GCrites

I get conflicted reports from Californians about their drinking habits vs. ours. Some say that they are shocked by our high consumption here, but then I hear tales about liquor flying off shelves in SF and that everybody's drunk all the time in Hollywood and on the Strip.

I want to take a ride in that car with those animals. I'd better check the place out.

I had it wrong, apparently it's the one on Lane that's "the biggest".

SF has some of the highest liquor licenses in the country (all public fees, licenses, and fines are magnitudes of order more expensive), but overall liquor is cheaper in San Francisco than it is in Ohio (it sells better- it's still a vodka town no matter how much the craft beers break in). Wine is too. Only beer is about the same. During sales, I get a fifth of Bacardi Silver for $10 and Stoli or Skyy for $15. Handles are about $20 to $25. Vodka and silver rum are the cheapest. But these are all Safeway or Bevmo prices. Every time I've been to Trader Joe's, I pay a dollar or two more, but it's the convenience that matters, and it's still cheaper than any of the corner stores. TJ's moves liquor very fast at my store. Wine, liquor, and beer is a big part of the their business. And as you probably remember in Ohio all liquors cost the exact same amount no matter which store you get it from. A fifth of Beam is $18.10 at Giant Eagle or that tire store on 161 that also sells liquor.

The SNK has a full liquor store. In Cincinnati the price of liquor licenses has probably been depressed by the fact that the city has lost population from it's peak decades ago so the number of liquor licenses has probably remained at the higher population number of licenses. Portsmouth for example has way, way more liquor licenses than it should for a town of 20K because its population was once 60K.

What does a liquor store license cost there? Is it in the millions like it is in Columbus? I know how much the Short North Kroger paid for its license because a buddy was on the store management team of it when it opened. My eyes bugged out like on a cartoon. And he said it would pay itself off in 3 years there.

What is the grocery competition like in those cities? The problem with OSU and UC is that the cities have a bunch of different neighborhoods around the universities that have varying interest in TJ products. Whereas those college only towns have everyone focused right on campus.

Not enough middle-class families near OSU. You can't have your store be dead four months a year. Many retailers won't touch areas without families.

Glad to see that. Cincy Mid Town does not have a ton of Class A office product. The Norwood class a stuff has some vacancy holes though. Please don't take this as a personal attack, but if like to point out the problem buried right in the language you just used to think about this project. Buildings aren't "products" or "stuff." They are buildings. The purpose they serve, unless it's highly specialized, shouldn't mean anything. They should just be good buildings and part of a well designed community. We have made a horrible mistake by bringing buildings into the universe of " products." Product is a common reference in commercial real estate circles. https://www.google.com/#q=class+a+office+product+vacancy+rate OK guys, what we're seeing here is the difference between how real estate people use their jargon and how non-RE-industry people want to see structures viewed as. Calling a building "product" sounds annoying to people who are into architecture and urbanism because it sounds like buildings are being reduced to widgets that can be as dull, ugly and invasive as needed to reach a price point. Meanwhile people who use real estate jargon don't see anything wrong with that because the words "product" or "space" don't have any negative connotation to them because no matter the location, or building type, OTR or Mason, Italianate or CMUs slathered with EIFS it's all called product or space within the industry. And I'll descend into the jargon when necessary too so that we are speaking the same language (they at least smile and give me a vegemite sandwich). But I don't like calling empty houses "homes" though. Home is where you make it and if nobody's living there it's not home.

Count your blessings that you have two Trader Joes. We only have one in Cincy, and it's out in the 'burbs. In Columbus ours is even further out there, hell I don't even know exactly where it is because its too far away. At least yours is only at Kenwood. So it could be worse is what I'm saying. We just have to face the fact that our urban areas haven't yet reached the critical mass these companies seek yet. We are behind thanks to our state politicians mostly.

Those images are amazing. This intersection floored me. Looking north on Colerain from North Bend. This would be by the Mt Airy water tower. The old pic is 1936 Now and then when I see her face she takes me away to that special place but if I stared too long I'd probably break down and cry

And my old roommate's "reverse" commute from Blue Ash to Corryville wasn't really any better than a "standard" one when a bad storm hit Cincinnati in 2007. You cannot escape the fact that there is a lot of distance separating people from their workplaces. Suddenly physical distance once again wields the power it holds over the concept of time and people are reminded that it really is 12 miles away rather than "20 minutes".

Canadians are having a field day with this.

No, it's a lot better if it doesn't have to empty out in the first place.

More smoking in the '90s, or at least no shame in smoking

The early '90s were the acid trip days of my generation. Except none of us were on acid.

Yes. Unisex clothing is here almost like in the old movies where everyone wears silver jumpsuits.

While driving back from Lancaster yesterday I saw a billboard for something called the GoBus that offers $10 fares between Athens and Columbus. Sort of a higher capital-intensive version of that guy who used to drive people back and forth that I've heard about on here.

Don't forget all of the retro baseball stadiums. Camden Yards, etc., were amazing because people didn't like actual abandoned industrial buildings, but they liked new buildings that sort-of looked like old industrial buildings. Yes, in fact car salesmen in SoCal report that they don't really get excited when people in business apparel come in to look at cars at lunch or 6PM. That means they're working for somebody. Instead, when a long-haired 40-year-old guy comes in at 10AM on a Tuesday yelling "Rock and Roll!" they perk up. That guy's got money. NASCAR needs to do the retro track thing NOW just like baseball did with the retro parks in order to save itself. Unfortunately, contracts...

I'm going to go with teal, forest green and purple. For real grownups it was beige, but you can say that about the '80s and even the 2000s as well regarding building exteriors.

I'm starting to think that hipsterdom is merely a rebellion against the dullness that kicked in during the late '90s. No bright colors allowed, paint instead of wallpaper, a four-color world consisting of red, black, gray and white, whimsy dropped in favor of profit-maximization, hardwood floors and tile instead of colorful carpet, avoidance of anything gaudy etc. Most hipsters are young enough to only remember going back to say the mid '90s or maybe the early '90s when they were really little, so must of their lives have been spent in the "dull days". But of course they can tell that before the late '90s there was a lot more novelty, color and whimsicality in everyday life rather than people just wearing black all the time. The only people allowed to let loose with their looks since then have been rappers really. So histers seek pre-late-'90s looks in order to rebel like most young people do. And that's why hipsters can't be all that sinister.

This wiped out all the ribbon development on the west side of Ashville pike. Probably 15 houses and one business.

I can think of a few people those need mailed to...

NBA play was also slow and really defensive at that time, which American sports fans generally don't like. Except some old-school Big Ten football fans. It wasn't the best time for the NBA and is why people were so happy when Lebron came around to make the game more exciting.

Those NBA problems were more like an early to mid-2000s thing when mainstream rap and thuggy attitudes in all aspects of life were out of control. And it wasn't just an African-American thing either. Lots of angry young men in those days.