Brutus_buckeye

I don't think the Skywalks were the issue since they were empty too most of the time. They definitely hurt the street traffic but businesses were not anymore successful on SKywalk level then they were street level. The key to the revival is that there are now people living in the city whereas in 1995 the only place to live downtown was the Metropole and Lytle apartments.

I said the Autograph was actually going to happen, I still am skeptical about the Bohemian until it actually does. The Autograph is more concrete at this point. Not to say the Bohemian wont, but it could be like the Holiday Inn project which has taken forever or the Hampton INn project which just opened. The Bohemian is where the Autograph was in say 2012

Seeing the driver approach on your phone is a huge advantage over the old way of doing things, yet surprisingly few people pay attention. I have to call at least half of riders to tell them to come out. It wastes a huge amount of time. Before cell phones people used to wait by their doors looking for the pizza guy. Cabs were the same way until Uber. Now with cell phones people are deep in their homes absorbed in some inane activity and forget to turn on their phones both for pizza delivery and when they're getting picked up. There are a lot of people going out who "aren't ready" 15 minutes after making the ride request. Then when people are in a bar and you call them they'll say "We're finishing up our last drink we'll be right out!". Five minutes later still no sign of them. With Uber a driver can cancel the ride and you are charged $5 if you don't come out after they have called you. That is a benefit of Uber when you are waiting for it at your home. In the city, it the cabs have a benefit by being able to hail one on the side of the street easier. There are benefits and drawbacks to each.

Government should not be in the for profit business Jake.

What a thoughtful comment that encourages and supports development in urban Ohio. Based on, what, exactly are you making this statement? The Grand Bohemian is being done by a group that has 10 hotels already. It's not like it's some first timer developer with pie-in-the-sky, lofty ideas that stretch the boundaries. It's an office to hotel conversion like we've seen countless times by a company that already owns and operates a number of hotels. I have no problem with the atrium idea if it's done tastefully. I saw an example in Seattle by Pioneer Square that had an operable roof which created a really nice space for what appeared to be a hotel that occupied two formerly separate historic buildings. Edit: Apparently it's called Court in the Square and appears to be used for weddings often. I like the architecture at Anna Louise better, I think it is a good location and excellent opportunity for a luxury boutique hotel. The Bohemian may be nice, and it has the P&G HQ to pull from but if only one were to succeed I would pull for the Anna Louise property. I am pulling for both, but if I had to pick one, I am more excited about the Anna Louise development. that is all.

I think the UPS people were encouraging the IRS to go after FedEx to try and even the playing field

I always thought UPS used the employee model because they were unionized more and FEDEX had the independent contractor model. I know FedEx lost that case but I think they are still appealing it.

I don't know of any taxi drivers on a cab company payroll either. They are all independent contractors. I don't know of any cabbies who are either, but what I was saying is I bet they would be pleased with such a decision because it curbs Uber's influence. Now, this could also negatively affect cab drivers too in certain states like CA who need to do a money grab to get their books in line.

With Napster it was the record labels going after them and claiming copyright infringement. In this case it is the government claiming they are not paying taxes (employment taxes). While the general public does not really care how Uber/Lyft work. The model depends on independent contractors who fill that role. The government (tax authorities) hate independent contractors because they have a harder time collecting taxes from them. It is easier for a large corporation to do their dirty work. This is not the work of the taxi lobby, although they are probably supportive of this, but really it is due to the fact that CA is a very cash strapped state looking for additional ways to generate tax revenue, as Uber is an easy target.

This is definitely not good news for Uber and Lyft. I know that Taxi companies are relishing this news. http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/uber-legal-setback.html?cid=em01011week25day17a

I am much more excited about this place than the Grand Bohemian. At least this place will come to fruition.

The politicians who sell their souls for the Union donations.

The problem is that we have to be nice to the Unions too.

I was just using that figure to show that there are less tickets available. Season tix holders will have access to tickets this year but again in the 88 game the tickets were like $60 now they are a few hundred ( much more than the 3x markup they were in 88). Also, while season ticket holders will get the opportunity, they will not have the opportunity to get as many as they did in 88. Finally, my point was that there is less opportunity for the local fan this year because of the role MLB plays now in the game (which started in the late 90s) and you couple that with a stadium that seats 15,000 less people too.

I would love them to scrap the office building and build a 50 story tower somewhere else in downtown.

I don't see where you get this. This game is soo much bigger than in 1988. In 88 they had the HR Derby in the afternoon on Monday and the game the next day. Monday was a rainy day and the Derby was essentially a soggy affair. THe events did not spread out downtown, and it was only in the stadium area. It was a big deal for the game but there was little spillover outside of the stadium. I think what you see is that back then you could get a ticket to the game by standing in line or having season tickets. Now, you cannot get tickets locally because they are controlled by MLB. Essentially 80% of the people in attendance at the game now are going to be out of towners vs in 1988 80% of the people were local.

Maybe the move a portion of it or incorporate GABP or PBS as part of the festival.

I think the big thing that makes condos hard in Cincy is the lack of available land in the CBD. It is about as built out as can be with small surface lots. After the Casino went to Broadway commons, there really is not a huge surface lot for a condo development in the area. Not like Cbus had with the arena district and Grandview yard area. I don't know if it was a blessing or a curse that the downtown area was never that industrial.

Jake, it is disappointing that you have bought into the mantra that all wealth is inherited in this country. Yes, about 10% of the country are trust fund babies, but the rest of wealth is all first generation, which means people are earning it in their life times

^ It does not matter where the business elite live, it matters that they can create the private investment in jobs and capital in a city. They can move jobs from one locale to another if they believe the business environment is good. W&S for example has relocated jobs to Cincy from other areas over the past few years because it made economic sense and they felt the area was good for business. This is where those leaders carry a lot of sway and it does not matter where they live. They carry much more sway that 100 urban professionals who may live downtown in OTR because these "elite" have the capital to hire those people, to invest in the community and to help the city leverage their assets in a meaningful manner.

First, Cranley was the head of the finance committee for basically Mallory's whole first term. The chair of the finance committee sets the agenda for the budget. They were allies during this time. Read the papers. Understand how the process actually works. Second, remember all that "structurally balanced budget" malarkey? Cranley's last budget wasn't structurally balanced. The reason why you don't hear that term thrown about so much now is because it was always just a term that the conservatives used to ding the liberals on council. The conservatives are in power now, so no one uses it as a way to ding them. Third, Cincinnati had a riot in 2001 because of the terrible relationship between the black community and the police. The collaborative agreement was signed in 2001-2002 but wasn't implemented until Mallory came into office. Read that Atlantic story. It's amazing. The improved police-community relations is the best thing that has happened in the City in twenty or thirty years. Fourth, Mallory's election in 2005 wasn't a fluke, it was a function of the issues that were present in the City at the time and the demographics. Pepper (who's a pretty good politician) wanted to build a new jail as County Commissioner in 2007. He had a pretty good plan. Read the Atlantic article. Turns out that by implementing the Collaborative Agreement & community oriented policing, the City was able to both reduce crime & arrests. I guess we didn't need to spend millions on a new jail, no matter how sensible the plans were, we just need to treat citizens with equal respect. Fifth, the Streetcar was the second best thing to come out of the Mallory/Dohoney administration. It wasn't unique to them, they just realized it was both doable by the City as a City (and not in conjunction with the County a la MetroMoves or SORTA funding, always a dead end) and that it complemented what 3CDC was doing, as well as all the Findlay Market rehab that had already occured. It's easier for the City to act as a residential real estate developer and attract people to move within its territory and have businesses follow (this is obviously what happened in the suburbs) than it is to try to entice business to move, because they'll just play the tax credit game (witness Omnicare). Sixth, Cranley should be proud of the pension agreement. That is a great thing for the City and something he worked hard to bring about. Mallory may have been silly in many ways, but the achievements of the Mallory/Dohoney administration are objectively far more substantial than anything Cranley has so far done or proposed. Attributing some sort of fiscal responsibility to him is ludicrous because it completely ignores the previous eight years he spend in politics, and who his allies were at that time. Doheny and Mallory got the city in a major fiscal mess that they were not qualified to get out it out of. If they were still in charge, we would be heading toward Chicago and Detroit. Mallory was a cheerleader and he did have some vision but he was not very strong at leading. He created the most damage for the city when he had other clowns like Quinliven and Qualls on council to just agree with his agenda. While I disagree with Cranley's position on the streetcar, I agree that operationally, the streetcar is not going to be profitable. I still thought it is a worthy venture to help with OTR development. Calling it transformational is a bit over the top too. It is a nice neighborhood development tool for the city and will be an asset but it is an expensive one that will run an operating loss. Mallory did not care to realize this, and often created bad deals that would harm the city in the long run. As someone who has connections with many senior business leaders, you do not know the damage that Mallory was causing at the end of his tenure which ultimately cost the city opportunities. Put it this way, if Mallory were still in charge, GE would not be at the banks.

I will give you Mallory was more of the vision person but he did not know how to get things done in a safe manner that protected the integrity of city finances. Often times, he was scattered and was difficult to work with per many influential business leaders. This cost the city a number of significant opportunities during his tenure. That being said, in 2007 he was what the city needed, he was a shot in the arm and #1 cheerleader. By 2014 though, we did not need him and a third term would have taken the city backwards. Cranley is less visionary but he understands the finances and mechanics to get things done. He knows how to work the inner workings of the system. He has the contacts and trust in the business community, and he has the experience as a developer to know what is feasible and what is not economically feasible. It may mean we have to dial back on the shiny objects but it will mean that more things actually go from vision to fruition.

I think you all sell Cranley short here solely because of his stance on the Streetcar. Cranley is doing a much better job than Mallory did, not to say Mallory was not the right fit at the time, but that it was also good Cranley is in charge. Cranley has the support of the business community and is able to get a lot more things done. The complaint I heard on Mallory was that him and Doheny often got in the way with some stupid initiatives, etc... Mallory would talk a big game and was a good cheerleader but he and his crew were often fiscally irresponsible with the city money (see Mohagoney's, streetcar structure, responsible bidder). Mallory and his cronies were too enamored by the shiny new object and would not really understand what it take to bring it to fruition. Don't you think that having a real estate attorney who is also a developer himself, and has developed multi-million dollar projects, represented other developers in this arena and understands how to secure the financing and collateral to make the project happen would be an asset? Yes, Mallory got phase I of the banks off, but the project has really taken off under Cranley, because he was able to shore up financing and make the numbers work. GE is coming to the Banks (and if you want to give Mallory credit for the Banks, then Cranley deserves credit for GE). I lived in Cleveland in the 1990s when Mike White was mayor. He was similar to Mallory and Cleveland was experiencing a rebirth at that time, but the city coffers were in horrible shape. When he left office, the city struggled for a few years before trying to find its footing again. Bottom line, there was a mess with finances that were being papered over before Cranley took over and he has straightened them out to allow the city to move forward.

^ 4 units is a little light, the institutional money does not really go after much outside of the 100+ unit range.

While the corp HQ may be gone it may be that the Divisional HQ moves to Cinti. Omnicare was much larger than CVS in this particular area so it may be that there are more high paying jobs that come to town, even though the CEO and senior VP's will be in the Northeast, it could be more jobs in the Cincinnati area. Look at US Bank as an example when they merged with Firstar and the consumer banking business remained based here.. If the talent pool is greater here, you will not want to move those jobs outside of the area. This would be different if they were just trying to get market share (aka time warner/charter/Comcast or any airline merger) where there is a zero sum gain. In this case, things could be decent for Cincinnati (as much as it sucks to lose a fortune 500 HQ)