Brewmaster

The most popular guy on the team always seems to be the backup quarterback. Holcomb was adequate when he had protection, but when things broke down he was gawd-awful! He had a noodle for an arm, but made up for it by making good decisions (when he had the time).

There's no controversy to MayDay and MyTwoSense...Frye clearly has the nicer ass. :)

What happened to this thread?

^^^ That's a great idea that more schools should adopt even in the absence of possible layoffs. I understand that it passed by a 2-1 margin, but how could ANY teachers be against this? I just don't understand their mindset.

As far as I'm concerned, Droughns has earned his money. He's making chump change next year for a back with consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. It would also go a long way towards player morale and future holdouts if we held up our end of the deal and renegotiated. Other priorities are resigning Andra Davis and Roye. I'd like to have Bryant back too, but he's a bit more replaceable.

I'm glad to see Columbus finding thier niche in the US economy. A city that is less than 500 miles away from 50% of the US population should be one of the biggest hubs in the country.

Columbus, Pickaway County agree on Rickenbacker development Business First of Columbus - 4:16 PM EST Monday Officials in Columbus and Pickaway County unveiled an agreement Monday to prepare for what they hope will be thousands of new jobs. The 50-year agreement creates a joint economic development district to manage development near a planned intermodal hub at Rickenbacker International Airport. The agreement spells out which entities will provide infrastructure such as roadways and water for companies locating near the yard. The district covers 9,000 acres. Officials hope the yard will attract more shipping companies, turning the 9,000-acre tract of land into an advanced logistics hub. Columbus planners estimate the area could support 120 million square feet of development and create 37,000 new jobs. The agreement will make life simpler for businesses locating in the area, said Ty Marsh, president and CEO of the Columbus Chamber. Companies should face one set of rules, rather than negotiating with several different government entities. Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/12/05/daily5.html?page=1

I don't know that they should change thier format of doing business, but maybe they can change how they draw people in. They do very little marketing, and I think the concept of paying to park turns people off. I think it would be a great idea for them to work with a local news station to tell the stories of the individual vendors. Many of them are immigrants and entrepreneurs, so I'm sure they have some interesting stories to tell. It would help them with free advertising and develop a sense of community. Hmmm...I think I'm gonna go send some emails to program directors. :)

I kinda feel the same way. I hope some of the futuristic look gets dulled when it's actually built. Sometimes computer renderings can magnify that. It actually will fit in well against COSI as a backdrop...but that's only if you like COSI's design. I haven't seen any renderings of the proposed town st. bridge and pedestrian bridge, but I hope they at least follow a similar style to this one or the Broad st. bridge. I don't want to have three completely different looking bridges three blocks away from eachother.

Thought I'd start a thread for discussion about the Main St. bridge that is scheduled to begin construction in 2006. Here's what I know... Pretty good credentials for the architect... http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/people/faculty/pollalis/projects.html There's another rendering of it on page 3 of this pdf... http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/publications/2005CommunityReport.pdf

Looks like the Ohio Department Of Thoughtlessness is at it again. Somebody needs to step up and make a damn decision here! This is going on 4 years of studies and NO engineering has been done yet! We need a leader to step up with a funding plan and budget offsets. ODOT wary of city's plan for 70/71 split Adrian Burns Business First Columbus' chosen plan for redesigning the congested Interstate 70/71 split isn't the best option available, says a study by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The proposal, submitted in July by the city, Columbus Downtown Development Corp. and others, calls for widening Fulton Street onto an elevated deck over the westbound lanes of I-70. The idea aims to use the deck to halve the expanse of the I-70/71 corridor, allowing for the transformation of Fulton Street into a green boulevard that would complement renewal efforts planned for the nearby RiverSouth district. The boulevard would also control traffic moving from the expressway onto city streets.

I hate doing this but... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5836.0

I think that's what the Downtown Commission is for. I could be wrong, but I believe that they need to approve all signage before it goes up. Hopefully they have a feel for "how much is too much", but I don't think we're there quite yet. I don't think ODOT should have jurisdiction over downtown Columbus billboards unless it affects the driveablility of the roads. Like Jimmy mentioned, the videoboards and flashing billboards would fall into this category as safety concerns. Basically, if it can cause an accident or a traffic slowdown, then ODOT can interject. Otherwise, they should be working on putting our tax dollars to good use by fixing the 70/71 split and not quibbling over billboards.

I think THAT's the key! If they don't do it the whole way...don't do it at all. $1.5 million sounds like it should be the "whole way".

I had the same reaction initially to the $1.5 million. However, if you look at slides 26 and 27 of this presentation, I changed my mind. http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/publications/CCAnnualMtg2005.pdf I think it would be pretty cool to have all signage downtown themed to the Blue Jackets colored signs on slide 27. I always harp on Columbus for not having an identity. This could go a step further in creating that. Everything would look cleaner, more organized, and give the overall appearance of a city who has it's act together.

More sprawl for Columbus with no signs of stopping. This city sorely needs a lake, mountain range, or ocean to stop the suburbanites.

Sounds like this one will be priced at or above Arena District rates! I'm really impressed that they are already selling some. $200,000 / 750 sq. ft. = $267/sq. ft. $900,000 / 3250 sq. ft. = $277/sq. ft. WOW!

And we've got an RFP issued. This project seems to have legs! http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/publications/RFPforDevelopmentManager.pdf Here's a snippit:

That one was one of the winners as listed above by the Dispatch. It was the Jonathan Barnes Architecture design. I checked out the website, but couldn't find anything related to this project. His portfolio is pretty impressive though. Do you have any links to those renderings, or did you see them in person?

Here are some images from the John Reagan Architects submission. There are more on the website along with descriptions. http://www.johnreaganarchitects.com/planwhitd.html

Yep! http://realestate.theemiratesnetwork.com/developments/dubai/world_islands.php image: http://realestate.theemiratesnetwork.com/developments/dubai/images/the_world.jpg I've seen pictures of the barges pumping sand to create the islands. Crazy stuff. Part of me can't believe that this is only costing $1.8 billion. I would have guessed more. What happens when your foundation sinks back into the ocean though? Maintenance on that $6 million island is going to be huge.

Posty - Do you ever get tired of the bread smell over there? I know that fresh baked bread is generally thought of as pleasent. I'm just wondering if the constant smell would drive someone to the Atkins diet.

Also...here's the only rendering that I've been able to find. It's not entirely accurate, as the first floor bricks are the large gray type, and the rounded corners of the buildings have capped shingled roofs on them.

Since I'm located about a 9-iron away from where these are going up, I figured that an update is in order. Phase I has been going up steadily throughout the summer. It looks like Phase I is going to consist of 3-three story buildings, a parking garage and a pool in a courtyard area. The windows are in, bricks are going up, and I assume the interior trim is coming together. There's also a large "Now Leasing" sign that appeared out front about a week ago. The phone number is 614-221-2626 for those interested. If anyone calls, let me know how they're priced, I'm too lazy to call myself.

So in the last three days we've got plans to add 800 Nationwide empoyees, 800 Grange employees, 1,160 Childrens Hospital jobs, and 1,000 more related jobs. That's pushing 4,000 high paying jobs planned to be added in less than a week. :clap: In the whole chicken and egg debate between living downtown and having amenities downtown, I think this comes before both. You've got to have a densely populated workplace downtown in order to establish your market of homebuyers and renters. It also puts strains on traffic, adds restaurants, and adds support services which can provide even more motivation to live downtown.