kendall

It's time for another daily media outlet staffed with professional journalists. I have no idea what the business model would look like, but the Enquirer is embarrassing. I've seen better quality reporting, features, and balance in papers serving markets much smaller than Cincinnati.

The man with the 370-mile (round trip) commute could probably afford a small apartment near his job and just drive home on the weekends. The gas and wear-and-tear savings alone might cover the cost of the apartment. And he would have 6.5 hours more time each day. You have to wonder what the man's "lifestyle" is like to justify having zero free time.

^Yes. The new 525 Vine lobby is open, and the first-floor retail space is ready for build out. Jos. A Bank should be moving in soon.

The statewide prohibition on residency restrictions is ridiculous and disgustingly anti-city. It is perfectly reasonable for the taxpayers of a city to expect the employees whose salaries they pay to live alongside them. The analogy that a company can't dictate where an employee lives fails completely. Why? Nobody in a certain area is required to chip in to pay a company's employees, like city residents are for city employees. If city workers don't like it, they can find a job in the private sector. Nobody is being forced to do anything here. To argue that city workers are being forced to live somewhere they don't want to assumes that they have a fundamental right to their job, which of course they do not.

One compelling reason for locating performance halls downtown is the central location in the region. Downtowns also tend to have some of the best restaurants in a region, and there is a correlation between subscribers to symphony, ballet, etc. and fancy restaurants. But perhaps the most significant is the contribution a major performance space makes to a region's collective cultural identity. That, in turn, raises a city's profile to outsiders (who spend tourist dollars, book conventions, make corporate expansion/relocation decisions, etc.) as well as spurring related investment in the surrounding area.

I also do not understand the developer's hesitance to move forward with this project. The demand for downtown living is there. Downtown apartments are 95% leased, sales at condos developments in the CBD have been solid. Interest in the surrounding city neighborhoods is on the rise - Mt. Auburn hillside, Mt. Adams, Walnut Hills/Eden Park, East End, Betts-Longworth. If there was any way to get bring the units to market between $150 and $250k they would sell quickly.

The idea of the CSO leaving music hall was mentioned in a Sunday Enquirer package of articles about OTR a few weeks ago. At this point, I think such talk is more of a shot across the bow. But if 3CDC can't improve the perception and reality of Washington Park in the next two years, don't be surprised to see the talk get more serious.

I can see Janke's point of view. He and his fellow District 1 officers are doing their best with the resources the department has given them (if you disagree, schedule a police ride along). But he should have swallowed his pride instead of confronting a neighborhood activist. He could have applied some internal pressure on CPD to increase patrols.

Does anyone know whether this study was just of the cities or the entire metro?

I don't think I can talk my partner into Excelsior Row I think that Excelsior Row section is pretty nice and getting better. Think of the neighboring streets. Investment on Walker, Boal, Milton is already established. I think the next few years will see a lot of investment on Goethe and Dorsey. There are condos going in lower down the hill on Sycamore, and then there's the three Keys Hill condo buildings at the top of the hill. Add in the new park at Dorchester and Auburn and the nice green space across the street from the rowhouses themselves, and it adds up nicely.

Nor would I. The City West designs are intended to evoke the Italianate architecture of the historic buildings in the West End, many of which were torn down for the projects that City West is replacing. My point was they are much more aesthetically pleasing than that nasty "Brantly" tract house.

So in addition to being an ultra-conservative nut, Blackwell is also a self-dealing hypocrite.

Dear god, the "Brantly" is awful. One of the ugliest houses I've ever seen. How can that possibly be the same company that's building these:

Excellent. This section can really use a shot in the arm like this. The housing stock in other parts of Northside has seen increased investment recently, and I expect this effort to spark some collateral investment by other property owners.

Light rail connecting to the metro, walking trails, porches. If nothing else, it's already got three things over a typical suburban development.

We went to Shadowbox at the Levee last night. Security was visibly stepped up, and everything was fine. The crowds were smallish for a Friday night, though I suspect that was due to the severe thunderstorm warning in place at the time than anything else.

Most of Queensgate is occupied by active commercial/light industrial businesses. There aren't large swaths of land that could easily be redeveloped into residential, at least not without booting tax-paying businesses. Remember, the city not only gets property taxes from businesses, it also gets income taxes from the workers.

I think the phrasing of that statement is just a response to this week's killings - both victims were from the 'burbs.

Close Call For Officers In Alley Reported by: 9News Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller Photographed by: 9News First posted: 4/5/2006 5:47:48 PM Two Cincinnati Police officers had a close call with an armed suspect Tuesday night. ------------------------ So our officers have to use tasers when the suspects are using guns? Christ, at least one of them should have had a real weapon out to shoot the motherf$&ker the second he pulled the gun.

Constipated?

Maybe we're just lucky, but my wife and I continue to have good experiences at the Levee. In fact, I've never seen an unruly crowd or even a particularly large crowd of unsupervised teenagers of any description around there. It's often crowded on weekend nights, but not a crowd, if that makes any sense. I can think of two other experiences, in Kalamazoo and Boston, where there was an unusual crowd of rowdy kids in the theater on the opening weekend of "gangsta" movies. I don't see why the Levee would be any different. I'm sure this "incident" will prompt the management to beef up its security and crowd control.

Such desolation. Looks like some parts of Detroit.

^Your parents should just sell the Pleasant Ridge house. The market has been pretty solid there lately.

I loved downtown Pittsburgh when I visited last summer, but then I watched George Romero's Day of the Dead and now I get creeped out every time I think of the Golden Triangle.

Well you picked the one day I definitely can't make it - I'm graduating from law school at the Aronoff that afternoon. Have a great time!!