OllyTransit

I redact my previous post. Didn't notice the "to" line. Could be a very good thing! EDIT: Or.. is this just some sort of clerical move. Looks like Smith Foundation Properties is located at (drum roll), 224 W Liberty St. https://www.google.com/maps/preview?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb&ie=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&cid=1560120525373740823&q=Smith+Foundation+Properties&ei=NwHhU-mkEdSxyATAnIDIDQ&ved=0CI4BEPwSMAs

Based on the company's past, may be a very bad thing: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/08/10/story1.html?page=all

Another good one. Went through those first few pages a couple weeks ago. My favorite was one that said Cranley was a big supporter of the streetcar.

Ryan, I read your piece yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think perhaps Cincinnati was in a sort of "beggars can't be choosers" era until recently, but we certainly have earned enough clout to leverage certain concessions with these deals. Furthermore, I'm sure this has shown up before, but I was blown away today by the original concepts for the Banks (especially page 27): http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati/linkservid/E51802CC-ABA4-4E1B-4F381D1B8765A704/showMeta/0/. Would have been a redefining "character neighborhood".

I know that once the route is done they will smooth out the pavement on the perimeter of the track concrete, but are their any plans to re-pave the streets it traverses as well? Would be a great benefit to kill two bird with one stone and really make the streets more welcoming.

Changes coming to Fountain Square retail? It looks like the retail space surrounding Fountain Square will be getting some new tenants. ... The retail spaces are part of Fifth Third Bank’s headquarters and parking garage around Fountain Square. The majority of the available space is the former Bullseye Bar & Fire Grill, formerly El Coyote and before that Cincy’s on Sixth and Cadillac Ranch. The space is just more than 9,400 square feet. ... It’s possible the former Bullseye/Cadillac Ranch space will be divided into multiple spaces. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/07/23/changes-coming-to-fountain-square-retail.html?ana=twt Posting this mostly for the news about potentially splitting the Cadillac Ranch space, which I believe is far overdue. Would be great to upgrade the last corner of that intersection.

Over-the-Rhine chocolate shop opens (Video) Maverick Chocolate Co., a bean-to-bar chocolate maker, held its grand opening Tuesday morning. Paul Picton, president of Maverick Chocolate, said as craft chocolate makers, the retailer is making a unique chocolate with every batch. http://t.co/RVf0oMiwoa Well this place is making me extremely hungry. A great addition to Findlay Market.

You can't have too many pizza joints near a campus like that... I wonder how Toppers is doing? I personally think it taste like Chuckecheese. Toppers is still doing pretty well from the nights I drive by. Mostly a drunk food place though so I'm not sure how that does for overall revenue. The new pizza place going in across the street from Pomodori's will do very well, and has a concept different enough from the other pizza locations to differentiate competition. It's called Pieology, and think of it as a Chipotle for pizza. Went to one in Berkley, CA near campus and was obsessed. Around ~$5 for a pizza with unlimited toppings. So no, the quality is no A Tavola or something like that, but it's a great deal for the college crowd. Predict a huge success. First one outside of the California market too, I believe, which is pretty cool (Correction: 3 other new market stores have opened in Colorado, Oregon, and Texas with a few other states on the way. Will be the first in Ohio and opens in August.) www.pieology.com

hahaha that's amazing. I should build one of those for the Streetcar tracks!

Way less than impressed on the design, no doubt. But you know what? I'm just thrilled that development is going forward. The Banks architecture as it stands is pretty boring, but if it brings people down there then I'll let it slide.

I would guess that, as SORTA was asking for cash, they estimated high. Pretty much the way I took it too, didn't want to be overly optimistic though. So basically you could have re-named the article to "Inflation Exists!" and you wouldn't even have to change the copy.

What's the deal on the operating costs story? Can someone break it down better?

Yeah, this thing looks absolutely horrid. Brings a negative vibe to everything near it. When it's all done I think it will contrast quite nicely with the glass facade. Very modern look.

Hasn't been an official story, yet, but officials said that it was integral to locating at the Banks, especially early on in the process.

] True, but unlike buses, our streetcar stops at curb-height and won't spend more than probably 10 seconds at each stop, unless there is a red light. Will still move much faster than buses.

Think the Bullseye/Cadillac Ranch/El Coyote/Whatever space is three fold. Two have been mentioned: Too big of a land plot for a restaurant, needs to be split in two; hard to stand out amongst the high end establishments and color lines above the real estate. But the marketing for all of those places has been downright awful too. The management clearly had no idea what they were doing for any of the restaurants and catered to audiences that were not familiar with that neighborhood. Again, split the space, put something in there that will stand out and has good management.

Love the revised map. Going through the under / through woods there seems like the most feasible option for getting up the hill, it's almost perfect for transit. For what it's worth, UC had a deal up to about 2009 with Metro that cost somewhere around $300k on behalf of the University / student fees that provided free rides to all students on the bus system. Ridership was through the roof but it got cut during some poor financial years. If you were able to sell the University on free student ridership cards, that would go a long way.