Caseyc

They have started putting out a few cafe tables and chairs like they have across the street. I was the only one using them yesterday after work. Also--unfortunately--they removed the "YOUR SPEED" detector signs on Sycamore. I guess that was just a temporary acclimation thing?

um, Pendleton Neighborhood Council anyone?

This is something I brought up during the streetcar "pause," to wit--shouldn't we have a cost/benefit analysis of the WHV cost? Isn't that the new standard for such major infrastructure projects in the wake of the streetcar?

Their mea culpa could have struck a much more contrite headline....

By the way, 3CDC is taking steps to demolish those old tow truck garages behind Wielert's/Kaze patio. That should happen fairly soon.

That one was a Junkie Arson Casualty

Also, re Imagination Alley, residents of the Brickstone building to the North have frequently parked cars in a haphazard manner on the northern, rear half of the space, causing consternation for some of their neighbors. I don't know if this issue has been resolved or not.

I was thinking the same thing. And the Pendleton cranks are already poised for HOWLS of protest/outrage.

King Records site remains in limbo. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/042517-soapdish-record-store-day-cincinnati-vinyl-tradition.aspx Hopefully the city and possibly Cranley chum Neyer Properties can come up with a plan to save it from the owner's demolition dreams.

I remember the old Vine and Erkenbrecker entrance as always being closed when I moved here in '03, except maybe for the Christmas extravaganza. It had a jungle safari/thatched roof and spears kind of look, with maybe a cheetah and gorilla statue to complete the tableaux. My favorite entrance was off of Forest. When my kids went to Zoo Camp, they would give us the access code to that electric gate so we could pick them up after-hours when the zoo was closed. That code continued to work for a long time after zoo camp was over.....

Living at this intersection, it's amazing what a difference it makes to have actual windows in the surrounding buildings. Four buildings in that immediate block now have new windows.

Just change the hours from 9am-6pm to 10am-7pm every day We have been saying that for years. Most of the old school purveyors absolutely abhor that suggestion. Avril-Bleh is the same way. It is simply not done. Let's not forgot how staying open on Sundays, something which seems mandatory and natural, was met with howls of protest--not that long ago--and threats by many longtime vendors to pull out altogether. Old traditions die hard with many of these people.

The restaurant news here is that they are looking to get a restaurant/bar down in the sub basement of 1313 Vine, and the entrance to it will be off of Republic Street. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/032817-1313-vine-street-adaptive-reuse-soapdish.aspx

The 15th Street homes were all pre-sold. I thought only one of the Towne homes on Elm was under contract.

It does look like the W 15th homes are doing really well. But I only see that one of the Towne Properties homes have sale pending; do you know otherwise that the others are sold? I just had the impression that those units were going to go slowly. Yeah, you know, I just hadn't seen a lot listed so I figured they were already sold, no insider info at all. I did notice though on pictures I wasn't the biggest fan of them compared to other listings I have seen in OTR Pretty sure the 15th Street ones were all pre-sold. Re Wade, several had to be pre-sold as a condition to obtaining financing. Also re Jim Uber comment above on the objections by certain members of the "community," well, I could not have said it better myself.

The sign for this project has been up since summer. It's fairly idiotic, particularly when you consider that the southern terminus does not have a crosswalk on the East side of that intersection at the entrance to Sawyer Point. I had a feeling they were going to butcher

I was always amazed that Quizno's stayed in business when I worked at 4th and Race five years ago. Glad to see a new bagel place go in after Brueggers closed. Too bad it couldn't be a Marx That Quizno's always smelled like vomit.

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/122016-casey-coston-feature-I-75-exchange.aspx

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/112916-soapdish-two-cities.aspx Probably should have posted this here. Re TheNational, it is Albert Kahn's only remaining theater.It is in bad shape, but no rougher than a lot of others that have been restored. Problem is that Detroit's CBD has an overabundance of restored classic movie palaces (and a few unrestored). The Opera House, Music Hall, State (Fillmore), Fox, Gem, Orchestra Hall, plus the abandoned UA and Michigan Theater Parking Garage. Most cities long ago demolished these things, but in Detroit's CBD they just sat idle and aging for decades. One thing the National does have in its favor is that it is considerably smaller than most of the others on that list.

They have been linked to the old Grammer's site multiple times. Lots of tire kicking. 4EG is going to take over the old Neon's site.

They are tearing down the National Theater for this. Keeping the facade is a sham. That sucks but is not surprising.

Downtown Detroit was pretty much *completely* abandoned in the late 1990s, which was definitely not the case in Cincinnati. I went to Tiger Stadium the first time the Reds played there for interleague play in 1999 or thereabouts and we took a lap through downtown Detroit. It was abandoned beyond belief, with old paperwork flying out of busted-out 25th-floor windows of old skyscrapers. 1999 was my heyday in downtown Detroit! Good times.

Will be there

Yeah I graduated from K College in '87. The town has changed a lot since then, but the ridiculous freeway of a road (Michigan) that cleaves through the heart of downtown is absurd, a sad vestige of outdated models of urban planning. Also West Main, which zooms by K College to the North is pretty awful. There's a lot of that 60's style urban planning in the general core. Lot of great home stock, primarily Victorian, in and around K College (which I will submit, in a not so humble/biased opinion, is one of the most picturesque colleges around). Rupert's used to be Boogie Records, an awesome new as well as used record store, and head shop. When I started school in '83, and for much of my time there, downtown was a incredibly dead, bizarro world. John Engler as the Guv shut down the state mental hospitals, so they all wandered about the sad, downtown pedestrian mall (which I believe was the first in the nation to completely shut off the downtown street for a pedestrian mall). Bell's was in a gas station in the back of their current Eccentric Cafe when I was there. Campus Beverage ("Tiny's") at the edge of K College had a great selection of beer, in the days before craft beer pretty much existed (Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada and a huge selection of foreign beer, plus Bell's three varieties at the time). Kalamazoo can pursue a "Grand Rapids Lite" model, with the breweries, not as much of the "meds," but much more of an "eds" presence, particularly in the core. The whole "release the creek" project helped give downtown a boost. They now have a Hop Cat's in the old depot out by Bell's that will further advance the beer-town culture.

I advocated for it (theoretically, at least) over 7 years ago. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0721soapdishcompletestreet.aspx But yes, it does make sense.