neilworms

There actually quite useful as commuter bikes, no need to worry about your own bicycle being stolen which is a major problem in cities where bicycling is popular (like Chicago - I've gotten 3 bicycles stolen and wound up carrying a huge chain lock as one of my bikes stolen was locked with a u-lock). That way you can save your own bike for the pleasure rides/long distance stuff, and use the bikeshare bicycle (provided you live within 30 mins of where you work) to get to work or for filling gaps in transit/practical trips. Its worked quite well for me, are the rideshare bikes heavy, yes, but totally functional. I've said this other places but if Cincy adds grooves to more of its hillside steps (my understanding is that the steps near the casino added these after being rehabbed), then it would be useful there.

I'm not a fan either, but it is a step above those other buildings. I think the biggest problem here is the awkward windows.

Just saw this through OTR matters: http://otrmatters.com/pendleton-street-townhomes/ Looks like there is going to be some new construction along with a renovation of an old townhome. I know some architects will probably disagree with me, but this is way above average infill for the area, and they look pretty nice, keeping in mind that the first photo is of the backs which don't look as nice.

There are also times when your laundry machine goes bad and you need a quick trip to a laundromat to get your clothes washed. Considering the neighborhood, they should offer dry cleaning though, they might also tap a bit into the Clifton heights college student market for the laundromat - since City limits is more on the clifton side of things.

I still remember the year I went to MPMF with a Chicago friend, and we were going from the CAC to a venue in OTR, I told him its only ten blocks we can do it. His eyes widened like that was going to be a horrible distance, but I reminded him that 3 Cincinnati (basin) blocks could fit in one Chicago block :)

I'm going to also add that the blocks in Chicago are usually 3x the length (or more) than the ones in OTR. Though Cincinnati doesn't really have the walking culture that Chicago does. People still have a mindset of drive to get everywhere. I remember attending the streetcar rally and seeing people who lived in OTR going back to the garage at Washington Park to get into their car to drive maybe 4 or 5 blocks. I also remember one year at MPMF when we were going to an after party by Washington Park and we were on main, several people in the group wanted to get their cars, but me and one other Chicagoan stated, its not a long walk and we wound up walking the 3/4 short blocks instead. Baby steps, things will change ;)

^-If they add another small format or ideally urban format store to downtown in general I think you guys would be set on Groceries without driving.

I love that sort of thing in Cities, and wish Cincinnati would relax its sign laws. Cluter and Chaos is what makes cities great ;)

^-Yes it was "Contested Ground" its amazing how the demolition of the West End wasn't even its main topic, but it did a superb job of covering its history. Gave me a ton of respect for Mallory's father who basically started his political career by saving Brighton from even more destruction.

There was some debate on this on twitter and I thought this is a much better place for debating this topic: There was discussion about strong mayor vs professionally appointed council: I actually kind of like the current system, the mayor still has more power than they did back in the 1990s and can do a lot more to lead the city. As much as we all hate Cranley, Mallory brought a lot of great things to the table that might not have been possible under the old system. All professionals btw are political appointments, its not like if someone is appointed by a council they are immediately just a impartial professional, they will also have political stakes. I brought up an additional reform that should be considered: Right now Cincinnati has very bad hyperlocal representation. For instance OTR wanted less favoritism towards 3CDC, but they were denied by the city as a whole. Another good example is in Corryville where the comm council is actually mostly people from outside the neighborhood who have development stakes. The community council was a temporary solution that was setup in the wake of the mass demolitions of the west end (at least according to the book I read on the topic - its not a particularly formal organization and yet it does wield some but not enough power - its IMO deeply flawed in the current system). I'm not arguing for the other extreme where all representation is hyperlocal - which could lead to old style boss cox croneyism, (e.g Chicago's current system), but a nice balance of the two, where some representatives a representative of the neighborhoods and are elected on 2 year terms while others represent the city at large and are on 4 year terms. Hyper local representation would be strengthened without the downsides of it (and given Cincy's cultural myopia that's also a good thing). These are basic thoughts, I just wanted to get the conversation rolling, anyone have any thoughts?

Someone who is a board member of "Right to Life Cincinnati" should take away his libertarian card :P.

I'm hoping this goes through. Metro*Plus is a very smart way to slowly build transit ridership, is it perfect? No. But Cincinnati needs these kinds of baby steps before it can run. Unfortunately the very thought of increasing taxes even for pragmatic improvements frightens so many people that there is a nasty battle that will ensue. :( I hope that given how the media has expanded through the internet and the success of getting the streetcar through will help, but its still going to be nasty, too many people are happy with a broken status quo.

Also the bus access is great on Gilbert in this part of town and its close enough to downtown to make it an attractive option and its pretty darn close to Mt Adams as well.

Its a great looking building: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.122374,-84.489904,3a,75y,232.22h,85.55t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sxUYtHdI9h_avkmSwwshsag!2e0 At least back in 2011 the area needed a bit of TLC, though it seems to be close to where Walnut Hills has been redeveloped to the south closer to Mt. Adams.

^-I'd argue Mid-Atlantic with southern and midwestern influences. Not sure if Indianapolis is a good comparison, as its quite un-urban. Chicago might be slightly better though there are issues with that comparison too, but at the very least its a city that's still quite urban being restored as opposed to a handful of somewhat dense (in building stock here) downtown neighborhoods surrounded by sprawl. Eventually smaller units may combine, that's true as places gentrify there is a slight reduction in density its happening in the established northside Chicago areas that are going more family friendly. I don't think there will be a huge amount of single families though, OTR is not that kind of hood though nearby there is a fallow falling down area that needs a ton of TLC that has some.

We got nothing on San Fran and still a ton of emptying neighborhoods with good transit access.

Would be way better if they stayed downtown. 1930s suburbia is better than 1990s, but its still pretty auto oriented out there, and doesn't have much to offer over a suburb that's not part of Cincinnati with better schools. I don't know why there is so much focus on Bond Hill when the real focus should be on the core. Yes I know that's a platform Cranley won on, but its not leveraging what the city should be leveraging.

And all the better too, I have a feeling Castellini would have known he would have gummed up the works. Though isn't Cranley supposed to represent old school corporate Cincy interests?

Perhaps a Thomas Edison statue while we are at it :D

First off OTR is in far worse shape than the Northside neighborhoods in Chicago were, the northside neighborhoods were generally working class enclaves prior to the 80s and 90s. OTR had fallen to one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the country and had much of its property abandoned. Secondly, Chicago has way more collective money being a larger and wealthier region so there is a ton more capital in total to rehabilitate projects from private developers. I'm pretty amazed at some of the dumpy falling down places I've seen restored on the near west side which also have to go through a very ardous process of permitting/smoozing the local alderman to get done. Finally Chicago has a culture of risk taking - I think that if Cincinnatians had to go through half of the BS of permitting and dealing with crooked local politicians that Chicago developers have to go through they would throw their hands up immediately and no redevelopment would ever have get done. There is enough of a cultural difference that I don't think most Cincinnatians are capabile of taking that much risk, its not in their nature. It sucks, but its a sad reality, and I don't see any other alternative to 3CDC at least making the first move before other developers are comfortable enough to make their move. (Again look back at the Skyline Chili on court street which should be making thousands of dollars off of increased attention to that part of town, but are being sticks in the mud because they are scared or too set in their ways to do something different to accommodate the very obviously changing marketplace that is literally right in front of their noses). *Weird pet peeve, I don't think there are many brownstones in Chicago (practically none in Cincinnati - I've seen Cincinnati media refer to brick Italianate buildings as brownstones when they are brick not stone), the more common architecture are Greystones which are lighter colored stone buildings usually built around the turn of the 20th century. 2-Flats and later courtyard apartments are common in that part of town. The only place I think there are some brownstones that are kind of in the NYC vein are in Old Town, parts of the Gold Coast and parts of Lincoln Park. This is a pretty good overview of all of them: http://www.nhschicago.org/site/3C/category/what_is_greystone

lol - sometimes people want to get a nice restuarant while waiting for a play or concert but find that the nice resturants are all full and they can't wait otherwise they'll miss the play or concert they want to see, if that's the case why not go to a local icon down the street - its a safe choice. A bigger market though would be people who are wanting to sober up after drinking at the increasing number of microbrews in the brewery district or at bars like Japps, MOTR, NEONs etc. All of which being connected by a streetcar that is like 2 blocks away. Though seriously, I'm shocked no one has opened that concept down there! Make sure to sell plenty of local beers and offer vegan chili as an option. Brunch would include organically sourced Goetta. An "artisinal" chili parlor :D

I don't think that store is corporate owned, I believe it was the first ever franchise that owns it (at least according to a yelp reviewer): http://www.yelp.com/biz/skyline-chili-cincinnati-19 Your right its open til 5pm, right before the rush of people who are waiting in line at restaurants up the street, so you know it will miss the overflow crowd. Why doesn't the owner actually stand up and be a leader then? Why does he have to sit back and basically do nothing to help the situation. The skyline could become a sort of anchor to that area, giving it many more eyeballs on the street and promote development. I'm serious, and some of you guys wonder why I'm so cynical about the sale of city properties to non-3CDC developers? Its because on the average culturally Cincinnati is so set in its ways that it doesn't understand a good business opportunity when it sees it. Development is literally 2 blocks away and there a local icon is, sitting fallow like nothing at all has ever happened. At least Graters gets it. Of course if this was ANY other city, Court Street would be an icon, look at the freaken thing, walls of gorgeous victorian buildings around a center square, yes that square is mostly parking, but its gorgeous and in the real world would be a highly sought after landmark in itself!

^-Glad to know I wasn't alone. A few visits ago I actually went to that location, wrote a letter on my receipt, and asked the waitress to give to her manager. The letter basically said, in nicer words, you are loosing a ton of money by not staying open later because the neighborhood has changed and you have not. I urge everyone else who is interested in seeing that place open to do the same btw, a little pressure never hurts even if the owner is a stick in the mud. My brother noted that the majority of people working in that store looked to be above 50 :( - I think that speaks volumes.

^-Isn't that an argument for at least some 3CDC involvement? They have enough clout and resources to pressure lousy speculators to get out of the market and generate productive results.

Awesome. I was a bit worried other factors would influence their decision but deep down (from the gut as old Jack Welsh would say) I knew this would fit GE's culture the best.