mcadrenaline

So how long until we see renderings and/or the full project details...I have to imagine these are already ironed out by now...

^^^One of the genius things about megabus is that their business model effectively eliminates the riff-raff aspect of bus travel that plagues Greyhound: no stations, no transfers or long layovers, no rural stops, you must have a credit card to purchase a ticket So, while I applaud Greyhound for trying to offer a product that competes with megabus, without fundamentally changing parts of their business model it's really just the old Greyhound with new marketing and Wi-Fi that sometimes works.

So what is Atlanta doing differently to allow these businesses to have success there? ATL is a very car oriented city and I don't necessarily know that these areas do have 1k people within walking distance except in Midtown...maybe.

bet'cha that one doesn't make it into the Enquirer...

I've taken the Greyhound Express from Cincinnati to Chicago and let me say that "premium" is a very aspirational term for this service. Wifi did not work much at all. The seemingly new bus was already dirty and already in poor repair. Many of the power outlets did not work. Bus was late in both departures on the roundtrip with no explanation. Driver stopped for coffee because he felt like it as soon as we got out of Cincinnati even though we were already running late (wtf). It was cheap at the time, but it would take alot for me to do it again. Great idea. Poorly execuated concept. (compared to megabus) That said -- glad to see more affordable transportation options coming to Ohio cities.

sorry, my mistake. Tuesday, March 20th at 9AM est

Tomorrow at 9AM on 90.3, Cleveland's NPR station, the topic of discussion will be the resurgance of downtown, new projects, why it's happening now and what can be done to keep the momentum going. Sounds like a perfect show for some UO representation :yap: Every weekday at 9:00 AM (EST), The Sound of Ideas reports the news, explains the news, and sometimes makes news. The Cleveland Press Club awarded it “Best Radio Show” in Ohio and thousands daily find it to be an indispensable source of information about what’s most important to Northeast Ohioans. http://www.ideastream.org/soi www.wcpn.org/

Great article in the Atlanta newspaper today about the return of the small, urban grocery concept in that city. http://www.ajc.com/health/the-return-of-the-1387812.html What and where in Ohio is like this concept? Why hasn't this concept taken off in Ohio's urban centers as it maybe has elsewhere?

There's some new development happening in the McMillian St. business district between Clifton Ave and W Clifton Ave Looks like a new tanning salon, Glow, has opened next to the art supplies place. The next two storefronts over are currently under construction and have had their facades removed and interiors completely gutted. Meanwhile, Jeresalum Cafe across the street is still vacant and has a boarded up storefront, and Chicago Gyro has been claiming to be moving to former bank on the corner of McMillian and W Clifton for awhile with no construction evident.

Heard that not one, but two restaurants have signed letters of intent for the Color building. Anyone have any deets on this?

well that's very interesting! Sun Country did this from MSP the last two summers and I believe it was pretty successful, so they might be the ones behind this. A summer charter that's only 2x per week does nothing for the business traveller, however.

Dawn summed it up best but Andrew had me LOLing

Looks like this summer, June/July/August, Delta will fly CVG-Cancun 1x weekly on Saturday using an MD-88.

Candlewood is a part of the IHG group that also includes Holiday Inn, so it might just be a simple URL error. I do think that in order for this property to become a part of the Candlewood brand, some reconstruction would be needed since Candlewood is an extended stay hotel with kitchens, etc. That said, this hotel is no longer bookable online, so something is going on for sure... Holiday Inn is on a big push right now to weed out substandard properties and really improve their quality and consistency across all brands. It's pretty clear that this location is dated and needs some investment compared to other Holiday Inn Express locations. Perhaps operators may have just chosen to end their franchise agreement to not have to cough up lots of money to keep the flag? This scenario happens all the time in the hote industry... In any case, it's a hotel with great bones and could make a great boutique or chain hotel, so I can't imagine it will sit empty or anything like that?

okay my apologies if this has been covered in this thread (I'm sure it has somewhere) BUT... I just got back from a jog from Sawyer Point down to the Banks and I just now noticed the closed off and overgrown boardwalk with the decorative lighting that starts in front of GABP. Is this going to reopen as a part of this park? Why and when was it closed? It's a total eyesore and waste of what would be otherwise amazing space. A quick look down there and it seems to be a dumping ground for people's tailgate trash....

^^ Real talk. Kenwood is a disaster....you MIGHT have a chance of finding a decent parking spot if you go on a Tuesday morning or some other random time but that entire exit is to be avoided like the plague on the weekends.

All I can say is that the poor decisions always speak louder than the good decisions, and this is certainly one of those cases. And I wouldn't even be on here in the first place if I did not have faith in the city and its leadership. So there you have it.

I like to stick up for our city council but this is getting crazy. Way too many red flags to be giving this kind of money away. Time to nix the deal. So now are some of you starting to see why lots of people in the metro area can't stand our city's leaders and think our redevelopment efforts are just one big boondoggle? Seriously. Ridiculous.

You guys do know that the covered patio is first come first serve open seating, right? (with the full menu available)

honestly, I don't know that the hype is going to die down anytime soon. Once the Reds start playing, you'll have a whole new group of people down there on a regular basis looking for a place to eat and drink. Oh, and more people drink beer when the weather is warm too.

Kind of a random question, but I do think its relevant -- any idea who has more Fortune 500 companies and/or a larger corporate tax base...Indy, STL, or Cincy? Just curious.

Some quick CVG updates on the Delta side: Las Vegas and San Francisco go down to 1 daily for the summer schedule...kind of concerning since this is typically a higher traffic season. San Diego will end 9/2/2012...this route was chopped but came back last year and apparently is going again. I really thought CVG had really been trimemd to the bone, but apparently this fuel spike is forcing further cuts. Also concerning is that DL will end MEM-AMS...a route often compared to CVG-CDG, as it's that station's only wideboy international flight. Fingers crossed that CDG stays around here in Cincy....

your commentary raises concerns to me about what the future for small scale developers might look like in OTR. is 3CDC going to run the show for the foreseeable future?

^^^ I don't get that about Lavo. They are seemingly always empty when the other spots nearby are packed. What's up with that? On a somewhat related note, I went to Lavo for Happy Hour last Friday and had VERY mediocre service at that bar even though we were the only ones there. The drinks were good and reasonably priced, but things were generally a little unprofessional. One thing that I think these new OTR hotspots are missing out on is a good patio scene (and a few windows that open don't count). Holy Grail & CM both will do this much better.

^ bahaha opening a business on main or vine isn't really a "risk" anymore...I'm sure theres plenty of restaurantuers and investors looking in this area now. but how many of these Hyde Park/Mt. Lookout/Mt. Adams tourists would be down with buying a property north of Liberty, or walking from their shiny new condo in Mercer up to watch a movie at the Imperial Theatre...oh wait. There's still plenty of risk to be taken and areas to be explored. We are far. far from being done.