kjbrill

This is the problem. People who complain and demean these neighborhoods are basing it on 50 years of preconceived notions. Except they and you haven't stepped foot in them for decades. You, and suburbanites like you, have a preconceived notion of places like Madisonville and Walnut Hills based on conditions that existed 10-20 years ago. Investment in neighborhoods like these is met with derision, because why invest in crappy, crime-ridden neighborhoods. Except it's that very lack of investment that allowed those neighborhoods to decline. It took years of fighting that perception to enlighten people that (A) people - real people with families, not just "drug dealers and prostitutes" - still live in these areas, (B) those real people want to live in a vibrant, safe community just like you, and © they deserve it just as much as people living in any other neighborhood. It only takes a moment of clarity to change that perception. Even up to last year the majority of people who didn't know better were saying "who on earth would want to go to OTR?" despite not having been north of Central Parkway in a decade. Their preconceived notion was that it was crime-ridden, dilapidated, and no where to take your kids. Then LumenoCity happened and it was a massive U-turn in the public consciousness about OTR. Now you almost never hear negative things about OTR except from the least-traveled members of the suburbs (and AM radio stations still trafficking in fear for ratings' sake). So please give us a rundown on all of the great reconstructions in Madisonville, both residential and business. Pardon me if I am dubvious, but I am ready to be enlightened. Rather than just saying we are anti, give us some positives to digest. I just don't think the entire City is in a position to do an OTR, especially without 3CDC.

Like your straightforwardness. But still a long haul to go. The crime part is why I basically wrote Madisonville off. And the schools reflect the population. Until the population of Madisonville turns over and people who want good schools are the majority it will not happen. I just do not see this being compatible in the short term with the high cost of rehabbing the old property. Takes something to get a neighborhood that size to be committed to rehab.

So what is the attraction of moving there? Big old houses at cheap prices? I am aware of some of the older architecture which exists in Madisonville, impressive structures in their day. I am also aware the maintenance costs on some of those big old barns due to their construction can eat you alive. So in your opinion what is the reason this neighborhood will come back to life?

I will admit spent a lot of time as a youth, about 70 years ago now, going to Madisonville when it was a vibrant community. We did a lot of shopping there until one-by-one the stores began closing. I will admit after a period of time watching all of the storefronts boarded up and the increasing blight of the older residential portions, rather gave up on Madisonville - wrote it off so to speak. There was a point in time when I would not stop in Madisonville on a bet. If it has been turned around, needs a PR campaign to announce it. Guess I need to drive down there and see what percentage of boarded up storefronts are now vibrant businesses again.

We have two vehicles, but there are extenuating circumstances. My wife has a 1997 wheelchair conversion minivan. Without the van she is basically unable to venture out, can't go anywhere. Just this week had to put $600 in repairs in the van - ouch. But over a period of time, not so bad. As the mechanic told me, compared to the cost of a new one, he can install a whole new engine and drive train for a fraction of the cost. That is the track I am following. I am driving a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan. It just recently turned 50,000 miles, and is still performing well. Won't win any gas mileage derbys, but at the distance I drive it who gives a shit? The two vehicles combined rarely exceed 5,000 miles a year. This is due to the fact they rarely leave the confines of Mason Ohio. So vehicle ownership is not the issue, it is how you use them. Just thought I would drop this little notee.

Madison and Kenwood? That is rather out in the boonies relative to Madisonville. Maybe they should concentrate on Madison and Whetsel, might make some gains there. Madisonville needs someone with some future thinking as to how it is going to pull itself up by its bootstraps, because nothing else is working.

So are you saying burn the newbies as they don't have enough sense to realize when they are being had?

Please cite your data on the pent up demand for a large system into the suburbs. I just don't see that. On one hand I read about how all of the youth desire to move back into the urban core. Then you say there is this huge pent up demand for rail transport from the suburbs to the City. Somebody has their wires crossed. Please explain.

I am sure you know who the rail zealots are. Those who are constantly advocating rail transportation no matter what. There may be a future for rail, but I frankly don't believe it is here and now. If gasoline prices keep increasing OK, but it will take a national initiative on the scale of the Interstate Highway System to make it happen. That is a huge endeavor and extremely political. All of these local proposals are also extremely political, why do you think they are going nowhere?

My vote was for Other, since thank God I no longer have a daily commute being retired. But I realize the impact of a daily commute. It really came home to me when my company decided to sell their plant in Norwood and build a new facility in Mason in an industrial park about 1-1/2 miles from my house. What a convenience. I finally convinced my brother, who worked for the same company, to sell his house in Blue Ash and move to Mason, about a 1/2 mile from me. We are both retired now, and still living in Mason. Enjoying a great residential area while also being a chip-shot from work, that is the epitome. Not too many people get to experience that, but keep trying.

Perhaps a built and operational successful Streetcar system should be the first target. Then once that is completed the construction of the Uptown phase. Can't see it happening until the downtown Phase I is completed and running. I believe people are less gullible now, they want to see progress built upon results, not just projections. From what I have read concerning the type of rail being installed, the streetcars themselves, the system could easily be extended to as far as Kenwood. That is about as far as I see rail going in Cincinnati for a very long time.

So what Eastern Corridor Project is being discussed now. The one with the realigned route 32 along with the rail project all the way to downtown, along with the bike trails along with whatever else can be dumped in there. Or a scaled down one with a realigned route 32, no rail, and no other frills, which is what I am hearing is more likely to happen. This bends the rail people out of shape but the reality is where is the funding for rail? It all boils down to the funding - where is it? You can complain about how roads get funded all you want, but the simple fact is the majority of people want roads so organizations like ODOT insure they are funded. If they perceived the demand for rail was as high on the list it would get funded also. The zealots demanding rail are the same ones wanting to transform the nature of our cities and lifestyle. May have a good number of converts, but so far they don't seem to be the majority.

Quess you haven't been out to Clermont County recently. Talk about sprawl, it is sprawling about as fast as they can build them. My daughter's company recently moved from the Hebron KY area to the Eastgate Area. She has been looking for a house in that locality. One of her concerns is when she finds something she both likes and can afford, it is so far east of I-275. She says to me Dad, if something goes sour with my job, I will be 30 minutes just to the highway. So she has reconsidered and is currently looking around Mason. She says I have been making the commute to Hebron for years. Other than some nasty weather, it has not been that bad other than the wear and tear on the car. At least in Mason, if near I-71, I can be in Eastgate in 30 min. She is proving that daily. If something goes sour with the job, my options are so much more open. I have all of Mason, West Chester, Blue Ash, etc. to solicit employment, including to downtown. Sprawl has been a unsustainable boondoggle for what, at least 6 decades? And it is not going to stop long as people don't desire to be packed together. That is the attraction of the suburbs, I have my own space and if my neighbors act right I can live a peaceful, SAFE, and tranquil life here. And since me and my neighbors pay the majority of the taxes in this country, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

And what exactly does rail from the airport to the downtown transit center buy you? Are air passengers to be expected to park their car in the downtown garage at horrendous weekly rates, lug their baggage onto a train, and ride out to the airport? Then once there, where is the proposed station? Lug their baggage once again? And how about the return arrival if late at night? Lug your baggage through a parking garage trying to find your car? Some ideas look good on the surface, but upon close inspection need a lot of study, planning, and cost projection. And I believe this is one of them. I also believe it will not affect GE's decision one iota.

It says a lot that, in your post, you implicitly exempt roadwork from the funding question. Yes, simply because there is always funding for roadwork. And the realignment and widening of Route 32 has been in the plans for a long time. But trying to piggy-back rail into the plan is just not going to happen. The communities adjacent to the realigned 32 have enough concerns about how it will be carried out.

This Eastern Corridor project keeps going on and on. But I never see anything indicating when it might become a reality, particularly from the view of funding. Where is the funding?, or does this just miraculously appear? From everything I see it will be a relocation and widening of State Route 32, but little else.

I know someone who bought a home in a perfect state of repair in Cheviot in 2013 for $35,000 and a second one in early 2014 for his daughter for $20,000. You're blaming "the city" for people not paying attention to Knox Hill but the fact is there are tons of homes that don't need any work on the market right now for under $50,000. How do you justify buying a burnt-out house in South Fairmount for $10,000 then spending $50,000+ to get it habitable when you can spend less for a functioning house nearby? Interesting except one of the Bloom Street Townhome renos is already presold as build to suit at 245K. The Carriage loft New Urbanist renovation is retailing at 265K and the new construction infil project is over 400K and the architect is working with the client on design. I have to show a Second empire townhome to a prospective buyer from Raleigh/durham NC who WANTS to move to Knox Hill because he likes the progress and restoration vibe of the neighborhood. Same with the couple from NYC who are getting ready to drop 150K restoring a Victorian on 3 lots being sold though KHNA's save not Raze program, Or the guy whose already dropped 80K so far on restoration on a house he won in a bidding war up near the park? Or the guy across the street from our own Nagele Merz house who is investing 125K in a second empire shotgun, or maybe the OTR realtor who bought a brick craftsman cottage up here and is throwing major bucks into it because its ridiculous to pay 100K for shell in OTR. Lot of people have no problem justifying investing in Knox Hill.. but then, I bet you didn't buy in Mt Adams years ago or Columbia Tusculum when it was run down? Just trying to make out the purpose of your post, as I am confused. Are you saying everyone who has invested in the neighborhood has been rewarded? If so that is a handsome proposition. I just doubt it is a fact. Speculation on rehab property is just that - speculation. Come out fine or lose your ass. How many have done the later? If it was so easy there would be no property waiting for rehab in Cincinnati. Speculators with a few coins would have already bought it all up and rehabbed it. Sorry, I just am not ready to say buy, rehab, sell you will be rich.

Was there anything in the approval which said where the money needed to be spent, other than in southwest Ohio?

Just one more mall in an area already oversaturated with them. Whenever I'm forced to go to Kenwood, it blows my mind that anyone would shop there voluntarily (traffic, parking, etc.). I basically avoid Kenwood at all costs unless store X doesn't have another location in the region. Oh I agree, I never go to Kenwood. I just commented if carried out like the pictures it will look nice. And I am sure many people will go, more than go now. I just won't be one of them. And when I think why would anyone want to work in that office tower it boggles my mind. Traffic, parking, and on top of what was already poor traffic flow.

If the finished product looks that well it will be and asset to the area.

The main reason this development will be successful is simply the number of people who now live in northern Butler Co and Mason who are tired of driving to Kenwood or the collapsing Tri-County to shop. Give them an option close to home and they will elect it. And all the talk about "high-end", rubbish. Kohls is definitely not high-end, and look how successful they are, they are everywhere. If Dillard's sticks to their McAlpinish roots, particularly in the area of children's clothing, they will do just fine. I remember when Pogue's was the top of the heap, Shillito's the next tier, and McAlpin's the bottom tier. But when it came time to clothe our kids for school, McAlpin's was the place we went. Decent clothes at reasonable prices. Sacks, Tiffany, and the like should have stayed where they started, NYC.

OK, but while you are thinking it is not enough high end, it will be tearing up the likes of Target, Meijer, Kohls, and the rest.

I like many of your statements, almost there but not quite. But you know what, I believe it will be a successful financial endeavor. Why, because it is so close to the money!

American Luxury ... Thanks for the invite, but we are becoming more and more reluctant to go anywhere. The women came home from their luncheon/dinner at the Houston Inn in Mason. They were just as enthusiastic as in the past, saying the salad bar is still the absolute best in the Tri-State. While they were gone I thought I needed to also get some food. I calculated it would also be my dinner. I went to the El Caporal Mexican Bar & Grill, my first time being there. I believe they operate out of Louisville. I ordered a double beef burrito platter. It was sumptuous, but I was the only patron in the restaurant! This is not a good sign, a good sized dining facility with zero customers. This has little to do with the Riverfront Park, other than Yes you need to keep people coming there. Otherwise it will just dry up and blow away. I am not concerned about this park not attracting a large number of people. In fact it may attract more than it can handle.

Even if you're correct, there is a ton of prep work and forethought required before a larger system can become a reality. Building a transit network isn't like putting an addition on your house. You can't just say "Now's the right time, let's start taking bids!", because the time to apply for funding and preserve the right-of-way was years earlier. If now isn't the right time to expand, it certainly is the right time for planning and discussion. Exactly. We have to be planning one or two phases ahead at all times. That way we can start construction any time funding becomes available. You never know when the federal government is going to provide additional funding for urban circulators, give grants to "shovel-ready projects", etc. My comments exactly. Everyone is waiting on the Federal Government to fund these projects. So in the meantime we have to continue to pay for engineers, planners, and others to continually update the plans. What a waste of public money. Spend money on pure speculation with no actual results. And this benefits who?