Cincy1

For Indianapolis, I should have said they have annexed to grow. Columbus seems to slowly continue to increase in size, and has certainly benefited from this in the past, but I do not have the exact numbers or timeline over the years. Ultimately, Indianapolis is 372 - 425 square miles (depending on the source -I do not know the exact number), and Columbus is around 213 square miles, and it it is safe to say that population was added when the boundaries were increased and if the original boundaries were used population would be declining within the original area. I point this out because these cities obviously think it is important to increase the population number that is used for the city.

Interestingly the thing Columbus and Indianapolis are doing is annexing every piece of land they can to increase their boundary to show they are growing. If they kept their old boundaries they would be losing population. With all the urban renewal going on within the city limits, I would not say we are passive in building the city although there have been huge disappointments like the time it has taken to get the Banks project going. People here realize there is still much work to be done, and there are actually a lot of individuals working to improve the city. They also realize that American tastes have changed, and many people are moving to suburban settings for larger homes. City boundaries are such a small part of many metro areas anymore that the metro is probably the more accurate measure. The one thing I wish Mallory would emphasize is just how important a healthy core is to a healthy metro, but he has been working on the ever-elusive regional approach.

I am not a country music fan, but I was also downtown yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the crowd at The Cadillac Ranch. It looked absolutely mobbed with lines down Walnut - I concur that if it brings more crowds downtown I am happy.

The most recent information I found is from the Business Courier from 2006. It says 3000 employees with 115 branches but does not break down the corporate number from retail.

I think the overall development looks nice, but also think it seems a little sterile. I am probably being nostalgic from my days at tOSU in the mid-to-late 80's when South Campus was absolutely packed. The bars would start filling up at 5 PM on the weekends. On Michigan weekend the sidewalks would be made one way and the police would be out in force with their riot gear and paddy wagons ready. I think part of what changed for the old South High was the shift in drinking age, but I cannot remember exactly when it went into effect. In the early 90's I took friends from Cincy there after a football game and had them pumped up about how crazy it was and it was nearly dead. On the plus side I am sure the old derelicts like Don B and Wild Bill are not hanging out in these places. I do wish they still had places like Mustards, but I am glad to see the area was redeveloped. Hopefully, they have also exterminated DeSantis from the area as well - he used to be a huge slum lord, and I think he also owned Papa Joe's at one time, which suspiciously burnt down....

I have been out of town what seems like the past month, but the Business Courier had a nice article on the expansion (mentioned above) over the past few years. They point out that many of the new jobs are for high paid engineers. I am having trouble getting the entire article though: With little fanfare, GE Aviation steadily beefs up staff Record commercial orders help jet engine maker grow Cincinnati Business Courier - May 25, 2007 by Lucy MaySenior Staff Reporter GE Aviation has quietly grown its Greater Cincinnati work force by nearly 1,200 employees since 2003, mostly by hiring hundreds of well-paid engineers. LINK NOT AVAILABLE. Most likely exclusive archived content at: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/

^ Apparently it took awhile to find some greenery. Considering they are supposed to be in the suburbs it would be easier. I also assume there are no downtown shots.

Great news on the jobs and location, and it sounds like a hotel could be part of the project south of the Baldwin building.

That crane is a little larger than I expected, and it really jumps out as you head north on 471. You can also see the one for the new tower in Eden Park in the same view. And I agree, let's get a few more out there.

WKRP in Cincinnati recently came out on DVD - apparently there was a long delay due to the music, and a lot of it was changed. Also, I have not seen Wild Hogs as it looks pretty lame, but John Travolta et al are supposed to be living in suburban Cincinnati. Too bad no crews came to town - Albuquerque stood in for the city. Finally in June, John From Cincinnati begins on a new HBO drama. I do not think he is really from here in the show and details are still a little light, but we are in the title.

Yes - if downtown had 100 more Dacia Snider's, it would indeed be awesome. I appreciate people with her enthusiasm.

It is funny that this has degenerated into the high school topic, and I probably contributed early on. My experience is more similar to cramer's - that was a great post. Also, having seen hundreds of resumes, I have not seen one with the high school on it and would agree it is not appropriate unless you are applying for that first summer job or lack a college degree. I have also experimented with the question since I have heard this before, and people ask if I mean high school or college. Also, like cramer said, it might come up later if it is established the other person is a native. That was probably a more light-hearted dig but other things did bother me more, like the fact Bill Cunningham and Marge Schott now are indicative of the way I view a locker room full of wealthy African Americans and that I even care about their race. People do not seem to be that insulted, but there were a lot of jabs in this article and the more I thought about it the more it bothered me that 2.1 million people were being characterized by a few people in the article. I guess it's time to move on until the next sociology major at ESPN writes an article.

"He says the nightclub will offer a variety of entertainment, including live music from local and national acts, dance shows and karaoke." I'm interested to see the kind of acts they book. If it is heavy on that this could add to Mt. Lookout's draw as a growing nightlife area. If it is heavy on dance shows and karaoke, not so much. Karaoke belongs in a hotel or dive bar, or in the backyard.

I think I am in on board with you on this one. There are the easy targets such as Cunningham, and the riots, but I disliked the quote from Cronin and people assuming you are talking about high school. We are certainly no transient mecca, but as I have said many times half the people I now meet in this area are not from here. And my advice to Cincinnatians is if you do respond this way, please stop. I personally have not experienced this. Interestingly, an implied characteristic of being liberal is that you should not use stereotypes, but much of what is in the article does just that. So the critique is somewhat guilty of what it is being critiqued. This in many ways is not the Cincinnati I have experienced either, but a lot of it probably has to do with who you hang out with and what you do. I also agree that we have supplied plenty of fodder for the media so hopefully we start to change that - I'll take Mayor Mallory's crazy opening day pitch and appearance on Kimmel any day.

My wife works in recruiting, especially in this area, and she has seen first-hand the growth in many of them. I think Landor is expanding again in the old Lazarus building, and when you look at the other cities they are in they do have an impressive presence here. Plus many of these are the creative type jobs we read so much about.

I think we all would want 10 Fortune 500 companies, and a bunch of new, growing companies. One thing that the big companies give you is other peripheral companies. Kroger is the reason the UK marketing company dunnhumby located their US headquarters downtown. And with companies like P&G, Federated, Kroger, and Chiquita, a lot of branding, packaging, and ad agencies have increased their employment over the past few years. There was an article about this cluster not too long ago, but this is a strength that should continue to be developed within smaller companies that serve the large ones. Ultimately, you would want companies that are growing and are positioned for growth in the future. That is what keeps the economy going - you hope to get a few relo's, but most growth comes internally and from the spin-off jobs. GM and Ford are huge, for example, but the outlook is not very bright. Thankfully, Toyota is picking up some slack in this area, but it would not be good to be too dependent on the wrong company.

I am shocked, but I am going to withold judgment until they print the article. They can be sneaky. At least this appears to be positive - maybe they can string a few more positive pieces together. This feeling makes it even more amazing that the paper almost used to be a cheerleader for the city - I miss those days.

^ Exactly, I think the strategy has to be to build a small portion near the city center, connecting destination areas and then build from there. Most of the systems I have read about actually surpass projections and make the case for extensions by that success. I hope something happens, and it seems they are leaning toward doing this.

I have been going to Salt Lake each month for work, and I have actually been more impressed with it the more I have gone. The whole LDS church being so dominant is a little strange, but the downtown, while not hustle and bustle, does have a lot. It is definitely spread out, and they have quite a few hotels and restaurants. Not that I am into chains, but I was surprised that they had things like a Hard Rock (near downtown) and Ruth's Chris. The Trax system is pretty cool and does appear to have a decent ridership - I liked that they have a line going to the University of Utah and heard an airport line is going in. This system looks similar to what Dallas has in their downtown area. The Gateway is nice, but it is life stylish with a housing component. On the retail/restaurant side, I would say it is a mix between Rookwood and Newport on the Levee, but at least it is part of the downtown area. And the mountains are indeed stunning, almost distracting.

Exactly - I have been saying this since they decided to put it there. Add to that the fact of how close the buildings are, and the view would have been very dramatic. I have read that there was concern that the roads were too high relative to the field so they turned it around. I also think there might be some rule on the direction that homeplate should face, but it would have been cool.

The Courier site mention that tomorrow's print edition will list additional tenants being recruited so I am interested to see the possibilities. On a side note, has anyone been to McCormick and Schmick's yet? I went to one in Bethesda, Maryland, and it was slightly stuffy. I am going next weekend and want to know what to expect as we have a large party for a birthday.

So basically what you are saying is you get to enjoy all of the amenities of a major city and make a living without taking any responsibility for the health and safety of the community. -- I had to continue the thought...just a little humor. Hey, I say its fine to have your views, but I feel like I am listening to Bill Cunninham. It's as if Dearborn County is some oasis, although that might be going too far. It is important to remember that there would be no suburbs without the city and that the future of the metro will be forever linked to the future of the city. Most people on this site understand this and are interested in a healthy future for the city - instead of running from what you consider the bad things why not think of what you could do to make it better? Believe me, many people are frustrated with the pace at which things move but at some point things will happen. As far as the crime concerns, I would take the city and downtown rates over many others - we sometimes forget that until recently Cincinnati had the crime of a much smaller town. I also think we finally have the foundation in place to lower it over the next few years (and see with what zest the media will cover it) as the political will is there, but we will see. I could go on a long list of all the development going on in the city, but Banks is the hot button issue so hopefully that will come to fruition soon and maybe change your outlook a little. So basically what you are saying is you get to enjoy all of the amenities of a major city without taking any responsibility for the health and safety of the community. If you want to select that one little piece out of everything I said and then spin it to sound like that I guess that is your prerogative. Actually, I work in the city of Cincinnati, and my income taxes do help pay for facilities and personnel in the city...so no actually your wrong.

This is great, and I think the Lodge Bar will be a great addition to the area. If a couple more places open we will start to see more synergy and hopefully more street level activity between them. Personally, I am more excited about the possibility of Bootsy Ruby's, which could be authentically Cincinnati and pay tribute to our under-appreciated music scene. If Bella's gets a new tenant (rumored to be filled by the owner of Boca) that area would have plenty to do in a very small space. Other than bad ownership, I think the Bella location should be successful. By the way, has anyone noticed the corner space in the Fifth Third garage (or part of the low building, facing 6th)? There appears to be work going on, but I have not heard who might be occupying it.

I love Ludlow and personally I am very excited that people recognize the need to periodically review and improve things. Ideally everything would happen organically, but this sounds like a good idea to me and will help to maintain Clifton as a strong neighborhood in the future.

I will never be confused with someone who advocates sprawl, but population growth (regardless of how it occurs) is a good thing. A growing population for the Cincinnati MSA allows the city and region to attract new things that it may not have been able to before. We have an IKEA under-construction, and that is an example of what I'm saying. Not only that it gives the major league franchises a better chance to succeed by experiencing a growing fan base. It may be crap growth, and certainly it is bad for our built environment and all of that stuff. But a growing population and economic base allows for a region to grow and attract new and different things. Hopefully you guys understand what I'm saying....and don't go crazy over this. Are you being anti-urban? I'm just kidding and agree with you - ideally we could force the development inward, but it is still good that the population is growing. I still think there might be some built in boundaries with the Cincinnati and Dayton set-up and even Lexington to the south. Hopefully there will be a breaking point for sprawl, maybe gas price, commute time, or a desire for a living experience in the city in which you reside as opposed to the Anytown, USA feeling of far flung suburbs but who knows? There is not much of an appetite for smart growth locally, but it seems at some point there will probably be some federal policies that promote this.