Mr. Anderson

From Journal News today Duke could pass streetcar cost onto Butler County customers http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/local/duke-could-pass-streetcar-cost-onto-butler-county-/nWQjx/

I enjoy House Hunters International. In House Hunters it always seems like the couples end up buying the cheap house, miles from their jobs, family, etc. They seem to always base their decision on outdoor space.

Spent a pleasant half day walking around both sides of the Arno River in central Firenze taking pics. Tramway construction

When I saw these pics all that came to mind was O-Zone's DRAGOSTEA DIN TEI. :laugh:

Ha ha...No, but they despise Berlusconi. Livorno was the center of the Italian Communist party - but I think they have lost most of their power as times have changed. Yes it was the Livorno squad - Il Amaranto. They were playing Vicenza - Livorno was about the win the match when Vicenza scored on a penalty kick in last seconds of stoppage time - for a moment I thought the fans were going to riot.

Spent a pleasant day in Montepulciano - located about half way between Firenze and Rome. It is a typical Tuscan hill town - settled by Etruscans, later the Romans and now it specializes in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine and Pecorino cheese. Nearly every shop in the center part of town contained Etruscan tombs in the cellars. Fiat 500 - perfect for Montepulciano streets :wink2: More vino aging in the cellar

Spent Spring Break in Italy visiting family and friends and taking lots of pics. Livorno, Firenze, and Montepulciano. Livorno is an industrial/port city of about 170,000 people - it was nearly leveled during WWII - so much of the construction is newer. The coastline just south of Livorno is spectacular. Viale Italia - the beach is right across the street. Livorno vs. Vicenza ended in a tie 1-1. Cinque e cinque (5 & 5) a local specialty. Polpo - octopus salad. Piazza della Repubblica built over old canal. Oddly enough - one of the tallest residential towers in Italy is located in Livorno. Spaghetti allo scoglio.

Take the Cake to open café Thursday, February 12, 2009, 4:00pm EST Business Courier of Cincinnati Take the Cake, the Northside bakery known for decadent cupcakes and by-scratch tarts, is opening a café as part of an overall expansion. See link for article. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/02/09/daily60.html

Ha ha...If they're getting a public bailout, then public transport is probably the way to go. :clap:

Great pics. I've been to Genova a few times - the last was in 2004 when there was a big celebration because the city was declared the European Capital of Culture - I recall they did a lot of improvements along the waterfront.

Yes, to be honest I have no idea how they let a development as large as Ruwe's Oak go without paying into a fund or making direct improvements to the area infrastructure. That project is massive and put hundred of new housing units into that little spot. There are two access points, to the development, but the access off of Wesselman is so far off the beaten path that nobody uses it. The Western Village (or whatever the crap the Meijer & Kohls development is) should have also been conditioned to making the improvements we're currently doing now that are after the fact. The development is done and the traffic has been increased. We wait until a year afterwards to start considering how to mitigate the traffic problem when we could have conditioned the development appropriately to where the problem wouldn't have occurred in the first place. Furthermore, this process of approval then places the burden of these infrastructure improvements on the taxpayer and local government. If you're a developer who plans to profit off of your development, then its impact on the local community should be at least partially shared by you. Rando - I know this development is near your stomping ground but it's total garbage :evil:- my cousin lives on Rues Oak Drive - the house is a cheap vinyl box with a driveway- like most of the other ones appear to be. As far as having developers pony up $$$ or take responsibility for off-site improvements necessitated by (their) development impacts - a great way to address it would probably be through Impact Fees.

I also read that the govt includes such things in GDP counts as a guy running a red light and crashing his car upon returning from visiting his divorce attorney before checking himself into drug rehab. :wink2:

Warren Co. gets its list together for stimulus money By Elaine Trumpey • [email protected] • January 28, 2009 If Congress passes President Barack Obama's $825 billion stimulus plan, Warren County officials hope it includes about $58 million for 14 projects - including fixing the traffic nightmare at Interstate 71's Fields Ertel Road exit. The president touted his package Tuesday to Republicans on Capitol Hill. Democratic leaders have said they would like to have a bill ready for him to sign by President's Day on Feb. 16. ... http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090128/NEWS0108/901280331/1172

Clifton arts center wins $1M grant for renovation Friday, January 16, 2009, 11:07am EST Business Courier of Cincinnati The Clifton Cultural Arts Center said it has received a $1 million gift that will allow it to renovate its historic building on Clifton Avenue. The gift, from an anonymous donor, will be combined with a $250,000 grant from the city of Cincinnati to allow the center to proceed with the project, according to a news release. The Clifton Cultural Arts Center was founded in 2004 to preserve and utilize the 102-year-old Clifton School and adjacent McDonald Estate Carriage House. The center offers arts and cultural programming, classes, performances and exhibitions. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/01/12/daily76.html

Cincinnati Mills Mall sold to realty company, official says By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Friday, January 02, 2009 Cincinnati Mills Mall has been sold, according to a city of Fairfield official. Fairfield Economic Development Director Greg Kathman said officials with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority notified him on Wednesday, Dec. 31, a company called North Star Realty purchased the mall from Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group. "When the deal when the Mills Corporation purchased (the mall), they were involved in some of the financing and bonds of it, they run the TIFs on the project," Kathman said. "As property owners, they were involved in the sale of the property." Read full article here: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/01/02/fe010809millssold.html