TroyEros

Sadly, I would say this is true of most places in the US anymore, not just OTR. Those places exist either because they have been there forever & weathered the storm through the recessions & big box rise or the rent is cheap enough to get a foot in the door. I share your desire to make it a 'real neighborhood' though. With the residential density and money moving in Id say they have a better chance to reestablish those things over other neighborhoods that have lost them though. Spend more time on Main Street. The small low budget stores on Main Street are really crap, no offense. The retail row on Main in general is crap. You got a few great bars, a few nice places to eat (Iris, Goodfellas), a nice tat shop, and a lot of arts and craft junk stores. There's so much more potential for that street. Not saying overfill it with bars and resturaunts and bars like Vine, but some high quality retail places would be nice

I really hope that among all this new development we will begin to see more neighborhood retail needs pop up. OTR really doesn't feel like a neighborhood, but more of a touristy destination with all the bars and restaurants. Would love to see laundromats/dry cleaning stores, tailor shops, smaller mom and pop deli's, hardware stores, mom and pop grocery stores, etc. It's really lacking those basic amenities. From what I understand though, the 1500 race infill will feature another restaurant that focuses on breakfast & lunch.

I don't understand why there's so a big issue about the existence of the skywalk. Some people want to be able to park there car, and get to Music Hall directly without worry about where they have to park. It serves a purpose. Get in, get out.

I think it's more due to the fact people want to label OTR with neighborhoods that share the same, "powerhouse weight" in terms of the SoHo's/Mission/Pearl district's of the world. When people think of SoHO or the Mission District, they think of it as a, "must see" neighborhood destination. A tourist attraction, that draws millions of tourists a year. I think that's why OTR is being grouped under that same bunch. People don't want OTR to be just, well OTR, they want it be THE number one reason why you visit Cincy. The must see neighborhood attraction. The neighborhood that becomes a travel destination for millions. It has the potential for that. Besides Charleston, Savannah, North End District in Boston, Mission District, Pearl District, there aren't really that many urban neighborhoods left in America that have the size and the density of OTR with so much beautiful architecture that remain intact.

Whats up with that block and it's lack of retail activity? You would think being right next to Washington Park/Music Hall that it would be lined up to brim like Vine St is with Bars and Resturuants and different retail options. But for whatever reason that hasn't really happened, and I don't understand why?

I have had 2 friends just this past year move from there apartments close to Clifton to OTR in order to be closer to all the amenities that OTR offers. For instance, they really love holtman donuts and gomez (like it's there life), so it's a big thing for them to be able to eat that on a daily basis.

Jmicha I think your being too harsh on your views. Republic Street is a residential street that house alot of families and children. The fact of the matter is, people want to be able to have some peace and quiet. A chatty roof top bar doesn't help with that. I think we should focus on streets like Main and Vine to be those areas, rather than shoving these type of places wherever we can. At the end of the day, people aren't moving to OTR strictly for the night life. Some people are moving there because it's close to various fortune 500 companies located blocks away. Some people are moving for the great ameneties of Washington Park/Music Hall/Shakespear theater/the other entertainment options. Some people are moving there because they want to be close to UC, but want to live in a more unique setting that the housing options in Clifton. There's alot of reasons why people are moving to OTR, and I think we should respect that by not shoving bars (especially with a rooftop that will get super loud during the afternoon/night hours) wherever we possibly can.

Does it mention whether or not they will demolish that building? It's pretty ugly.

I wish the owner was straight up, and was like, "Hey, yeah, I don't really want to spend money and time rehabbing the building. I really just want a quick return on profit and want to have a new lot for parking. So I can make more money." Like, literally be straight up with your intentions. Stop putting up renderings of bs concept towers that you know won't happen for at least another 10-15 years. You want to make money. Easy, and fast. It's understandable your a business man. Not a historic preservationist. Just own it. Be a man about your true intentions.

The skyscraper boom is impressive from a sheer skyline and population growth perspective. That said, lets be honest, probably over 70% of these towers are generic as hell looking, and are practically copy and pasted from one block to the next. The worst part is that block after block of Old historic Toronto architecture is being sacrificed in the process as well.

Well this hasn't been approved by the HCB yet. I'm sure they'll have some aspects they will need to fix.

How crap that's sexy. I like the infusion of new and old. Doesn't look completely out of place in OTR, yet brings a healthy mix of "21st Century OTR" as well. Good job to the developers for making legit, proper infill that doesn't look like regurgitated dog crap that has no understanding of proper OTR infill.

Why? They have a location already in Disney world, so it's a proven concept. We've already known that the Banks is "OTR Light" and is meant more for the suburban family since day 1. This is a good potential addition, especially since it's already a popular and proven concept at Disney World.

But these new towers..there replacing historic stock, no? These aren't just empty grassy lots that they are being built upon?

But I mean eventually they will have to be touched, no? I mean there's only so much real estate in NYC. Granted it won't be in our life times, but I feel that eventually your going to have to cross the bridge of either building a 40 story tower, or preserving a 4 story historic building. I feel like that's an easy decision to make for real estate developers.

My question for you all. With the skyscraper boom that NYC is experiencing, and just future urban development in general, how much is NYC historic stock, "at risk". I just have to imagine with real estate the way it is, and the population increase that NYC is experiencing there is bound to be more hotels, office, and residential skyscrapers in the next 20-30 years. But how will they build around the historic stock? Or will there come a point, maybe not now, but say in the next 50-100 years that good chunks of the historic stock will have to go to make way for room for new development.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/04/01/cleveland-fed-cincinnati-seeing-sustained-growth/82479420/

I can speak for alot of millennials in that OTR and it's rebirth of being a food/drinking/entertainment tour de force is really what made Cincinnati, "cool" again. I know alot of UC main campus students, who live on campus, and are seriously contemplating moving down to OTR in the coming months/year simply because they want to be in the middle of all there favorite things that OTR has to offer. Having a street car that connects UPTOWN to OTR will only create a more "tied" down effect. Where you would usually see UC students move out of Cincinnati, or move to the suburbs, you will begin to see a bigger desire for downtown core living. An OTR is 100% for that. OTR is honestly what will propel Cincinnati forward. It's already known by many urbanists as one of the crown jewels of 19th-20th century preservered architecture. The sheer collection of buildings in practically unmatched in the Midwest, let alone most of America (barring the already heavily tourist historic zones like The North End in Boston, or Savannah). I think the quicker more of OTR becomes revitalized, more world class restaurants and bars/entertainment options start appearing, the more you will begin to start seeing tourists in OTR and in Cincinnati. An in turn those tourists might fall in love with the city as a whole and decide to move here. OTR is the key to Cincinnati success. You have world class entertainment options in Music Hall, Ensemble Theater, The soon to open Shakespear Theater, and others. You have a great drinking/bar crawl scene with the like of Japps/16bit/Sundry and Vice, and you are starting to see a world class foodie scene as well with the likes of Gomez, The Eagle, Bakersfield, Abagails, Nicholoas, Findley Market in general. Add that, with the fact that we have the largest collection of pre-prohibition breweries in all of North America, plus the largest collection of Italianate arheciture, and you will see why OTR has the potential of becoming a major tourist draw. And those tourists, will hopefully become potential residents of Cincinnati. An Cincinnati metro population will grow.

Wow this is like Columbus level bad architecture wise. What happened to OKC historic stock? Did they literally demolish everything? Everything that is being built now looks so incredibly generic. It doesn't even have that New age Toronto modernist/futurism look. It just looks cheap and generic.

The problem is we need to stop seeing OTR as The Lower East Side, but rather as The Greenwich village. It will never return to it's original density because OTR is less about cramming the abundance of people and german immigrants that have just moved to Cincinnati into tight living quarters, and more about rich people who can afford the life of luxury.

I feel like Music Hall, and Memorial Hall are just as vital assets and you've seen how long it's taken to get something done with those projects. Yes, different in scope and scale but regardless, were at the cusp. We need to stay vigilant and be patient that good things are in store. Regardless if it's 5 or 10 years from now, it will eventually come, everything does. We can't less pessimism take our spirits over. Patience.

Wow, sad. :(

No offense, but OTR was still ranked as the most dangerous neighborhood in all of America back in 2009. It's no surprise they sat on the property for so long. OTR was still a major wasteland in terms of activity up until 2012 anyway. So, I feel like we need to be a little patient when it comes to these things. We've come a long way, but it was only a few short years ago since there were constant shootings on streets like Vine and Race. It really wasn't - http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/06/intellectually-dishonest-report-claims-otr-is-nations-most-dangerous-neighborhood/ http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/10/over-the-rhine-is-not-one-of-the-nations-most-dangerous-neighborhoods/ Does it matter if wasn't THE most dangerous neighborhood in all of America? The point still stands that walking down through the 1200-1500 block of Vine was still a dangerous ordeal back then. Especially after sundown. Things have only gotten better as of late, so this huge urge for movement to happen is a bit silly. We need patience here folks. We need to chill, and appreciate what has occurred. Okay, it sucks the Emery is still laying dormant, but lets focus on other OTR projects shall we? Lets focus on the massive empty sycamore lots. Lets focus on getting Pendelton up and running in fulll force. Lets focus on shortening Liberty Street. Lets focusing on getting North of Liberty properly stocked with resturaunts/bars/shops/apartments/condo's. Lets focus on getting more Breweries and Distilleries back in OTR like how it was back 100 years ago. Point is, there's alot of moving parts going on with OTR. Lets be patient.

No offense, but OTR was still ranked as the most dangerous neighborhood in all of America back in 2009. It's no surprise they sat on the property for so long. OTR was still a major wasteland in terms of activity up until 2012 anyway. So, I feel like we need to be a little patient when it comes to these things. We've come a long way, but it was only a few short years ago since there were constant shootings on streets like Vine and Race.

So if I understand this correctly, UC is able to rehabilitate the Emery?