JohnClevesSymmes

This is definitely the kicker. There is nothing wrong with the city helping fund infrastructure. As long as the equipment stays with the space then the city has now funded a permanent location at the banks where locally owned, possibly minority owned restaurants can make a go of it. The Banks and the city will be better off for it in the long run. If the city issued a grant to build the space out in advance, then recruited Mahogany's, you probably wouldn't hear a peep off this board.

Once Reds season begins (pitchers and catchers reported today!), the Moerlein House other establishments open there will really be a strong crowd and an interesting mix of personalities/demographics. On a side note, can we please start referring to Toby Keith's by its acronym, TKILTBAG?! It just makes me chuckle for some reason.

^ Cincinnati is not New York or London, and sometimes it is difficult to stomach the ribbing. If Cincinnati was made fun of for its burgeoning hipster culture, a la Portlandia, of course we would all have a good sense of humor about it. The central problem with local memes like the one above and the Shi!t Cincinnatians Say video is that it stems from a local ignorance. I know those people, I grew up with those people, and I don't want to say that those people are stuck in an outdated suburban mentality, but those people probably have a penchant for Applebees and hang out at Newport on the Levy or MLT's. Just Sayin.

Before an admin deletes the thread, I hope you found my response post in good humor. I too have been annoyed by the anti-OTR postings under the label "CincyProblems". Even though it shouldn't, it really surprises me when people still think of OTR as a black hole of danger. The "Shit Cincinnatians Say" video falls under the same pernicious ignorance. I believe one of the lines was "I don't want to drive through over the rhine." I guess that is something my mom might have said when I was a kid if we had to go from Clifton to Downtown, but we usually took the straight shot down Vine anyway.

More accurate:

I just heard a rumor that the operator is going to be Mike Hama, former co-proprietor of Beluga. In its day, Beluga was a popular establishment of some quality before its decline into a douchey nightspot that also had decent though pricey sushi. An additional note - Mike is actually of Thai descent, which makes me feel better about the prospects. Hopefully he is looking to do solid thai food and cater to the Gateway at a lower price point than the other nearby establishments (as opposed to catering to the old Beluga bar crowd in the new trendy location).

What about the ol' Circuit City location at Center of Cincinnati?

I'm reminded of the Urbancincy post from last year that discussed the Vine St. Kroger. It is sitting there in a prime spot and has the potential to add much convenience to the neighborhood. However, the selection is flawed and it is just not very inviting. As the post stated, the more people use it and request an upgraded selection, the more likely that is to occur. Parvis has been sitting basically across the street from it and is full but I would be curious to know how many of its residents use that kroger. I also wonder how many new residents the area really needs to warrant the retail services we want to see. Perhaps it will come after Mercer Commons fills - which would mean a few more years. Mt. Adams has pretty decent population density and all it has aside from bars/restaurants is a UDF and a couple dry cleaners.

^ Also Medpace, other developments along Red Bank.

KAO Brands possibly looking for up to 60k sq ft of office space downtown according to biz courier. I'm hoping they are going to move into the 580 building so I am posting the link here. Announcement tomorrow at 2. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2012/02/13/kao-usa-to-make-economic-development.html

This weekend it seemed like every establishment on vine st. was packed. On the coldest weekend of the year. 1215 just opened and I hear rumors of new bars/restaurants coming down the pipeline for the street. In a couple of years Mercer commons will add a slew of new residents to the area and of course the streetcar factors in too. Without question, the Gateway Quarter is a huge success. If you are going to open a restaurant in Cincinnati that caters to a hip crowd, you would almost be a fool not to locate on Vine st. right now.

^ Do you think that the tea partiers are going to forget about their beliefs and suddenly vote for Obama? The local tea party movement not only still exists but is quite well organized. They are getting their people precinct executive spots and other positions of influence in the GOP. The lack of comments on COAST's blog speaks more to that group's lack of credibility than a wane in the tea party movement. As more tea party candidates get elected and more tea party members join the GOP establishment, mainstreaming is inevitable but I would not count out their influence at the polls this November. This is my theory (still a work in progress): The hatred was never really sustainable, but the core beliefs of the movement - basically libertarianism - will continue to keep tea party organizations meeting and united. On NPR the other day a commenter discussing libertarianism labelled it rationally consistent, because it calls for government to stay out of both the economy and people's personal lives. Most "conservatives" are all for keeping the government out of the economy but want government to legislate the personal. That same afternoon on NPR there was a discussion of a series of letters between George Romney and William F. Buckley about whether the republican party should be ideologically based or a coalition. If the Republicans can keep a coalition going with the tea party as a new libertarian wing, perhaps the libertarians will help moderate the party on social issues and widen the tent. On a related note, I'm not sure Obama is terribly excited by the prospect of running against Romney. Romney is arguably credible on economic issues and is perceived as socially moderate enough to have been governor of a blue state. All of that being said, I would still be surprised if Obama loses. What will be more interesting will be to see if tea party candidates continue to get elected to lower offices and how each major party does in the other elections. Since this is the COAST thread, I will bring my rambling back to COAST. COAST has lost credibility with the city as a whole because it seems like the only time they pop up in the news is when they are opposing progress, suing the city (costing the city tremendous sums, city resident tea partiers couldn't have been pleased), or making offensive comments on twitter. I guess their only two "endorsed" candidates both got seats on city council last year - so they have that goin for them...

This is a strong argument that cannot be discounted. Also, the convenient on-street spaces will make the park friendlier to a casual user who justs wants to stop by and check it out, or maybe just chill there for half an hour or so. I only want to park in a garage if I am going to be somewhere for several hours, but I have no problem swiping my card for $2.00 to get an hour on the street. Arguments have also been made that on street parking is important for the businesses and slows down traffic. After weighing both sides I think the pro-metered spaces argument wins. Time to call city hall and voice my concerns.

^ I toured the building and a few apartments about a year ago. I have to say that it is looking pretty good for something built when? 70's? For such a huge apartment building I would say 90% occupancy is pretty solid. The building and apartments are decidedly unhip, but they could start changing units to hardwood, updating kitchens and opening them up to the living rooms and I bet they could return to a premier building. I know back in the day it was a happening and sought-after place to live.

^ I know the spot you are talking about. My understanding is that it's one of those P&G experiential product thingies for their own use - not going to be store or anything cool. Hope I'm wrong.

And I would argue that the Banks connection is more important for development, though Uptown is probably more important for ridership.

Agreed. If the city is serious about encouraging the next phases of development at the Banks, the streetcar ought to reach the project. If the streetcar is going to be a development engine, what better way to illustrate that point than by having a rapidly developing Banks as one bookend of the line.