top6

This doesn't seem like good news to me. If Toby Keith's--which is a pretty big name--is struggling to bring people downtown, I don't know what will. I still don't understand fully what the Banks is doing (and I live there), for reasons I posted about last year. There is really nothing to do there on non-game days except drink (which is odd for a place where probably 98% of your customer base has to drive)--and it really feels so separated from the rest of downtown. That said it is really a place that is best experienced in spring/summer/baseball season, and it's the middle of February, so hopefully this is just winter talking.

This is one thing I've always wondered about the Banks (and that I tried to articulate earlier). If you are trying to develop downtown, why are you building new buildings at the Banks when there are a bunch of abandoned buildings (not to mention 8 lanes of traffic and a highway and a hill) separating the Banks from the rest of downtown? I really don't get it, and every time I walk to Fountain Square or downtown from my apartment at the Banks and pass all of those empty buildings I wonder the same thing.

As I alluded to in my last post, just pretend the Brewery is part of the Banks and then it makes the group of proposed opening tenants seem much better.

That makes sense. That 2-story space is where I heard Ruth's Chris was going; I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that was the space being referred to. I thought with Holy Grail's expansion there would not be enough room for a large bar between the police station and the Grail, but I guess I was wrong. Really, the Moerlein Brewery is going to be by far the best thing down there (even though it's not part of the Banks proper), and really the only thing with any uniqueness or local flavor. (Holy Grail is local, but really nothing more than a [barely] adequate sports bar.) But as others have said in this thread it's really a matter of just getting a critical mass, and getting it off the ground, and then tenants will come and go.

Hmmm... I thought that's where Ruth's Chris was going. Not that we really needed another steakhouse downtown, but I'm also pretty sure we don't need 2 country-music themed bars within 100 yards of each other. Maybe I was wrong about the Ruth's Chris location and they still plan on opening one at the Banks.

You remember Top 6 seats at Riverfront??? Nice. Let me be clear, I don't think the walk is bad. But it just feels separated from the rest of downtown to me. I don't know, it's hard to explain. I don't think the freeway is the main issue either, and I don't see how a park will help if 2nd and 3rd street are still there. They are huge roads and not so easy to cross, and then you have to walk up a hill that has either the bottom of office buildings or seemingly empty buildings. Some bars/businesses between 3rd and 4th street might help. (Incidentally, something else that would help for visitors, I would think, would be if the signs and maps of the city in between the river and downtown could be updated to reflect post-1995 developments. This is something that annoys me every day I walk to work.) I don't think the Streetcar is necessarily the answer, but it would certainly help connect everything together. I do understand that we have to wait a while (i.e., a few years) for the rest of the Banks to develop before it doesn't feel like an island. I think it will especially feel like and island during the non-baseball months, btw. That's obviously what you sign up for, though, when you move into a brand new neighborhood, so I'm not complaining about that. Actually, I'm not complaining about anything, the Banks are great and I am glad to live there, just trying to share my general impressions of the project but sort of struggling to express myself.

Thanks. I like it. I had to move right around when the apartments were opening up, and as I work downtown (and had been hearing about "The Banks" since high school) I just decided to move here. Just looking at some of the issues raised here, there is definitely a noise factor. I can sometimes hear the people in the apartment above me walking, and sometimes I can hear dogs barking. This doesn't bother me, as I can sleep through anything. There are a few other indications that some things were done "on the cheap"-- e.g., my cable wiring was all messed up, my screen door was not attached correctly, and the thermostat is placed in a very strange place (basically, it's very near the only place you can put a tv). But these are relatively small complaints: overall, it's a new apartment, and it's pretty nice. As for public areas, the gym is just 6 cardio machines and some weights, but is adequate for my purposes and I've never had to wait. The pool is pretty pathetic, but they never really claimed otherwise in selling the place. On nice days there is a huge crowd there, and it just looks horribly un-fun and crowded to me, but I guess I am old. I have only been to the rooftop plaza in the north building once, and it's actually pretty nice. It seems like it would have been possible to build a really nice public area with a big pool somewhere, but I guess that would have been too expensive. There are certainly a lot of young people here who certainly enjoy drinking, and while that's not my scene anymore it doesn't bother me. I could see how the noise (and the occasional broken beer bottle in the elevator/vomit in the lobby) could annoy some people, though. All in all, they are perfectly fine apartments in a neat location, and you are definitely paying a premium for the location. The staff is very nice (and they put together some events that seem fun -- I'm usually not able to attend due to work). I have never rented in Cincinnati before, but rented in Chicago for a long time, so the rent seems really cheap to me, lol. As for that location/The Banks generally, it is a little disappointing that the summer went by and nothing except Holy Grail opened. I also thought the park was going to open at some point, but it has not, which must be especially frustrating for the aforementioned dog owners. The brewery is going to be awesome though. I LOVE the way the whole area connects to the ballpark -- there's just a really cool feeling on gameday, and it's only going to get better as more of the Banks, the park, and the brewery are completed. I do wonder how this is going to work, though. The area just feels really disconnected from the rest of downtown to me. You have to go over a highway, cross two 4-lane roads (2nd and 3rd street) and then walk up a hill to get to anything else downtown. And will there ever be enough at The Banks to get people to say, "hey, let's go down to the Banks"? I don't know the answer to that, but nor do I know anything about urban planning. But if it's just going to be a bunch of restaurants and bars for foreseeable future - most of which (outside of the brewery) are pretty much the same as restaurants and bars you can go to anywhere else - what is going to cause people to come down here? And once they do, is it really going to bring people downtown, given the separation issues I mentioned earlier? Again, I'm not really familiar with the goals here, but I do sometimes wonder what it is intended to accomplish in the end. I love this city, though, so I'm happy to be down here.

I think that is actually going to be Johnny Rocket's, from what I am hearing. (I live at The Banks, and heard that from someone who works there, but that is more rumor than reliable information. But based on the signs I think Huey's is going to also be in the South Building, but on the West Side, i.e., across from what is rumored to be a Ruth's Chris.) As for the general timing of things opening, I find it very strange that the other bars and restaurants did not make a push to open during Reds season. I can't imagine they have any strong incentive to open before next April now. I also find it strange that Johnny Rockets is opening when there is a Johnny Rockets right across the river, although I think this one is going to be a slightly different concept and include a bar. Cool forum, btw.