neilworms

I learn more every year about how lousy the stadium deal was for the city :( Mike Brown should be tarred and feathered out of town.

Its funny soapbox wrote an article that pretty much fits in to exactly what's being talked about here: http://soapboxmedia.com/features/080613dbarchitecture.aspx

Someone needs to contact this guy in Columbus if they are going to do anymore infill around the University: http://www.woodcompanies.com/ 3CDC should get his number too!

The Goetz house days are numbered: http://news.cincinnati.com/comments/article/20130806/NEWS010801/308060114/Council-won-t-save-Goetz-House The Clifton Heights community council did a wonderful job, I wish more neighborhood associations were as good as they were at fighting this issue. I tip my hat to their hard work.

I have to keep this blog post permanently bookmarked there were amazing 2nd empire townhouses amongst others - see for yourself: http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcincinnatimonocle.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fphotos-of-calhoun-st-and-mcmillan-st-in.html&h=zAQFPeVW-&s=1

I'm glad people are finally starting to complain....

Elgin and Aurora long had a reputation for being "ghetto", but it appears that there is some revitalization going on in both towns. About a month ago I did a bicycle trip up the Fox River valley from Aurora to Elgin, taking the metra out to Aurora then riding it back into Chicago from Elgin. The area is quite pretty by Illinois standards and the bike path really nice. I'd have to say my favorite old town in the area is St. Charles, which is quite charming being nestled on both sides of the river with a really great small town feel. The SW Ohio comparisons are pretty accurate, though I'd have to say that Middletown has declined a lot more than most of these old towns have. I've also heard that this area is culturally more conservative than most of NE Illinois and has a bit of a "redneck" reputation (on the outer fringes west of the river). My friend who grew up in Batavia and was with me on this bicycle trip was impressed by how much nicer Elgin was, and when I was in Aurora I noticed a few condos, though it still mostly seemed working class latino (good mexican food btw). These towns really do seem like the best of both worlds between small town laid back and big city walkable - and most of them have good train access to the real city too :).

Its not bad (certainly better than half of these cookiecutter developments we've been seeing lately, but I kind of like the building across and to the north a bit better (the one Quan Hapa is in).

Yes. When I first saw it I thought, why isn't this building in Cincinnati?

I don't have a very good pic, but here it is. (see attached) I don't think its the best, but it's a heck of a lot better than this proposed building in Northside.

I hope the wood companies starts coming down to Cincinnati, they did a bang up job in short north on this: http://www.columbusunderground.com/wood-companies-new-short-north-apartments-going-skyward Which would not be out of place at all in Northside - the thing CR is building is hideous.

Agreed completely here. Again a building poorly built but with amenities that are much needed by the student community is better than nothing but we should aim higher. Wholtone: I guess I keep coming back to the design I see in Chicago its not consistently good (there are a ton of duds) but its still a level above what's being thrown up in Cincinnati. Its not just luxury condos too, even the student housing around UIC looks more like old buildings even if its been made with newer construction materials. It helps that Chicago pioneered modernism and even its older vernacular is plainer than Cincinnati's in general, but at the same time I could see those buildings fitting in fine in Cincy too. For instance this building gasp, doesn't have a blank wall against the side street (in cincy it would and it would have vinyl in totally inappropriate places): http://goo.gl/maps/EOTVk Now that last example was a condo building in a up and coming neighborhood, what about something like student housing? Well by UIC while the whole process to get there was a bit suspect (lots of Mayor Daley using his dictatorial power to pretty much destroy a historic marketplace that once was there) the student housing at least is a step above what's going in at UC: http://goo.gl/maps/nIEZG Now I totally understand we are living in a different era than the 1870s, but that doesn't mean we should have lazy design because of that. Even the student housing example shows places that aren't gigantic superblocks they are broken into smaller chunks, they interact with the corner, and there isn't clumsy proportioning at the very least its something that a non architect like me would find acceptable in among Cincinnati's vernacular architecture. If you use the argument of well Chicago has way higher property values, that is true, but Chicago also has a messy political system that will drive costs up and way higher taxes/wages. Unions are way more powerful, the politics way more corrupt and bureaucratic. In the end these buildings by UIC are student housing that rents for around 1000/mo and as I recall the stuff by UC is for about the same price which is obscene by Cincinnati standards, so given that revenue stream combined with a lot of costs that are lower, shouldn't the end product be just as high a quality? I really feel that it rests on the designers and the developers who are their clients. Chicago is a major center for design/architecture though that's the only thing that makes sense to me IMO. I guess to drive it home even more, and I know some will critique me on this, I live in an apartment that has wood floors and granite countertops. Well at least it looks like it does, but they both aren't real. My landlord is an artist, and she designed it so that there are vinyl floors with a design that looks pretty good (nothing compared to what was done in the Victorian era, but it still makes a good impression - I thought it was wood on very first glance before stepping on it). The countertops simply are a covering that is granite, but below that its cheap particle board. You can do good design without breaking the bank and that's what I'd like to see more of in Cincinnati.

There is no doubt U Square will be a success, it does perform a much needed function for the area, that has been lacking ever since the foolhardy pre-financial security demolition of all the old businesses in that area that left a giant vacant lot. U Square is much needed, but on a bigger picture scale not that great for Cincinnati as a whole. For those who are cynical, look at it like this: one of Cincinnati's greatest assets is that it is quite different from any city in the Midwest with its vast collection of elegant Victorians of a quality one would usually only find in larger cities. Other cities have capitalized on this and are extremely successful, its an excellent economic development tool, and frankly Cincinnati's problems are those of perception and this "San Francisco of the Midwest" look is something that could change perceptions if better known. In short fantastic way to attract new people who aren't aware Cincinnati is like this (because knowledge is low about the city other than it being conservative, most people think its another Indianapolis or Columbus not what it is). Not only that but at least now you can actually afford to live in a neighborhood with fantastic old buildings, which IMO cannot be done in most cities with this level of housing stock. You get rid of too much of the old stock, and your left with a stodgy city that is an extension of the giant burbs that surround it. In this case the stock was already gone, but at the very least make the newer stuff look a little better... Its kind of insulting to what made Cincinnati great back in the day. Where's Samuel Hannaford's ghost when you need him?

It makes you even more frustrated when you see buildings only 100 miles away that look like they belong more in Cincy than the garbage being built around the university - here's one in short north and *gasp* the architect understands the building is on a corner and references the best architecture in that neighborhood - http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/construction-september-2012-34.jpg

I hope the soundproofing is good on that hotel, that area is quite rowdy, lots of very douchey bros outside at all hours of the night. Other than that its a fantastic location, and its nice to see the small surface lot eliminated.

The interiors are shot on most of these places I'll agree. I saw some pretty terrible places too, however, more often than not the exteriors are pretty nice even if they need a bit of TLC. Some large scale developers have bought up old places and made them nicer though ;). It would be nicer if the areas that are empty or those places beyond repair were brought down (this is a slippery slope on beyond repair though) and replaced with new properties. When I state new properties though it would be nicer if the designs would be more sensitive to the neighborhood. I'm going to also add that I know few other places where student housing is perfect. While some of the examples brought up here are kind of extreme, Isn't it part of the college experience to share housing with other people in an okay but not perfect house? (I want to make sure here that I'm not at all endorsing things like not having insulation in an illegal attic bedroom). College student's aren't all trust fund kids and the amount of debt from tuition they are taking on is pretty much crippling as it is...

The crazy thing is this kind of housing is oftentimes in stately old mansions. That part of Cincinnati has a tremendous amount of character and while the new apartments are cleaner and have better amenities they sure are ugly as sin.

But isn't the schiel site also a potentially profitable site as its right next to a University with plenty of demand for high priced student housing? On the flip side I heard there was tons of absestos which made redoing it not very feasible. I would have liked to have seen the castle facade saved, but actually feel that the current building is a better use as its mixed use. The design is better than most developments from what I've seen, but its still not quite as good as it could be.

Have you seen Clevelands? They repurposed an old Department store, it looks great.

Doesn't he realize that this runoff style election is a help to minor parties such as his as well as independents? What a moronic stance to take as a third party candidate. I kind of wish this reform would be on the national level.

FYI: Both Urbancincy and the mainstream media (WCPO) are reporting on this: http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/02/proposed-210-unit-apartment-development-would-demolish-historic-christys-lenhardts/#comments http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/business_news/proposed-student-housing-development-would-raise-lenhardts-building

This is what the area looked like when I first went to college: http://cincinnatimonocle.blogspot.com/2012/01/photos-of-calhoun-st-and-mcmillan-st-in.html There was a lot of fast food junk and the Prime Time building at on vine was a monstrosity from the 1970s, but the rest of the buildings were really nice if not in the best of shape - the kinds of buildings one would only really find in a handful of cities in this country. Seeing that being a grassy field for 10 years was really frustrating, developers should have their finances in order before they are allowed to tear down existing structures. The new stuff is consistently ugly, but if it was blended in a little more it would be nicer. Refering back to the CUF thread, the development on McMillian at W Clifton should be handled that way.

Look earlier in this thread I believe, and you'll find some pics of some of the cooler historic buildings that were lost - not everything was fast food, though the pr campaign made it sound that way.

Lendhardt's (which everyone insists on calling Christies even though its just the Bar.... I guess that said something about the state of the restaurant though). Is actually located in an old Mansion that was built by Christian Moerlien by for one of his daughters I believe. It's even located on Moerlien Street. I think its eligible for historic status on that ground. Wow even the logo is Douchey. Open up a sports bar next door, preferably with a bull in it.

I'm happy too :). A good compromise with the developer might be to suggest that he'll save money in not demoing the old buildings by building on the area that is currently the parking lot. He can then take some of that savings and put it into the design of his apartments differentiating his product on a crowded marketplace. I mean how is he going to beat his competition? Think about it that way ;).