oakiehigh

I think you all are onto something here!

Ballsy!! It really could be a very nice park someday. I'll agree there.

^To buy? This outfit is near Miamitown. I don't know how they work or structure business. Buy, Rent, Sell That is about all I have outside of eBAY. http://www.amscaf.com/ (ps - my house is wood frame. wood siding too. stone foundation as well, with dirt floor in the cellar. after 130 years, everything looks great. so not all wood framing is bad.) ^ Agree, mine is 60 year old Aluminum that looks like brand new, but I have my reservations about an entire neighborhood of Vinyl. It looks good brand new and if every couple of houses have it, but entire subdivisions are just asking for it.

We're seeing some cannibalizing of shopping centers around the area as new ones are built. Well put!! On top of this issue, I fear that IF things get bad for the middle class (pseudo rich) in the area, another issue is going to be many of the newer homes in the area. (not the custom brick homes) Many of the homes in the area are vinyl siding. They are nice today, but what happens when these subdivisions start aging quickly and start showing signs of weather along with vacant retail in the area. I am not a fan of framed houses for this reason and I own one in Bridgetown. (Although, I am surrounded by 60 year old brick homes, so I don't have to worry about my neighbor keeping theirs up as long as I worry about my own.) They just tend to age within a 10-15 year period and once a couple houses start looking bad, so does the entire neighborhood. (Example: Ryblt Rd subdivision on the west side.) I am not singling out LT/WC, because almost every town has developments like this, but they are heavily concentrated along the 75 corridor through Butler Cty and they may start to have trouble making owners of these properties do just the basics, like pressure washing the vinyl when needed. (Replacing the vinyl may be out of the question for people in the future if economic things stay as bad as they are trending today.) Sorry, I am spinning this away from the original topic, but things like this will ultimately play into the scheme of things in LT/WC!! It's great when everything around you is new, but maintaining the status quo is the hardest thing to do for most cities and townships.

26 incredible pictures on the link. A city treasure turns 100 You're invited to tour a building that its owner, Hamilton County, isn't quite sure what to do withBY SARA PEARCE | [email protected] http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080525/ENT07/805250301/ Local pride and patriotism, and a reverence for their own heroic dead were stirred by the impressive dedication ceremonies of the new Memorial Building to the Soldiers and Sailors, Marines and Pioneers of Hamilton County yesterday afternoon. There was not an inch of vacant space in the handsome hall. - The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 14, 1908...

I really didn't want to start a new thread for this, but it is very interesting!! Taxes subsidize ghost housing BY JANE PRENDERGAST | [email protected] http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080527/NEWS0108/305270110/ Taxpayers still support Cincinnati’s vacant English Woods public housing complex, even though no one has lived there for more than two years. The last residents of the almost 60-acre hilltop site along Westwood Northern Boulevard moved out in the fall of 2005. Yet the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, which owns the complex, gets $235,423 every month for the property from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

One OKI forum edit: still looking

I have bigger hopes of leaving the Queensgate area like it is so we don't block large swaths of land from development similar to the convergence of 75 and 71.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't!! If the city wasn't trying to do all the things in OTR that they have been doing, groups like these would STILL be bashing the city saying they were forgeting about the poor and the neighborhoods in which they live. I agree with Jimmy_James, this will connect OTR with the two biggest employment areas in the region. Folks who have been living off the system will have no excuse anymore as to why they can't be a productive member of society. (Not that they really have an excuse now either.)

I love all the different bridges in C-land! You see pictures of them and immediately know what city it is before you even see any of the buildings. Very unique!!

Go Clones!! Cyclones power past Wranglers 8,676 fans revel in 4-2 win over Vegas BY SHANNON RUSSELL | [email protected] http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080525/SPT/805250376/1062 The Cincinnati Cyclones didn't waste much time showing their mettle in the Kelly Cup Finals. The Cyclones netted three first-period power play goals that set the tone in a 4-2 defeat of the Las Vegas Wranglers Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena. The 'Clones enter today's 7:30 p.m. Game 2 with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. Cyclones standout David Desharnais scored two goals and added an assist, and Bryan Schmidt and Mathieu Aubin added goals that delighted a playoff-record crowd of 8,676. Three of the goals came on the power play. Coach Chuck Weber said special teams play helped launch the Cyclones in the right direction. The Cyclones are aiming to become the first Cincinnati-based pro hockey team to win a championship since 1973. That year the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Swords captured the Calder Cup in five games.

I remember reading that the county was possibly going to sell Memorial Hal, but this sounds like it may be under threat from the very thing many of us are pushing for in OTR. Infill and urban reinvestment. Memorial Hall Celebrates 100 Years Reported by: Jacqueline Howard Email: [email protected] Last Update: 10:33 am http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c0507a6b-7fdc-43b4-9dd5-95eea0035ae2 County May Sell Memorial Hall Slideshow One hundred years ago, Memorial Hall was built on Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine to honor military servicemen and women of Hamilton County. The inspiration of the neo-classical facade has dedicated the building to the memory of local heroes...

^True. I know several years ago, they were toying with the idea of opening a smaller essentials and copy center store somewhere in the CBD (similar to some of there stores in NYC). At the same time they were also considering smaller campus locations on or near some of the major universities. Not quite sure why that never came to fruition. My guess would be that they put all there eggs in one basket and overextended their expenditures with there major assault on Office Depots two major markets(Chi-town and Miami). Before 05 (I think), they didn't have a presence in these cities. Many of their testing stores like a smaller urban and university stores seem to have been put on the backburner. If you want to voice your opinion or your request, you can contact the regional office which sits above the Colrain store. They do listen well to customers wants and needs. FYI- Outside of their HQ's in Framingham Mass., Cincy is considered their most powerful and profitable market. Many of the executives, including the top 3 or 4 have residences in NKY. This gets you to the Colrain store, but I can't find any info for the upstairs numbers. I have contacted the store before and asked to be routed upstairs. 8465 Colerain Ave Cincinnati, OH 45239 (513) 923-3124

Ladies & gentlemen, welcome to Cincinnati International Speedway... Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!... That has a good ring to it!!

Guys, the negativity is mind boggling, but local media is still driving that. I know many westsiders who have been commenting positively (much to my surprise) about the city and the many awesome developments which have been hard for the media to ignore. This is something I wouldn't have said 6 months to a year ago. The ball is rolling and it is up to citizens like us to keep reinforcing it via blog, opinion sections, etc. I have said it before and I will say it again, there is more going on right now (all at once in this city) than I believe I have seen in the past 28 years combined. As Chris points out, Can you imagine a more exciting time to live in Cincinnati? I can't!! People's opinions about the city are changing for the good everyday, but it will take time to reverse the years of suburban (and urban) negativity against our core. Chris, it's good to hear from you again. Please feel free to rant all you want on here. I am sure I speak for everyone here when I say it is our great pleasure to have you on our side. Keep up the great fight!!

^ Polotics!! This is why I haven't been able to keep up with this sport like I did in the 90's. They suck! I still bet they work it into the schedule. We won't hear about it (official date) until later this summer.

^good point! guys, alot of folks on this forum love to bash NOTL, but with the progress being made at the Banks, Cincy, Covington, Newport........It's only a matter of time before they get it right over there. It will (has) play (ed) a crucial ROLE IN DRAWING PEOPLE BACK DOWNTOWN. I know some people in Admin for NOTL and it is not failing miserably like some on here refer to it as. As UncleRando is quick to point out. ( And Mr. Portune, in his latest statements to WCPO.) " A rising tide, lifts all boats"

^It'll be like Christmas Morning for them!!! :wink:

^ Here is where the many hotels downtown will come into play. Many of the 110,000 people travel, especially for the first couple years.

Yea traffic sucks, but that is why you get there early to tailgate for 5-6 hours before the race and stay late after tailgating until traffic dies down. Race fans know this is big Speedway's purchase means major sporting like we haven't seen here http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080523/COL03/805230344 As soon as the report was leaked Wednesday that Bruton Smith would be buying Kentucky Speedway, you knew a Sprint Cup race would follow. You could almost hear an engine whine. Smith, the 81-year-old billionaire owner of seven racetracks, wasn't buying the place to race horses or go-karts. Still, nothing was certain until halfway through a news conference Thursday afternoon, when someone asked this: "Do you expect to have a (Sprint) Cup race there next year?" "Yes. Next year, yessir," Smith answered. You might not know a lug wrench from a 9-iron. You might think that "drafting" means taking Carson Palmer for your fantasy team and "getting loose" is what you do after midnight on Saturday. Wasn't this called the Winston Cup Series a few days ago? Wasn't it the Nextel Cup last night? Yeah, as a matter of fact. It doesn't matter. Know this: This is big. This is more than 100,000 race fans jammed around a track that Smith says will need to be expanded - "a few seats," he allowed, "maybe 50,000." That's 120,000 people about an hour from downtown, some of whom will need places to sleep and eat. That's two-and-a-half Bengals sellouts. It's a Reds homestand. Take the biggest convention Cincinnati hosts and multiply it by, oh, 30. It's that big. Funny. I was talking Thursday to someone formerly prominent in bringing big sporting events to town. We bemoaned that, for a decade, Cincinnati has had nothing of consequence grace its stadiums and arenas. Indianapolis has spent 30 years successfully cultivating its rep as a sports destination. It has had the Pan Am Games and the Final Four. Now, the former Naptown has the 2012 Super Bowl. Cincinnati has nothing. Not even a baseball All-Star Game for its semi-new ballpark. Riverfront Stadium hosted the 1988 game. Pittsburgh, ground zero for terrible baseball, has hosted two All-Star Games since. Leave it to Jerry Carroll and a big-bucks ol' boy from North Carolina to bring the big time back to the area. "It's a hotbed of racing," Smith decided. "No doubt about that." Of course, there is the little matter of Carroll's antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. Carroll, who owns Kentucky Speedway, and his investors claimed the two companies conspired to keep big-time racing off the Sparta track. A district court judge ruled against the speedway. An appeal is pending. When asked about the suit, Smith sidestepped it as quickly as a pit crewman changing a tire. "We have nothing to do with the lawsuit," he said. Carroll was at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Thursday, with Smith, during the press conference. Carroll didn't build Kentucky Speedway at a cost of $152 million in 2000 as a test track for Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup teams. He didn't build it to run Busch/Nationwide Series races, or to race trucks. Carroll, who thinks bigger than anyone around here, wanted his track to host one of NASCAR's big events. He was confident that once he showed the sport's ruling France family how well-run and well-attended his races were, they'd give him a key to their castle.It never happened. Now, it will, but not with Carroll in the saddle. It must be bittersweet. Who knows what role Carroll's lawsuit had in any of this? You can't sue to get a Cup race. You can sue claiming an antitrust violation and ask for more than $200 million in damages, which Carroll has done. Now that his track will get a Cup race, he can't argue anti-trust. As for the damages? We'll see. Smith said he "got an agreement out of (Carroll) that he would stay." Carroll's ownership stake, if any, is unknown. Nor is it known which Sprint Cup race Kentucky Speedway will get. Smith will take a date from one of his other tracks. None of this matters to race fans here. They'll recall this day the way Bengals fans recall 1967. The road trips to Talladega and Daytona might still be made. But now, a much easier roadie also will be on the list. "We expect to do great things there," Smith announced.

^ You will have that!

This makes it official. Whether you like this sport or not this will huge for the region. 110,000 seat venue with national exposure to a VERY loyal crowd. This would be the perfect time to advertise those "Visit Cincinnati and Ohio" commercials. I will be in attendence and I would recommend it to anyone who has never been. It makes Bengals/Browns/Buckeye tailgates seem like childs play. Speedway to expand with purchase New owner plans 50,000 more seats and Sprint Cup race BY KEVIN KELLY AND PATRICK CROWLEY | [email protected] AND [email protected] http://news.nky.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080522/SPT/805220329 The new owner of Kentucky Speedway said he wants to bring a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to Gallatin County and add as many as 50,000 new seats. Speedway Motorsports Inc. founder and chairman Bruton Smith announced today the purchase of the speedway in a deal expected to close in October.

You can't really tell from that angle, but that Great Lawn that meets the water near the Roeb will be something out of this world in reality. It will definitely be one of the most picturesque places in the country, possibly the world when done.

^^^That is done up nice. ^Yea, I think the retail sector has arrived at that point now, yet we still have some new neighborhoods who are trying to sqeeze every little bit out til it goes completely belly-up. My hope is they don't do it to the point where they will be stuck with massive amounts of empty homes, retail, and industry space in 5-10 years when crap may be more in the toilet than it is today. Do they have any township trustees that have a backbone and will stand up against so much of the junk that is out there today or are they looking at dollar$$$$$ signs and thats it? Lord knows we already got enough empty stuff scattered throughout Hamilton Cty. This will be interesting to see how it pans out. Not to spiral this thread out of control, but didn't a rescent developer just back down from a major Retail Center near S. Lebanon?

^gotcha!