kendall

At 335 W. Fifth, there are 22 condos listed between $125k - $280k. By my count on the MLS, 7 are sold. However, I toured this building on the downtown tour of living and in my opinion the finishes are going to be a drag on the sales of these units. Acres of carpet, 90s style cabinets, and nothing particularly sexy or unique about them.

OK, sorry for the editorial highlighting in the above article. But it goes to the heart of why this article is bullshit. Downtown Indy, as has been said in this thread, is 6.5 square miles. That is a circle with a radius of about 1.43 miles. If you look out 1.43 miles from Fountain Square, heart of downtown Cincinnati, we have as much and more than Indianapolis. This includes big chunks of Newport and Covington, as they form part of our urban core, regardless of the political boundaries that separate them from Cincinnati. It also includes OTR, Mt. Adams, West End, parts of East End, most of the Mt. Auburn hillside, in addition to the CBD. Also, with respect to the highlighted portion about the mall... It has been open 10 years. Circle Center has been open 10 years; Tower Place (cinti) 15 years. Ten years into its run, Tower Place was doing pretty well (still had Banana, Gap, Limited, Express, NY & Co., Williams Sonoma, etc.), but perhaps was starting to slow down, just as Circle Center may be. I'm not saying it definitely will, but not addressing the point is one of the many reasons why this article is crap.

The second largest benefit to registering (besides being able to post) is that the forum can keep track of what you've read and what you haven't so it's easier to find out what's new each time you log on. That's probably one reason why people are registering and not posting.

The one at 8th and Walnut is Javier's, which is moving from a much smaller location on Court St. It has been a popular lunch spot for years. I have heard really good things about the food at Potluck in Northside. Now that they have seating, I may just go check it out! Edit: Jalapeno's is going in at 7th and Elm, where Aioli used to be. It should be opening soon.

I'm still not sure why these townships oppose funding the Freedom Center. If they are hard up for cash, maybe it's time to incorporate and impose an income tax on their residents. Or maybe they are just pro-slavery.

I wouldn't go that far.

The location tag seems to have disappeared again. I think it was there just a few days ago.

Mudslide, your petty name-calling reminds me of something I would hear on an elementary school playground ("Cincinnasti," nananabooboo!!). Really undermines the rest of your statements. As do unfounded statements like "your chance of being murdered in Cincinnasti is 50% higher than in Chicago." My chance of being murdered here is pretty much the same as in Chicago. Which is to say very, very low, because I'm not involved in drugs and don't socialize with ignorant low lifes. A rather inauspicious introduction to the UrbanOhio forum.

Went down to the Square today (a Sunday). First, stopped in at Fountain Square News and perused their excellent selection of design magazines (then bought one). Walked by the rink, packed with skaters. Caught a few plays of the Bengals blowout on the screen. Went to Macy's, bought gifts for three people (and a little something for myself). Went to the CAC gift shop, bought gifts for two more people. Walked home. There were lots of families around and lots of people in general. The shopping was relaxed and the selections at all three stores were good. Overall, an excellent downtown experience and one that many a frazzled shopper circling for a parking space at Kenwood probably doesn't even realize exists.

The government's eminent domain power is just one example of the multitude of laws that require individual citizens to cede some of their rights or power to make independent decisions for the greater good. These kind of laws correct for the fact that individuals make decisions based on the cost/benefit to them and cannot account for the true cost of their actions to the community. Environmental laws like anti-leaf burning ordinances or anti-dumping laws are obvious examples. Individuals have the right to own property and use it as they see fit, subject to the limitations imposed upon that right by society. Zoning restrictions, building codes, noise ordinances, and the like, are designed to prevent an individual's self-centered decisionmaking process from negatively impacting the community. I may love the ceaseless wail of a flourescent orange air horn on a five-story mast. That does not mean I have the right to build and operate one anywhere I choose. If society condemns my land use, my right to use the land is checked. Similarly, you may want nothing more than a Hardee's with a drive-thru, but that does not mean you have the right to build and operate one anywhere you see fit. But where does society get its authority to restrict the rights of individuals? Most importantly, it largely prevents the killing of individuals to gain ownership of their land and possessions. If it wasn't for society and the resulting government, if I lived next door to your Hardee's and the headlights of the cars in the drive-thru kept me awake at night, I could just kill you, bulldoze the structure, and plant some grass and a couple of trees there. If you think about that, eminent domain doesn't seem so bad.

I think the success of the ice rink is an example of how vital the new square will be. Very exciting!

I like looking at that quantity of snow right after its fallen, but it sure makes it tough to go about your business in. I drove my '93 Lumina to 175k, and then gave it to my cousin. Of course, I had to replace the tranny at 140k.

Used to be, people would go to a park to enjoy the peaceful surroundings, use the playground, have a picnic, etc. In other words, the people had the fun. Now there is this attitude that what good is a park unless is is a prepackaged experience that makes the fun for me? Sheesh. Burnet Woods park has a playground, a fishing pond, a frisbee golf course, a picnic shelter, walking trails, and even a planetarium (though that was closed for a while and may still be). What more do people want besides perhaps better lighting?

You can watch the entire documentary from this link: http://wcpo.com/wcpo/localshows/iteam/visionsofvine/

WCPO's 30-minute New Visions of Vine Street documentary aired last night. Overall, it was better than I expected from a local news station, though it was still peppered with bits of sensationalist narration. But the biggest thing I noticed -- or didn't notice -- was that there wasn't a single reference to the 2001 riots. The most encouraging thing were the parents of art academy students who moved in at 12th and Vine (though of course they were from out of town). The most depressing part was watching city leaders get duped by La Shawn Pettus-Brown.

There are always plenty of listings on cincinnati.craigslist.com

Northern Row Park at the corner of Clay and Melindy.

Dedicated right of way for passenger rail would be amazing. As I was reminded this holiday weekend, the American public is content to putz along at 70-75 mph when other developed nations have rail lines cruising at more than twice that. Hard to do that when you have to stop and let a freight train pass two or three times during the journey.

I know what you mean. Sometimes it has more of a small town feeling when interacting with people than a large city. In a way, from a downtown residents point of view, it almost is a small town. I've run into neighbors at Findlay Market, on the street, and in various resteraunts around town. I've met and chatted with other downtown residents around town, only to bump into them somewhere else later. I was in Kaldi's yesterday for lunch. It was obvious that most people coming in and out knew each other to some degree. It's not long before shopkeepers and restauranters staff start to recognize you as you return. It's a nice feeling that you don't usually get in the suburbs. Very well put.

The pre-riot renaissance of OTR is much ballyhooed, but as far as physical, residential renovation and restoration, much more has been done since 2001.

Drees isn't developing in the upper part of the West End, but the lower. The current social services activity going around Washington Park and Vine St. is actually closer to City West that CityLink will be.

This reasoning is suspect, to say the least...

I've been getting these emails since I started law school in '03. They serve no use except to scare people. Maybe occasionally they serve a legitimate purpose in helping identify criminals after the act, but rarely. I've actually written Greg Hand and expressed these views a couple of times. He insists that the university is obligated under federal law to provide these notices. That sounds like bullshit to me. I attended an undergraduate campus nearly twice the population of UC and never once got an email about these kind of crimes. The student newspaper reported them, but that wasn't thrust into people's proverbial faces. And I know they weren't reporting the crimes under a federal obligation to do so, because the student newspaper was independent of the university administration.

I ate at McCormick and Schmick's tonight. Everything went quite well, especially for the first day. I had the tuna, the quality was A+. You shouldn't cook tuna that's that good, so I had it sashimi style. So good. Atmosphere was nice and sophisticated, but not truly special like some downtown restaurants, Service B+, but with potential to improve to A-. The happy hour was rockin. That's where I'll be on my next visit.

Pretty easy to tell them apart... Thanks for the great thread!