusky, has some ideas. He’s preparing a bill that would give lenders a set amount of time — say, 60 days — after filing a foreclosure on an abandoned property to do something with it or be stripped of their legal interest in it. Other provisions of the bill give judges more leeway in dealing with foreclosure cases. Murray, a practicing attorney and a former Sandusky city commissioner, said his experience in city government helped him see the problem. “You’d have weeds and abandoned cars or whatever at a property, and you couldn’t get anyone to take action,” he said. He said he’s optimistic he can get the bill passed. “It’s clearly needed,” he said. “You don’t have to go through but a single urban community these days — and, frankly most older suburban communities — to see there’s a real problem with these walkaways.” >snip<

A new wrinkle in the foreclosure crisis. Lenders are abandoning properties. The Dayton Daily News has an extensive set of articles explaining this latest evolution in the housing crisis: A New Crisis, Lenders Abandon Properties Owner, neighbors, city left to deal with a home that no one has any incentive to improve. By Ken McCall, Staff Writer Updated 11:43 PM Saturday, October 17, 2009 DAYTON — As if the mortgage foreclosure crisis wasn’t bad enough, sometime last year a new phenomenon began to emerge: Experts say mortgage lenders and banks began walking away from foreclosed properties, especially in urban areas. The so-called “walkaways” can occur along several different paths, but the effect is the same — after threatening or getting foreclosure, the lender attempts to abandon the usually vacant property, leaving the original owner, the neighbors and the city to live with the damage. >snip< Then there is this very important article that provides the details on how this works and is also a caution that lower foreclosure numbers might not mean an improving abanodment/vacancy situation. In fact it might be a sign of icnreaseing "walkaways". This reminds me on how the declining unemployment numbers are misleading: Drop in foreclosures called "very scary" Lenders actions show they thing properties are not worth pursuing John Carter, housing inspector with the city of Dayton, finds the decline in foreclosures “very scary,” because houses are continuing to go vacant. For every 100 houses that he orders boarded up, he said, 40 to 50 properties have a mortgage but no foreclosure filed. When he contacts the banks, they sometimes tell him they have no plans to foreclose. “That makes it look like the foreclosure numbers are going down, but in actuality the banks are not even starting foreclosure,” Carter said. “So there’s no number to track now. The political response. Dayton is having a city commission/mayors election and the candidates weigh in on the issue: Dayton candidates discuss housing crisis plans By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 1:13 AM Sunday, October 18, 2009 DAYTON — Simply stated, Dayton has more houses than residents to fill them. Despite an ongoing demolition program that razed nearly 2,000 structures during nine years, the number of vacant buildings grows. The Dayton City Commission must figure out how to fill the city’s nearly 13,000 vacant structures or right-size its building stock. >snip< ...the article goes on to disucss the candidates positions and plans on the issue.

I was coming around to the Casino idea until this excellent Dayton Daily News editorial explaning what a bad deal this is for Ohio vis a vis neighboring states. Also interesting to see how corrupt the FOP is. Issue 3 is a stacked deck: Casinos set own taxes Here is the important thing to keep straight when you vote Nov. 3: Even if you would like to gamble in the state, Issue 3 is a bad deal. It is a constitutional amendment that would allow one casino in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The proposal was written by and for the very developers who would own the casinos, down to the details of what tax rates they’d pay. Wouldn’t you love to decide your own taxes? >snip< ...today DDN editorial writer Ellen Belcher follows up with this piece: Casino Backers Way Worse Than Your Kids For the fifth time in two decades, you’re being asked to allow casino gambling. Four times you have said no. But “the kid” — the gambling industry — will just not give it up. “He” keeps asking, begging, bribing, whining until you swear you’re going to slap him to sleep. “Everybody’s doing it,” goes the argument, “Please, please, please.” Gag me. Been there, heard that stuff for longer than I want to remember. >snip< ...Belcher pretty much reiterates the previous op-ed, and makes a good point that this will be a monopoly enshrined in a consitutional amendment.

I was at Findlay Market today and saw some No on Nine signs up, one at a vendor in the market house. Findlays "Market News" newsletter was being handed out and it seems like they are very pro-streetcar.

I think we all associate that big “second immigration” from eastern and southern Europe with the Great Lakes cities and Pennsylvania. For Ohio it would be places like Youngstown, Lorain, Cleveland, Toledo, maybe others. As I’ve been learned this immigrant stream dipped south to take in Columbus and Dayton. And I recently discovered Middletown also had this immigration, based on the online Sanborn maps. I suspect that, like Dayton, there wasn’t than many, and these ethnic communities have long been assimilated. Near were Yankee Road meets Verity Parkway (but at that time the canal), was the Slavonic Hall. So apparently there were Slavs here at one time (don’t know were Slavonics are from…Slovakia or Slovenia?). Interesting to look at the neighborhood context. A “soft drink” store just down the block on the corner, maybe a former tavern (the map is 1921, just after Prohibition). Then a row of stores (including a confectionary) just south. Next, on Young Street somewhere on the south side of Middletown (near the B&O railroad, which is the diagonal cutting across the map), is the Middletown Hungarian Church. Or at least it was in 1924. Finally, the Greeks. The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Constantine in central Middletown, on 1st Avenue, about a two blocks south of Central Avenue. I don’t know the social history of Middletown. I figure the steel mill brought the ethnics since Hungarians at least were millworkers in PA. Just thought it was interesting to see these institutions on the old maps…gee-whiz stuff pointing to a lost or obscure history. A history one wouldn't suspect based on casual knowlege of modern Middletown.

Cleveland had a better reputation a few years ago, when the Rock Hall opened and the Flats was going strong. Back then it was the comeback city. Pittsburgh being on the radar is a new thing, and maybe a lot of it is because the city doesn’t look as wasted as one would expect, given the history of de-industrialization.

Singapore is the model the Chinese aspire to. It could be the model for the future of capitalism.

Union Center is a direct model for Austin Road, though that interchange was being considered before Union Center was built. The Austin Road advocates have pretty much dropped their "traffic relief/redevelop the Mound site" rationale and tout this a mostly a "economic development ploy" (ie sprawl). Of the communities on along I-75 in "Daytonatti" Franklin isn't mentioned much but they have been quite sucessfull in land development and actually getting things built. The two Franklin interechanges have a lot of development underway.

This would be Oxford State Road. There've been proposals for this since the 1950s. I think Manchester Road is off the plans for now.

UD used to be somewhat insular, but they have really engaged with the city over the past 15 years or so. What they did with the "student ghetto" was really innovative. They participated in the Fairgrounds neighborhood revival and in the new stuff on Brown. And this other stuff sounds even better! Really innovative. I can see the NCR site as a good "research park" type environment.

For Dayton there are really only two: Dayton Most Metro (both the blogs at the front page and the forum) Esrati (more political but also deals with urban affairs) ...the blogrolls on both of these will link to similar but less active sites.

Oh, they are going to conitnue with the demolitions on a piecmeal basis, but the city has been pretty ineffective in doing these big package-deal projects (as in the Wayne & Wyoming fiasco)

The Dayton Daily News discovers new freeway intechanges lead to urban sprawl. quelle suprise. Austin project could push growth beyond interchange The impact of the Austin Pike I-75 interchange is expected go far beyond the land abutting the exit ramps, flowing three miles west to Miamisburg’s Mound business and tech park, and three miles east to Washington Twp. >snip< Well, guess what, this is going to influence development as far east as OH 48. And that was the intention all along since all that land along Social Row was in speculation before the interchange was announced.

The north side used to be more generic Chicago than it is today. And another thing that complicates the Chicago scene is the emergence of a huge latino community. Chicago could be renamed Chicano (though the first big wave of latinos were Puerto Ricans).

It's interesting reading these observations of Chicago from fairly young non-natives (except for Rob) since I am a native and remember the city as early as the 1960s (my father and grandfather have, or had, a collective memory of the place back to WWI era).

Whats going on is big city journalism with mulitple newspapers. The Tribune was the voice of midwestern conservatism, the businessmans paper. The Sun-Times was specfically set up (merger of two papers) by Marshall Field III as liberal competetior to the Tribune. Field was a wealthy heir to a departement store and real estate fortune but also a progressive. Field also set up the Chicago Daily News as an afternoon paper (the Dailys News' Sunday paper was on Saturday) maybe to compete with Hearsts' "Chicago American" . The Sun-Times was also the first paper in Chicago to go to the tabloid format (they had great TV advertising on this, too), and the American followed suit, transforming itself into the short lived "Chicago Today". I think the Sun-Times moved to the right when it was sold to Murdoch, but apparently it has moved to the left again. The Tribune isn't as right wing as it used to be, too. But people used to buy both Sunday papers..."Trib n' Times". Back in the day they had fabuloso Sunday editions. Packed with stuff.

We'll find out when the project is sent to a developer. An interesting sidebar is that one of the major campaign contributors in this seasons political race (to the incumbent mayor and city commissioner) is a demoltion contractor in Columbus. Both the mayor and councilmember are advocates of demolition. The way it works in Dayton is that people only give a sh!t if its in their little historic district or their little neighborhood. There is minimal appreciation of the urban fabric as whole. The power structure...and even neighborhood activists...are really quite ignorant, I've come to believe, when it comes to a more sophisticated appreciation of urbanism, vernacular architecture and the urban fabric. Sure I can understand there would be a need to do replacement housing. But replacing it with a suburban concept to compete with suburbia. by becoming like suburbia...well, that's smart on one level and stupid on another. I've pretty much given up on Dayton and dumb sh!t like this is one reason. I really appreciate Urban Ohio is around because at least at this board there are enough people that "get it".

I knew about the Terrace Plaza years before I moved to Ohio. It was published in an architectural monograph or collection on early modern architecture, in 1955 or so. Not sure if it was only hotels or if it had other building types. The book was published in Switerland or Germany, and was bilingual so I could read some of the text. The Terrace Plaza had a nice spread, with beautiful glossy Ezra Stoller-style B&W photos. For all I know they could very well have been by Stoller. The exterior was featured , as was the interior, inculding the Miro in the Gourmet Room. From what I recall I think the text emphasised the mixed use aspect of the building, and said there was a department store in that lower blocky part. Another thing I noted was the early date. Mid-late 1940s. Which means this was one of the very first large truely modern buildings in the US. The 1946 date mentioned upthread would have made it contemporary with Mies Van Der Rohe's Chicago apatment buildings, perhaps a bit earlier. It would predated the Lever House. It might have been SOMs first modern skyscraper. I can see a good case for landmarking this tower.

The Mill Creek valley is a quintessential Rustbelt landscape. And I love it. I personally don't have a problem with the term. In fact I find it quite evocative and almost poetic in a melancholy sort of way. It's a that low evening winter sun catching on the side of an old factory. Or a bright morning and blue sky over a row of old wood houses and a corner store at the end of the block. Or it could be the broken overcast of winter of some urban/industrial landscape. I guess this is really just an aesthetic appreciation vs the economic hardship that's behind these scenes. I aknowlege that , too. Yet do people willingly leave these places? I think, or like to believe, that they don't.

^ The intention is a clean slate so I figure there might be one or two streets that will be kept. Esrati is focused on his commissioner campaign so I'd be suprised to see any comments from him on this particular plan. I posted some comments on this over at Dayton Most Metro: Housing Thread