DEPACincy

If Court Street is closed off to become a Pedestrian Mall we should be looking to Knoxville for inspiration. The Market Square really punches up for a city Knoxville's size:

I'm here for it. Would completely change the complexion of downtown. It would start to have a "big city" feel.

Right, and ultimately I don't think the city should give any free money for an arena. An investment would be a different story. A share of the profits up to a certain percentage above what funds are provided seems like something I'd be willing to support.

I didn't know they don't have a sales tax. Still, the actual calculation is enormously complex so it is hard to say if it is worth it. They certainly collect more property tax dollars in the area around the arena because it exists, but what percentage can be attributed to it? What are the cost to provide public services in the area vs. what the cost would be without the arena? What is the arena worth as a marketing tool for the city? Lots more to it than simple sales/amusement/hotel tax calculation.

Honestly, if Jefferson County Metro Govt is only paying $10.8 mil per year for the YUM center I would venture to guess that the return on investment is enormously positive. I'm sure that it generates more than that annually in taxes when you factor in amusement tax, hotel tax, and sales tax.

I went down the list of the top grossing arena tours of 2018. I excluded The Eagles because I couldn't find a full list of dates for them.

I'm not denying that these exist, but artists plan their tours to come back and hit cities. They'll play Louisville, Columbus, Detroit and then go to a different region and come back and hit Indianapolis and Cleveland.

But my point is that the theory seems to affect Cincinnati much more than other cities. Why was Cincinnati the only local city left of the Sheeren tour? Why was it the case with Taylor Swift as well? Jay-Z and Beyonce? Sure, sometimes other cities in the area get left off. But it is much more prevalent with Cincinnati.

That is a fair question, and I think it is the one we should be asking. I think if the city provides money they need to receive something in return, as @Cincy513 said. But to claim that we're not getting skipped over for a lot of big shows I think you have to completely ignore the actual facts. Out of the biggest 10 tours last year, I think one came here if I remember correctly. Most of our other regional peers had 8 or 9 of them come. There's an obvious disparity that only applies to Cincinnati. So either it is the arena or it is something else. We can speculate what that something else might be, but artists have actually complained about the arena so I'll go with that.

You keep saying this but I still don't buy it, sorry. It doesn't pass the sniff test. Ed Sheeren, for example, played Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Buffalo. Literally every other big city within hundreds of miles. He played Milwaukee and Chicago, which are right next to each other! He played Seattle and Tacoma, which are in the same MSA! He played Minneapolis and St. Paul. Twin cities! So I guess these agreements only apply to Cincinnati.

Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeren, Jay Z, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Pink, Justin Timberlake, U2 In multiple cases the above artists played many similar sized cities on their 2018 tour. Most of them played Columbus, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis. Some of them played Louisville, a smaller city. None of them played Cincinnati. Nick Lachey has specifically said they would not play US Bank Arena if they were not from Cincinnati.

Friday February 22nd

Haha I think we'd all be guilty of the same sentiment at the time.

Streetside Brewery is great down there but on a weeknight it is usually dead. Would love to see that area really pop.

The plan is to house it at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania until they can hopefully get it back up at the station. Though I would be very happy to have it here in Cincinnati. That board always made 30th Street feel extra special, almost like being in a movie.

Going back through this thread, I laughed when I got to this.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we should intentionally design intersections to be confusing. I'm just saying simpler isn't always better. I do think something needs to be done at this intersection but I think the radii at the proposed intersection might be too wide. It could encourage people turning from Auburn to Dorchester and vice versa to run the stop sign. But overall I'm less concerned about the intersection proposal than I am about the 5 lanes.

Which is a good thing! Confusing intersections are safe because it makes you pay attention. The last thing we want is to make it easy for people to run a stop sign and whip around this corner at high speeds.

Sadly, 30th Street Station in Philly has lost its iconic flipboard. I don't know why they couldn't have just added a second sign that was ADA compliant. https://www.phillyvoice.com/30th-street-station-solari-board-amtrak-spit-flap-arrivals-departures-sign-officially-leaving/

Also noticed that the first one was in Miami Township and another one will be in Crosby Township. Other than Lincoln Heights, they're all rural locations. The first one only had a handful of people attend.

Right. But I do think the practical result will be that executions are halted for the entirety of his term. I don't know that we're anywhere close to finding a solution for the humane drug problem.

No, no, no, no, no, no. This is so bad. When will DOTE get out of the 20th Century and into the 21st? Planning documents have Auburn Avenue becoming a business district for Mt. Auburn but that will NEVER happen if this project happens.

On this topic, Dewine has halted executions in Ohio and wants to raise the gas tax. I support both policies and I'm thankful for it, but I would note that he campaigned on the idea that Richard Cordray would raise your taxes and be soft on crime.

I would also add, the development to the west of this site is actually more dense but is much more car-centric and less walkable. This kind of density would actually keep property taxes lower for current residents in the long run by expanding the tax base. And the site is closer to downtown Cincinnati than many urban neighborhoods in the city.

This is circular logic. The area is currently sprawl so it is only appropriate for sprawl? If you build more sprawl it'll just make the situation worse. Density is the solution not the problem. Bus routes can be changed. Residential density spurs commercial development.