Michael L. Redmond

another tool to use in the letter is crime stats in front of the particular address. If you follow this link http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/pages/-5200-/ and download the excel file, turn on a filter and you can look at individual addresses.

If you identify any vacant properties that are not secured (lower level boreded up) please post.

if you want to include something about the actual code violations here is a link http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/city/downloads/city_pdf10485.pdf

Question for everyone about OTR safety, I have been asked to write a safe and clean grant for Mulberry/McMicken area. In the past couple of years we have been very focused on Mulberry St. however this year I would like to help our neighbors to the south also (they need it) any suggestions. One of the things I am playing around with is possibly contracting Block by Block for clean up or even Impact OTR. We can get between 10-30 thousand for this grant.

One thing we can all do is write these people letters. Believe it or not some of these people have forgotten about these buildings. Grasscat, keep the thread going and lets put people like this guy and Larry Rhodes on the list and tell them what we think of what they are doing.

I spoke with John Donaldson today about another matter but the trolley came up, it was my understanding that the funds would come from a tiff tax. Also Leeper addressed the otrcc and it was my understanding that there was no definitive time table on the beginnings of construction. I am getting a little confused, there seems to be several different versions of the same stories out there. Anyone have any insight?

I agree with #3 however with no other plan on the table soon is better than never. Nothing much is going on over there and 3CDC has met nothing but opposition. I have been amazed that there is a concerted effort by some to keep it that way, but 3CDC at least has something not only on paper but actually has control of the buildings. I do not know how many have seen the map (grasscat if you have one please post) of the planned development by 3CDC. The section above Washington Park which will be mixed use will save a number of buildings that do not have many years left in them. Only 3 buildings in this section will be torn down and that is due to structural problems. We talk about saving buildings, bringing back the neighborhood, and restoring order to OTR, perhaps this planned development may act as a catalyst beyond the plan and attract more investment, more police presence, more residents and businesses alike because now the brewery dist. and lower Elm is now a viable area in which to live and work. I see plans come and go, much like Citirama at the top of Hughes, I hope this plan stays because this could be a beginning into the redevelopment of not only Vine, but Republic also. All I know is that I have heard nothing else on how to get this job done and I would prefer not to have this same discussion 20 years from now when the next development is proposed for this area and it is even worse off then it is now. Grasscat, what specific parts of the plan are you concerned with? Perhaps you know something I do not.

This is an email that John Donaldson is trying to distribute to get support for this idea. We need your support on the latest brewery District led initiative to rid OTR of Crime. HELP US Get It Done Before Day 1. Dont wait for politicians to fix it we have an opportunity now to seize the moment. Recently the OTR Brewery District took charge and met with Todd Portune and Si Leis to request to have the Sheriff to assist Cincinnati Police in patrolling OTR. We believe that we have a once an a lifetime opportunity to take back OTR and we need your support to make this happen. We were told that Chief Streicher and Si Leis have already met and discussed the idea. Si Leis has laid out a budget of 1.5 million dollars for a pilot program that will support 19 officers for 1 year to patrol OTR. Si Leis is so confident that this will work that he is using 1 million dollars of his own budget and is only asking the County to chip in 500K. We met with Si Leis, he is very inspirational and confident about being able to help us in OTR. We are convinced that if we can bring his energy here we will see a safer OTR. In addition I am convinced that there are enough developers ready and watching the situation to jump into OTR swiftly to redevelop. We only need help cleaning it up, developing the properties will ensure it the crime doesn't come back next year. We cannot make this happen without your support. Please send an email to the following email addresses explaining that you are an OTR business owner, resident or just come here for entertainment. Be clear that you want to reclaim our neighborhood. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] , [email protected] We need to encourage Pat Dewine and Phil Heimlich that this is an important project for the county to support. They had indicated their support but now we need the small financial investment and commitment to back that up. Some folks have expressed concern over conflicts that may arise between Cincinnati Police and County police. I have spoken with two Cincinnati beat cops and they encouraged me to continue pushing for this. They told me they will use all the help they can get. In addition several council members have contacted me to lend their support as well as Charlie Luken. This is a good idea, it can change OTR for the better, we pay county taxes we are entitled to County protection. Lets use the resources that we have to make our neighborhood safe. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051004/NEWS01/510040365/1077 http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051025/NEWS01/510250363/1077/NEWS01 80% of 983 people that voted in the on line pole below believe this is the right thing to do http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051025/NEWS01/310250001/1077/NEWS01 We appreciate your support for safer OTR

Max, I just got out of an OTRCC meeting and 3CDC was there presenting. A good point came out of the whole meeting and that was 3CDC was not the one proposing to do the teardowns, it was up to CPS. Their plan is the only thing on the table right now for that area. I understand some of the opposition to it but what is your alternative solution. Maintaining the Status Quo is not a viable solution. So what say you man?

My wife and I almost bought the Christian Moerline Executive Office on Elm. That area has a few good people, John Donaldson is one of those who is really pushing the Brewery District hard. Denny (I can never remember his last name owns Metal Blast) He would like nothing better than to see restraunts and condos to go into that building but some serious investors are needed. Dunlop is a great condo dev. that has popped in the heart of the Dist. and hopefully in the KD lamp building we eventually will see some market rate condos there. I will keep my fingures crossed for the brewery dist. but they need some help from the police.

Unfortunatly that stretch of Vine is within walking distance of my house. OTR is unique in that one could walk over one street and be in a whole other world. Some parts are worse than they say (Vine and Republic) but other parts I do not believe get the wide spread credit it deserves for the progress they have made and continue to make. Next time you need to go to that CVS go up Sycamore and I believe you will feel a lot better.

heck, I just wanted to jump in on this one and say I agree 100% with dglenn, Walnut Hills is the best, at least from this member of the alumni's point of view.

You may be right about the 1000. We are fortunate that demand on the hill is actually beginning to exceed supply. As for enforcement the only semi effective way is adjacent property owners to bring a civil suit for Imminent danger. The building would have to be fairly bad off, and the plantiff would have to be within 500 ft and willing.

What do you know about Cranley's ( I may have just mispelled his name) proposal to raise the cost to vacant property owners? I heard the number of $5000 a year but I can hardly believe it. I am glad there is talk of moving these vacant buildings but we need to be sure there are buyers on the other end otherwise the market will be flooded with properties all at once. Well, after saying that mabey this could be a good thing, shell values would plummit in the City and perhaps that could spur investment. Your thoughts?

grasscat, I know you get discouraged in seeing old buildings being torn down left and right, a bit of good news, today Eric Otto just signed off on the saving of the tarp building on Peete, I can not remember the address on it but you can't miss it, the tarpe and all. Actually we have Jim Hohlbein to thank for that, Bob Becker said the building could not be saved and Jim brought in two more structural engineers that said it could so work should begin on it very soon. 95 and 140 Mulberry are also being pursued by investors, hopefully we can see these two gems restored starting next year.

grasscat, Personally I believe this is the cities way of solving the vacancy problem and a way to circumvent an uncooperative owner.

He is doing something big on Mulberry then. By my count, he has two lots across the street (next to the main st steps), the south east corner of Main and Mulberry, and rumor has it the city is trying to get him to develope the land on Main st side (East) going down toward Liberty.

any word on how many at the corner of Main and Mulberry? And refresh my memory, I have seen Citadel somewhere else, what other dev. do they have?

Ok, here is the scoop I have. The CitiRama may be in jepardy (may be) The City has apparently promised Doug Spitz the more attractive Main St. side lots. This apparently is not within the plans that the HBA has so they may pull out or just adjust. My biggest fear is that no development takes place there at all.

And I am sure the editor and the owner makes more money than most who opened their homes.

How do I get my name on these list for "available for hire"?

After talking with several people who opened their homes on the tour about this, it was interesting to really see the demographic of the hill. Retired History Teacher-130 Mulberry, Nurse-134 Mulberry, Social Worker-29 Mulberry, Nursing Home Admin- 131 Mulberry, sales person @ Voltage Furniture, 126 Mulberry.......Rich? City Beat did not send anyone to cover the event, never questioned who lived up here, these are people who simply opened their homes to the public to raise money to help save lives. It is ironic that we had a man who is within a three month window to find a liver transplant who made it to the tour, a man that walked around with a beeper attached to his hip just in case he needed to be rushed to the hospital for surgery, but City Beat can't send up a 20 something reporter to verify the true facts about this neighborhood. That paper disgust me!

True, and City West was exactly what I was thinking of. Anyone know of any duplication of this or is it just an anomaly? Is there a correlation between percent of owner occupancy rate and crime rate? I am not saying rental is bad, however is the increased responsibility of ownership and the threat of loosing that ownership if non compliant to a communities rules and regulations enough to make a dent in crime rate?

Let me begin by saying I appreciate everyones support, even if just in words, of the Mulberry Hill Tour for Life. Let me end in saying that I am greatly disapointed in City Beat. On September 14 I was contacted by an Ad representative of City Beat to advertise. Not intending to do much print (we focused on TV) we decided to take out an ad that came out on September 28. On one hand, City Beat felt it was ok to solicite us for money for an ad On the other hand, they printed this in their Oct. 5-11 editionon page 51 Mulberry Hill Tour For Life Rich people of the hills open their doors to the less fortunate so average people can see what they are missing. Proceeds benefit the Miracles for Life organization. We felt that printing this about a charity event was in the poorest of taste and hope we can get the support of our neighbors to let them know this.

Not disagreeing with you about Mt. Adams, I like it to (and it is getting out of my price range also). Monte, you are right, low income goes to where there is low income inventory available, wherever that may be. Many communities have begun beautification projects to avoid this very problem. I even think this is one of the problems Northside is having, as they were getting off the ground and turning things around they still had enough low end inventory in their market that it in some ways stalled their progress. This is just how the market works, it is not good or bad, but if one community cleans up and kicks out the crime, if they don't go to jail, they go next door. It is each communities individual responsibility to make sure they are not the recipient of the problems. I will not stop trying to improve my community or OTR or the West End because I feel sorry for those in Westwood and I know that is not what is being proposed but the individual community markets either attract or repel these problems. Also, when I hear "dumping" steering comes to mind. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened in the past, these people of lower incomes (good and bad) have been intentionally herded together. Social engineering of our neighborhoods, especially urban, has been a failure. People rich and poor need to independently go where they can find affordable housing. Section 8 and vouchers has skewed that fundamental market force. Just one question though, if a negative influence is introduced into a market, does the positive influence of the existing market have no effect in return? I ask the question because this is an argument for increased home ownership among lower income. If your surroundings are positive and you are vested in the home does that make a difference? If yes then mixed income with home ownership in a Westwood or wherever is a viable solution. If no, then we are back to laurel homes.