GCrites

Ahaha, the next time I go shopping, I'll take pictures. You'll get pictures of a motorcycle shop, Jeg's, Shake-It Records, that Rasta store in on Short Vine, and Game Swap. You'll also get at least a couple dead mall threads.

I wonder how many of these churches were abandoned for EIFS megachurches.

Yesterday was my first day working at a hobby shop. I'm an R/C car guy, but I'm going to be learning at least some about trains as I go. People that are really into trains don't come into HobbyTown much anyway, so I won't get called on the carpet too much.

^ I definitely looked at Grandview. It's too far from my new job, friends/family and where I plan to start my business. Same with Clintonville.

Ha! I have managed to locate 3 apts./duplexes "close enough" to Bexley at $750 or under just off Livingston and 70 near the Leipzig Haus. Gonna go check 'em out next week!

^ Well there's still "North Oakley", which is the area north of Paxton, east of the square but not on Madison. There are still some hillll-billlies in that part, the kind that hang out at Slammers (a strip mall bar across from Domino's) and ride cheap '70s AMF Harleys. The YPs haven't taken over that part yet.

^ I've noticed a lot more people in their mid-to-late 20s moving away from the cell phone, myself included. Some have totally gotten rid of theirs while others leave it at home. Unlike younger people, we remember life before cell phones and the freedom it allowed.

That's a lie and he knows it. There is not one checkbook. There are thousands scattered throughout government and the private sector. They all have different criteria for what they can be used for.

I like Bond Hill. There's that part that looks like it's in a big East Coast city, then the melting Swifton Commons shopping center with the newer banking mid-rise building in an outlot. It's like Cincinnati's New Jersey.

A lot of the houses are really nice and unmolested (i.e. interior trim not all painted over, no poorly done drywall, tile instead of linoleum) but the cheapest example in such condition that I have seen advertised is $160k. Most houses are under 1400 sq. ft., but of course small is now desirable.

There are still a lot of empty houses in Oakley. I don't have any direct neighbors because the houses are all vacant. People are sitting on them because they are waiting for the houses to be worth more or they are asking too much for them. Oakley really is a great area, but the people around here are too normal. Their peacoats, nice haircuts, real jobs and square-toed shoes contrast too much with my jean jacket and torn jeans (no jean shirts, sadly) and driveway auto work. I need an area with at least a few crazy people.

So what if it backs up? A reminder that you're in the exurbs. And new stores in the area will not create jobs, they will just take them from other areas.

^Ahahaha, remember when people called New Albany "Wexley"?

People have been doing their shopping out doors for centuries, and remain attractions in any number of cold weather cities. What's the attraction of driving, parking, walking through an asphalt wasteland, and into a generic indoor space that could conceivebly be in any place on earth. How the trade for urban shopping was traded for suburban malls was made I'll never understand. True, but that first picture is an interesting one to illustrate your point. The arcades were the prototype for the mall. I think that there is a place for some indoor shopping. I like walking around outdoors as much as anyone, but on a cold-as-hell, wind-whipping-your-face day Downtown it is real nice to duck into the Arcade, or Tower City to do some shopping. If I'm going to deal with auto-oriented development and massive chain stores, I at least want to be comfortable. I have no problem with weather when I'm in a walkable area with diverse, interesting businesses.

I didn't know Charleston has a transit mall. Is it cool?

I hear "Please?" about once a week.

I think malls would do better if they were still relaxing to visit, without the bazaar-like kiosks with people in your face, "Smart Screens" babbling propaganda at you and more seating. And bring back the fountains. Basically, like they were until the '90s.

Most city dwellers do leave their city at least once a month and head for real country while trying to hold back vomit through the suburbs/exurbs.

I like it when the hotel lobby IS the bar. There was a hotel in Huntington WV like that (I think the hotel had been converted to apartments by the time I lived there, though). A lot of hotels in Germany are like that -- the desk clerks are the bartenders.

Some of these buildings will need to see a shrink for life because they were so horribly violated.

^ ahahaha, that's one of the first things people told me when I moved to Cincinnati -- "People in Cincinnati hate Fairfield."

Jeez, what have we done? Rather, what has been done to us?

^ Of all the firms that relocate to the suburbs, I really hate it when financial firms do it. Granted, Cincinnati Financial is more of an insurance company, but why wouldn't companies want to be closer to say, the Federal Reserve and the Cincinnati Stock Exchange?

Maybe I should finally grow up and stop using a BMX race bike as my only bicycle. haha

^ Yes. The funny part is, you're much more likely to see public drunkenness in the U.S.