edale

Nah, I think that's a revisionist account of the former West End. Before the stuff that went up in the early 2000s, there was one of the largest concentrations of public housing in the country. Whatever retail presence existed was limited to mini-marts and cheap food places, some of which still exist today. Crime and loitering was way worse then than it is now, and the area was truly a ghetto with awful, old projects everywhere. I agree that we have swung too far in the other direction now with too much open space, but let's not act like the West End isn't better off now than it was in the 90s and 2000s. Urban renewal all but killed the West End, and the best we can do now is try to rebuild a safe and healthy community that has some semblance of diversity when it comes to race, income, housing typologies, and land use.

I don't hate that site plan, but I agree that the density should be increased. If the red structures are, say, 4 unit apartment buildings, then I'm pretty OK with this proposal as is. I think it would be really beneficial to increase the amount of home owners in the West End. Currently, it has to be one of the most unbalanced neighborhoods when it comes to renters vs owners. Increasing home ownership in the area would probably have positive results on the viability of retail in the neighborhood, and would probably help reduce crime as well, as owners tend to be more vigilant and literally invested in their neighborhoods.

My palms get sweaty just looking at those pictures.

^ Probably more of the automated car craze we've seen coming out of the Cbus leaders for a while. What use is a subway or light rail down High Street to a guy who made his fortune by developing a mall in the far out burbs?

^ Seems suspicious that so many of these sites are in NE Ohio. Not a single location in Metro Cincinnati (Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren) despite some great proposals, including the Camp Washington proposal from the Rhinegeist guys. Was there a transparent process to determine which sites were selected?

I know this ship has sailed and this topic has been discussed to death, but that image really shows how damaging the road through the square is. It's more like two public rectangles than one cohesive public square.

Given, Shawnee Run, Buckingham, Cunningham, Old Indian Hill Road are all great for looking at houses. Park Road, which connects Terrace Park with Shawnee Run has some stunning homes too: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1724856,-84.3044829,3a,75y,344.69h,77.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sq4i4gzixNEavZQFR4aWCXw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Basically east of Drake is where the biggest homes are, though you can find big ones all over IH. The Rowe Arboretum is a hidden gem in IH, and there are some beautiful homes around there, too.

^You could answer your own question by reading the past ~2 pages of this thread.

1) If Detroit's chances are nil, why would MLS even bother announcing that they're a finalist? 2) If MLS is so great, why are there only three markets that can cobble together a stadium agreement?

why?

What a fantastic, comprehensive report!

I don't think OSU deserves to be in the playoff this year, and if they do get there, I think it would be a quick and embarrassing exit again. I'd love to see them match up against USC in the Rose Bowl, though. Both seem to be pretty evenly matched teams that are having parallel seasons.

I will always hate Eli for the way he handled himself on draft day. I remember listening to the draft on the radio in the car with my dad, and being completely shocked and disgusted when he said he would refuse to play for the Chargers. What a classless little brat. The only thing that has redeemed him a little is that he kept the Patriots from winning two more Super Bowls.

I agree with the hotel owners and operators. The hotel tax money would be better spent on expanding the convention center, or at least making the area by the convention center more attractive. Cincinnati's priorities are so out of whack, it's ridiculous. How many studies need to be done to show that sports stadiums are bad investments? Especially when a stadium exists by itself and not clustered around a convention center or other stadium so some sort of regular critical mass can be established, they have little effect on spin off development. We have a foolish Mayor, who has obviously been bought by the Lindners and Berding, using funding that could be spent on MUCH better projects all for what? The 'prestige' that comes with having an MLS team? Most people don't give a rats ass about the MLS, though they might be interested or even play/ed soccer. Conventions actually do bring people to town who would otherwise never think about coming to Cincinnati. Invest in that or invest in building up the center city so the visitors who do come here leave impressed and want to return. A soccer stadium in Oakley does nothing except placate some soccer bros.

^What a surreal image. Two old apartment buildings on a street that now has McMansions and a cul-de-sac...in the middle of the city. WTF.

That triangular building is really striking. I like it a lot! And Hudson Yards appears to be basically adding like downtown Philly to Manhattan. Amazing.

Was wondering when this trend would hit you guys. IMO I think its already passed its peak in Chicago. It’s still huge and growing in LA. I love poke and hesitate to call it a trend, unless sushi is also a trend. Glad to see Cincy getting a spot, and especially glad for more cheap and quick food options coming to OTR. These types of places are real assets for the residents of the neighborhood, as they cater to more of the get and go model rather than the fancier sit down places that cater more to visitors.

^ Probably a long shot, but no harm in trying. However, even if Central Ohio doesn't get Amazon's 2nd HQ, they'll still get a bunch more data centers. Amazon announced plans to add up to 12 more data centers to the three it started running a year ago in Central Ohio: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/11/10/amazon-plans-to-expand-to-15-central-ohio-data.html I think we have a better shot than most cities in the midwest outside of Chicago.. plenty of land, plenty of existing business/infrastructure, a sufficient work force.. I think Columbus will make at minimum the final 10, if not final 4 candidates How are those features any different than what exists in other cities in the Midwest?

That's an interesting idea, but the tennis center has been expanded a lot over the years, and is still undergoing major expansion and renovation this year in preparation for next year's tournament. Also, when you take all of the practice courts plus the three stadium courts, and the food/retail component, the tennis center takes up quite a bit of land. I do hate how the tennis tournament is out in Mason, and that most visitors don't really get to experience Cincinnati at all, but I have always heard that the media, players, and out of town fans really like the location. I've heard of several people who will come to Cincinnati for the tournament for 4-5 days, and take one of those days to visit Kings Island or The Beach. The restaurants are definitely lacking in that part of the region, though.

Using money from a garage to fund another garage. Hooray! At least the hotel tax revenue can still be applied to another project-- hopefully the replacement of the Millennium.

So the video of the Cavs riding the subway in NYC is all over the place now. Imagine if they posted such a video from the Red Line, and all the positive attention that would bring to the RTA. Plus, it would announce to people around the world that Cleveland, too, has a subway/rail transit. I know the situation is different in this particular video, but that's a thought that occured to me last night while watching the late night guys talk about Lebron on the train.

The thing that most supporters here are glossing over in their discussion of the benefits associated with this stadium and MLS in general is that the alternative is not nothing, but rather the current set up we have now, which is USL at Nippert. If we don't build the stadium, that set up continues and Clifton/CUF continues to benefit. If we build the stadium, Oakley receives some benefits, but Clifton would be left with one less draw. Do you guys really think that many more people are going to come from out of town to watch FC just because they're in the MLS as opposed to the USL? Do people from Louisville, Lexington, Dayton etc. not come to FC games already? The convention center hotel is a huge problem for Cincinnati. I have had friends who traveled to Cincinnati for a conference, and were unfortunately put up at the Millenium. That experience left a terrible impression of Cincinnati, and prior to my meeting up with them to show them around the city, they told me they thought Cincinnati was a real pit, as their only experience with the city was the hotel, convention center, and area immediately around the convention center. If the county has excess money to throw around, I'd much rather see them take a role in providing some gap financing to projects that have struggled to take off. Think a $3 million grant could get 4th and Race started? What about the Firehouse Row project in Walnut Hills? In my opinion, MLS is not going to result in much more visibility for Cincinnati. If we could spend this money to renovate US Bank arena with the prospects of landing an NBA team, that would be a different discussion. But MLS simply does not have the star power or fan base that many people care about. The best players are still going to be in Europe, so we might get some better quality players, but no one who is going to put fans in seats on name recognition alone. Besides, quality of players doesn't seem to be a real driving factor for team popularity, anyways. Look at the attention that NCAA football and basketball gets. The players and quality of play is much less than that of the pros, but that doesn't seem to diminish their popularity. Finally, I do worry about the leap to the MLS resulting in actually less interest and less fans in seats. Ticket prices will go up dramatically if FCC gets into the MLS. It's no secret that one of the reasons FCC is so popular, especially with families, is because the games are cheap. If tickets raise to an average price of $46, do you think those families will still go? How about the Millennials that everyone seems so inclined to cater to (I am a millennial for the record)? Is there enough corporate support here to support 3 sports teams plus a major tennis tournament? Companies are the biggest purchasers of luxury boxes, and those make the most money for the teams. What if FCC draws away enough of the corporate support of the Bengals that they start to get antsy and threaten to leave? I just feel like this whole effort is misguided. It's a waste of money and attention from other real priorities in the city and county, and the whole deal wreaks of croneyism. Look at the donor lists to Cranley, and look at the power players surrounding this FCC deal. Helen Keller could connect the dots. I hope the commissioners kill this idea.

Where was all this enthusiasm for the team when attendance was second worst in the league?

Well the Browns have had 12 top 25 draft picks since 2010. For contrast, The Bengals, a pretty middle of the road type of team, have had 8 in that time period. But point taken, I had assumed the Browns had more overall #1s.

How is the NFL complicit with the ineptitude of the Browns? With the amount of number 1 picks this organization has received, there is no way the team should be so terrible every frickin year. I guess when you blow picks on guys like Johnny Manziel, this is what happens. Even so, you'd still think with the talent from top round picks alone, the team would be somewhere in the middle of the NFL pack ala the Bengals.