OCtoCincy

I'm shocked at how "liberal" Salt Lake City is compared to Cincinnati. The have three light rail lines, have three more under construction, and their economy is growing healthily... COAST's response?

Just to confirm-- what will begin in early spring is Utility relocation, not streetcar tracks. Duke Energy says they will spend $20 million on relocating gas/electricity main access, then the Sewer district will need to move over 100 manholes out of the way (more time and money). It's almost a fact that not a single inch of rail will be close to the ground come May. That "helps" the argument that it's ok to cancel the project even if it's been underconstruction for two months since none of it has been streetcar related (that's what they'll argue).

^ A May Ballot issue is a scary thought- That only leaves a few months to get people engaged and since the project will probably just be breaking ground by Primary time, I think this thing isn't a done deal.

^ If tracks aren't in the ground by election day I think the whole project will be in trouble.

In other news--- People keep saying January is the month that construction will start on the Streetcar-- Any word? There are only 27 days until it becomes "construction starts in February".

^ It makes me furious that there won't be an outcry from "fiscal conservatives" on this billion dollar several mile extension through a sparsely populated area.

The building was financed with $225 million in bonds (debt financing) from the Port Authority (a city government agency). Where is COAST!? Why aren't they standing up demanding that parts of the building be sold off as scrap metal to fund the police & fire unions overtime budgets? Clearly they aren't really worried about debt or debt financing. Those $225 million in bonds put the $64 million for the streetcar to shame! I'm glad they mentioned the funding, I had no idea.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/developingnow/ Ribbon Cutting at 1:11PM on 1/11/11. I guess they think the Great American Tower is #1? or #11...

I think it would be awesome if the first place that streetcar tracks were put in the ground was at the Banks-- Perhaps at "opening" (late march/early april right?) the tracks and shelters would already be up... what a moment that would be... I know this is highly unlikely and probably not feasible... but it would be awesome for both the banks and the streetcar.

^ from up close there are cement blocks with rebar sticking out of them deep in the round. Earlier in the construction they were digging up deep blocks of cement with rebar sticking out of them(looked just like these) closer to rosa parks street and breaking them up to remove them. I'm guessing this is more of the same-- I don't know what it's from/why it was there but it's older and seems to be being removed.

K - Finally watched the video... it's not THAT ridiculous. it's a little silly that they mention the "dangerous neighborhood" thing-- techincally that firm was saying certain small portions of OTR were dangerous- so even while Randy and co. have shown that the entire concept and ranking is borderline a lie, you still have to say, a controversial ranking said that part of over-the-rhine was the most dangerous- it NEVER said anything around Music Hall, Ensemble Theater, the art Academy etc. were in the most dangerous neighborhoods. Other than that- and leaving out stories of Digital Rhine/Main street in the late 90's and early 2000's it's mostly true when discussing 2001-2010. It was a 5 minute video- so you can't nock them too much for leaving a few details out. As a resident of OTR, overall i felt it was pretty true.

Actually guys-- All three of those places have Louisiana roots. Two are from New Orleans, the third has its headquarters in Baton Rouge. Very interesting...

^ I don't think there is a set date yet, but I wouldn't expect it until late next year at the soonest.

Go to GatewayQuarter.com to rent parvis apartments-- other than that, I'm not sure (I rent from a guy who bought a condo and heard about it through a friend). currently 71% of all 3CDC invested properties in OTR are occupied (not including Parvis in that figure). Next up is more CityHome (new buildings on Pleasant [yay for infill!]) followed by Mercer Commons ($40+ million project), the Color Building (each floor is about 3000 square feet) and the old Wielerts building (the green building pictured above across the street from the Parvis Lofts).

It doesn't say anything about rail transit-- so who knows. I like that Portland Streetcar shelter- the glass is very attractive, the stop itself doesn't block any views. And for a second there I thought that was the banks construction in the background :P

Groundbreaking Ceremony today at 2PM today! Refreshments afterwards in Corbett Tower at Music Hall.

^ wow- Ya they are pretty crazy. I'm not always a fan of Jeff Berding, but I sent him a thank you email because you know he's taking a lot of heat.

I totally agree with the Casino's overall idea- but I don't think Broadway should be closed It's a pretty crucial intersection. I love triangle plots of land haha, and to use a beautiful triangle as a parking lot is so sad--

^ Agreed!

Any idea if he can change the makeup of the TRAC board before March?

I really don't feel that parking is a problem for residents here. I live on Vine and never have trouble parking (everything built by 3CDC has a guarnateed spot, Parvis are the first where you might not get one). Either way, I have friends over and they never have trouble finding street parking. I visit my friends in other parts of OTR (main and liberty, walnut and 15th) and parking is never a problem at their places. For retail, I understand the importance, and this is the one area I may agree with you. But when these neighborhoods were designed, walkability was key (which is why we love living here!). Hopefully with the streetcar, they don't need to keep paving over every bit of free space. Plenty of neighborhoods in chicago don't offer parking to residents- but they also have a transit system that supports that. Hopefully we get there soon- Cuz I hate seeing asphalt from building to building.

Ya- the more I think about it, the less likely that's very permanent. We'll see.

^ There isn't a Parvis garage in the works. There will be a garage at Mercer Commons (in a couple years) but not Parvis. Currently parvis residents can rent a space for an additional $20.

Yup-- The buildings on the top right are the backs of the old Smitty's buildings. They are each only about 10-30 feet deep. VERY shallow due to the fire and the back half of the buildings being chopped off. (a strange sight to see!). I figured they were keeping the front and would do a modern addition to the back of the buildings (to make them usable again) but they just put parking spaces right up to them (even though the brick is falling off the back of one of the buildings) In person the whole thing looks very strange and shoddy.

^ Agreed.