Cincy1

I might be interpreting it incorrectly, but I read this to mean Obata made the slimming changes prior to submission to the review board while the changes described in the first paragraph below occured after that submission: Notable changes included moving the building's main entrance and lobby from Fourth Street to Third Street, facing the riverfront, and the addition of a promenade, retail stores and "winter garden" that would extend inside the building along Sycamore Street. The promenade and stores would connect the Third and Fourth street entrances. Obata noted that since original plans for the building were drawn, its façade had been modified to give it a slimmer, taller feel.

While there is no guarantee the brewpub complex would happen, I hope just the news of them saying it will happen if the streetcar goes forward gives people an idea of the possibilities. Development along the line would provide another major boost to the city center, and with more development more people, and with more people more development and so on. I think this phenomenon has been pretty well documented.

Awesome - I made the list.

Well I guess I am happy we are the center of bullsh!t with the high-paying, creative jobs that bullsh!t brings. :wink:

I know we've discussed the branding industry in Cincinnati - I am not sure if it was a separate thread, but this is as good a place as any. This is a very nice article summarizing the companies, our history, and the possibilities in the future. There was a graphic of the list of some of the companies and their employment, but I do not see it online. The cradle of brands Some hope Cincinnati's image as the birthplace of product branding will be the key to drawing talent, energy into local economy By John Eckberg, Cincinnati Enquirer A bar of soap that floated a century ago spawned an industry in our region that today has a global reputation in advertising, product packaging and brand development. James N. Gamble figured out first that a phrase can capture a customer - or a million customers - and, as a result, his "99 & 44/100ths percent pure" Ivory soap slogan still resonates in thousands of jobs and dozens of companies involved in selling people products and services. "Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver - they have nothing like we have here," said Jerry Kathman, president and chief executive of LPK, a downtown-based company that is the world's largest employee-owned brand design firm. "We have an international reputation of being a center for advanced brand design - an aggregation of large firms: LPK, Interbrand, Landor and Deskey - many companies here with the scale and reach to manage complex design branding initiatives." With more than 400 businesses in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky that house product design and branding expertise, the industry is a local powerhouse. Thanks to Kroger Co., with its 42 food manufacturing plants, and Procter & Gamble Co., with 300-plus brands, experts say more than half the people involved in the advertising and marketing industry in the nation work and live in this region. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/BIZ01/802100302/1076

It looks like the stories are heating up again - this would be good if true. Seems the specter of government scrutiny might be helping CVG.

^ It looks like, "according to insiders", the UAL-Continental merger discussions will wait until Delta/NW is final but there is clearly something going on: From USA today: But the merger story did seem to advance yesterday. The Houston Chronicle says a Delta-NWA merger may end up "triggering a similar response by Houston-based Continental Airlines and United Airlines." Indeed, the Journal cites "a person familiar with the situation" in writing that "preliminary talks between United Airlines parent UAL and Continental Airlines have grown more serious" as the talks between Delta and NWA press on. "It appears unlikely, however, that Continental will pursue a deal until it is fairly certain that Delta and Northwest are going to merge," The New York Times (free registration) adds.

Damn - it looked like this hit a snag last week, but now looks like it is going to happen based on the WSJ. Hopefully this is not a full-fledged end-to-end merger and the government has them wary of trying to implement. WSJ also reported that any combination with UAL is not likely as they are now in serious talks with Continental.

Rando - thanks for the reply! Let's get on with it. As others have replied already downtown today is a much different animal than 30-40 years ago. Unless there is a coordinated effort or common interest, downtowns normally do not effectively compete with shopping closer to home any more (unless they are unique, like Tiffany's). Just look at Columbus for example, where a mall went from a crown jewel to nearly vacant in 15 years. Part of the solution is to continue to build the market downtown. This will simply be another tool in the toolkit to improve life for those already regularly using downtown as well as draw more investment and people. This is from page 29 of the Cincinnati Streetcar presentation:

What's not to like about this project? I think some are afraid that it might be successful, especially light rail opponents. Besides the built in market from workers, visitors, and residents of the downtown area, this will likely create some tourist business as well as spin-off development. As I understand it, this is supposed to be part of the larger plan - since the light rail to the suburbs plan failed the idea is to take smaller steps and build from there. My question of course, is can this really get done? It seems like the political will is there minus Cranley, but I am not sure where the money is coming from. Based on gas prices and environmental concerns you would think the Federal pot for mass transit would grow, but I have not heard anything about additional funding. This is a project that really needs to get everyone pulling in the same direction, which always seems to be our most difficult step, so hopefully it happens. I have actually tried not to watch this one too closely as the ebbs and flows of projects like this really bug me.

Invertigo is not too bad, but overall a pretty poor effort in the naming. "Hey do you want to ride Flight Deck or Backlot Stunt Coaster. No let's ride Traditional Out and Back Wooden Coaster then Linear Induction Launching Pad." Terrible.

Arizona would be a bad move for the fans, but it seems like Sarasota is making the decision easier. Sarasota is a great location, and it is much easier for fans to make the flight and drive. I would hate for them to make this move so I hope something is worked out. On another note, I can honestly say I am more optimistic about this season than I have been in a long time. I hope the fan support is there early because ownership really showed some committment to winning this year. Things can fall apart quickly with injuries, unexpectedly poor performance by key players etc., but I have a good feeling about this year.

I wonder how bad the housing market situation is going to get. Michigan and Florida are the big culprits for Fifth Third, and it might get worse before getting better. At least they made money I guess - it looks like some are showing losses.

Good old Studio 35. I saw quite a few movies while getting drunk there, but I thought this had closed. Glad to see it open for drinking, I mean movies.

I agree about Minneapolis - it is a great town, but I am probably living as far north as I am going. Personally, my line is Cincinnati to DC in case we ever moved east. The weather out West is different so the lines do not apply as much. I have also been to Chicago in the winter, and the wind off the lake goes right through you - I guess you get used to it. I am sure you could get a ton of details on the temperatures, snowfall etc., but I think the difference is the quantity of days that are colder. For example Minneapolis averages 155 days per year with a low below freezing. Cincinnati averages 106. By contrast Birmingham, Alabama averages 57 days with a low below freezing. Based on this example, the difference in the cold weather between Birmingham and Cincinnati is comparable to the difference between Cincinnati and Minneapolis. This is oversimplified, but it gives you an idea.

Great shots - talk about density. There are many great neighborhoods in DC, and I am always impressed every time I go. Was there a shot of Adam's Morgan - I could not tell for sure as I have usually been there at night.

These forecasts are always interesting. The chamber's has more detail, but appears a little more optimistic regarding job growth. While pointing out the challenges such as decentralization of population, manufacturing etc. it projects .8% growth in employment. It also discusses populaton growth, which is still slow at .6% in 2006 (through July) compared to .8% in 2005 - we really need to get to 1% a year to get the economy going: http://www.cincinnatichamber.com/pdf/eco/eco_outlook.pdf

Apparently it will re-open - the story with a few new details: McFadden's Restaurant, the casual Irish-inspired pub and eatery on Seventh Street, has shut its doors, but will reopen under new ownership, a spokesman said. No link available.

Since this is not a case of the airline going bankrupt and selling routes as in your examples, it goes back to the strategic direction of the hypothetical airline. It will depend on what the new Delta/United and/or Northwest decides to do with the hub. Let's hope we can keep some of those international flights.

^ I agree, but I think it is just a kneejerk reaction to how the media treats crime in the city. It is never about the human tragedy or backstory, just about the numbers.

It will be interesting to see what happens and again I am very interested in the state's response - I do not know the numbers, but hopefully we can keep those international flights. From what I have seen we have a chance with London and Paris. I believe that both Delta and Air France make the transatlantic flight. Frankfurt, as a major European connection point, might survive. There are also very specific guidelines on flights overseas, and Delta had to obtain the rights for Cincinnati to those cities. I am not sure if those rights can simply be transferred to other US airports or not - it might be a case of use it or lose it. One thing to also keep in mind - if this happens it will only be the beginning. Just as we race to the final 15 banks in the country, we will probably end up with 3 or 4 airlines. This will be the first domino to fall, and the other carriers will be scrambling to the altar. This has the possibility of affecting hubs everywhere as the new maps are drawn.

I think, especially Atlanta, has enough competition to keep them honest. Salt Lake has carriers like Southwest and even Song. I am not sure of all the breakdowns, but Delta/Comair used to have 90% of CVG traffic. It is at about 80% now. We are truly a fortress hub.

I don't see this coming out as an overall positive in any way. Although I have taken quite a few $1000 plus flights in the past year, the airport is convenient. I think most people realize Delta is going to charge a premium as a fortress hub, but the fact that many of the prices seem like simple gouging rubs people the wrong way. The other side of this is the number of jobs directly tied to Delta, Comair, the airport as well as the thousands of spin-off jobs. The airport has been a real economic engine (the impact is in the billions from previous studies I have seen by UC et al), and is often cited as a reason for companies locating in Cincinnati. It has really benefited Northern Kentucky especially, and I think this will give them a chance to show off their aggressive economic incentives to keep some form of a hub, likely smaller. I would not be surprised to see the governor step in with some sort of push if a merger does indeed happen. I am also concerned about the non-stops to Europe - Paris, London, Frankfurt. Not sure, but I think Rome and Amsterdam might be seasonal. European companies doing business here, and American companies doing business there find this very attractive, plus it is nice for leisure travel. I am wondering now, even though they seem to have a lot of issues, if US Air would have been a better match locally as it seemed our hub might have had better odds with them. And to keep rambling, it would have been nice if Comair had remained independent as a locally based airline. Oh well, a new year, but the same speculation over M&A.

....Harland, URS, US Bank, the Enquirer.

Cool shots - I have been to Baltimore many times, and I think they did a great job with the Inner Harbor. It has become quite a tourist attraction, but I am always struck at how the energy dissipates as you move into the downtown. I think overall, it is on the upswing though. Fells Point is the place to go - I remember going there and we went to some random bar and the regular patrons kept buying us beer. It felt very home-townish, and the shear density of the neighborhood is very impressive.