Michael L. Redmond

Wow, I didn't expect this much response so fast! Thank you I am going to print these pages Friday morning and give to Brian Tiffany at the Chamber, we have a meeting to discuss moving OTR forward so hopefully some of this will be more than just dreams. So keep the ideas flowing. Don and David, Don, keep it coming, that is great! Dave, you raise a good point that we do have some serious issues on implementation including gentrification, and also the new vs historical and how do we get our hands on the necessary parcels to do some of this. Why don't we structure the conversation like this. Lets go by the 8 neighborhood layout (in my mind I was using sectors but the neighborhood way I think is better) and after we lay out all of the ideas, sort through them all, then we can begin applying real world problems and issues to them.

I think you are deffinetly on to something David, but in our estimation, the reason that Newport has failed was the demographic target of the stores. But you may be right, we are continuing to study this mix on Main. As to the connection, hopefully we can work something out even in the short term with Uptown, Findlay, DCI, and OTR Chamber. We should cater to the UC students more, they are our target demographic, they should be marketed to. Let me ask you, short term solution to connect uptown and downtown, what do you see?

David, I couldn't agree more. We can not have the same stores in OTR that Kenwood has, we will lose everytime. But if we have destination stores, well then coming to OTR would be an event. And the comment about chili... correct me if I am forgetting something, but why in this world can't I get Cincinnati chili in OTR? This should be the first business we go after in my opinion. I am the chairman of the events committee of Mt. Auburn, and we just had a meeting discussing 5 or 6 ideas for events to reach out to outside the community to draw new people in, and a music concert is one of the ideas that I recieved the biggest response from, especially from Stanley B. I agree that we do need more of this, you point to New York, I point to New Orleans, any street you walk down you cant escape the sounds of local music, why should we not be the same. Well we have a brewery district and it is picking up steam, well except for the fact we don't have any beer sold there now. What about an independent small brewer, we could probably give someone space to brew in one of the old buildings and have our own beer. And with Findlay, do you mean seperate it into sections? almost like Jungle Jims does?

How about some specifics, for instance Main St. We have a plan in place for increased retail vs. entertainment (although their would be a mix). Our idea would be to bring in stores that are uniquely Cincinnati. I have heard the same for Findlay. As to the trasportation, I have heard trolley, rail or wheel. And on that note we are even kicking around the idea of a joint trolley tour of homes and unique business for Mt. Auburn and OTR (I haven't asked OTR yet, but I am bringing this up Fri.)

I have been thinking about starting this topic discussion for a while now. Every week I sit in multiple meetings with various organizations in and around OTR and Mt. Auburn, most times we simply brainstorm items including possible development, event and marketing ideas and security solutions. Many great ideas come out of these brainstorming sessions, some are implemented, others are shelved. With the number of minds who visit UrbanOhio.com everyday, I was interested in an open brain storming session here. OTR right now is what it is, but what would you like it to be. From Central to Mulberry and lets just say from 71 to 75, what ideas do you have. What does Main St. look like in the future, what about Vine? I am looking for ideas about crime elimination, developments both residential and commercial, marketing-whatever idea you have to make OTR what it should be, not just what it is. No rules, no parameters, just What Ifs.

Does this mean I have precedence for going after the City for dumping concrete onto a private lot on Mulberry after redoing the sidewalks?

looks great, you can do my site anytime. (and I mean that, what time are you available?)

This was great news today, it has been a bad week for Citylink.

ah, tu-shea. :wink:

Not so Monte :whip: Wasn't it the conservative bloggers who brought down Rather? Ok, I take that back, Rather brought down Rather... or was it Mapes, but I digress.

Quim, I am not willing to say that because you have no where else to smoke your crack (and I don't mean you) that there is some legitimate reason to do it on the streets and alley ways of OTR. I would be more apt to support your theory if the drugs were purchased in OTR and then consumed in the driveways and basements of the suburbs but that just ain't happenin. My point above is that perhaps you are right or perhaps you are wrong about drug legalization, druglaws just aren't going away anytime soon, so we are faced with what do we do today. I am not arguing with you on the merits of drug legalization, but can you tell me why a KY or IND resident would choose to come here to buy drugs instead of there own community? Why do they smoke crack on Mulberry St or any other street in OTR when they could do it in Covington or Newport? I have a theory, and that theory is that we vs these other places have the most lenient drug laws therefore creating a vacuum and drawing these people in. Why is it that when I drive down Vine I see open air drug dealing with individuals and groups who have no fear of any punishment whatsoever? But even still, if you do happen to reverse the Federal Gov. entire policy of a war on drugs, don't you think that there will still be this black market because someone can deliver the product to the consumer "tax free" and cheaper? But once again, I do not know what the answer ultimately is, all I am intrested in is stopping it today and imposing at least as stiff a penalty as surrounding communities I believe is a good start.

Boone county http://www.pvdnetwork.com/PVDNet.asp?SiteID=114

Moonloop, I am not sure which county that you live in so here are all the links, http://www.cabr.org/auditor2.htm

Quim, I could care less about what you put in your body, but when it is ingested at my front door I do have a problem with that. Alcohol is legal, but you still can't sit in your car in front of my house and kick back shots of bourbon. If you think that taxing it will stop people from smoking a crack rock in the car while my wife is walking by, then so be it. But until the entire government decides to change there policy on drugs and capitulate to the criminals, well we have to work within the confines of the justice dept and not the IRS. It seems that the inconvenience of jail time is enough of a deterrence to drive out of there community and into mine, so why would it not work here? If the legal system is only an inconvenience, then why even bother coming to OTR?

well they are working on that to but why is it that we see so many Ky cars in the neighborhoods of OTR and the west End? Why do they not just buy in Ky? Why do people travel here from Ind to buy pot, can't they get it there? It is because relative to the laws in there communities, Cincinnati is by far the most lenient. Deterrence I believe is the biggest factor, hopefully we do not have to lock one person up, hopefully they aren't willing to risk it in the first place.

edale, going after the marijuana buyers and sellers is a beginning, not the overall solution. When Kentucky buyers come to our neighborhoods to purchase drugs and/or prostitution, we are the one's who suffer. I am happy to see them tightening up on drugs buyers, impounding cars of those caught with prostitutes, but once again, this is only part of the solution, not the whole answer. The largest part of the answer lies in the people, but we need these simple, basic laws behind us and behind our police.

Larry Rhodes who we were talking about earlier in the thread also has a civil suit against him and recievership is what is probably going to happen on 2 of his buildings. One must live within 500 ft of the property and have the funds to bring the building into compliance. This is just one more tool to use. I do have some forms that can be presented to the judge by the community for these problem propeties, community impact form, and this can be used by residents who are unable to attend the court hearings. If anyone wants copies of these forms just email me and I will get them faxed out.

The first photo would be a violation for the MLS in Cinci as we can have no signage, including our own shown in a photo. New and stupid rule they just handed down a few months ago.

Not according to the project summary.

Quim, Council only gave its "non-binding opinion" yesterday, zoning will be the final say This is from the below article. This is a good article reflecting back on the past 2 days of meetings, http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/NEWS01/602090370/-1/CINCI CityLink cheered at forum But few of those in favor were West End residents BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER WEST END - CityLink played to the home crowd Wednesday night - make that a home-away-from-home crowd. More than 400 people showed up for a two-hour forum to ask questions of CityLink board members and supporters of the controversial project that aims to build a $10 million to $15 million mall for social services on 5 acres along Bank Street, in what is now an abandoned slaughterhouse.

I can vouch for that, I spoke against it (did I mention I am not a great speaker, just found that out today) and oddly enough, not a single Citilink person was there. Nate Livingston preached about grandstanding for 2 minutes while he himself was grandstanding, and there were two other usual suspects who spoke in support but no one from the organization itself. The place was packed also, although not a lot of room to begin with, it was standing room only at certain points. Thomas said he was voting against it because he thought the process should be allowed to play out meaning the zoning hearing and the appeals etc. All in all it was a good day for the anti Citilink crowd.

The honorable gentleman from Cincinnati does! CinciRise, good pic with 8.5 but how can anyone forget about this.... Indian Hill property has 27,000 square feet, listed at $11.9M By Matt Leingang Enquirer staff writer Real estate agents had said it would take someone with extravagant taste to buy this house. Enter prominent class-action lawyer Stan Chesley. Chesley has purchased what is believed to be the most expensive single-family home listed in Greater Cincinnati, possibly ever. The elegant French chateau at 9005 Camargo Road in Indian Hill, which has six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, custom chandeliers and a wine cellar, carried an asking price of $11.9 million when it first went on the market last October. That's the biggest price ever listed on the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati, which has been around for about 60 years. Chesley, whose most recent high-profile case is the taxpayer antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League and the Cincinnati Bengals, declined to comment Sunday. But records at the Hamilton County Auditor's Office now list him as the owner. The county assessed the property at $8.97 million. It carries an annual property tax bill of more than $33,000.. The name of the previous owner is unknown. The house was being sold by a trust, which hid the owner's identity. According to county records, the house was built in 1999 by Allen L. Davis, a former Provident Financial Group Inc. executive. The home includes two four-car garages with apartments on top and 27,000 square feet of living space. It sits on 5.3 acres nestled into 300 acres of private green space. There's also a game room, exercise room, a theater/media room, separate two-bedroom carriage house for live-in parents or hired help and an outdoor kitchen for entertaining friends and family. The indoor kitchen has hidden appliances. Chesley is married to Susan Dlott, who was appointed a U.S. District Court judge by President Clinton in 1995 And on the low end, I am still sticking with my -7000 on Peete St. Please remember, anyone can list a property for whatever they want (and it is not always based on market realities), solds are the name of the game in Real Estate.

Queensgate is the location you hear batted around most. I would say a location that is not near 3 schools, something more of an industrial area, not just building (they are looking at an industrial site already but within a residential area). Space is not an issue as we have a tremendous amount of inventory that fits these specs. And it should not be right next to an area that is trying so hard to turn itself around. We have so many sites that meet the specs that Citilink prefers, and still in close proximity to downtown but without the negative impact on the community that the Bank st location would have. Also, if anyone would like to go...I will try and make this myself, it should be interesting; Please join us in City council chambers tomorrow to encourage Council to move forward with a vote against CityLink. We need council to suspend the rules to allow for an immediate resolution. You can help by attending this meeting and by agreeing to speak. In addition you can send emails to council. Cecil Thomas is planning to abstain as he goes to one of the churches. I think we should let him be.

Well the MLS is down right now but I do know of a building on Peete st. that sold several years ago for -7000, thats right, they were paid to take it. Beat that! Funny, after posting that figure I don't feel so good about my neighborhood anymore.

We generally estimate at 100 per sq ft but could go as high as 120 (depending on how you finish it) which makes 18 very tough unless you busted it into condos which you would almost have to do and fortunately not much demo is left to do either. 140 on the other hand is not in that bad of shape. Whereas with 18 it is just a shell, 140 was lived in until about 6 months ago. Now the other great thing about both properties is that there are lots attached to both. 140 Must be owner occupied but 18 is a regular sale. One thing you can not tell in the pics is the back side of 18 keeps going back. There are actually 2 entrances to the house (frontside and backside) and you can not access one from the other except through the bacement. here is the MLS link for 18 with enterior pics and you can see the size of this thing. http://cincy.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Cincynky&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=mGfSSlDBb01wdov%2FkctnFA%3D%3D