jessehallum

This is very good news. The plan details a roll out in 3 stages: 2015 - Ohio One high speed line running from Cincinnati to Cleveland (through Columbus). The two existing AMTRAK lines will run as usual. (One runs from the east to Cincinnati, Indy, and Chicago. The other from DC to Cleveland, Toledo, to Chicago). -USA High Speed lines: 1. Connects all major cities in California. 2. Connects Pacific Northwest Cities (Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Eugene) 3. North East US (New York, Boston, etc) 4. DC to Charolette via Raleigh page 37 2030 - Ohio. - No Change -USA - All major markets are connected. Among them are: Las Vegas, Atlanta, Boise, Florida, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, most large cities page 38 2050 - Ohio 1. The existing Cincinnati-Cleveland Line is extended northward through Buffalo? to Toronto 2. Columbus - Toledo - Detroit 3. Columbus - Pittsburg (connects through to Pilly) 4. Clevland - Pittsburg (connects through to Pilly) 5. Cincinnati - Louisville page39 - USA- The network are themselves connected, creating a large high speed rail solution. In Ohio, Columbus emerges as a big winner. They will have 4 major lines running through the city by 2050. Nationally, Lexington is one of the bigger losers. They are one of the only 'major' cities that will not have high speed rail.

More room for the Beer Hall of Fame!

Thanks for the post McMicken. You nailed it. I have fallen in love with the neighborhood and I have fallen in love with a vision of the neighborhood. As a potential investor, it is frustrating when the story changes like this. The city has a long history of disinvestment/underinvestment in the neighborhood and to sell one thing and build another is the wrong thing to do at this point in history! I have talked up the SCPA in the past and now I feel like an idiot because the plan changed. It makes me wonder if Washington Park is going to get re-developed, or if the streetcars are going to run! If we accept these half-ass solutions and bait and switch tactics, they are never going to change. Construction is not progress if it undermines what the neighborhood is trying to accomplish.

bait and switch.. and we are supposed to be happy about it! When did OTR re-development turn into a 'with us' or 'against us' proposition?

^ Great comparison... A bar on Main St. Vs. Startup Internet companies.. give me a break..

^ You can sell units in the Gateway Quarter and beyond by playing to the new restaurants and retail on Vine St. When the streetcar construction begins, that will be a major selling point. City Link (agree or disagree with it) will disperse social services away from Washington Park area. Time is on the side of neighborhood re-development. The only thing that can undermine OTR gentrification is high crime, or the continued perception of high crime. I don't see how these bars help.. Hopefully, I am wrong!

^ If crime happens (like in the very recent past), it is far worse.

^ I am rooting for them and I will be supporting them with my money. As a potential condo buyer, it is not the 'best case scenario'!

If experienced owners could not make it in the district when there was as much momentum, why are we giving twenty one year olds the chance? It is a free market, but discretion should be used for the good of the neighborhood. The owners of Club Red were blamed for the most recent shooting. While their business model was not totally on the 'up and up', what makes you think that these kids escape the same fate? They are rich kids from Miami... lets see what happens when they meet the element that exists in those clubs...

The school facing the park would create a dynamic impact... It is a shame that the view from Washington Park (and Music Hall) will be a solid brick wall. Sometimes, I just don't get it.

Michael Redmond and others, I am a supporter of OTR and I do not think that the critical mass has been met. It seems irresponsible to me to allow two 21-year olds to open bars in the Main St. Distirict. While this area has undergone a shift, it is not sufficient. I have looked for housing in the area. Much of the housing in the main st. disctirct is in an unmarketable condition (pathetically rehabbed in the late seventies or early eighties). While the areas around main st. are improving, they are not yet at a sufficient level. The gateway quarter is a great idea, but it has yet to catch fire. It is going to take time to change the perception of the neighborhood. Why would you allow two unproven bar owners to operate on main st? The owners of the Main St. buildings have a reputation for being greedy, but this seems short-sighted. The last time OTR had momentum (before the riots), the neighborhood was attracting high tech businesses. This time around, the neighborhood is attempting to attract condo sales. I am afraid that we have not learned enough of a lesson. The riots squashed the last attempt at gentrification: No one will buy condos in OTR if people are murdered on Main St. The area should try to 'lay low' and avoid any kind of negative press, especially visible crime on Main St. which has happed too often in the past.

Anyone else think that new bars may be opening a bit too soon? I believe that it would be smarter for the neighborhood to develop a critical mass of residents before the 'bar district' re-opens. Especially with the jail tax failing, I worry that the same problems will plague the district this time around. Without the Hamilton County task forces, this could become the 'shooting gallery' that everyone already thinks it is. I worry that this could undermine a lot of the good work going on in OTR because it has the potential to re-enforce stereotypes of the neighborhood that already exist. I think it would be smarter to use the storefronts as gallery space for local artists while condos are sold in the area. The large numbers of new Condos and higher priced apartments could house 'stake holders' that keep an eye on the street.

You can also add the anti-city, fear-mongering 700WLW as another huge reason. There is a good opportunity for another newspaper to steal market share... (sigh) if only the beacon wasn't a bunch of no-talent ass-clowns... In my parent's neighborhood, at least half of the people their age (40-55) haven't been downtown in ten years for anything other than sporting events and they ALL receive the enquirer and listen to WLW.

49.89% reporting... NO 55.04% YES 44.96% (puking in the sink...)

Going down in flames... 24.2% reporting... NO 54.68% YES 45.32%

Issue 27: Hamilton Co. Public Safety Sales Tax 38 of 880 precincts reporting Candidate/Issue Votes Percent No 16,915 51.5% Yes 15,928 48.5%

Hey guys, This might be a stupid idea... I think that issue 27 was by far the most important issue on today's ballot. Here is the urban ohio exit poll! How did you vote?

I disagree with this assessment. Inherently, Price Hill and Westwood do not have many of the same problems that the west end and over the Rhine had. These western neighborhoods are far less dense, which disperses crime (assuming the same criminal level). In fact, the crime level in the west side neighborhoods, while high, have not been at the levels of the good old ghetto downtown . I can't imagine any street corner in Price Hill that would have the sheer number of criminals that 12th and Vine had ten years ago. The housing stock in these neighborhoods may be somewhat in disrepair, but they are not nearly as blighted as the housing stock in OTR/WEST END. A very high percentage of the housing stock in OTR was 1-2 Bedroom units that were built for immigrants and workers. Many (the city, Restoc, etc) have cited examples of 3-4 children households in OTR who lived in 1 bedroom apartments. Section 8 in Price Hill/Westwood provides more livable space for families, which helps the crime rate in the long term Another note on the infrastructure: Westwood/Price Hill does not have the access to highways that OTR and the West End had. I know that sounds like a non-factor, but I think that OTR was more attractive to drug smugglers/imported gang activity because of it's accessibility (and complete neglect leading to...) The west side neighborhoods still have a decent amount of neighborhood watchdogs. The Price Hill community council with Pete Witte, Price Hill Will, and various other community organizations have done a good job in the neighborhood through the transition. It could have been much much worse. I half-expected a black vs. white war to erupt! Also, there was a unique situation in the West End/OTR from 1981-2000 where the criminal element had a lot of political clout. Price Hill/Westwood seems to be prepared to fight this tooth and nail. I think that a more comparable (worst case scenario) neighborhood for Price Hill/Westwood is Avondale. The decline in Avondale began with slum clearance in the 1930's and 50's and has still not recovered. Price Hill/Westwood is dealing with slum clearance in the 21st century. Avondale, while in certain decline for decades, is not nearly as bad as OTR in its heyday!

I found some decent stuff on The Ohio State Univerisitie's Exurban Change Program Website, which 'analyzes economic, social, agricultural and land use change throughout Ohio’s townships, the Midwest region, and the Nation's exurban/rural landscape.' The website has some pretty interesting stuff. I figured I would pass some of it along.. The result of these patterns of change in Ohio township population is the emergence of a substantial number of densely populated townships located near the state’s large cities. In 1970, 245 of Ohio’s 1320 townships (18.4 percent of all townships) had population densities in excess of 100 persons per square mile. By 2000, that proportion had grown to 348 of 1313 townships (26.5 percent) ... In the 1950s, Ohio lost 11.9 percent of its farmland. In the 1960s and 1970s, farmland loss rates fell to 8.3 percent and 8.0 percent per decade. Loss rates moderated even further to just 3.7 percent during the 1980s despite "rampant" sprawl. While these trends reversed slightly in the 1990s, the rate for the decade is still about half that of the 1970s. link

I am understanding this right? Are SIDs kind of like a subsidized-commercial version of the residential Home Ownership Association? If so, it sounds like a good deal for the main st. district. This would give business owners a larger stake in the neighborhood, while protecting their interests. I found This Brochure that offers some good information on the Downtown Cincinnati Improvement district. Does anyone know what businesses are involved and how successful the district has been?

http://borgman.enquirer.com/img/daily/2007/10/102807borgman600.jpg

From the Enquirer.. This is at least a good list of who is running... Not that it matters, but I am a little surprised that Qualls didn't make their cut... Our choices for City Council http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071027/EDIT01/710280328/1090/EDIT The good news is that Cincinnati voters will have a substantial number of able City Council candidates to choose from on Nov. 6. The dilemma the Enquirer Editorial Board faced in deciding our 2007 endorsements was selecting the best nine-member council from the 25-candidate field. Click on link for article.

'Eatertainment'? BY JANE PRENDERGAST http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071029/NEWS01/310290049/-1/rss Almost 90 minutes into today’s Cincinnati City Council meeting to discuss The Banks, came a key question. Councilman John Cranley, hosting the meeting as chairman of council’s finance committee, asked: “Tell me exactly when I can have a beer at an ESPN Zone next to Great American Ball Park.” Hopefully early 2010, responded Trent Germano, with Carter & Associates Commercial Services, one of the companies developing the riverfront project. He said he hoped to have an ESPN Zone-type restaurant, or a Fox Sports Grill...

The banks developers are meeting today in a joint session City Council's finance and economic development committees. The session is scheduled to last most of the day today. I heard on 91.7 that there have been a number of interesting questions posed by committee members which address parking, density, use mix, and impact to adjacent neighborhoods. Is there anyway to get a transcript of this hearing? I think it would be interesting to find out what questions are asked and who asked them. I would rather spend hours reading a transcript of what really happened than relying on media outlets (i.e. The Enquirer) to recap the events.

^ and they own the rights to some surface lots around the city as well... notably 5th and Race.. The city should cut ties with these ass-clowns.