natininja

I heard the Google van was in Cincinnati today.

If the ban were to pass, there would be court cases. Unless in some off chance there are no contracts in place by that time, which is hard to imagine. Even in that case, litigation is all but certain.

Especially when this guy arrives: http://g.co/maps/m5uv

They obviously have a vision for and investment in that corner of downtown. I don't know if it's the only place they think is realistic (and if they do think that, I don't agree), but it's obviously where they want to develop whatever projects they have planned. Maybe you've stumbled upon the "why" of that spot in particular, but they've owned property in the area for longer than I suspect they've had their current grand plan. Applying Occam's razor, I think they started in the area because they've owned property there, and they just want all their investments to piggy-back on each other (e.g. bringing a bunch of monied empty-nesters to the Anna Louise Inn property would bolster demand for retail at Queen City Square as opposed to somewhere else).

Downtown needs a residential tower catering to an older demographic that doesn't want to pioneer in OTR and doesn't want to hear sports games and bar crowds out their windows at the Banks. Cincy has a relatively healthy business climate. It's the residential base that really needs to be built up.

The article says plentiful (and therefore cheap) office space in downtown is part of what's scaring Covington.

Giving them tax benefits to move within the region is absurd, regardless of KY's tactics used to do the same in the past. We don't need a KCK/KCM-style (Kansas Cities) competition here. If that type of cannibalism is Kasich's idea of job growth, he can shove it! I wasn't chomping at the bit for Sears, but that would've been an infinitely better trophy for Ohio, even ignoring the larger size.

^ Not good information for the hardcore preservationists. I'm on the fence, but I would like for them to find good reasons to preserve the buildings more than justifications to take them down.

Probably his great potential to raise $$$$$$$

I love the "free" parking thing.

Crap, that sounds like a place I could have passed out in .... I'm mean stayed in. Just so you know I wasn't exaggerating about the beer selection...Wikipedia says they had the Guinness World Record for bar with the largest selection of commercially available beers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickskeller Oh, and the good news: Wikipedia also informed me that a new bar opened in the same location called Bier Baron. It also has an enormous selection of beer. Let me know how it is! :wink2:

Hmm, that would be nice! Though $10b in 10 years seems a bit low.

I was going to tell you to go to the Brickskeller in Dupont Circle, but I just Googled it and apparently they closed recently. I went circa 2005 and it was awesome. They had what was probably the largest beer selection I'd ever seen. Oh, well. :( RIP Brickskeller :drunk: http://www.yelp.com/biz/brickskeller-washington

It's truly bizarre that anyone would have been against the 2009 amendment, but for this one. This one is even stronger in its effect!

When did he drop it? That can't be legal to amendment the petition while you're collecting signatures right? It's a mistake in the breakdown from the Beacon article thomasbw linked to. Not part of the amendment. Haap goes from to He drops the "public" part, which I bolded, when he inserts the right of way definition.

^ My only gripe is that he dropped the "public" part of "public rights of way" in the final definition. By his wording, Amtrak's Cardinal would have to cease operation in city limits. I trust it's an honest mistake, and not an attempt at deceit. Which is more than I can say for Finney, Miller, and Smitherman!

Which town needs it?

I would imagine a residential tower at 5th & Race could be marketed to an older crowd than GQ and the Banks. The Banks is destined to be a bit on the noisy side, which older folks might not be into. OTR is still on the urban pioneering side, which could turn older folks off. 5th & Race might not be where the "energy" is, but for (e.g.) empty-nesters looking to downsize from their outer-neighborhood or suburban family homes, a central location in a relatively low-energy part of downtown could really hit a sweet spot. I think it's at least worth a market study.

^ She let him dodge the question about when termination might be decided. His final answer only served to back up her stated suspicion that construction is inevitable, regardless of any new information.

^ Good one! I'm going to have to look through this thread, there are some real gems.

If this is to go forward, there should be some pro-urban components added to the plan to counteract its potential to induce sprawl development beyond just serving existing "needs". The way it stands, this is a completely backward-thinking proposal. Of course, if I had my way, I would skip this project and divert as much of its funding as possible to bike infrastructure, mass transit, and pedestrian-oriented projects.

You might consider Boston if you are looking at alternatives. In early October, the weather should still be reasonable, and you might catch some of New England's fall foliage from the window of your train.

Wow, this post is hilarious. But it shows how unpredictable and uncertain the progress of the past four years was. The concern seems laughable now! (Or was it meant to be a joke at the time? The emoticons make me wonder.)

Wait What!>? They're not gonna be at St. Xavier downtown or Immaculata in Mt. Adams this weekend!? I guess their putting their full stock in the west side- an area that would greatly benefit from increased revenues caused by the streetcar- The west side needs investment and more attention from the city- the city needs more revenue to invest in the west side- the streetcar brings that increased revenue. I replied (more like rambled) to this in a different thread. I don't know if it's the right thread for the reply, but it seems more appropriate than this one. It's heavy on analysis of the west side, and light on relevance to the streetcar project. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,3920.msg572274.html#msg572274

Wait What!>? They're not gonna be at St. Xavier downtown or Immaculata in Mt. Adams this weekend!? I guess their putting their full stock in the west side- an area that would greatly benefit from increased revenues caused by the streetcar- The west side needs investment and more attention from the city- the city needs more revenue to invest in the west side- the streetcar brings that increased revenue. The west side has a long history of shooting itself in the foot. Perhaps in cries for attention, since it is so often ignored. It's kind of a chicken-or-the-egg thing, where the west side looks outward at the rest of the city, so the city looks outward at the west side like it is not as much a part of the city as other parts. The streetcar is a good example: they see it as helping other parts of the city, so they oppose it. So other parts of the city pass over helping the west side. As someone whose life in Cincinnati has always been on the central spine, I think the east side-west side thing is overhyped. The real dichotomy is west side and not-west side. Ironically, I think if the west side were willing to play ball, the east side would be the part of the city receiving the most ire. It's much more natural for the masses to thumb their nose at the wealthy. While the east side is famous for its NIMBYism, the west side seems to adhere to NIYBYism. (Not in your backyard) I think the west side is going through growing pains right now, which the rest of the city is much further along with. Only recently has white flight hit the west side, and the west side is now experiencing unprecedented diversity. I think the key to the west side's potential leg-up in the game is the influx of Latinos, who were not a factor in the 50's-60's demographic shift in the rest of the city. That and a now more-upwardly-mobile black population. West siders were trying to preserve an obsolete way of life. An inward-looking culture cannot be competitive in a global world. But now the outside world has come to the west side, in the form of an influx of minority residents. Many west siders are resentful of the subsidized housing which could be considered to be the dam-breaker leading to the infiltration of their communities. There is no doubt the west side, a stalwart in the 50's-60's demographic shift, is now suffering from the early symptoms which has led to so much urban decay in other parts of the city. Income-per-capita is on the downswing, crime is on the upswing. As we see the core urban neighborhoods finally beginning to recover from decades of devastation, it's a big open question how long it might take for the west side to go through a similar recovery process. The urban core has learned a thing or two in its troubled times, and broad support of the streetcar plan is an obvious symbol of these lessons learned. It's no wonder the stalwart west siders have not learned these lessons yet, and do not see value in things like the streetcar. They've only been in the classroom for a generation at best. Let's hope with an influx of diversity (and an outpouring of outmoded ideas and the people who perpetuate them) the west side can accelerate the maturing process, not hit rock bottom like other parts of the city have, and begin to support healthy projects like the streetcar for the good of the west side and the rest of the city. I don't mean to be down on west siders, but I think it's clear there are problems/issues and this is my stab at an explanation.