atlas

^agreed. So many great alleyways and laneways. And the wood pavers! Camac and Quince Streets. Swoon! Philly is perhaps the 3rd most 'urban' U.S. city, behind NYC and Chicago. It has the 3rd largest center city population of any metro and it's built form is a lot (lot) denser than newer large cities. And it's regional rail system is quite comprehensive for a U.S city.

vertical rhythm is good. In fact, it's necessary for successful commercial blocks. 5-6m shop front widths are ideal. That's the typical distance the brain reengages with something different. Long horizontal articulations cause boredom and the production of stress hormones. But when the vertical rhythm it is done in this faux, flat veneer, it looks cheep and ultimately loses the essence of a good commercial block.

I love Magic Gardens. Some of the alleys around that area have some truly impressive mosaic work.

I agree with the sentiment. But I wouldn't say it's a hard lined rule, particularly if the corner building can be commercial and if they utilize the roof in some way. I always liked the way the Marathon building at 16th and Sansom in Philly sat. It works despite it being shorter than everything else.

"structured parking to enable density." Well there's a paradox.

This is why retail needs a strategy beyond 'the street level.' It has to be about experience now, not just the stores. And it needs to be something you can't find in the suburbs. Stuff the retail in cool laneways and alleyways, program them with outdoor art galleries, graffiti, installations etc and make it happen. i get that Cincinnati needs to get its Main St working, but it can't hurt to do a laneway retail plan focused on cultural amenity.

The corner glass articulation makes it look like an odd office building with some residential balconies sprouting out. It's good to see colour but the combination feels a bit dated. And the residential parts of the facade sort of reminds me of what they've just put up in Northside along Hamilton. I think we all agree that this could be loads better. Alas, I suppose in typical Cincinnati fashion....something is better than nothing.

Yes, but a route connecting to the river should include downtown. I am standing here staring at a fully separated cycle track in the Sydney CBD where there are some 300,000 workers in roughly the same area as Cincinnati's CBD, and has loads more congestion. And it works beautifully. Similar investments can be found all throughout considerably more congested areas in London and New York. Or you could just take the 2 hour MegaBus up to Indianapolis and check out their Cultural Trail that runs right into the heart of their downtown. And it also works beautifully and is highly legible.

Goodness. Here we go. Somehow drivers in Cincinnati are different than other cities in the world and would be too confused by cycle tracks. Get real. IMO Cincinnati needs a cycle track from Northside to the river. No doubt. Drivers will figure it out. If we are serious about significantly increasing bicycle ridership then cycle tracks is a place to start.

Make the dock world class. It's the future Cincinnati Quay and the central ferry terminal for all of the new ferry services that's going to pop up in the next 10 years. ;)

It seems there are opportunities for 1,2 or even 3 smaller pocket parks along the way as well, particularly if they would be mandated with new infill. A cool open space/experience corridor in the making.

Great photos. Thanks for the update. Keep them coming! Does anyone know if there is a streetscape/place making/bike-ped plan to connect Washington Park with Ziegler? It would be cool to get some sort of legible linear green connection along 13th Street.

If anything can get MyTwoSense to post here again, this might be the picture... I'm hoping this will work.....

Nooo, I'll never forget you. :-) :-)

People will bike more when the infrastructure is there. It's that simple. As much as cycling advocates might dislike cycle tracks due to their 'separate but equal' premise, it's a fact proven in every city across the world with serious cycling infrastructure: if you build it, they will come.

Totally agree. Faux anything is not the ideal. However, it should be noted that a building's massing strategy can still denote 'different' masses that work together, to encourage vertical rhythms and make for increased destinations along a streetscape. These are the principles that faux grain urbanism try to apply, but as you can see the outcomes can be embarrassing. But faux grained urbanism don't inherently create the need for parking garages. That's large block development that does that. The real travesty is large lot development with over scaled parking garages and not needing to be constrained by a fine grain of alleyways and lane ways. In 10 years it will be the alleys of OTR that demand high retail rents. Once OTR gets its main streets right you'll see them take off. Best to preserve them now, and not put massive parking garages on them that limit their appeal.

The faux fine grain only seems applied to the floors above the ground floor. The ground floor is one articulated horizontal mass when it should have a fine grain vertical rhythm. Particularly the bit closer to Liberty along Elm. Try again, please.

Those pants.... :-o :cry:

I love the Australian signage for mid-block/unsignalised pedestrian crossings. Those feet! Here is a nice example where a raised walk interacts with a cycle track in Sydney's Surry Hills neighbourhood. I think that it is raised is what really slows the drivers down. A blinking light seems like it would be visual litter. It would also be cool if intersections along Liberty could be raised too, giving priority to bike/ped. Here is another example of that along the same cycle track. These are also used a lot in Sydney, even along busy thoroughfares ala Liberty.

Sure, can we see the 7th Street elevation? It looks worrying from what I've seen so far.

Oh wow. What an improvement. The podium on this thing is so much better. I am so happy they went with smaller windows punching through larger panels that are offset by all glass balconies with smaller window panes compared to what they had shown previously with almost an entire glass curtain wall with very skinny panels. The improvements give the podium verticality compared to the horizontal lines that dominated it previously. It's also nice to see the smaller window effect and tighter window panes carried on all the way up the tower, diminishing the blockiness of the previous design.

If the ramp in its proposed location is a must, which I don't believe it is, and we must lose a vital asset in an alley, then lets incorporate it into some sort of structure. Can we at least attempt to hide it? It isn't clear to me why this hasn't been attempted with this proposal. Aspects of it, perhaps. Particularly the 'glass factory' craze that's been so popular. But that corner articulation and strict boxyness is not contemporary, and looks like something off the Horseshoe Casino.

But it is still open. All that would be required is to remove that fence blocking it from 12th Street. The parking lot you refer to is going to be developed by this proposal, giving us an opportunity to reinstate a proper urban alleyway. I understand that it is just one alley, but OTR has 'privatised' a lot of alleys over the past 10 years which has set a really bad precedent. Left unabated, OTR will keep losing them and miss out on the immense benefits that alleyways and laneways provide towards a walkable and vital urban way of life. Plus, ya know, that ramp is.....shockingly banal. :?

I am so surprised to come in here and see people actually liking this thing. It is soooo generic and boxy. Very uncreative. Investment is great but we really need to move beyond a 'happy with ANY development' mentality. Cincinnati is so far beyond that at this point. Lets hope this gets some rethinking. The thing on the corner is about the cheapest/most suburban way possible to articulate a corner. And it's completely unacceptable to remove Doerr Alley for a ramp.

Lets hope this gets some rethinking. The thing on the corner is about the cheapest/most suburban way possible to articulate a corner. So generic/boxy. And it's completely unacceptable to remove Doerr Alley for a ramp.