LesterLyles

funny story, also slightly off topic. I moved to Ciny in 08 from NY and had been following what was going on in the urban core for years. I am at my new job orientation and a guy from L.A. who had never been to Cincy asked the group at the table what food options downtown there were. 2 others at our table were from Cincy; one guy was nice enough but said there is really only Rock Bottom and nothing else. The woman chimed in by saying don't go dowwntown, you'll get mugged. me bbeing the out of towner said "well, if you want Italian you can go to Via Vite, upscale Mexican, Nada, French, Jeanro, seafood Mccormick or Oceannaire etc etc etc. I was the out of town guy that knew the stuff and the two local yokels were clueless. It was my first experience (of many) seeing that many people in this city don't want anything to do with downtown; they could care less. Coming from NY, it is very puzzling to me.

I have not lived in Cincinnati for a few years now after graduating from UC's planning program, but I can tentatively say that this is the death knell to the OTR as we knew it as a ghetto. There are too many properties being purchased and consolidated, and with the completion of Fountain Square, I would predict that Vine will gentrify up to Liberty in the next 5 years. However I don't think the entire OTR district will "boom" so to speak. Cincinnati's housing absorption rate is not very fast. The OTR district has an enormous stock of buildings, way more than a 2-million-ish midwestern metro could absorb in even 10 years. Being optimistic, I would hope that OTR becomes a very vibrant restaurant and cultural district, fulfilling the dream of having a large, continuous flagship urban neighborhood that Gaslight Clifton, Northside and Mount Adams have attempted to be but couldn't-quite because of their limited size and geographic/topographic isolation. I don't see OTR as becoming a true built-out 24 hour urban neighborhood for 15-20 more years. However, if things continue to go well for it, I think in that 20 year time frame the district has the potential to rival any in the midwest, if only because it is so completely intact. You simply cannot build today what OTR offers. In fact I think that a lot of people in Cincinnati's leadership can't quite visualize how dramatic this change will be. Because of the intact historic density, at an optimum population level it would be difficult to tell on the street if you were in Cincinnati or Chicago. All it will take is the patience to let Cincinnati's population fill it up. I think what 3CDC is attempting to do by going up Vine is not so much providing a new "development beachhead" but attempting to use development as a "smart bomb" (forgive the insensitive analogy) to plow the blight right in half. It's been just about 5 years. What do you think, Civvik? I for one think the progress has been encouraging but slow. Of course we have had challening economic factors in that time span but I also thought it would have moved faster than it has. It seems the progress has stalled in the 13th/14th street area for a few years now.

For those that frequent the area regulalry and/or live there, what do you guys think of 1215; is it a concept that should work there?

If it is Pete Rose Way, it is likely that metal atrocity that leads to US Bank arena; the one that is on the eastern part of the baseball stadium. Not really part of the banks and not sure why extra $$ wouldn't go to additional phases and/or the Riverfront park but replacement of that bridge is necessary. It is one of the biggest eyesores in the city.

There are still plenty of vacant parcels that could support high-rise residential: - St. Xavier Park area (Sycamore both north and south of Seventh and extending north of Seventh all the way to Main) - NE corner of Seventh and Vine and half of the entire block east of Vine - NW corner of Sixth and Sycamore (both the vacant lot and the lot that is currently wasted on the single-story Red Fox diner) - mid-block east side of Main between Sixth and Seventh (infill could be larger part of massive vacant lot next to St. X) - SW corner of Ninth and Sycamore directly north of the Power Building (though this would be across the intersection from the jail) - SE corner of Walnut and Eighth - the vacant land on Eighth St. that the old Blue Wisp was on - NW corner of Race and Garfield Place - mass vacant land between One Lytle Place and the PP bridge on both sides of the street (originally slated for condo high-rises but scuttled due to the economy) - perhaps even some decent-sized infill on the SW corner of Fifth and Broadway Not to mention the mass amounts of vacant space at and near the Court/Elm/Central area. And I wouldn't count out residential being at least part of this Fifth & Race development either. And why can't the lots near the courthouse and especially City Hall ever be high-rise residential? What's the roadblock? Couldn't agree more. While I think we all agree that downtown could use more housing options and particularly a high rise or two, there are plenty of available lots to build on; plenty!!!! Not to mention the rennovation of some exisiting buildings. OBviously the Reserve is a great example of such a possibility; Enquirer building anyone?

Why did Bortz say he was a ray of sunshine. ISn't Chris pro streetcar still?

I must say, W&S seems to be more of a nuisance with regards to development. Aside from the fact that Barret and crew are one of the few business leaders in town that are anti-streetcar, I feel they have been asleep at the wheel for a decade and are now waking up and potentially ruining one of the nice little corners of downtown. I hope they don't touch their beautiful historic building or some of the other beautiful properties they own. If they do "touch" them, here is an idea: about rehabbing some of them. this from a copmany that did nothing with Fifth and Race for 10 years during economic boom times. I don't trust W&S at all here.

Very surprised becasue the 4th street location was ALWAYS packed.

I will say that this summer, there was a part of me that hoped the reds didn't get to show the nation the stadium area until next year because it really is a mess right now. Weird I know but I guess I wasn't too far off becasue indeed an out of town writer commented about how ugly it was. I want to show it off when the park and Banks are done; will be awesome. Hey maybe this is a wakeup call to the folks that don't want to spend money on the Banks or Fountain Square or public transportation: leave things as is and expect bigger city writers to criticize. I certainly hope COAST folks aren't crying about this article becasue if it was up to them there would be no progress at all.

What did Cowherd say about Cincy? I know he said the Reds were overrated about a month ago but did he actually say something about the city?

Guys, do not judge the tiara yet. The signage will be a HUGE differene. It is not just letters they are putting up there bu there are actual tiles that will indeed be an enclosue. Now it will only be that lower level of the tiara that is actually enclosed but it will flow from the building much better than it does now and it will block essentially of the "insides" of the tiara that you see now. Be patient.

My guess is the fraction will continue to move torwards centralization as opposed to the de centralized affiliate model. As a result, they will moe people downtoan and IMO, the 580 building makes perfect sense. I work at Fountain Square and have seen a trend of more and more people coming downtown. The tower is full, though, and 580 would be a logical alternati

edale, I remember thinking the same thing the first time I walked through it. You read all this stuff and expect a certain something and than you realize there is still a long way to go. For me that was two years ago and the progress since that time has been nothing short of amazing. Still a lot of work to be done and more buildings to rehab. The more people that continue to move in, the more businesses will open and the better the overall feel will be. I went on Saturday night to Senate and Lavomatic and the area had a great feel.

Question here. Why is the Ale House going to be located on an area that was supposed to be part of the park? You have all this commercial space available iwith the Banks i.e right next door, why use up potential parkspace? Was the park always supposed to have a restaurant? I thought the Banks was supposed to have two restaurants overlooking the park. That location of the Ale House seems very odd to me.

Will the local banking community begin to invest further in the gateway qaurter with full banking centers? I realize this may be a stretch in the near term but it would go a long way in further establishing this area as a more livable neighborhood.

Where is this located? Right accross from Penn Station. I moved here from NY a year or so ago and while I think Cincy has a good restaurant scene and heritage for a Midwestern city, lunch options have been somewhat uninspiring. This place (I am a sucker for boarshead meats) and Mr. Sushi are very good additions. Capri has some good dishes too. The pizza is good (not great) but some of the soups and specials they have are excellent.

There is a deli on Main called "Lunch on Main" that just opened a few weeks back. if you like a real deli w/ boars head meants, this is for you. Menu still seems a bit limited but what I have had their is excellent in the east coast deli style.

I saw that Kenwood Mall has a new restaurant called Aroma. I thought this was supposed to be a sushi place. Anyone have any news? In other developments, Mr. Sushi on 6th Street is almost complete.

I hope so Cincinnatus but nothing would surprise me. In July 2008, the evening news ran a story of how that the new buildibng is coming at a cost becasue the partially destroyed parking garage was such an eyesore. They interviewed 2 or 3 peeple that questioned the new tower. I couldn't believe it.

Gordon, the ideal scenario for the city would be to put a new arena in Broadway Commons and a Casino/entertainment venue where the arena currently is. An arena is much more likely to promote neighborhood growth/revitalization than a casino, which is why Broadway Commons would be perfect. A casino is much more of a destination and therefore a more isolated location is better. I do think Cincy will benefit, as a whole, in that there will be folks that will say "hey lets make a weekend out of it w/ a casino one night and a ball the next", for example. But generally speaking, I don't think casino-goers really support the surrounding businesses while I believe game/concert goers do in fact support surrounding bars/restaurants etc etc. Just my opinion.

hopefully 5th and race.

Trying to hang on to Carew being the tallest is very emblamatic of the "resistance to change" mentality that is so pervasive in Cincinnati. Despite the many asstes that exist here and the many great young and talented people exist, this city is screwed as long as the old Cincinnati mentality exists.

I could picture them being the acnchor tenant for the office building planned for the Banks (phase 1).

I saw that Balboa's on 4th street is no longer there and there is an Italian pizza.paninni place called Capri. Wonder what happened.

This developer has been working on a condo tower since '01? w/ all due respetc, I think it's ime to move on. Since this is already a garage, I have no problems building up. In fact, I wish there were more garages and less surface lots downtown but that is another debate.