neilworms

Even if that building is cheap that side of downtown has waaay too many surface lots.

Yeah I agree, particularly if they could find a way to put the bay windows back on the top. I have to admit the purple building is pretty much an abortion in its current state. We'll see what this ruling provides, I'm pretty glad the all glass building was rejected.

I know I toot the horn probably a bit too much on Chicago because I've seen tons of good infill up here. Not to say there isn't a lot of bad, some poor cinderblock apartments that look like bizzaro suburban mcmansions but entirely in cinderblock, as well as older infill around Old Town that screams 1970s and has no interaction with the neighborhood, not to mention the walled community in the south loop (Dearborn Park). Seattle's infill probably wouldn't work as well in OTR, but it is nice, I think the Christian Moerlein lager house is starting to look like something you'd find in Seattle and it works because there really isn't a neighborhood there and its really starting to come together to be a good building, with OTR there still is the context of a strategically important neighborhood for Cincinnati and it should do everything it can to preserve that asset. Other than the Gateway Condos the stuff 3CDC has done is generally pretty good. Not sure if it was 3CDC but I saw a really fantastic townhouse on 12th street that was brand new and fit the neighborhood vernacular. 14th and Vine is a good modern interpretation of the neighborhood vernacular without going too far over the top. The best thing they did IMO is Trinity flats which is some of the best infill in Cincinnati and would hold up well in any more heavily gentrified city.

Article about some of the people behind Mercer's design: http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/102511citystudios.aspx

Seriously. I see developments all over the place in my part of Chicago that are street facing small scale urban commercial spaces filling in the last empty/surface lots in the neighborhood, they look fantastic and fit perfectly into the fabric of the neighborhood. There are amazing adaptive reuse projects, like the old MB bank building that they turned into a CVS and a nightclub in the bank vault. There are even additions of bicycle parking in some of the more "suburban" style developments that were built 10 years ago. The adage that Cincinnati is 10 years in the past is so clear here its not even funny and its sad, because Cincy deserves better than this.

Wow, kind of wish I was in town for this, but alas, a short notice and an odd work week involving a 3:30 am to 12 pm shift won't allow for it. Have a good time guys, hopefully I'll make it to another event!

Wow, looks like something out of Chicago or New York... :( I looked at it today on google maps, and where that amazing Italianate with all the billboards on it was, is now a low rise suburban National City bank with drive through, proving yet again that Cinciannati has over the years destroyed its best asset, its urbanity.

^-The Country music statement was a misreading of the original press release, it was corrected in the article. From the Enquirer comment board:

I bet she would be mortified to see what the district has become. Especially with the teardowns going on now :(

Boca is moving into the old Maisonette space, and adding a downmarket casual restaurant too :) http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110930/BIZ01/309300018/Boca-move-into-Maisonette-space?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Business?odyssey=mod_sectionstories and http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110930/ENT01/309300117 A nice addition to the popped collar er restaurant row in Cincinnati.

I'm wondering if the Johnny Rockets on the Banks will canabalize the one on Newport on the Levee, they are pretty darn close to each other.

On and off for the past year or so, I've been updating the Cincinnati page on wikitravel, which is a travel wiki. I was kind of inspired by the opening of new tours down in OTR and downtown which I think would be a great way to sell the city to an outside audience as well as let them in on a few hidden gems. Along those lines there needs to be a lot updated, especially the maps and pictures of the city. If anyone would like to pitch feel free to go ahead and do so. I'd most like to see a contemporary picture of the skyline with the Great American Tower and the Current at the Banks completed. As I'm in Chicago, its not easy for me to stop down there to get it, otherwise I would. If someone has one I can use on the site let me know. Here is the link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Cincinnati

I heard over at City-data that a good chunk of one of Cincinnati's best historic districts just got torn down today :( Walnut hills RIP.

Speaking of re-purposed schools, it would be amazing if there actually was someone with both the creativity and resources to pull off something like this in Cincinnati... http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home I'm amazed how a city that for the most part looks like a giant Reading or Lockland set in a temperate rainforest manages to do so much more with so much less :P.

I agree with you 100%. Sadly all this stuff was set in stone behind closed doors years ago, just proving how poor democracy is for local neighborhoods unless they have a community council that well represents the community instead of outside interests with a stake. I don't know why they are going ahead with such a blatant 1960s style urban renewal, to what is IMO one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the midwest. Its really criminal, and speaks to just how f-d up Cincinnati is when it comes to this stuff. Cincinnati is San Francisco that aspires to be Indianapolis, seriously :P.

Actually I can't believe it, but the rendering of the place looks pretty good. Particularly for who's building it. :-o Still is there any way they could have taken the castle facade off of the school? And I'm still cynical, lets see how it looks completed :P.

I think you answered your own question. How many poor people who are struggling to make ends meet would be willing to spend extra cash on organic food? Particularly if said people aren't well educated?

^-I think a road diet is in order for Liberty. It would free up a bunch of land on the south side of the street that could be redeveloped. If done right it would also allow room for Protected bike lanes and on street parking as well. Might be a good idea to make it a commercial strip that would connect Main to Vine. Road Diet proposal in Chicago: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-09/classified/ct-met-getting-around-0110-20110109_1_traffic-lanes-bike-lane-road-diet Lawerence Ave is not as wide as Liberty Street but still a gigantic road: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lawrence+ave+chicago+ravenswood&hl=en&ll=41.968713,-87.683368&spn=0.006238,0.018926&gl=us&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.968713,-87.683368&panoid=vUK459W0XI4fu93D6ZYr2Q&cbp=12,263.08,,0,2.86 Protected bike lines in Chicago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2011-07/63505201.jpg

Thanks for bringing this old thread back to life! I liked the comparison to Noble Square in Chicago too :), its one of the last Victorian areas of that density to survive (for the most part) in Chicago. Though its buildings are consistently 1880s-1900, a few years later than most of OTR. Most areas away from that section are much less dense in building stock (though with things like "Garden Apartments" [basement apartments] the current population density is way denser than almost anything in Cincy). As for the building at Mercer and 13th that 3CDC is going to tear down, I'd say its 1840s-1850s. 1860s is too late, most of the stuff in OTR from the 1860s tends to be larger and more densely built. Also the 1860s were the beginning of Italianate, federalist style which that building is in was out of vogue.

Awful. This is one thing that could help retard growth in the basin area and threaten the viability of Dayton Street being the tourist destination it deserves to be.

Agreed 100%. I wouldn't be bugged by the buildings here if it wasn't so completely out of phase with the basic form of the neighborhood. I could see this stuff working where the streets are wider and buildings newer, but puttting it in OTR will hurt the "Old World" character of the neighborhood which is IMO its biggest selling point. You can do new that is respectful to the surroundings, drive around Chicago its all over the place, but you can also do new that really hurts it. This is the latter, though admittedly this is 10 notches above the infill Cincinnati normally gets (cough cough look at uptown cough cough).

^Makes plenty of sense if your name is Mike Brown. Lets manipulate people's fanaticism of sports by extorting the people of the county to give me more money. He really has raped the people of Hamilton county in the arse. I would have been happy if he did leave.

1) I'm asking for eventual conversion of the parking to permit parking in the more residential parts of the neighborhood if there are too many residents in the neighborhood to help perserve their spots. 2) Meters are fine when they are actually in front of Buildings or very close to buildings that are Businesses, yet there are areas in OTR where there are no Businesses and a bazillion meters. Keep the metered parking on Vine and Main or very close by. 3) Ultimately there will have to be additional parking structures. I guess its one positive of OTR loosing 50% of all its buildings, there is space for more parking structures. Ultimately though I think what they are doing now is overkill and will threaten the remaining historic building stock.

Until the US becomes like Europe when everywhere is accessible without a car, people are still going to have cars, streetcar or no streetcar. I even still have one living in a dense Chicago neighborhood, I don't use it much, and occasionally have issues with parking (am considering going to a car sharing program though). Its part of living in the city, particularly in a neighborhood like OTR and Cincinnatians should realize they should deal with it.

Its my understating that the only reason why there is a lack of parking in OTR is due to an abundance of metered parking in areas that really are underutilized. Get rid of the excess metered parking, and as population goes up impliment a permit system for residents. The lack of parking is artificial and because of this, more historic buildings are going to be lost. Cincinnati is literally the only city with its level of history/historic architecture to be so banal about parking issues. Look at some things they do in San Francisco for instance: http://victorianantiquitiesanddesign.blogspot.com/2011/07/creative-solutions-and-ability-to-think.html