Brutus_buckeye

Hopefully this can lead to additional office development in the urban core too as they take out additional class B and C space in the area and force space like the 5/3 Center and USBank Center into B space, they can upgrade the urban core product too with a couple high rises.

It was a pretty pathetic argument on Aftab's part. Politics is what it is though. That was such an easy one to put into context though that it would have been better to leave it alone. It is a minor rookie move by Aftab. This election will be about gaining experience for him. He knows he is unlikely to win, and will be hoping to lose by a smaller margin than expected. It will position him as someone with a future in the party. Similar to what Cranley did when he lost to Chabot in 2000.

There will be a SORTA levy next year and it will pass because it will have GOP support and the support of the Chamber and Business Community behind it.

It is impressive what Aftab has done by making the race semi-competitive, however, given the district is a +10 R from the start, unless there was a major scandal surrounding Chabot it is really never realistic for him to take the seat. I think ultimately he is hoping for a strong enough showing lose by 3-4 points to help catapult his political star to higher state office or county office. He was rumored to be running for AG the moment he won the Clerk position, but he set his sights on the Congress instead. I can see him using the exposure he has received from his Congressional run by making a run for County Commission in 2020.

I like this but I think with this plaza the building needs to be about 7-10 stories taller.

gotta put the video board back in

If stacked and tiered appropriately it could work. We could use some upgraded class A+ office space in town. have a parking garage as the base with retail on the lower levels, In addition, stack a luxury hotel on top of it and then add a few floors of high end condos it is not that unrealistic to get there. With Air BnB, it makes it even easier to some extent. But to your point, it is not the economic growth, but it is the institutional money in the market. Right now, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and some other 2nd tier cities like St. Louis do not have that "it" factor to attract the big institutional office money (although the Radius project has started some of this). They don't care if the projects are full because it sort of is a shell game where they swap it around the institutional community every 3-6 years and hope the chairs don't stop moving while they own it. Right now 2nd tier markets like Nashville and to a limited extent Columbus are seeing some of this money even though many economists do not feel those markets can support these projects. That is going to be the biggest challenge to something like this.

Fountain Sq West was going to be the pinnacle of the skyline. Why not get back to that.

650-800

^ The thing about the design which I did not pay attention to very well at first was the tiered plaza (or what appears to be a tiered plaza) This was what the Ftn Square redesign was supposed to remedy and a problem with the old Fountain. It was like a maze to navigate with skywalks and other impediments coming into play. It appears the new design incorporates a lot of what those same features.

Sienna poll on 1st Congressional Race https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/10/02/first-public-poll-shows-state-of-chabot-pureval.html

^ The airfoil part is something I have not thought about and that would be a major concern too. Plus sunlight is also hard the way those buildings will be oriented. I like the concept of it. Wish it would be a little taller. But after reading your post, see exactly what your complaints are about and it makes sense.

The one thing about Cincinnati compared to other cities is that the buildings tend to be more boxy and don't have grand plazas with outdoor dining patio capability that can be found in other cities.

A Jw would be really nice. I would think whoever develops it would not tear down the building that is already there. Especially if itll save them a few millions dollars. A hotel/apartments would be really nice. Heck maybe even western and southern could move their headquarters there. W&S would not move the HQ there. They own the entire Eastern part of downtown. IF they build an HQ tower it will be at 3rd and Broadway or over their existing HQ now. They already own that land. I am fine with a plaza that connects to the square space and makes it feel larger. People are going to cry if the video board comes down so they need to incorporate it with any new design. Cant see them using the existing platform for a tower because it would not support a tall enough building and the footprint building on top of the existing structure is not as good for today's design standards.

Gen Z is such a crappy name. Boomers, Gen X, Millennial all fit. Gen Z is just a name because it is 2 generations removed from Gen X. It was never about the alphabet in naming generations. Gen X is Gen X not because it preceded Gen W but because it conveyed a specific name. People need to come up with something much better than Gen Z

Not a Boomer but I disagree about them not being aware of freebies. Their parents were the WWII/Depression generation. Their grandparents made the difficult transitions into a modern society or were part of the massive immigrant wave into this country. I'm sure stories were told to them of how good they have it. I know my grandparents had fascinating stories of difficulty. Western Millennials, OTOH, haven't really had a difficult road. Non-first world Millennials are a very different story. This is the most-wrong post I've ever seen on Urban Ohio and that says a lot. Boomers, both those on the national stage and those I know personally, are always going on and on about how easy millennials have it (see your second paragraph) and how hard they had it. "I worked my way through college and bought a house at 22" is such a common refrain it's become a cultural meme. Boomers don't put a second thought to the fact that college costs have inflated to the moon, and the minimum wage is lower now than it was in the 1960s. At the same time, they've left us crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, a warming planet---the list goes on and on. Because of the actions of the Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z will have a far worse life than their parents and grandparents. Just like every generation, there are good and bad. Millennial got a bad rap because they were seen as entitled and spoiled. They grew up in an era where they were late to mature. As they have reached their 30s most millennial pretty much fall in line as previous generations have. The key difference is that Boomers were independent at 18. Gen X essentially became fully independent at 22 (while many were still independent at 18) Turning 18 and graduating from HS was a right of passage. WIth the Millennial generation, it seems it takes until 25-28 for the independence to set in and same adult constraints that previous generations had. There is nothing wrong with it either. Part of the reasons for this are that people are staying in school longer. More and more people have a bachelors and then they also have advance degrees. This keeps them from settling down at an earlier age as they establish their career. People get married later. Part of it is establishing themselves, other parts involve more birth control so fewer shotgun marriages, the rise of couples living together, etc. Regardless, part of the knock on the spoiled millennial manta surrounds the fact that the millennial generation has not has to deal with some of the same issues as their predecessors and can have more freedom at a younger age. Also, keep in mind Boomers and Gen X had children at younger ages. So, by the time many were in their mid-40's they were becoming empty nesters and could begin to travel, live and spend their money they have accumulated. Millennials are having children in their mid 30s and not becoming empty nesters until their late 50s. All in all, many of the stereotypes on Millenials are overblown and they are behaving a lot like prior generations as time goes by. I think I agree with you about 90% which is probably the most we'd agree on most things. I do find it funny how millenial is used to describe teenagers now. Millenials are mostly all adults now. I am a younger Gen X'er and I fell more at home with millenials than with Boomes. Boomers are my parents while millenials are cool younger siblings. It was funny, the Today show had a segment on how younger people are taking voting seriously now and how for the first time Millennials will play a big role in the election and that is a sign that the efforts to get college kids to vote are paying off. ----- They seem to have forgotten that the average Millennial is in their early 30s now and that is the typical age where most adults become politically engaged to vote and there is a lot less lethargy about voting. For a show that hires a lot of younger producers, you would think they would be able to make the distinction between the generations.

Not a Boomer but I disagree about them not being aware of freebies. Their parents were the WWII/Depression generation. Their grandparents made the difficult transitions into a modern society or were part of the massive immigrant wave into this country. I'm sure stories were told to them of how good they have it. I know my grandparents had fascinating stories of difficulty. Western Millennials, OTOH, haven't really had a difficult road. Non-first world Millennials are a very different story. This is the most-wrong post I've ever seen on Urban Ohio and that says a lot. Boomers, both those on the national stage and those I know personally, are always going on and on about how easy millennials have it (see your second paragraph) and how hard they had it. "I worked my way through college and bought a house at 22" is such a common refrain it's become a cultural meme. Boomers don't put a second thought to the fact that college costs have inflated to the moon, and the minimum wage is lower now than it was in the 1960s. At the same time, they've left us crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, a warming planet---the list goes on and on. Because of the actions of the Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z will have a far worse life than their parents and grandparents. Just like every generation, there are good and bad. Millennial got a bad rap because they were seen as entitled and spoiled. They grew up in an era where they were late to mature. As they have reached their 30s most millennial pretty much fall in line as previous generations have. The key difference is that Boomers were independent at 18. Gen X essentially became fully independent at 22 (while many were still independent at 18) Turning 18 and graduating from HS was a right of passage. WIth the Millennial generation, it seems it takes until 25-28 for the independence to set in and same adult constraints that previous generations had. There is nothing wrong with it either. Part of the reasons for this are that people are staying in school longer. More and more people have a bachelors and then they also have advance degrees. This keeps them from settling down at an earlier age as they establish their career. People get married later. Part of it is establishing themselves, other parts involve more birth control so fewer shotgun marriages, the rise of couples living together, etc. Regardless, part of the knock on the spoiled millennial manta surrounds the fact that the millennial generation has not has to deal with some of the same issues as their predecessors and can have more freedom at a younger age. Also, keep in mind Boomers and Gen X had children at younger ages. So, by the time many were in their mid-40's they were becoming empty nesters and could begin to travel, live and spend their money they have accumulated. Millennials are having children in their mid 30s and not becoming empty nesters until their late 50s. All in all, many of the stereotypes on Millenials are overblown and they are behaving a lot like prior generations as time goes by.

I personally think they should angle the building the other direction so it opens up the plaza to 5th street thus making the Fountain Sq area seem bigger. The one big thing with any development there is what is going to happen to the big video board. This has become such a fixture on the square over the last decade and there will be a public outcry if they get rid of it. I also cant see how it would fit into the current design. Also would love for them to make it a JW or W brand of luxury hotel down there.

The Sun Sphere is quite is not something that should be celebrated. It looks like a cheap plastic 80s piece of crap. Jake - what is your connection to Tennessee anyway? It seems you spend a lot of time in Nashville and Knoxville?

The Browns are 3 missed FG's away from being 4-0. They are the only team in the division that should have won all 4 of their games yet let them slip away.

I think you mean barren east side and really south of downtown is the industrial valley. The north side has a 10,000 square mile lake in the way. I was implying North Side being that you obviously cant develop a dense community that direction because of the lake.

It was discussed a few pages ago that a lot of that has to do with topography. Columbus has evenly distributed lots on all sides of the city and does not lose anything to hillsides and lakes. Cleveland for the most part has a very barren North side of town with zero density and Clincinnati has a lot of breaks due to hills and topography that make it difficult to develop in certain areas. This is part of the reason why a lot of people say Cincy and Cleveland feel so much bigger or more dense because their density is in a much more compacted area.

So is Cleveland a larger media market than MSA? The same? or vice versa? Like Cincinnati, is the 29th MSA but 35 Media Market, how does Cleve Fall in that mix?

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/columnists/politics-extra/2018/09/27/2018-election-why-cant-aftab-pureval-admit-mistake-and-move/1435408002/ Jason Williams taking Aftab to task here.

^ I agree with you completely about the campaign finance rules, but each politician should be skilled enough to follow them and not let them bite them in the butt.