1400 Sycamore

It seems as though none of you know the old folks that keep this dead music alive. For my part, I find symphonic music boring in any form and excruciating in person. You couldn't give me a season ticket in the best spot in the house. I prefer a blue ray and an intermission when I feel like it. But, the folks I have had to squire to the symphony are not walking down the street to get there. There may be a reason, if so I don't know it. But, I know it to be true. And, without these folks the CSO is DOA.

If Fred had not purchased this building and saved it, the building would already be on the ground. Just saying.

The 5 lots are 6000 sq. ft. I am not sure what multifamily could be done at 1512 -1520 Republic that would be economical. 12 unit multifamily?

Why would an unbroken string high density residential be a good thing? Seems like that was what was there 100 years ago that didn't work.

It is remarkable that 5 single family homes replacing a gravel parking lot in this part of OTR is a bad plan. I know it is about top down planning, but isn't it really nice to have a variety of housing choices in this newly cool area.

I am thinking that you do not actually read the posts you reply to. :roll: What I said was that I would be ok with the young men convening on the corner. That IS their chosen lifestyle and I am ok with it. You, on the other hand seem to want them on the basketball courts to keep them out of site. How Imperialist of you! Disgusting, really.

So what activity can these kids do that wouldn't be a 'menace' for you. Would you rather them hang out idly on the corner? Race dirt bikes around the neighborhood? This is the attitude of the gentrifier, and it sucks. Well, first of all, it is not a menace to me in the least. It is a menace to public safety and the neighborhoods in which these courts are located. It is moronic to provide a battle venue for angry young men. And, I am not impressed that some otherwise well motivated kids with a little extra time on their hands shoot hoops at the nearby playfield. But, bring them down to 13th and Sycamore and let's see how long it takes for a fight to ensue. And, yes, they are safer and less likely to breach the peace standing on the corner. If they can't work and won't study, they are better off there than showing who has the biggest you know what on the basketball court. Best of all, video game time would be good, exercising minds and dexterity and becoming comfortable with technology. Perhaps video game kiosks. And, for the record, I am proud to be a gentrifier. The locals have had 60 years to run Pendelton down. When I arrived 20 years ago or so, ungentrified, no person was safe, old or young, black or white. We will bring it back to be a nice neighborhood including for those who are able to stay. It is not my job to enable them. We do them no favors by enabling their former violent, drug ridden, crime filled lifestyle. Gentrifiers call the police and describe the perpetrators and go to court when the time comes. That is really all it takes. The rest of your post about dirt bikes is a straw man argument and therefore absurd.

Public basketball courts for unsupervised street pickup ball are a menace. They are a venue for neighborhood turf conflict and man on man conflict. Basketball is a contact sport. 10 players on scholarship in a televised game cannot even keep from punching one another. The notion that disaffected young men are soothed by letting off steam on the courts is pure nonsense. Anything that can be done to eliminate unsupervised basketball courts in edgy locations should be a top priority.

Zillow shows three sold. That would be 3 out of 5. Seems like you would lose a buyer with the dirt sitting there for 6 months.

Hey experts! What's the deal with 1421 Herschel??? It was purchased early 2015, the mansion torn down under protest a year ago, then excavated, utilities installed, graded, platted and then . . . nothing. Sitting for how long I don't even know. A lot longer than anyone expected. Any thoughts?

I don't mean to argumentative, but do any of you have any actual numbers for parking? Take for example, 209 East Court St. Most all of the spaces are monthly and I think they are still $60. The property is 8000 square feet and that translates to about 30 cars. It is assessed at 862000 and even with half of that being tif, the taxes are 29000. It requires snow and debris removal, some security, blacktop and striping and if there were hourly parkers, attendees.

None of this recent discussion I seem to have prompted mentions the fact that the top of this process, urban planners, City Council, 3CDC, The Zoning Board, etc., are utterly corrupt. Perhaps only the soft corruption of business and social club/political affiliation/contributions/nepotism, but none the less, corrupt. The experts in the late 90's, almost uniformly supported the giving away the riverfront for that fantastic new Hamilton County revenue generator, Paul Brown Stadium. (Yes, I'm still bitter about it).

I don't know what to say about this. One the one hand, you are to be applauded for your honesty, but I would have doubted there would be anyone who would say this publicly. Am I misreading this? Don't you believe that it is the "neighborhood groups" that is the smallest unit that has the most at stake, the best understanding of its own needs? It is top down planning that gave us things like the skywalks, a Riverfront of little used stadiums and acres of blighted buildings.

I don't think it is fear. But, it is just not going to happen. I don't mean to sound like a snob, but there are a lot of my contemporaries who would not go anywhere that they might need an umbrella or shoe covers. And, valet is helpful but no solution. It works for 50 or 100 but that is about the limit after a performance.

^^I have no idea what is meant by this. :wtf:

Like it or not, many people on which Music Hall relies, will not walk across Central Parkway. They would prefer to valet from the back side and many of them do. I have ferried more dowagers up Elm Street than I could count. My wife adopts them. But, the bridge is also a bridge to the supporters. The Symphony and the Ballet will find that out with lightning speed if the bridge is gone.

With a stable population, every new entertainment venue is essentially a zero sum gain. The City has never understood this. You can build four new ice cream stands along the streetcar route, and as soon as the novelty wears off, every ice cream sold is one that isn't being purchased in Kenwood or Hyde Park or Newport. People do not have two ice cream treats because there are more stands. If you are also responsible for Hyde Park, as the City is, you are moving entertainment dollars from one businesses pocket to another. Newport is, on the other hand, a horse of a different color. For my part, I think that expanding entertainment venues ahead of actual demand is a misguided effort, whether the City can steal some business from Newport or not. The Banks is a textbook example of filling a need before it exists.

Latest 3CDC photos are up on Flicker as of yesterday:

Well, I am not seeing a smaller descriptive unit there than a "census tract." Am I missing something?

I know its a bit tedious to bring a newcomer up to speed. :-) When you say "the 2010 Census" is there an interactive tool you are using to lasso the area that you have described? I'd like to become familiar with that tool. Your tutoring is appreciated.

There are around 1,100 housing units between Liberty and Central Parkway. ---------------------- That's interesting. Where does that number come from?

As a new person here, I am a little confused about what we mean when we say the West End. For me, the West End was mostly eliminated by I75, Laurel Homes, City Center etc. If we are talking about the area bounded by Liberty on the South and Central Parkway to the north, I get that. But, what is there? 200 housing units?

The reason I ask is that the PNC worked pretty hard to assure that that would not happen and that the green space above the garage would be "passive" green. Of course, anything 3CDC is involved in can be changed on a whim, so who knows. But, it would be a betrayal of the PNC approval.

Why do you say that?

I just would like to say that this forum is very educational. Especially for a non professional interested in development.