OCtoCincy

Went for a walk yesterday- The storm had knocked down a lot of the fencing and almost none of the gates were closed- Looks like they ditched the site when the storm started. The southwest corner of the south Block. The southwest corner of the south block, looking towards the Event Lawn Patio area on northern building- still under construction Patio on northern building- still under construction Already showing some wear and tear... Staircase midway down Freedom Way (between Main & Walnut) - Clearly has some sort of water issue (everywhere else was dry by now) and the glass is shattered, possibly from a recent storm (all of the fencing had been blown over).

^ agreed!

Well- they might technically be condos and not townhomes-- but the point is that they are for sale and not for rent... Also, I believe there is no specific timeline for their construction, but I would guess, late this year or early next spring.

There were around 20 that said had the Cincinnati Water Works or MSD logos on them.

Love the shots-- That last one shows how great the townhomes will be once they are finally built!! They will be RIGHT against the park. haha

Everyone keeps talking about Duke-- What about MSD??? There are still hundreds of MSD manholes that need to moved. I counted about 20 MSD manholes along 12th street. I could not find a line item in the budget for moving Sewer and water lines. Is there one? Is this paid for by MSD or the city?

Wait really? An entire conversation about what leads to developments like 65 West being built in CUF was just deleted. The deletions on this forum seem to increase by the day. In talking about 65 West, and how it's a horrible design by a company that disregards preservation, it is entirely accurate to discuss WHY we keep ending up with these developments. We were talking about housing- in the neighborhood 65 West is being built, and the reasons that 65 West, while poorly designed, will probably be full immediately. I feel like all of that is entirely applicable to a thread titled: 65 West Apartments.

^ I'm going to believe John on this one- and not eighth and states source. However- there are still some manholes that are directly on the track where a streetcar would travel- not in the middle of the road, but in the middle of the track area. And while duke was budgeted- I was wondering about MSD- Was that in the budget? Thanks for the help guys.

The enquirer usually says not to do it "right now" because of budget problems and a lack of funding. This entire "the enquirer is racist" argument is totally silly. Smitherman is incredibly popular in the black community- The reverend (whose name I can't remember) who spoke against the streetcar is again very influential in the black community. These people are against the streetcar as well. The enquirer doesn't have some racist agenda against the streetcar. If anything, it's more so about socioeconomic status than it is about race- two very different things. The enquirer is not against over the rhine being redeveloped- The enquirer is 3CDC's number 1 champion- their Publisher is very active on the board of 3CDC. Simplifying the issue into saying the enquirer is against the streetcar because it wants Over the Rhine to remain a ghetto is an incredibly uninformed and short sighted.

^ the biggest problem with your argument is that the NAACP doesn't want the streetcar either because they say it will disenfranchise African-Americans. In fact, several of the speakers against the streetcar were African American. Hell- Charlie Winburn at a recent public safety hearing said he's against it because of the crime in the area. This isn't a clear cut racial issue, so please don't paint it as one.

Does anyone know what the budget is to move water and sewer lines/manholes? I'm aware of the Duke budget for electric and gas... but I was wondering if there was a line item for manholes/sewer/water. Between Vine and Main on 12th I counted nearly 20 manholes that are on the streetcar side of the street on that small portion of the track. I was talking with a construction worker who is anti- streetcar- He was saying that there is no line item for moving manholes & sewer and water access points.- Is that true?

I'm really disappointed in Lippert- He's actually a really genuine nice guy- (unlike some other republicans on council). Unfortunately, I disagree with his politics so much and he's not a very strong leader. The people mover is a ridiculous comparison for several reasons- at the same time, it has a ridership of over 2 million people a year! Also- the people mover charges $100 for an annual pass! or $10 for a monthly pass- that's INCREDIBLY cheap- no one is expecting our streetcar to have rates that low. And the .50 cents for ever $3 figure that he often quotes is from 1998.

Anyone have a picture of the courtyard?? I've wondered how it turned out.

haha- love it. Any idea if "Fall" means BEFORE the Nov. Election? Anyone on the inside know when we might know a more precise date?

I took the bus home from the Reds game this afternoon- the two riders behind me were complaining about how pointless the streetcar is-- The man said, and I quote: "The city has it's priorities all wrong-- they shouldn't spend a dime on that streetcar until the fix the problems we already have- like the escalator at Paul Brown Stadium that never works" There are some people who will just never see the vision.

Dear lord-- This development went from decently attractive to god awful ugly in just a few weeks- They're painting the balcony's dark blue and brown and the exterior walls light green. :(

Well-- If Hollan is publicly pro-streetcar then there would be 9 candidates for a pro-streetcar slate- Pretty impressive!!

So if Streetcar supporters wanted their own City Council Ticket- it would be: Qualls Quinlivan Thomas Young Seelbach Simpson Flynn Riveiro Bortz Again-- I'm not sure the position of Hollan- and Sittenfeld seems to be on the fence.

Did he say that publicly? I hadn't heard that. The original plan was without the uptown connection... that was added by Qualls. Did he not support it originally?

So we know the streetcar positions of the incumbents- FOR: Quinlivan Qualls Thomas Young Bortz (obviously can't vote though) AGAINST Lippert Ghiz Winburn Murray What about non-incumbents? Positions I'm aware of are: Simpson: FOR Seelbach: FOR Sittenfeld: was for- but I've heard that he has hesitations now that it's the shortened route- he wasn't at the Wednesday event. Smitherman: AGAINST I don't know: Riveiro Flynn Hollan Mills Correct me if I'm wrong and please fill in the others if you know off hand-

^ agreed!!

I listened to the whole interview- She really made a fool of herself. Aligning yourself with Smitherman?? And the age thing!! She's like 41... she's not even that old! I'm pretty sure most of the common name Streetcar supporters are in their mid 30's...

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2011/03/25/vacant-for-years-maisonette-block.html Already on it!

^ no worries- Phase 2 - the St. George/Vine area- will be a large office building- not residential. Vine/Calhoun intersection is the bottom of the image- you can see the residential part of U Square in the distance. Interestingly enough- the numbers provided on the architechts website are very different from those provided in the most recent SoapBox Article Office Space: Arch: 115,000 sq/feet SoapBox: 44,000 sq/feet Parking: Arch: 1,100 spaces SoapBox: 716 spaces I'm guessing this is because the SoapBox Article is NOT referencing any of the phase 2 development- Just from the image I'd guess the building we're looking at could be 60,000 square feet of office space with around 350 parking spaces underneath it... That or the project has been scaled back quite a bit.