kendall

The music component of this festival has taken on a life of its own. The crowd at the Wilco show was definitely not what you would expect to see at a riverboat festival, tending toward young, hipster types. Today, the Post reports the crowd was as big as 20,000 for that show. My guess at the time was 15k. Overall, the festival was amazing. We cruised on the Natchez (from New Orleans) and thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather certainly helped. Had a company picnic at Fernbank Park today and saw the Natchez and Spirit of Peoria headed downstream on their way home. I was sad to see them go, but I'm really looking forward to the next Tall Stacks!

So apparently this is what's holding up announcement of Fountain Square tenants! This is so incredibly stupid. It makes absolutely no sense at all to apportion liquor licenses in a center city by city population. Cincinnati's population is relatively small compared to the region. A large number of the people who come to Cincinnati bars and nightclubs using these D5 licenses don't live in the city. This will be especially true of Fountain Square. At least it appears there is a backup plan, this economic development designation that allows transfer of licenses from surrounding communities. But it shouldn't have to be a backup, the number of licenses shouldn't be so closely tied to city population in the first place. And there's also the problem of a good chunk of the surrounding cities being in another state. You can't transfer licenses from there, but those folks will make it up to the Fountain Square establishments. And why is the community entertainment district license increase based on the acreage of the district? That so obviously caters to, and encourages, huge sprawled out Union Center-type developments. I don't know how many bar and club districts are spread out like that, especially when they will invariably involving drinking, then driving to the next establishment. We are looking at months of delays for this. Hopefully, 3CDC can talk them in to building out before they have the license in hand. So, so painfully stupid.

Not enough liquor licenses for Square Cincinnati over state limit for permits per capita; options under review BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER At least a half-dozen business owners are interested in opening nightclubs or restaurants in and around the new Fountain Square, but they can't get liquor licenses from the state. Just two weeks before the $43 million Fountain Square project opens - one that everyone agrees is crucial for downtown Cincinnati's revitalization - city officials are scrambling to find a solution to the problem: Cincinnati is over its quota for liquor licenses.

I like that they built in the italianate style, but something has to be done about all that exposed poured concrete.

Nothing stirs up jealousy like this thread!

Read the above two articles together and you can see the stupidity of our land use policies. Someday, Boone County will be full of old, less desirable homes. It's a dumb, vicious cycle.

An Enquirer article from a month or so ago described ingredients as a "casual salad-and-sandwich restaurant." http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/BIZ01/608300342/1076/BIZ

Take out the highrises and the big boxes and there is definitely a resemblance to the original Banks rendering.

I believe every house pictured in grasscat's photos has a garage, but they are in the back, abutting an alley for the good looking houses.

We went to the dog park Sunday morning. It's very spacious and very flat.

It looks good, except for the houses with garages that extend to the front facade and those garage-happy condos with no sidewalk in front.

So far, so good.

Based on the examples of rudeness that David cited, it's not fair to say that people in Cincinnati are rude. Maybe some of the people working shitty minimum-wage service jobs are, but not everyone, or even most people, by any stretch.

I would love to see a sushi place, maybe even one using a conveyor. I know it's gimmicky, but it would be unique to the region and I think it could be successful if it was well-run. Deveroes has its place, and that place is the store on Race St. My biggest fantasy project would be to see someone reopen all the Main Street bars, after a quick cleaning, refreshing, and remodeling with an eye to design. They are all so dirty and lame right now. And also close down the Jordan stop-and-rob and replace it with an international tap room. Purgatory could be replaced with a wine bar with outdoor seating.

Awesome. I've been using the dog park in Ft. Thomas, but this one sounds way better. I use Cincinnati parks regularly, and I had no idea this was coming. I'm pleasantly surprised.

With all that leaning concrete, is this structure even going to be sound?

On October 14th, they should have the square surface and the fountain (maybe even the children's fountain) ready. Half of the tree planters are there, and there should at least be dirt in them, if not trees. Don't be surprised if the park board sneaks in a couple hundred flowers just in time too. And of course, there's the video board. They're working hard on the restaurant building, but I don't think we'll see that complete until winter or even spring. This week, some crews have started working into the night.

34th in violent crime, in the center city of the 34th largest MSA. Doesn't sound too bad to me. [Correction: 24th largest MSA, so even better]

That thing is godawful. It's a real shame because the other side of that block of Fourth Street is great, full of neat little retail spots.

^The top photos at the end of that link shows how far short of "The Dream" we ended up with. Great work getting your shot into their promotional materials, monte!

They actually block the sun pretty well, at least at noon and five when I've used them. In addition to the roof, there are large pieces of tempered glass behind the seating areas, to protect your back from wind and rain while you're waiting.

Ovation, in its current incarnation, is a horse's ass and is not a threat to the Banks, if the Banks looks anything like the "old standby" renderings. The Banks, in those plans, is a human-scale urban neighborhood, interwoven with some of the biggest attractions in the region. Ovation is 762 condos in monolithic, identical highrises with no-mans-land in between.

Notice how nobody's talking about what they mean by "crime." To some people, it means as little as black people standing on the sidewalk. To others, it means only assault, robbery, or worse.

Wow, looks like a great little town! This one is a preview of what Over-the-Rhine would look like if it had more businesses:

I don't have a problem with parts of the Banks being occupied by cheesy chains. Just as long as that's not all it is. I think a downtown LaRosa's with outdoor dining in the urban setting of the Banks would be great.