thebillshark

I say this as someone with absolutely zero understanding of how MSD operates... So in my understanding MSD was ordered by a court to make over $3 billion in upgrades/repairs to remedy the combined sewage/rainwater overflow situation. I think a reason we're not seeing good progress towards this goal is because of the sheer hugeness of that number. I mean that's like ordering someone making minimum wage to repay $1 million dollars or something. Psychologically they are not going to try too hard because it seems hopeless. I think if the Feds are going to go around asking localities to pay out sums like that they should provide large chunks of funding. I mean these are legacy systems we are talking about here. Since the nation benefitted from a strong Cincinnati in the 1800s-1900s when the system was built why should we be put at a competitive disadvantage now vs. "newer" places that don't have to pay a huge bill like this to fix their sewer systems? EDIT: and let me just add that I believe 100% that remedying this situation to keep wastewater out of the Ohio River is a worthwhile and necessary goal that the federal government should be pursuing.

Given their smaller space needs and the rendering of unconventionally shaped building that doesn't take up the whole block would it be a better idea for the law school to move to the more oddly shaped lots between Paul Brown Stadium and Race St.? (Numbered lots 5 and 10?) There probably wouldn't be much activity at the school during game/event times at the stadium and vice versa. It just seems like Lot 24 is the "meat" of it where we could fit a lot of residents. https://cincinnatiideas.wordpress.com/the-banks-phase-3/

Disagree. The above renderings and the renderings on the link-the Crystal Forest idea, the Olympics bid, the PRT system, the canal rendering- represent a city that doesn't get it, a city that was grasping at straws. That Cincinnati couldn't comprehend a world where people would want to live downtown, and that tried to compete with its auto-oriented suburbs instead of building walkable neighborhoods for people. As a result it was constantly coming up with mere gimmicks to revive downtown. Jane Jacobs wrote down the formula for vibrant cities back in the 1960s (based off her observations of still-functioning old time neighborhoods not scarred by urban renewal.) this included mixing the land uses to create vibrancy, putting pedestrian eyes on the street to deter crime, etc.- and it's taking 50 years for it to sink in. And a lot of folks around here, especially our leadership, still don't get it! It's simple! Build walkable neighborhoods and people will move back to the city.

Still would like to see the condos, but when you think about it, there's already some significant structures in that block already, with the Huntington Bank Tower and the Terrace Plaza Hotel. That Millennium Monument concept art is only from 1997 but it looks like it's from the 1930's Soviet Union or something.

That's too bad. Who owns the building, Towne? I've been reading about how Macy's might try to monetize some of the real estate they own, is that a factor here? And what about the Downtown TIF that's supposedly built up to a good size now?

Lots of potential for development in the area- I put it on my map for a Mt. Adams Gondola https://cincinnatiideas.wordpress.com/mt-adams-gondola/

Interesting that Ndukwe is involved in the Central Parkway CMHA deal. Here's a November 2015 Cincyopolis post from Kathy Holwadel about his other recent projects: https://cincyopolis.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/another-score-for-former-bengal-chinedum-ndukwe/

On one hand, the NKY streetcar project taking on a 4th/5th street Cincinnati alignment would present an opportunity to have an east-west line running through the heart of downtown Cincinnati. That particular portion would provide a sharp looking streetcar going through what's becoming known as the "financial district." It would also be a good connection to Metro buses on Government Square. On the other hand, if there were ever light rail lines (destination TBD, CVG possibly?) on 2nd/3rd streets in Cincinnati, then the 4th/5th alignment wouldn't provide as good of a connection to those.

that'd make getting the supply trucks in even more difficult, and they'd need to step up deliveries if they had a bigger store. No, I think the Walnut and Central route is the way to go, if they decide to do something. I'd imagine it will be a little bit - Kroger is now testing a new store concept in Gig Harbor, WA called Main & Vine, plus they're going to be studying their new acquisition of Mariano's. So.. We could have a Main & Vine on Walnut and a Park & Vine on Main?

John what if there was a section of "service track" not part of the regular route to connect the two? That would be used once going to the NKY route in the morning and once coming home to the MOF at night? If you could run through the Riverfront Transit Center you could do it in both directions and really cut down on the total track you are using. I like the idea. A big problem I have with the route shown on the nkystreetcar.com website is that it is shown as a just an extension of the Cincinnati route. The NKY system should be designed so that it can operate on its own. If the NKY system grows into something substantial it should require a transfer instead of being a one seat ride. This can protect against problems in one part of the system expanding to affect the whole system and would allow for more straightforward and logical route planning. (If frequencies are high enough transfers are not a big negative.) At the very least to accomplish this for the routing they have shown they need to add track between Walnut and Main on 3rd street. This would require the existing track to be cut into and an "X" piece of track at Main and Third to be installed.

Depends on if we want this thread to get to 1,000 pages or not... Just kidding it will probably get there either way!

I drew out a few different alignments from our NKY streetcar discussion earlier: First, the basic alignment based off ucgrady[/member] 's map. On these maps, streetcars stopping at "a" stops are traveling clockwise on the map and the "b" stop streetcars are going counterclockwise. Next here are two alternative alignments for how an NKY streetcar could travel through Cincinnati. (Non-the Banks alignments suggested by Jimmy_James[/member] ) Using 4th and 5th, it's possible to nicely align to Cincinnati Streetcar stops and Government Square buses: 5th and 6th (this one is on both sides of the Cincinnati convention center. Perhaps they could work with the NKY convention center in Covington to hold big events split between the two locations if they were connected by streetcar): Next, here are some alternate alignments for NKY. 2nd/3rd street Cincinnati alignment is shown, but could paired with any other Cincinnati alignment above. First, a loop as suggested by taestell[/member] . Streetcars stopping at "a" stops are traveling clockwise on the map and the "b" stop streetcars are going counterclockwise, with no endpoints. Finally, with extensions going deep into Covington and Newport. A word of caution here, I don’t know if a streetcar can really fit underneath the 17th street rail bridge in Covington, probably not without some accommodation. A westward Newport extension spur is also shown: Whew, long post! Please don't "quote" the whole thing!

Also if things really worked entirely like the author says, why isn't New York already the center of tech? Silicon Valley is mostly suburban office parks without much diversity (speaking about general "life" diversity not racial diversity,) how did it become the center of tech? Shouldn't they have been "out innovated" years ago? My understanding is that mellenial engineers taking the bus in from San Francisco is a newer phenomenon that would be actually adding to the diversity experienced by engineers because at least they are living in San Francisco now.

I disagree with the premise of the article. "Bus ride diversity" might be an important factor for an artist, but an typical artist is typically the polar opposite of an typical engineer. An engineer would probably be looking at their shoes the entire bus ride anyway. Social interactions are not what make a typical engineer tick. Maybe I am speaking from too much a Midwestern point of view, but an engineer is typically a problem solver that makes something perform to a set of specifications. Rigorous and quite often tedious processes are employed to do this. "Innovating" and taking risks are not typical parts of the workday. Indeed that kind of direction is often set by other parts of the company.

I think that "Die Innenstadt" logo you guys designed looks awesome and should be the logo of the entire club. Maybe even the name of it too!

The Facebook group "old photos of Cincinnati" prompts comments from a lot of old folks with a weird mix of nostalgia and hate. Like they used to go to albee's but hate everything about fountain square now. They admire the busy sidewalks in the photos but are dead set against trying to recreate that now, it will never happen again because of bulls**t reasons like if you go downtown you get shot, people like to drive to malls, etc. To them the subway proves rail in Cincinnati is a failure but it is still somehow better than the current streetcar, etc. (even though the subway never laid track!) Fundamentally It's like they admire a vibrant city, but they have no idea what made our city vibrant and are outright hostile to the things that did (walkable places, transit etc)

Also to clarify, this is only my idea and not a plan from 3cdc. But I might send it their way after getting feedback here.

Yeah, sorry, should have been more clear! I was thinking an underground garage that goes underneath Pleasant thus providing a larger floorplate area for the garage. Pleasant Street should be very much rebuilt as-is, after the garage goes in. (I would never suggest blocking off streets for parking garages! :) In fact I think the weird Cincinnati Parks maintenance garage/shed in the West End's Betts Longworth should be torn down and Hopkins street reconnected to Central Ave.) The Liberty narrowing could provide additional floor plate for said underground garage. Probably the larger the floor plate the more efficiently they can design the interior to maximize spaces. Whether it makes sense to have any portion of the garage above ground (hidden by a "wrap" of street-facing buildings of course) would be TBD for the designers. My gut would be inclined against it though, I would prefer more space for development. The Liberty narrowing could also address the street crossing at Pleasant, hopefully making it safer by slowing traffic and reducing the number of lanes to cross. And depending how they address a middle turn lane, perhaps there could be some kind of pedestrian island in the middle at Pleasant making crossing easier as well. Narrowing Liberty sure does unlock a whole bunch of possibilities!

I know we want to minimize the need for parking in OTR, but because of the sprawled nature of our metro region there will always be a baseline demand. It's been mentioned that a good strategy might be to concentrate parking options in a few structured garages, so that developments spread throughout the neighborhood can incorporate less parking or no parking. With that being said, what does everyone think of this plan? After the Liberty Street narrowing, put in an underground garage bounded by Elm, Liberty, and Race extending underneath Pleasant Street. (Replacing the empty lot and stand alone cell phone store.) Then incorporate dense mixed use development on the two half block parcels above. (Posting this in 3CDC thread because half the land area is already incorporated in 15th and Race project site and probably only they have the resources to do it)

This concerns me- it seems like we have a window of opportunity to secure a right of way to the north of MLK Drive but it may be closing quickly with the planned developments for that area. Has anyone talked to the Uptown Consortium about this possibility?

The more modern addition to the City Gospel building on Elm St. has been demolished.

I was secretly hoping the TIF money was being saved because we were still in the running for GE HQ after all, but it is going to Boston. Now I hope they use it to help develop the Terrace Plaza. (Rehabbing the Dennison would be a good use too.)

^^well, yeah, it's going to help. I think the CBD struggles with pedestrian activity especially at night compared to OTR. Fountain Square and the Aronoff are the two strong nodes. The restaurants in 84.51 are starting to draw people over to Race St., but I think the "dead zone" created by the Terrace Plaza Hotel is a major threat. It'd also be nice if they built out a condo tower above Macy's. 4th street could easily be an activity center if these other projects in the neighborhood come together one by one. The Renaissance Hotel with D. Burnham's restaurant seems to create activity.

^having trouble conceptualizing that. Is that because of the sudden dip in elevation?

I combined the previous concept with my Northside light rail map. Looks like Liberty St. would be a major transfer point between the two lines. Also moved the theoretically underground UC Corry St. station to Calhoun: