Losantiville

The Kit and Ace store is actually a really big deal - it's a sign that OTR is on the radar of national retailers. (For those who don't know, Kit and Ace is a new apparel company that was founded by the wife and son of lululemon's founder.) They currently only have eight locations, of which only two are in the US: New York and San Francisco.

I think two different arguments are being made here, both of which have merit. Compared to many other markets across the United States, these units in Over-the-Rhine are not overpriced. On a per square foot basis, a new urban townhome or large condominium in any of the first or second "tier" cities is going to cost at least 50% more than one in Over-the-Rhine. New townhomes in the Washington, DC market (not just in DC, but across the metro area) sell all day long for $400+ psf. I know Cincinnati isn't DC. But living in Over-the-Rhine offers many of the advantages of living in certain parts of DC. If we're looking at the national urban for sale market, Over-the-Rhine is relatively cheap. That said, the other argument is that within the Cincinnati housing market, Over-the-Rhine is expensive. You can't deny this is the case. If Over-the-Rhine is going to become anything but an enclave for wealthy buyers and newly minted college graduate renters, for-sale residential options are going to have to exist that can compete with suburban alternatives. Millennials who can afford to buy houses (and who want to) will make sacrifices in order to remain in vibrant, walkable urban neighborhoods, but only to a point. If the alternatives are a 600 s.f. one bedroom condo in OTR and a three bedroom in Pleasant Ridge, the three bedroom in Pleasant Ridge is typically going to win. I'm 29, about as passionate about urban living as one can get, and I don't want to live in a cramped condominium for the rest of my life. I also don't want to live in a McMansion in Mason. There is this middle ground that is being completely unserved by the market, not just in Cincinnati, but around the United States. It doesn't have to be that way.

The white home was built by Ulysses S. Grant's son. It's more grand and imposing in person than it even appears in these pictures. Great shots. Logan Circle is a beautiful neighborhood. Hard to believe it has just been revitalized in the last 5-10 years along with 14th Street to its west.

If comparing Mt. Adams in 2004 to Price Hill today is not delusional, I don't know what is.

This whole premise is patently false. The grocery industry began shifting to the big box model 20+ years ago - this isn't some new phenomenon. The average square footage of new grocery stores grew consistently through the 90's and early 2000's until about 2006 and it has been slowly declining since. The trend in the industry today is very much one of a shift back to smaller format, urban stores in areas that demand them. Look at Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Whole Foods, etc. Are these all perfect urban form? No. But they're certainly not traditional big boxes crammed into dense urban settings because "the grocery retail industry is turning to big boxes." http://urbanland.uli.org/planning-design/the-rush-to-build-walkable-urban-grocery-stores/

There is a very successful co-op in Ithaca, NY called GreenStar. It has two locations and is looking at opening a third. This is in a market that is already served by multiple large grocery chains - proof that the cooperative grocery model can work if executed correctly in an area with the right demographics. http://www.greenstar.coop/

Care to elaborate? The amount of depreciation taken on a building for tax purposes is independent of the condition of that building. CapEx is also depreciable. By definition, the money spent on keeping a property in good shape can and should be "written off".

My understanding has long been that improving the West concourse was as much a goal of any proposed Nippert renovation project as improving the press/luxury box situation (revenue notwithstanding). I know they've already demoed the old concessions and restrooms on that side, so I'm optimistic that the new setup will be a great improvement. Also, this is going to be an incredible place to watch and play football. It was already so cavernous and loud when full. Will now be only more so.

My hometown. Thanks for these, Ryan.

Unfortunately, few people in Cincinnati understand how cities work because they've lived their entire lives in one that doesn't.

Can someone explain to me what John Cranley has done since being elected that has been a surprise? His entire platform was one position: kill the streetcar at all costs. Now that he is remaining committed to that position, everyone is acting like they're just now realizing that he might actually do it. Why?

I think it's overly simplifying the situation to suggest that the only listeners of WLW throughout the day are blue collar, but the characterization isn't completely off the mark. I personally know several individuals who work in shops or drive trucks and perfectly fit this description. It's just terribly, negatively reinforcing. It is telling that the streetcar opponents specifically, and the GOP at large, have conquered only one form of media: antiquated AM radio. They are behind the times and will continue to fall further behind as the world moves on without them.

I'm busy engaging in a campaign on a UC athletics message board against the misinformation and faux outrage about this latest Duke proposal. The most recent response called streetcars "bourgeois liberal fantasy of central planning." Aside from that, most everyone was grumbling that the supposed idiots in Cincinnati are building a streetcar that no one wants and now everyone else is going to have to shoulder this huge utility rate hike to pay for it. We are truly at the mercy of media outlets that are, at best, irresponsible. I won't say what they are at worst. This is an uphill battle.

It's on the National Register and was designed by Hannaford, so I would absolutely prefer that it be stabilized. Unfortunately that is a really, really rough street. Given that the house is almost 9,000 square feet and has sat neglected, incurring water damage and vandalism for the better part of a decade, I'd ballpark (very, very, very roughly) that it would cost tens of thousands just to stabilize and in excess of a million dollars to fully rehabilitate. Note that I've never been inside, but I've driven past and walked around on a few occasions. I'd be surprised if much of the historic interior remains intact. I cannot envision an individual investing this kind of money to live in that neighborhood. Preventing the demolition of 965 Burton will require a non-profit or wealthy benefactor interested solely in the preservation of a historic landmark. If you're interested in some fascinating history about the house and the land it sits on, check out this blog post. http://diggingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-missed-named-national-register-house.html

It will be a sad day when they demolish 965 Burton, but I'm afraid it's inevitable. The immediate neighborhood is far too deteriorated to justify the work and money necessary to get it back into shape. I did some very brief research a few years ago when it was on the market. My conclusion: it's certainly not a project for anyone without significant resources and experience in historic renovation and restoration.

Agree about Breckenridge. Had the opportunity to visit their original location in Breck as well as the brewpub in Denver last February and really enjoyed both. Micro and craft breweries are great small and medium sized businesses and their proliferation can really have positive economic benefits. If I drink a Moerlein at the Lager House or a Breckenridge at their brewpub, that money stays local instead of going to the coffers of InBev or MillerCoors.

I agree that LEED is overrated and, as demonstrated by any number of suburban buildings with LEED designations, can completely miss the point. However, the fundamental concept of having standards to certify green developments is valuable. LEED-ND is an example of progress, in my opinion, because it quantifies and combines the components of green design with smart growth principles. A project can't truly be green unless it gets both parts right.

I was in town for Thanksgiving and wanted to go out to dinner and drinks with a few friends from high school. They live in Anderson and Clermont County respectively. When I mentioned OTR, they looked at me like I had two heads. They instead suggested... The Banks. It absolutely does cater to a suburban crowd (at least for now). As for the DUI thing, I couldn't agree more. I've lived in New York for 3 years and I can't tell you how much more enjoyable it is to go out and drink without worrying about how you're going to get home. I only had two beers that night at the Banks and was scared stiff leaving, not because of myself, but because of the dozens of clearly intoxicated suburbanites stumbling to their cars.

In 2010 the United States Congress passed, and President Obama signed, the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank has done and is in process of doing many things. One of those things was to effectively discredit the bond rating agencies because, as Living in Gin pointed out, they completely missed the boat on mortgage debt leading up to the financial crisis. They subsequently demonstrated their worthlessness last year during the debt ceiling debacle. S&P downgraded the United States and what happened? Treasury yields fell and the world collectively yawned. I can't stress enough how little meaning the S&P negative outlook for Cincinnati has, though it unfortunately provides more negative press and fodder for those who don't know any better.

I just think most go elsewhere for Bearcats discussion (at least I do). I traveled down to the game against VT from New York and it was amazing - right up there with the Pitt win in 2009. Just wish I could be at a sold out Nippert this weekend for homecoming.

More like $1.50 a day if you get a 30-day pass (about $90) and use it twice a day, but that type of mobility for low-income people is exactly what the streetcar opponents don't want. Their only goal is to keep the region segregated along racial and class divisions. Both fair points, though the 30 day pass is unfortunately now up to $104.

Everyone out there on the Westside will tell you downtown is still where the fittest of the fit are in Cincinnati. The Westside got wilder in large part due to downtowners who moved out there for one of a dozen reasons. If there was an area in Cincinnati to rival downtown in sheer thoroughbred activity and unpredictability, it's gotta be Avondale. Evanston is bad, I'm with you on Fairmount. Bond Hill is deteriorating in front of our eyes. Fairmount just isn't safe at night and never has been as long as I can remember, but neither is College Hill for completely different reasons. Everyone already knows what Over-the-Rhine was and what Over-the-Rhine is, but to refer to something as "the most deteriorated and crime-ridden," you better have some very strong empirical evidence. As both you and Jake pointed out, there are plenty of deteriorated and crime-ridden areas throughout the city. The writer made a sensational statement meant to conjure emotion, rather than state the facts in a manner I'd expect of a piece on the CNU website. Your point about the high level of poverty in the city as support for a streetcar is well taken. Living in NYC for the past three years, one of the things that has amazed me is the mobility of the poor among the five boroughs. A low-income worker who lives in an outer neighborhood in Queens or Brooklyn can commute to work in Manhattan, or elsewhere within their borough, for usually no more than $4.50 per day in subway and bus fare. It's not perfect, but it opens a world of opportunities that are unavailable in most American cities.

I'm surprised that this piece wound up on the CNU web site. It doesn't really reflect the CNU's vision if you ask me. I think the CNU's vision provides for healthy debate about the merits of various initiatives. You can believe in the principles and goals of new urbanism and disagree with the assertion that the streetcar is the best means to accomplish them. That said, this is an out of date, poorly written, and weakly supported piece. A number of the assertions are either factually inaccurate or misleading, including the comment about Over-the-Rhine as the most deteriorated and crime-ridden region within Cincinnati. What I maybe take the most issue with, however, is the notion that the streetcar is a bad idea because Cincinnati is a car-oriented city. This is backwards logic, epitomized. I typically look to CNU to advance the discussion about our transportation networks and built environment, so I'm especially disappointed that they gave this credibility.

Cincinnati got a brief mention in a Wall Street Journal article today on streetcar projects across the country. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444900304577579360844409848.html

Really? If true, that changes my opinion quite a bit. I'm only familiar with the Sounders situation, so I thought most MLS teams in NFL cities were sharing stadiums (like NBA and NHL often share arenas). Too bad, because that's a significant cost that they could avoid if they could hammer out some sort of agreement. My understanding has always been that Paul Brown Stadium was built with the intent of hosting big-time soccer of some sort. A quick Google search dug up the following from a 2003 Enquirer article: "Cincinnati can offer a world-class facility in Paul Brown Stadium, according to a U.S. soccer official, on which $710,000 was spent configuring the stadium for soccer, and a soccer-playing public among the top in the nation."