natininja

The stadium can seat 166% of the town's residents. It's like a tsunami hits on game days, and it's just out of proportion with the scale of the town (I don't mean the physical building). Given the dearth of retail near the stadium and PATH station, I know those people aren't spending money in the town. (Nor would they probably do so if there were retail -- it's typical of sports stadia.) Put it this way, there's a reason NYC doesn't just build its sports arenas in the city. (It's not for lack of space in or near Manhattan, considering the willingness to build all the way out in Harrison.) Unlike the Meadowlands, where no one really lives, this soccer stadium has an adverse affect on what is a nice town. They get all the hassle and none of the benefit of housing the Red Bulls (aside from some use of the arena). Change the name to the Harrison Red Bulls and I will change my mind. It's yet another instance of NYC dumping its crap in NJ. Honestly, I'd rather see a mall like in Newport than the soccer arena.

In Cincy: OTR revitalization is maybe a good focus. Mt. Adams & Northside. Clifton might be good, as it is medium-density but functions like an urban hood. I think the reason you aren't getting many responses is because not many of us know about the smaller towns which you were asking about: "I'm looking for southern Ohio rowhouses in tiny farm towns. I'm looking for small county seats with tidy rows of single-family homes at 7-10 per acre -- urban-transit density in picket-fence America." We know the cities, hence UrbanOhio.

LOL, sorry thread creator, I didn't realize it was "a Jersey thing".

Thread title typos. e.g. "Cincinnati: Montly Parking in Gateway Quarter"

Thanks, BallHatGuy! :-D

You know how in 2009 there was a ballot initiative to stop the project (which was soundly defeated)? Well they have been petitioning to put it on the ballot again in May. Meanwhile, preliminary work has started, like moving utilities and whatnot.

The NY Red Bulls killed Harrison.

GB is the ideal sports team. Small city = tight community. Consistently winning team. Public, non-profit ownership. Who can dislike the Packers?

It's just strange that someone on 3CDC's board can be the brains behind so much anti-Cincinnati center city development propaganda.

It should be called Annie Oakley's. :-)

^ Killjoy...

Hamburger Mary's closed, reopened, later lost their franchise, changed name to Roxy's... I think that's the long story (over several years) short. Chalk up another "amenity"!!!

You read my mind.

Wow, awesome video.

Interesting summary...

I didn't mean to crap on Michigan, but in terms of "cool cities" potential, they just can't touch Ohio (pretty much no one can, IMO). They win on natural environment, though. I'll give them that. Re: beer...Very true! Kasich should push for a brewery plan. Greg Hardman in Cincinnati is hard at work on resurrecting Cincy's beer heritage, so that's a start.

^ You know it.

Agreed. I used to live in Michigan and during that time Gov Jennifer Granholm hired Richard Florida's consulting firm to address the state's brain drain and they came up with the "cool cities" program. Check it out. http://www.coolcities.com/main.html Trust me, it did nothing to retain young people, they still leave in droves for hotter job markets like Boston, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. Once the jobs are here, young people come for the opportunities, make a little money, you'll start to see more people reinvesting in pockets of the city which have been overlooked. There are lots of things wrong with that plan. Not a big enough focus on transportation, for one. Too broad a scope, for another. (It's comical to look at the list of cities aimed to become cool.) Frankly, Ohio has better bones than Michigan. You have to have the potential, to make it work. Or you can be Portland.

Sherman: 1) I didn't mean completely, across the board, no one cares...of course some care. 2) The broader point stands that you chose to live in the Cincinnati area prior to the considerations you mention. I'm not splitting hairs about choices within a metro region. There is a large contingent of Generation-Y whose primary criterion for where they locate is the experience they believe they will have in that location. Large enough to account for a significant portion of Ohio's brain drain. Large enough that, if the demographic were tapped into, could reverse the trend. Lowering taxes won't bring those people here. That is my main point. I further contend that this demographic is even larger among the highly educated than the general population. (Especially insofar as education-level and class converge, since such a choice is ultimately a luxury.) It would be interesting to see a poll of Gen-Yers which asks why they chose to live where they do, broken down by educational attainment. I think it would be enlightening.

No, I mean the crowd of 20-somethings who choose to leave Ohio, or not come back to Ohio, post-graduation. You know, the people who are jetting off to the coasts, where taxes are through the roof compared to Ohio. I know the wealth drain is related, but that's why I said "[taxes] don't affect brain drain very directly", acknowledging there to be some correlation. While much of Ohio has lost a ton of major local businesses, in my Cincinnati-centric view, I see people leaving not due to lack of major firms to work for, and not due to high taxes, but rather the perception that Ohio and Cincinnati are missing some kind of excitement offered by the trendy coastal cities. Look at Portland -- there are no jobs, but I know many Ohioans who have moved there regardless. (Then they typically move away when they've realized the financial doom they are condemned to; if job prospects were their main concern, they'd have been better off staying in Columbus or Cincinnati.) But I am discussing this with someone who claims their high school class didn't jet to the coasts, but stayed in suburban/exurban Columbus. It seems to me there are two ways a city can get ahead: by following the NYC/San Fran/Portland/urban model, in which case taxes don't matter (yes, hyperbole, but...). Or they can go the Houston/Charlotte/sprawlburban model, where the key draw is low taxes and deregulation. Ohio can't really decide which it wants, so it's not successful at either one. I won't even go there, commenting on the merits and problems of the two options. Most people on here, including me, would obviously pick the former.

Ohio's state taxes are below average. It is the local taxes that are high and that is due to policy that started under Rhodes. Not that facts matter to Fox News Kasich and his real estate salesman buddy Not only that, but while high taxes can add to wealth drain, they don't affect brain drain very directly. Young people are simply not that concerned with taxes.

Looks like the pressure got to him.

^ How can you ask others to be more charitable, when you are so uncharitable? It makes no sense.

Well I feel relate to/understand their opinions. I agree what he said is sh!tty, too. I think that's what counts the most.

Sherman and HHS78 aren't white, and they seem to have the same take I do. Well...Sherman's take is even more extreme. Do you want me to play my gay card? I could try that, too.