thebillshark

Look at how dumb so many of those projects are -- widen Harvey Ave.? Really? Make the hospitals pay for it if they're planning a giant expansion. Widen Blue Rock from Hamilton to Blue Rock? WHY? Union Terminal to Broadway Commons (casino) would be a bad streetcar route. First off I consider the casino to be on the existing streetcar line. Second off no one is going explicitly in between those two destinations. Any streetcar to Union Terminal, which I like the idea of more and more each day, should have just enough track to connect to the existing streetcar line. Then, streetcars should be dedicated to run up and down that portion of the line creating a high frequency so people can easily connect to it from the main line with a minimum wait time. If you added distance (such as to the casino,) that would reduce the frequency. If you had to wait for the Union Terminal-bound streetcar for twenty minutes after disembarking the north-south streetcar line it would be completely useless to everyone. Frequency is absolutely essential to the streetcar's success but it comes at a high operating cost. To maintain frequency over a longer distance drives up costs. If they do it this is how it should be. Probably cheaper too,unless there are more underground utility issues from the Charles St. substation. https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/126240533@N07/16355001098/

When did they apply? I'm assuming it was rejected? A lot of people talk about the streetcar's potential in OTR. I actually have been saying for a few years the streetcars biggest impact will be Main Street in Downtown and the Main & Walnut corridors between 7th and Central Parkway. There and North of Liberty. Main from 6th to Central Parkway and Walnut from Eight to 12th are pretty much dead zones after 5pm. Downtown might have the largest growth by the numbers because of the potential for high rise construction, but I'm most excited about the Findlay Market area. Especially if the Uptown connector goes in I see it as becoming such a hub of activity. I see: The market spilling out into surrounding storefronts, new residents keeping stores open until 9 pm, and Findlay Playground on Vine becoming a centerpiece park for the area. Some diversity in building stock making things interesting, with the two distilleries up and operating (one on the Parkway and one in Apex building,) perhaps another brewer in the Metal Blast/Jackson Brewery complex. A strong core around the market sparking development in West End, Brighton, and up the hillsides. And really cool houses (funky architecture and/or tiny houses) on the hillsides.

Re: basketball hoops, that would definitely be a logical solution. I wonder if it would be enough to counter the emotions involved at the meeting. Re: the White Castle in a mixed used development in Columbus... How will that entire building not smell like White Castle all the time?!? My cousin lives down the street from a White Castle and you can definitely tell! Some things may be meant to be stand alone buildings :)

I'll let others go into more detail but I think the idea is the forest route wouldn't use the stub outs that are in place today but instead proceed directly north from the top of the track. This would save people from having to double back going past the Findlay stop on Race southbound before heading up the hill. This saves time for people going Uptown. What I would like to know, and maybe I never will if it's confidential for some reason, is the exact alignment of the underground utility that they say needs to be replaced. The engineer in me wants to know Why! And there some workaround even with using Vine St. Alignment? For example using the curb lanes instead of the middle 2 lanes. Building the tracks and street up higher where it crosses the line to provide more clearance. I like the Mulberry stop in the Vine St configuration. There are some backstreets that could benefit in that area. And someone could reopen Robert A's Curve Cafe!

It's a balance- on one hand you don't want anyone to be truly steamrolled by new development, but on the other hand some people like to use these meetings to grandstand and emote some self righteous anger. Things ended up like they did last night because no one put things in perspective- an occupied building is better for everyone than an abandoned one, new neighbors are better than an empty lot collecting litter. Even for kids using the basketball courts, having more eyes on the street to prevent crime might be better than having spare court. New taxpayers can fund more services and the upper middle class people buying these may even contribute financially to community activities. I didn't vote one way or the other because I missed last month's presentation. If Northpointe had even shown a diagram it would have gone a long way for me.

I think the jail is the real issue in that area. Bad from an urbanist/street activity perspective and mars the view from other buildings for blocks around.

I'm not sure since I missed last month's meeting, but I think it's some single family homes around Rothenburg School and one historic ronvation into "workforce" housing. Folks were upset the project took away too many basketball courts, and that rent at the "workforce" housing would be to high. To be honest, Northpointe did no do themselves any favors- they had no presentation and did not speak up and clearly explain how the project would benefit the neighborhood when a few folks started getting up on their soapbox. The meeting was way too long and Ryan Messer who can usually keep things moving was out of town. I am sympathetic about the basketball courts. Maybe they could install some hoops in the Rothenburg School parking lot?

So many questions about this underground transmission line. Does it run up the middle of Vine St. all the way up the hill? If so, can they kick the tracks out over to the outside curbside lanes and would that create enough clearance? You could widen the street and create side lots where possible to make up for the parking you give up. Then, dedicate the lanes for added speed and reliability!

Anyone know if 15th and Race got approval at the OTR Community Council meeting? I had to leave but people were so wound up from the North Pointe project around Rothenburg that was presented earlier I wonder if it passed or not. Edit: nevermind I think it was information only

That says for the replacement of a whole transmission circuit from Charles St. in the West End to Glendora and Rochelle in Corryville. Surely there is some work around that wouldn't require all that.

Well, that's incredibly shortsighted of the haters if they're more concerned about traffic than the jobs and economic development Amazon is generating. They must never have spent time in a dying rust belt town. I imagine Amazons huge presence is causing spin off tech development in the neighborhood as well. The whole area does admittedly have an Amazon-land theme park vibe to it. I suspect the streetcar will be more heavily utilized once people are going to and from these buildings pictured to the glass dome HQ a few blocks south. Here's a recent Seattle transit success story involving light rail: http://www.capitolhilltimes.com/2015/03/capitol-hill-light-rail-station-may-save-sound-transit/

I went looking for the location of Jake's photo on google street view (no definitive conclusions) and I realized this Amazon building is also brand new (still had fencing up last summer) next to a streetcar stop. It's the one with the green dots in the courtyard from the pictures above.

Completely disagree with you guys. Coming from a funeral home family I've seen a lot of these. It's a way to honor the deceased and also to keep everyone organized. You wouldn't want to miss someone's burial because you took a wrong turn. And everyone deserves at least one parade for crying out loud! We're so preoccupied with daily life these days (literally the errands and traffic you guys are talking about) it's useful to realize death exists and will take every one of us someday. So... deal with it!

Well, imagine that. Wish that happened in other places that start and end with the letter "O." Maybe Kroger and P&G could go in half-sies on one!

That's nuts. A true boomtown!

Pretty neat right? That pic also gives you a feel for how the whole neighborhood is laid out. The picture is looking south. The streetcar comes from the northern edge of downtown on parallel streets on the right hand side of the picture towards the foreground. Then it travels alongside the park edge to the left side of the picture and ends just past the marina.

The development happening there is incredible, but it would be disingenuous if me to attribute it all to the streetcar. Amazon is building a new corporate HQ complete with glass domes http://www.gizmag.com/amazon-hq-update/28750/pictures#5 at the southern downtown portion of this streetcar route and many of the more normal new buildings pictured here will also be occupied by Amazon and connected to HQ by the streetcar. So obviously Amazon is a huge factor driving growth. They are even paying for and sponsoring an extra streetcar for this route to increase the service frequency.

With Union Terminal about to spend a few hundred million dollars on a renovation, something like a streetcar extension to increase attendance would be a spectacular idea. While I don't know much about Ezzard Charles Drive, I'd wager that any costs for utility relocation would be much lower than the costs on streets like Race and Elm. It could be an extremely cheap installation cost per mile. Similar to my concept from last month: I think a streetcar could work here! Flat land with some grid structure. Perhaps more favorable than Uptown's hilly arterial roads. Similar to Covington and Newport which I know taestell[/member] has also suggested as a priority for expansion.

The Seattle streetcar and ours have little in common. Seattle built Phase 2 before they built Phase 1. It travels through a low-density area like Queensgate, then abruptly terminates at the edge of DT Seattle. It would be like having a line on W. 8th come to City Hall but no farther into Downtown. There are of course plans to extend the first Seattle line into DT Seattle and connect it with another line, but critics always ignore this. That's an apt comparison, Jake. It's at the edge of downtown, but the area is WAY nicer than Queensgate. Also, I wouldn't worry about the long term success of this streetcar line. New construction in the neighborhood is proceeding at a furious pace. My recent pics here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=29963.msg749990;topicseen#new

Southern terminus of South Lake Union Streetcar in downtown Seattle Space Needle and new construction visible from streetcar Northern terminus of South Lake Union Streetcar on the shore of Lake Union Marina next to northernmost streetcar stop Suzie at the marina Fred Hutchinson cancer research institute and bike share at northernmost streetcar stop Park on south shore of Lake Union Museum of History and Industry in the park Construction cranes dot the horizon in South Lake Union Courtyard in Amazon buildings next to a streetcar stop New construction and Tesla dealership Surfing the web in a Tesla ColDayMan[/member] Look both ways New construction New construction- "Troy Block" New construction New buildings New construction- "Troy Block" New construction- "Troy Block" A new Amazon building A new Amazon building A new Amazon building The streetcar More new construction near the downtown end of the streetcar

$2.50 gets you a 2.5 hour ticket good for bus, light rail, or streetcar. Streetcar only is $1.

Didn’t have much time to comment earlier today, but here are some thoughts: In regards to high Downtown and OTR housing pricing: Travis is 100% correct that the way to mitigate this is with better transit to the neighborhoods where less expensive housing stock is available. We need high frequencies and a long time span of transit service per day so that folks in the neighborhoods can participate in activities and nightlife in the urban core and also give service industry folks transit options when their shifts end late at night. I also think real time arrival data via text/app would also be a huge boost to make our bus system more useful and attract new ridership too. This is also the way to spread the urban renaissance to the neighborhoods and this is how we should frame the debate for maximum political support. In regards to the 15th and Race, the one story building planned on the corner: On one hand I don’t think this is the end of the world. It would provide some diversity to the streetscape, there's going to be a lot of activity on that corner anyway, and it’s not directly in front of the streetcar stop. And at least it's not a parking lot. On the other hand, the blank wall part of the historical building next door that will remain exposed clearly abutted another building that faced the corner in the past, which no doubt had a lot more detailing facing the corner than the blank wall does. So maybe this would be a great opportunity to build a new taller building on the corner that shares hallways and stairs with the old, forming a pretty cool, larger multi-unit building. In regards to the 15th and Race, general density: There's going to be the opportunity to add a lot of density across Race St. in the 1508 and 1510 buildings. Also there are three large vacant lots on that side of the street that could support infill development if they're not commandeered for parking. Overall, I think the 15th and Race plan is good, as long as they truly do develop the "temporary" lot they have shown on the corner of Liberty St. someday. In regard to the pace of development in OTR, and how it can seem slow given the demand: Perhaps this a good thing. We may not want to build the entire neighborhood out given today's market and parking demands but rather give the streetcar time to transform the market. The danger in delay is if we miss the back-to-the-city demographic waves- if our active empty nesters become old enough for the nursing home, if the younger millennials move to other cities, if the older millennials all move to the burbs to start families.

In regards to the corner building- Maybe they wanted some of the historic building to peek through to address the corner of 15th and Race? Or maybe they thought the lot was too narrow for a larger structure? I don't know, but I would agree the plans should be ambitious given the location. In regards to parking, someone's gonna be the first to "get away with" not building parking, and this will spark a sea change.

To anyone who has ever thought about it I highly recommend a vacation to Canada while the exchange rate is so favorable. We are staying at a hotel in downtown Vancouver on the 20th floor with a huge balcony and a view of city, mountains, and ocean for $115 Usd a night after taxes. We just had dinner for two at an Izakaya with two appetizers, two main courses, sushi, sake, two beers and a mixed drink cocktail with 20% tip for $89 Canadian or $71 USD. Unreal.

Too bad- that corner and the new development could have had a lot more character if the natural foods building and the one next to it were incorporated into the new development.