Troeros2

Random thoughts from my outing last night regarding the street eateries, but I have to say something so simple gives so much extra depth to the feel of downtown and otr. Seeing people enjoying themselves while drinking and eating and socializing outside just gives everything an extra flavor of activity. At times while walking down main st last night it gave me nyc vibes with the crowded side walks, traffic jams and people socializing and dining along the street eateries. I hope 3cdc and the city continue to push more of these as it really helps not only calm traffic but also helps add more urban activity and charm.

It was a train wreck after you left I guess. I know I sound lame complaining about this, but I enjoyed going to some of the businesses there. Now it’s impossible to even get a beer.

It’s good for businesses, don’t get me wrong...I’m happy things are turning upwards for them.. that said, I don’t know how it’s realistic for anyone to hang out there anymore on a weekend night.

The banks have been ruined by this new Dora district in my opinion. I was there last night and each bar had a least 45 minute to an hour line to get in and the street was just as crowded as new year eye in time square in nyc. Just impossible to even get a beer let alone socialize and have fun with your group of friends just because of how crowded and loud and crazy it is now. I never expected a place like Jefferson social or even tin roof to have a 1 hour line to get in...I know people are clamoring to get out again and have fun again with Covid lifting but if this is the new norm than I will just hang out with friends at suburban bars at this point. edit: I also don’t understand why the street car only runs till 11:30 at night...there were plenty of people waiting at stations only to realize that the street car doesn’t run anymore. you would think the street would run at least till 1 if not 2:30am.

This is gonna be super impactful IMO. I feel like some college students who aren’t serious about necessarily the best programs are looking for which campuses offer the most night life and entertainment. If this project lives up to the hype it could some students questioning osu.

I noticed that in the article 1720 race street facility will be replaced by the above new housing facility. That building takes almost the whole block on race. It would be amazing if model or 3cdc could purchase the building and demo that site with a large mixed use project, especially with it being right on the street car line. Could be a huge game changer for that section of Race - North of Liberty.

Sharing this again for visibility if any of y’all want to donate but haven’t done so yet..there is only 2 weeks left before the funds have to be raised in order to save to tower. https://www.firstlutherancincy.org/tower-restoration?fbclid=IwAR2qkBP2oq2mcelwvdzsF6QOnWo3hEclJ5ywI47am__KbQySW84I-TIYX8E The first Lutheran bell tower facing Washington park has until June 5th until they need to make a decision on whether to save or demo the tower. Obviously if the tower can’t be saved then the money will be returned but I guess in the mean time every effort helps.

One more thing...is the court yard taking the entire parking lot or just a portion. Can’t really tell by that photo. That photo also made me realize that you will balcony units that will be very close to this proposed court yard. I can’t imagine how noisy that might be in the summer when this opens. I guess one of the aspects of urban living in the noise, but I can’t imagine shelling that much money for a condo in that unit only to have drunk people being belligerent less than 100 feet below me.

Kinda disappointing that we are giving up valuable otr real estate for court yard space..I mean I would much rather prefer court yard any day than a parking lot..but still kinda disappointing to see something more valuable on such a prominent artery street like vine. That said, this and the new mad tree concept could add some nice additional night pedestrian activity for vine street.

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/05/20/new-restaurant-opening-in-former-a-tavola-space-in.html A TOVOLA spot will be taken over by a Nashville Hospitality group and open a new Oyster themed restaurant called Pearl Star...kinda sounds like porn star but maybe just me.

I think the property owner is to blame for sure, but I also think that the reality is that every unoccupied building in otr is in jeopardy, especially in parts of otr where there is a higher rate of homelessness and crime. Unfortunately, I am not sure what can be done in the mean time until north of liberty property values skyrocket and justify the costly and risky renovation costs. Yes, property owners can do there best at securing the property with pad locks, but if someone wants to break in and cause mayhem or be reckless they can still find ways to break in. Especially if there are no pedestrian eyes on the streets to care enough to say something. I guess the frustrating part about all of this is how much of a slow burn this has all been. OTR is a gem and if this neighborhood was located in any big city you would have developers all across the US redeveloping properties left and right. Instead we are mainly stuck with mainly local developers and maybe some outside developers here and there. There has been great progress for sure, but I can’t help but the size of Cincy has really held otr back from being developed at the faster pace it deserves. We are nearly 11 years into the full blown gentrification process and only now has south of liberty on vine has been completely gentrified. I fear that it will take another 10 plus years if not longer for north of liberty to be completely renovated but I also fear how many buildings we will lose during that prolonged time frame.

It still slightly blows my mind that almost 11 years into the gentrification process, with some homes in otr going for a million plus, that there are still quite a handful of vacant and crumbling historic buildings facing Washington park on race. You would think most developers would love to flip that and with today’s housing market a single family home facing Washington park right in the heart of otr can fetch a hefty buyer. just really confused on how and why in the heart of otr there are some buildings that are not being touched with a ten foot pole.

I saw on the OTR community council agenda about presentations regarding Wilkomen Phase 2 going ahead. Does anyone know the details regarding phase 2? I don’t believe they were ever announced.

All I hear is about how hot the Cincinnati real estate market is and how everything in inventory is flying off the market above asking price...I don’t get why something like this must remain a large parking lot instead of striking while the iron is hot and help fulfill that housing demand.

that’s an a insane amount of surface parking and has probably taken the spot for biggest eyesore in of downtown/otr. hopefully that can be redeveloped soon because otr deserves better.

Was there ever a study done to see how much the proposed cost would be for something like that above?

I see. But I think alternatively you could maybe entice more people to live downtown/banks/otr/west end if you connect the two. I know uptown is one of the biggest employers, especially with all of its medical researchers, doctors, nurses, etc. they can obviously afford to live where ever they want. In my mind, downtown living could in theory be more attractive if you had some type of rail line that connected the two somehow. maybe the street car is not the answer but something more high speed, but regardless I think uptown with its wealth of jobs and it’s UC student population is key to connect. right now the two areas feel like separate islands in a way and I feel like a high speed connector is key. I have a feeling aftab might become mayor and I know he is pro public transit. I also know that Biden infrastructure bill could potentially play a role as well as the stimulus that Cincy received. again, I know this all pie in the sky talk for the time being but I do think at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, that there is a serious discussion about how to properly connect the two areas.

yeah I was just thinking about possible extension routes that could have TQL stadium be a dedicated stop, but also link some other key spots as well. I like the idea of adding a line that could connect hard rock to TQL and maybe somehow connect uptown as well. I just think it’s somewhat key to connect UC students to downtown somehow and I think ultimately it would be good for businesses. Again I know Uber was the main way of transportation before COVID but it’s now impossible to get a ride and the ride share prices have gone up ridiculously high. I imagine that if you could somehow get the street car up to the students in uptown, have it be free, then you would see a lot more pedestrian traffic in parts of otr/west end/Pendleton/the banks, etc.

So I had a random idea pop in my head last night. I was thinking about the street car extension and how maybe it could benefit both the city and fc Cincinnati... I was thinking how the lack of university Cincinnati fans might play a role at some point. Obviously they can theoretically walk, ride a bike and maybe even Uber (even though rideshare seems to be really hit or miss nowadays) but I was thinking of a potential dedicated line that could potentially service TQL stadium and UC. What if you created an extension that followed along Central Park way and had a dedicated stop right next to the stadium...and this route would follow north along central parkway and cut through W McMillan St and following along w McMillan to where all the bars and restaurants are along that strip and have it loop down vine and cut back to E Central Park way and back to W Central Park way as part of its dedicated FCC TQL Stadium/Mohawk District/UC/North of Liberty OTR loop. I’m just thinking long term how this could benefit fcc, especially if the goal is to create an entertainment district around the stadium and have various events occur in the stadium outside of fcc home games. It might make sense for fcc to lobby this idea to some degree.

that’s good to hear. I haven’t been to otr for a while because having a new born will stop you from going out as much, but it’s good to hear that activity is picking up. i was getting kinda worried because of the lack of activity on my social media stream but I guess maybe people aren’t using social media as much.

Anyone who lives in otr can talk about how things have been their lately as far as activity? I know otr prepandemic was always crowded on a Friday/Saturday...just curious where it’s at now. I used to follow various accounts on social media like Instagram and Snapchat and noticed that postings, even random photos of people eating out at an otr restaurant, are way down. My social media used to be flooded with otr posts of people going out for dinner/drinks but it’s been almost a ghost town lately..which is odd because of how things are starting to lift restriction wise. just curious what’s otr like nowadays?

I wonder if he will want to push this through before cranley leaves office...feels like it will be more uncertain as far as tax abatements go with the new council/mayor next year.

I hope something is announced relatively soon...it’s been way to long since we had a major skyscraper project...I hope western and southern is also serious about their condo tower project and some other projects they had stated back in 2017..that area of downtown could use a nice uptick of pedestrian activity and something like a condo tower would be a great addition to that corner!

Working from home is solitary confinement and will make you insane. The lack of ability to see people and interact face to face with other human beings will legit make you go crazy. Not to mention if you have kids then it’s like running a daycare while trying to focus on doing your main job. It just doesn’t work period. There is slot of pros to working from home..easier to slack off, no rush hour traffic, to work place drama, etc... that said, working from home can be one of the most loneliest experiences in the world in the long run and has probably become one of the leading psychiatric issues during the pandemic in the past year or so.

Does it mention the name of the developer who will be working on the mixed use stuff? I forget the name of the banks developer.