edale

What's the big deal about turning the Emory into a theater anyway? We already have Memorial and Music Halls, the Shakespeare theater and the theater at the SCPA just a couple blocks away, plus there's the Woodward over on Main, the Ensemble on Vine, and of course the theaters at the Aronoff Center just a few blocks south and the Taft a little further south and east. Isn't the core pretty much good on concert venues and auditoriums? I get that it's a shame that the venue is currently sitting unused, and I'd love to see it turned into productive space, but I don't see the need to create yet another music venue at the Emery.

^ Oh yes, I'm aware that renderings aren't contracts, and that they are basically promotional tools. The plans that are reviewed by the city for conformance with the code are, in essence, contracts, as they are usually reviewed by city staff for compliance with zoning, building, fire, etc. codes. If those plans didn't show tree wells on the third level of the garage and only the initial renderings did, then shame on the city for not ensuring that there was proper screening in place for this garage. I didn't review the plans for this project, and only relied on renderings for envisioning how this will turn out. Of course, there is always a bit of creative license when it comes to renderings, but to totally do away with parking garage screening after showing a garage that is almost totally obscured from view by vegetation seems to exceed artistic license, and veers into the purposefully misleading territory. Of course, all this could be moot if they are still planning on planting bamboo on this level. Bamboo doesn't create as thick a screen as a mature tree would, but it grows tall and grows quickly, and it stays green all year round, which is nice in the gray winters of Cincinnati. Guess we shall see what ends up being there when all is said and done!

They had originally rendered trees going in on that little step-back above the 3rd floor to help screen the garage. Doesn't look like there is sufficient depth to accommodate trees, and I don't see any sign of planter beds. It will be super disappointing if that portion of the project doesn't come to fruition, and I don't think developers should be allowed to lie in their renderings. The garage screening is pretty weak, based on the photos shown here, and if the trees weren't going to happen on the Court St. side, the city could have required some other screening techniques to be implemented.

They've been trying to get a development at these sites for so long. It sounds like this time it might finally happen. Wonderful news for College Hill, which has slowly and quietly turned into a very solid neighborhood with a strong business district. Also, Lasserre Bradley of Pennrose was formerly with the Model Group for many years. It's great to see that he's obviously advocating for Cincinnati in his new (?) role in Philly. It'd be excellent to attract other east coast developers to town. If they're developing in College Hill, no doubt they'll be interested in the even hotter neighborhoods like OTR, Northside, Oakley, etc.

^ I remember years ago meeting with one of Cincinnati's well known self-proclaimed "Big Ideas" guys to see if the organization he worked with could partner/sponsor revitalization work in some of the non-core neighborhoods in the city, and he went on this strange rant about 'fowling', and how it's so cool, and that Cincinnati needed to land a fowling place. He assured me it was all the rage in Detroit, and we were missing out big time by not having a fowling bar. I'm sure he's thrilled by this announcement. ?

Yeah, it's nice to see both Dayton and Cincinnati's core counties appear to have leveled off and are growing again. I'd be curious to see a map of where the growth is occurring in Hamilton County. No doubt parts of the city are growing, but other parts of the city are still losing. There is a bit of new subdivision growth still occurring in the western part of the county, and I think the north/northeast burbs are also growing. Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 new housing developments in Blue Ash alone, and I know the demand for housing in Sycamore schools is off the charts.

Neck and neck with Minneapolis? Not since 2014. And it looks like Chicago has been quite a bit bigger than Cleveland since 2014, too. Not knowing much about the bio-tech/medical sector specifically, it appears Cleveland is in a pretty good place compared to its Midwestern peers. The top 10 regions are highly variable, and I'm guessing very influenced by one time deals, mergers, etc. You have St. Louis going from $242 in 2016 to just $44 in 2017. Cincinnati had an amazing 2017, but shrunk back down to its more normal (but growing) range in 2018. Cleveland, however, seems to be pretty consistent, which seems to indicate that the market is diversified and not driven by one dominant company, though I know the Clinic is responsible for the vast majority of the other related companies in the area. Other than the large drop off from 2014-15, the Cleveland market hasn't experienced dramatic change, and the number of companies has shown a steady, continual growth since 2015. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see anything too alarming here. Btw, saying Columbus, Ohio on an Ohio development site, discussing numbers related to midwest metro economic performance is unnecessary. You know that, of course, but just wanted to point out that it comes across as petty and juvenile ?

^ Lol, that's some good spin!

So great to see this finally happening for Madisonville. Thanks for the photo update!

^ Eh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Look at the fine youth of Cov Cath as an example of who we're dealing with in NKY...

Funny you say that LA reminds you of Detroit, because I have felt that way for years too, and people largely look at me like I'm crazy when I say it. But if you're driving down some of those impossibly wide streets in South LA (Vermont, Manchester, Crenshaw) lined with single story retail, I swear it feels just like driving down Woodward or Gratiot or something. Residential neighborhoods in the Valley feel like where my family lived in Warren, MI. It's strange, but I definitely get it. LA can be a very rewarding city to visit or live in. There is truly an endless amount of cool stuff to find. I am constantly finding new neighborhoods, business districts, etc. without even really trying. I agree that the city has some spectacular residential neighborhoods, and I think it probably has some of the prettiest SFH neighborhoods in the country. There's an astounding amount of architectural variety in the residential hoods- from the Spanish and Mediterranean Revival styles that are ubiquitous in SoCal, to mid-century modern, tutor revival, art deco, streamline moderne...just an endless array of styles. They also have exotic landscaping, with all sorts of ferns, palms, flowers, and trees that is just so different from anywhere else I've been. That said, LA can be challenging, too. The traffic and mobility issues are famous, but the ugliness of the commercial corridors is not something I was prepared for before moving out here for the first time about 10 years ago. You have these amazing residential neighborhoods, but they're often bordered by really ugly, and fragmented commercial corridors. Lots of strip malls, fences, chaotic signs, curb cuts all over the place...the streets themselves are often wide and unpleasant to cross. That is something that detracts from the city for me. I love exploring cities on foot, and when I lived in DC I would choose a corridor and spend a saturday walking it for miles, just taking in the architecture, commerce, neighborhood changes, etc. You can't do that in LA, at least not pleasantly. You can have a wonderful walk around a neighborhood, or go for a fantastic hike in the mountains, but you can't just walk down Vermont or Hollywood or Sunset and have that pleasant experience. I miss that, and I wish this city was better in that regard.

I don't think the small houses of Compton or South LA are much different than small houses from the 50s in and around Ohio's cities, though lots are definitely smaller in CA. This 50s era subdivision in Blue Ash doesn't look all that different than this residential street in Compton. You can find similar homes all around here- Deer Park, Silverton, Reading...

If this is the only way to achieve walkability, large portions of Manhattan, and basically all American CBDs are unwalkable. This situation you describe might be optimal conditions for fostering a walkable environment at a neighborhood scale, but I don’t agree that large scale, single use buildings always lead to unwalkable environments. The biggest impediment to walkability in this area is definitely the width and speed of MLK. But the walkability of the area today is also severely hampered by large surface parking and vacant lots— there is really nothing to walk to. Adding office and hotel uses to previously vacant sites will absolutely increase he walkability of this portion of MLK, and it’s unreasonable to expect a site like this to be designed with small footprint buildings. That simply doesn’t accommodate the needs of modern office users, and honestly would look out of context in this wide corridor. I’d also push back a bit on the notion that only areas built at a fine grain scale, along narrow, quiet roads are walkable. Large portions of Los Angeles are built at a scale that isn’t exactly hospitable to pedestrians. This doesn’t stop lots of people from biking and walking around these parts of the city. It’s not ideal and might not be pleasant, but people can and do walk when there is residential density adjacent to or mixed with a variety of commercial uses. MLK’s current conditions are what they are. Realistically, those conditions are unlikely to change anytime soon. That doesn’t mean the city should just give up on it. This area has massive potential for vibrancy.

I’m excited for this project. If this corridor is built out as planned, it will be pretty remarkable. There’s only so much uptown consortium or anyone else can do to make this area more walkable given the width of MLK. Given the new interchange, I can’t see a median, bike lanes, or corner bump outs happening, but building up along he corridor will at least help the built environment match the intensity/scale of the street. The contemporary, glassy designs of the buildings, and the plazas and sculptures proposed should really refresh this corridor. It’s giving me DC vibes.

Rail is better than bus (even BRT) when it comes to spurring development. Rails in the ground are not able to be moved in the same way that a bus route can, so they offer a nearly guaranteed amenity to developers along the line. If the goal is just to move mass amounts of people in the cheapest way possible, BRT is the way to go. That is, until you run into capacity issues like what is happening in LA's massively successful Orange Line BRT. The buses- even the articulated ones- are often at or over capacity, so the line will probably be converted to light rail in coming years, as LRT has higher capacity than BRT. BTW, I'm not sure you can say Cincinnati 'totally screwed up' a light rail line. Cincinnati has a streetcar circulator, so it's not fair to compare it to a light rail line that is used for transport across the city or region. Many of the issues affecting the streetcar are fixable, but the politics in Cincy are so toxic that the mayor would rather sabotage the streetcar to gain political points than actually make the modest improvements it would take to improve performance. But if you look at where investment is occurring in OTR, especially in the portions north of Liberty where 3CDC isn't involved, it's very closely tied to the streetcar. Also, having the rail in place I think made it possible for the city to eliminate parking requirements downtown and in the basin neighborhoods, which is a huge step forward for encouraging development. Even though most people would admit that the streetcar hasn't met its initial expectations, the very presence of rail and having a circulator that can take people from big garages around the riverfront and throughout downtown enabled that progressive policy decision, and I don't think it would have been made had there only been bus transit.

They could try keeping their bar open til normal hours. I remember going there several times at night to get drinks and food at the bar, only to be told they were closing at like 10PM on a weekend. It's a great, dark bar space, and that patio is awesome too- they just need to utilize them better. Hopefully the new ownership group will be better.

Cincinnati eliminated parking requirements downtown and in the basin neighborhoods. That's why 8th and Main is a ~150 unit apartment building being built with ~5 parking spaces.

Discount Drug Mart entrance on Quicken Loans Arena. Yeah...corporate sponsorship has gone way too far lol. Between this and Columbus' Big Lots Arena, Ohio has some utterly crappy and cheap embarrassing sponsored arena names. Like the way the arena renovation looks, though!

He's always talking about unrealistic ideas that make him seem....less than smart. Remember when he said the Oasis line was going to be a functioning commuter rail line in time for the MLB All Star Game? He announced that like 6 months before the game. He also was pitching FCC using Paul Brown Stadium well after everyone had concluded that such an arrangement would not work, and he talked about it like it was some new idea that only he had thought of. I could list many more ideas of his that were puzzling (to put it nicely) but no need to pile on.

Portune is really dizzy. Would love to see him replaced with another Dem.

I won't complain about any infill, but I really wish all these new towers (Court & Walnut, 8th & Main, 4th & Race) were over 20 stories. Perhaps the next wave of projects will bring some height.

It’s only 4 lights, but the Liberty and Second Street intersections are big and have lengthy lights. Hopefully this small change will lead to improved performance, and Council will allow for prioritization at the other identified intersections. I see this as a small win. And the prioritization of street crossing signals for pedestrians is a positive thing, too. I imagine this just entails starting the pedestrian walk light a few seconds before the light turns green for cars.

^ I think those lots are proposed to have affordable housing through a partnership with 3CDC and OTRCH. I remember seeing a friend who is/was? involved with OTRCH post about this on Facebook a while back, and I seem to remember there being renderings. I believe they are renovating one or two buildings in addition to the new construction as part of the project.

Also, what's up with this building? Prime location across from Washington Park, great views of Music Hall, the building next door sold a condo for over $1 million, yet this building remains boarded up. What gives?

Camp Washington seems like it should be a natural extension of Northside. It appears Northside is finally getting somewhat expensive, and many of the obvious development sites have already been developed, so more investment might be shifting down towards Camp in coming years. It's got the industrial gritty vibe that should appeal to the hipster and artist set. It's flat and pretty easily bikeable to both Northside and Downtown/OTR. The freeway and heavy industry present challenges, but these things haven't prevented the Arts District in Los Angeles, for example, from becoming a hot, trendy neighborhood. I really hope someone can convert the Crosley Building to loft housing. If that one domino falls, I think so will the rest of the neighborhood.