jjakucyk

$100 million is basically full engineering fees for a $1 billion project. I sure hope they've got more than some cheesy renderings and pixellated plan views for that.

You're paying for the view too. There's lots of crap in Mt. Adams, Fairview, and Price Hill that goes for a premium just because of the view.

A slight detour from the political mess...this photo is from the 14th floor of the Ingalls Building. I found it interesting that the mall and Pogue's garage, while by no means squat structures, are still rather short compared to their surroundings. There's definitely room for a taller building.

Just like "it doesn't cost $40 million to say no" I bet he also thinks that old buildings can be fixed with just fairy dust and unicorn farts.

^ Although they don't have traditional use-based zoning, they still have lot line setbacks, parking minimums, floor area ratios, and pretty much everything else you find in a typical zoning code.

^ I agree about Camp Washington. While it's not without its problems, it at least has some cool enough old industrial buildings that can be repurposed, and actually some pretty cute and surprisingly quiet residential streets. OTR has a handful of nice old brewery buildings as well that can be reused for just about anything. The West End seems to be saddled with mostly newer industrial crap that's not so great for retrofitting. The exceptions are a handful of buildings near I-75 where the housing stock is more intact too, and the two great old school buildings.

^ Right but even if you built 20 homes, unless you do it in a tight-knit cluster and luck out with your lot selection (certainly possible, just difficult) then many if not most of those houses are going to be facing an auto parts lot, some gravel parking lot, or other unsightly use. It's easy to infill when the built environment is mostly intact, or there's an understandable rhythm in place. Even different industrial-type buildings aren't a problem so much when they have windows that aren't bricked up and the building addresses the street in a similar manner to the houses. The problem is when you have stuff like this on the other side of the street or next to your property: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.118165,-84.524854,3a,75y,179.78h,72.17t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sC7a0z6wMERQDAEWoya76CA!2e0 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.114722,-84.52502,3a,75y,2.89h,76.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6vtLZ9A3yLNHL3bWglbjwg!2e0 https://www.google.com/maps/@39.11699,-84.525125,3a,75y,217.58h,82.88t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sNjiBco0JUN6c8RF1avg9pQ!2e0 Again, it's not insurmountable in the long run, but there's a chicken and egg problem. It's hard to be a pioneer when you'll be living in what is basically a low-value industrial wasteland. On the other hand, if nobody pioneers that area, then those low-value uses will persist.

The trouble with the West End in my opinion, at least nearer to Central Parkway and north of Liberty, is the marginal industrial uses that pepper the neighborhood. I have no objection to the mixture of uses, but the problem here is that there's a number of newer (i.e. post-war) concrete block boxes and scruffy lots with chain-link fences. The preponderance of ugly buildings, loading docks, unkempt storage yards, and tractor trailer storage makes it more difficult to try to build or redevelop residential uses. It's by no means impossible, but OTR is low-hanging fruit in comparison. West of Linn Street the building stock is more intact and actually quite lovely, but noise from proximity to I-75 becomes a problem. Again, not insurmountable, but a tough sell when much of OTR is still ripe for redevelopment without those problems to deal with.

Does anyone know when they're going to start on the electrical work? Will it be on all new poles? Is there a need for any wiring other than the running wire? If so, will that be overhead or underground?

Hard to say. Highways are supposed to be limited-access, and more ramps just complicate the design, add cost, and further rip apart neighborhoods. On the other hand, fewer interchanges in densely built-up areas also cause more traffic at the nearby interchanges and it swamps the local streets with drivers trying to get to and from what interchanges do exist. Mitchell Avenue is such a mess partly because it's so isolated and it's the only access to I-75 for a pretty large area. Without the ramps to Central Parkway there's going to be more traffic using Hopple or Mitchell and having to traverse local streets. Still, the ramps to and from Central Parkway now are so incomplete as to be nearly useless, and the notion that Cincinnati State might lose students because of their removal is laughable. The ideal solution from a maximum accessibility standpoint would be to reconfigure the I-74/I-75 interchange to accommodate a Ludlow Avenue exit. However, because of the proximity, hills, and railroads, it would likely end up being a mess of loop ramps, retaining walls, and weird intersections like the I-71/Norwood Lateral/Ridge/Kennedy Avenue mess, turning a marginal but at least passable area with some decent bikeability into a highway wasteland.

Don't underestimate just how lazy some people can be. Walking around downtown can be pretty unpleasant when it's wet and cold, and it's usually windy in those circumstances too. I can definitely see a lot of people doing one-way trips, where say they walk a long distance to Findlay Market or some other attraction, but after a long evening or with a bunch of groceries or other things to carry, they'll take the streetcar back.

^ I think the fact that you have to ask the question shows why things worked out the way they did. He doesn't have anything to offer, or to be extracted from him. That's the trouble with the John Kasich, Chris Christie, Scott Walker types, they're all "no no no" to the "current plan" but they don't actually have any alternative to offer. What Cranley is doing regarding the parking plan shows this perfectly. There is no actual exchange being made, it's all just a one-sided ego trip.

^ And streets like MLK and Jefferson were built in part to try to contain UC from spilling further out into the park and Corryville.

Excuse me?

When the previously non-revenue Paulina Connector was repurposed as part of the new pink line it established L service within two blocks of the United Center. They just haven't built a station along it. The green line is just four blocks north, but there's no stations along that stretch either. It's criminal.

^ But would likely spawn many new parking lots around it. The United Center in Chicago is a travesty of urban destruction. It's doubly infuriating that they still haven't managed to build an L station there either. If Chicago can screw it up so badly, imagine what could happen here.

Isn't it technically illegal to add time to the meter? I seem to recall that the law (city ordinance?) states that the time limit isn't really for the meter per se, but how long you're allowed to park in that space. So if that's the case, then smartphone-enabled meters just make it easier to break the law. If this is in fact the case then it's certainly easy enough to change the law, but I can see how it would influence the decisions on what sort of features to pursue. After all, the easier it is to refill meters or pay or whatever means people will stay parked in those spaces longer, and the whole point of metered parking is to ensure there's high turnover and available spots.

^ But do those things all add up to a NET benefit to the city coffers? Arenas, stadiums, convention centers, entertainment districts, corporate headquarters, these are all trotted out as magic bullet solutions to a city's woes, and they don't ever seem to pan out. Sure it sounds good if a big convention brings in say $10 million in economic benefit (just pulling that number out of the air), but it's not a win if it costs $15 million. So many of these big facilities need taxpayer subsidies not only to be built but to operate, and what benefits do materialize don't seem to accrue back to the entity that has to pay for it all. It's sort of a "public risk private benefit" situation. Just look at things like the Olympics. These cities spend billions if not tens of billions of dollars on many white elephant projects, and while they certainly do benefit some from the Olympic games themselves, and from some use of the facilities afterwards, the trail of bankrupt municipalities left in its wake shows that what these cities spend is not compensated by what they receive back. With a lot of these sports venues it seems that they're "hopelessly outdated" and "need replacing" before they're even paid off. That's not good business.

Is anyone surprised? It's just like the streetcar. He doesn't "believe" the current plan is workable, but when he actually tries to get out of it, to do something else, etc., of course he can't do any better. He's an ideologue.

Integrated appliances, where they're sufficiently "built-in" so as to look like part of the cabinetry. That doesn't mean they have to be disguised AS cabinets, but the design and arrangement fits with the overall aesthetic. In this case though, you can see the refrigerator doors stick way out, and the curved elements of the oven and microwave clash with each other because of their proximity and misalignment, and they also don't quite work with the rigidly square and clean design of the cabinets.

I'm referring mainly to property taxes, so write-off probably wasn't the best choice of words. The point stands though; better maintenance, more improvements, higher taxes; poor maintenance, tear-downs, parking lots, lower taxes. It's a perverse incentive.

A big part of it is that the tax code rewards depreciation and punishes renovation, remodeling, and even simple upkeep. You can't write it off if you keep it in good shape.

My understanding is that as long as ice isn't bad enough to cause the lines to fall, then the movement of the pantograph and resulting bending of the wire would break ice away. It's not pretty, and there's still a fair bit of arcing, but it works. Frankly I'm surprised that 750 volt DC wires get cold enough for ice to form on them at all. What else can be done anyway?

I can't fathom them paying Flottemesch for something like that. He does fine custom cabinetry, and unless it's for a one-off piece in the lobby or some other special common area, this being new construction they're going to be using stock or semi-custom cabinetry wherever they can. At the very least, Flottemesch's specialty isn't veneered full-overlay cabinetry, it's the traditional, solid wood, inset-door, raised panel, custom molding, glazed finish stuff that you see in Best Magazine or Hyde Park living. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if there's something from them in each unit just so they can put it in the brochure, because Flottemesch is a name that definitely carries weight in the high end residential market here.

You guys need to get out more. Those are just standard commercial-grade laminate/veneer cabinets and mediocre appliances. Nothing is the least bit integrated either. I'm more interested in what, if any, sort of window treatments are going to be installed. Because, you know, what if you like to cook naked? I hope you like having an audience. :)