CincyGuy45202

This won't be the case after privatization. No way a private company runs things as bad as the City does.

Except that's wrong, because the City rolls back property taxes everytime values go up. The city is actually taking in the smallest amount of property taxes Ever when adjusted for inflation. This year is $23 million for the general fund. 5 years ago was $29 million. Also, nearly everything built in OTR is abated for st least 10 years, do no new condos taxes go up as values increase. Also, the auditor says values are not increasing in OTR but are simply staying solid. in fact, Brackett Village (owned by W&S) on walnut all got an 80% reduction in value last year on all theor properties to lower their tax "burden".

Jenga is my favorite architectural style.

Hardly comparable. Wenstrop at the time was a no body, not an 8 year Councilmember who was incredibly popular and once what the most votes, then 2 years later was 3 votes short. Heck. Wenstrop was a no body and got 45% of the vote. But now we're legitimately off topic...

^agreed. That roof could retain so much water (reducing out combined sewer overflows).

True, but Downtown and OTR are 17k. Westwood alone is 30k. I suppose we can pick that up more in the mayors race thread. :)

The last time Cranley & Qualls were on a ballot together: City Council 2007 Roxanne Qualls ©: 33,775 John Cranley (D): 33,772 In 2005, Cranley was the top vote getter. Since 2007 Qualls has done a whole bunch of great things that will be attacked (3CDC, downtown, streetcar). I think it will be more of a battle than you think though I certainly think it leans in her favor. That being said, if the streetcar is under full blown construction with the maintenance facility being built, roads being ripped up in the CBD (not just elm & race where no one even notices the construction), rail ordered, cars under construction, by July 2013, I think Roxanne will have it locked up, as Cranley will be running on, "let's stop this project that is half way finished". Other news: I've heard the maintenance facility will be one of the first things built.

^ I've heard the same. It's a busy location, they have the land, it's a good spot for them, they aren't going to sell unless it's big $$. The best hope is that the property value gets raised dramatically in the next major evaluation (2014) and it starts to eat into their profits. But Dusty undervalues land so much and puts all the valuation on the structure so I doubt their values will go up much. Around the same time the casino hotel opens (5 years after opening) it would be great if Chavez properties (Parking company of America) sold off and developed the land at Court & Gilbert (they own almost all of that parking). Could be a cool little area in 5 years.

^ +2 I will say one thing 8th and State is continuously repeating is technically true and he has history on his side in Cincinnati. Just because a project is funded and is underway, does NOT mean it will be built. Primo case in point: Subway. I bet there were some huge subway backers who laid off the political pressure and celebrated as soon as the construction started. Hell, they had tunnels IN THE GROUND, of course it was being built and would be done in a couple years!! Then political appetite changed and the project became one of the biggest disappointments in Cincinnati's history (that and the 75 construction through downtown and the WestEnd are the two greatest failures in urban development in Cincinnati). So, what we need to do is accept that the streetcar IS BEING BUILT but that does NOT guarantee it will open. John Cranley will stop construction (no matter how close to being done it is, or how much we'll have spent or committed) shortly after he is sworn into office if he wins. And he can. He will replace the City manager ASAP (if we lose 1-2 streetcar supporters on council he can hire his own manager and his manager can begin stalling/stopping the project[it's a little more complicated than all that so i'm simplifying things, but it's definitely possible) Roxanne Qualls is not charismatic, is very intelligent (will be attacked as "too intelligent") and is too much of a good politician who doesn't play the stupid political games of scaring people, going with the "popular at the moment" opinions, making generic political arguments, etc. Cranley is not that much more charismatic, but he's great at appealing to peoples fears, pointing out doom and gloom situations, saying political things like "spend money in the neighborhoods not downtown!!!", printing lies in Enquirer editorials (and he's smart too so they weren't just errors) and other such vitriol. So 8th and State is right in that construction doesn't mean it's going to open, but it most certainly is underway and as long as we keep political pressure on our elected officials, fight back against stupid Enquirer editorials, and elect a pro-streetcar mayor/council next year we will be good to go.

This is great! Thanks so much for taking the time to break this down. It shows great detail on the population shifts and overall trends. Amazing as the presidential turnouts are clearly trending more and more democratic, yet we're still stuck with all 5 state elected offices held by republicans and an insanely gerrymandered state house and congressional delegation that will make it impossible for any democratic majorities in the next 10 years. Pretty crazy.

Also, sometime recently the City added taxis to the customer service hot line website, www.5916000.com You can register complaints about service on there. I did it once when a guy had no change for a $20 so I was forced to give him an extra big tip. I got a call immediately from the city saying they'd spoken with the cabby about it and he would give me the extra $4 tip back. I didn't care about that, but I'm glad he got called out about it and it showed in his company record. A better cab system is key to multiple successful spread out neighborhoods, especially for places like the banks, mt Adams, the casino, OTR, etc.

I have been told the drawings currently show it going on the south side of the casino against Court Street. Might explain why that part of the casino is extra hideous. In other news, they've spent the week planting a ton of evergreens around the site, making things look a little better. Also street trees (barren due to the season) have been planted along much of Reading.

Wow, talk about not wanting to make any money. They should stay greasy and unshaven at home then! That's strange. The cab companies I usually call end shifts at 7am. Towne taxi.

^ agreed. Arnold S Levine owns much of the parking north of the Casino.

That is the first of the two images I posted, but apparently the link I used died almost immediately after posting.

Hoping for $1 million!!!!

Split ownership of the Pogues garage, and the toweplace mall/garage building. So the two major entities would be separate. Combined, they are profitable, but separate, the mall building doesn't cover it's costs. The city owns the land under the Mall and had leased it but didn't own the garage. Through Bankruptcy company was going to try to jettison mall back to city, then auction garage. Or something similar to that. If the idea truly is to use some of the Pogues garage as a master Garage for residential conversion, that is great. My source said that's definitely been talked about.

Could be great for the FM lunch crowds! And good to have more people on the streets up there on week days.

I want suburbanites spending money in the city! At the same time, I don't want us spending millions just to attract suburbanites. That's why it's great that there are 300 apartments, re: residents (mostly), above these suburbanite attractions. Really can't wait for Phase 2 to get started though. It's so necessary for this to thrive.

Also:

One of the original proposals

What I have been told is that by going through foreclosure Banks could split up the garage and then the Tower Place building. The garage is incredibly profitable, while the Tower Place building currently loses money. The city was only interested in joining the effort if they could keep both properties thereby using the garage to fund Tower Place. I've also heard that this garage would stay separate from the privatization deal, and be used in large part to promote residential development of buildings around fourth Street that do not have parking.

^Good analysis. Also, should be noted, no one from Brooks Brothers was saying anything about moving. Only Arn Bortz is saying that. Arn Bortz is a scheming, conniving politician who always gets what he wants. I'm sure he's saying this for the purpose of getting something (more tax money from the city, etc,). That being said, he and Towne considered downtown as a market when no one else would (mid 90's to 2002)And have done some great things. But I feel like their quality and management have been slipping recently. Heck, he talked about Macy's being disappointed and I was told recently that 2012 is turning out to be that stores best since the mid 2000's. Again, as I've previously stated, that store generally only breaks even but it's supposedly getting a little better. As a side note, how many of us shop at the Brooks Brothers, Macy's or Jos. A Bank that are Downtown? Those are nice stores that also are in Kenwood. It would be sad to see any leave! I've shopped at each at least once in the last year.

Relax everyone. This building is about to get a $40-50 million renovation (if not more!). Hilton (and SREE) obviously isn't going to leave it with mismatched marble. :)

^ wow. Interesting choice. The Fairmounts are in a bad place right now. Where is this project?