TroyEros

You seem to be afraid of a lot of things. I'm afraid of life. But that's a story for my therapist to hear.

I recently drove through East Price Hill, and man that place has some really nice architecture. And there's some great intact stretches of historic buildings as well. I'm afraid though that this area will become crime ridden soon, and essienitally the next OTR. Alot of recent crime has been pushed that way. Which is sad, because this area, along with the hilly landscape, is quite a sight.

I don't think that's true. Especially when you have GE, and it's 2,000+ employees working there from 9-5. Plus you have the Freedom Center, and supposedly that area is in works to have a Charter School as well. And then you have that available office pad site as well. The Banks was always meant to be a work by day/party by night type of area. I consider OTR way more of the epicenter for the, "party" area of Cincinnati anyways.

Chances the phase 1 office pad site will be instead used for UC College of Law?

That's what happens when the majority of your population is from the suburbs. The only thing they care about is parking availability. You can't expect them to value urban things.

Can't wait till the banks is built out. Having the upcoming AC Hotel, and GE workers will add alot of daytime activity and vibrancy. Hopefully this will give an extra push for more retail to open up. Right now, it's really dead. Yes, there's bars, but I can't say any of them are "must visits" like Arnolds, or some of the bars in OTR. And the dining options are sort of meh as well. Definitely don't have that, "restaurant row" of killer restaurant after killer restaurant like you have in OTR on Vine. Honestly, would kill just to have simple retail options like a Skyline Chilli, A Starbucks, A Panera bread, maybe a fast food place as well (can't believe I'm saying this, but having a downtown urban McDonalds wouldn't be a bad thing to have at the bank.) Stuff you would commonly see in popular urban areas. That's what I really wish to see more than anything in the 2-3 years. Otherwise, there's really not much to do there.

Would it be an accurate statement that Cincinnati's hilly terrain and landscape is most equivalent to San Fran? I was thinking of other nearer cities, and the only one that really came to mind, that's closer is Pitsburgh.

EXCLUSIVE: UC considers moving academic facilities to the Banks http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/12/02/exclusive-uc-considers-moving-academic-facilities.html

100 years later

This is super random...and only started learning about this when reseraching the Cesisil Hotel, and the mysterious murder of Elisa Lam...but apperantly Skid Row is gentrifying, and there are such things as skid row hipsters. That blows my mind, all things considering skid row is essientially a mini city for the homeless.

Yeah I was going to mention the same thing. ^ Funny enough, wasn't Buddy Grey killed by the very people he was trying to protect? (if I recall correctly some homeless man murdered him) And yeah. Pretty much all of this change that's being put on display is pretty much from 2011-2012 and onward. The gentrification you see on Vine/Race/Main have been extremely rapidly paced. When 3cdc constructed the Mercer Common lofts, (and since the announcement of the streetcar) things have just been rapidly developing and gentrifying. Literally all of this progress seen today didn't exist 5 years ago.

Not necessarily. At first I did, solely because in my mind I thought if OTR was reserved for the rich, then crime would completely disappear. The thought of being able to venture out to any part of OTR, regardless of morning, noon or night and never feel bothered or afraid for my life sounded like heaven. But I also came to realize, that would make OTR awful. It wouldn't be a city anymore. It would be a rich man's club. And I don't want that. But I'm also not stupid. The love architecture, culture, and history. They love fine dining, and late night wine drinking. They love to have a good time. Granted I'm not trying to generalize, I'm sure there are plenty of rich people that could care less about the above mentioned things, but if the high rent cost in places like SoHO, Greenwich, North End, and other such lavish/historic/cultured epicenters of there respective cities are anything to note, is that the rich like nice things. OTR, once fully rehabbed will be a very, very nice thing. Whether OTR will remain diverse 20 years down the line is a giant question mark waiting to be seen.

San Francisco is a beautiful city, but its disappointing that beauty is becoming more and more reserved exclusively for the rich. Having a city built on the poor, the middle class, and the rich is what gives you a city that becomes rich in diversity and culture. When almost all of the population are tech moguls, or startup wunderkinds, or wealthy retired old people, you kind of create a city that isn't really a city anymore, but a Disneyland of sorts for the wealthy. Granted I know there's poverty in San Francisco, and there's pretty high homeless rates, but still, it's scary how the city is becoming a playland solely the rich can afford. I can't imagine how SanFran will look 15-20 years down the line :(

this is a pretty good one to

This isn't going to magically happen. What can you do to help make it happen? Urban areas are gritty. That's one of the reasons why people like them. New York is gritty. San Francisco is gritty. But those places get millions of visitors every year and have people that love living there. Even the most polished parts of OTR are still a work in progress. On Vine Street, between Central Parkway and 14th, there are still vacant storefronts, surface parking lots, and underutilized buildings. And yet, tons of people visit and enjoy the shops and restaurants along that stretch. The only way that investors are going to come in and spend millions of dollars fixing up buildings in OTR is if they see people willing to visit the neighborhood and/or live there. Last year, I was talking to a guy who had lived in OTR about 5 years ago but moved to Europe, and was visiting OTR after being away for several years. He was complaining to me about how OTR had turned into "Blue Ash" (his words). So, as you make the neighborhood more polished, you might attract people who were unwilling to visit the grittier OTR. But you also turn off people who prefer their urban areas to have some grit. I understand what your saying. But there's a difference between visiting Harlem and the Bronx in NYC, and visiting say SoHO. The future for OTR is undoubtedly to become the next SoHO (at least the Midwest version of SoHo). A place filled with mostly fine dining/trendy restaurant concepts, and high end fashion retailers and boutiques. An area, similar to SoHo, that will demand the highest rent in all of Cincinnati. Again, that's way far off, and I know the ultimate goal for most here that OTR would be to keep its mixed income (similar to how it was since the early 20th century) with residents of all races and income. Maintain it's diversity. But I honestly don't see that happenning. Granted, it won't happen tomorrow, or next year, or even 5 years from now. But I do envision a day where OTR will be scattered with Starbucks, Verizon stores, and other chain retailers/shops, and be a very beautiful, but an expensive place to live/eat/shop/play destination. I just don't see OTR (long term future wise) maintaining this gritty urban feel, but rather the same "feel" you would get if you visited the French Quarters, North End in Boston, Old Montreal in Montreal, SoHo in NYC and so on. But that's just my opinion and thoughts...

I think you guys are misunderstanding what I'm trying to convey. As a cincinnatian I take great pride with what is occurring in Over the Rhine. It's made long strides to where it was 5 years ago. My point is, Over the Rhine has the potential to be so much more. In my mind I envision a fully revitalized Over the Rhine, where every building is filled with homes and shops. Where every building has been rehabbed and every building has a fresh new coat of paint. Where every street is safe, no matter whether it's morning, afternoon, or night. Until that day, I don't want tourists from out of town to see OTR. Because in my mind, a fully revitalized OTR will have the same drawing power as the North End in Boston, the Mission District in San Francisco, SoHo in NYC, The French Quarter in New Orleans, and so on and so forth. The neighborhood has the potential to not just be the crown jewel of our city and state, but a neighborhood that's synonymous with those above mentioned neighborhood and a jewel for all americans to consider as a, "must visit". I'm just afraid if people visit OTR now (especially out of town tourists who don't have a complete understanding of what is occurring in OTR), especially when it's going through on going gentrification and redevelopment, that ultimately people won't have the opportunity to see the gem that OTR has the potential to be, but rather the vacant buildings that are on the hinge of collapsing, the empty surface parking lots, and streets that are still incredibly dangerous to walk along, and thus will "sour" there perception of OTR.

That's a brilliant idea. Don't recommend anyone visit OTR so all the businesses that have opened up can fail due to a lack of customers and then the rest of OTR never gets redeveloped, because why bother when no one is visiting. Brilliant! Im just trying to be honest

Over the Rhine is simply to big. It's hard to really recommend someone visit OTR, because there's just so much left to be done. I'd argue only the southern half of OTR is revitalized..the north half of OTR is just as scary and just as abandoned (for now). But even the southern half still has alot of work left to be done. This is easily a 20 + year work in progress. OTR is just so big that the amount of time and work that needs to be done is quite a mountain to tackle...Especially if you bunch in Pendelton and Mohawk as well.

Say hello to your new neighbor. Rheingeist founder has officially purchased one of the condo's in the newly rehabbed Parksite building. Cost: 1,000,000 dollars. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2015/11/rhinegeist-founder-buys-1-million-condo-in-over.html

Love the grittiness/elegance you managed to capture. Awesome job! May I ask though why you aren't sure you'll be staying in Cincinnati?

I don't see an issue honestly. If you look on google maps the majority of the buildings on Elm are mostly 3 stories anyway...I would have more of an issue if it was on vine...

I really like the new condo rendering for the proposed empty lot on 1424 elm street. Really traditional Italianate, and may been seen as imitation rather than 21st original interpenetration, but it looks classy.

The new historic board packet is out for 11/23 http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation/historic-conservation-board/nov-23-2015-packet/

I feel like that site would be better suited as a potential grocery store

I think there's also a level of education that's needed for the public as well. Most of my friends (who are millennials to boot) consider street cars to be old san francisco trolley's, and have no clue what the word, "light rail" even refers to. They understand train and subway. That's about it when it comes to public transportation. So I think there's going to be some educating done when it comes to what light rail actually is.