BDRUF

is there going to be any food provided at the event tonight? Sorry everyone i invited keeps asking me..

1314 Vine is being torn-down. I really wish that they were going to save the facade or at least the cornice of it.

I currently am renting a condo in the Gateway Quarter and my building is maintained by Urban Sites. I rent a parking spot in our lot, and got a call yesterday that they are going to raise prices from $50.00 a month to $75.00 a month. I thought that $50 a month was to expensive, but was willing to pay it for the convenience. I want to shop my rate because $75 a month for non covered parking is absurd in OTR. Does anyone know of anywhere I can get cheaper parking?

Crazy idea, but it seems that having all of our museums spread out over the entire city is not beneficial to any of them. What if they were centralized, and when you paid entrance to one you could go to all of them. I know that would mean trouble for Union terminal and the art museum, but what if they were all centralized onto the caps over Ft Washington Way and that area became the Cincy’s version of the Mall.

Does anybody know what is going on at the corner of 15th and Race? They have dumped truck loads of gravel and are grading it out. They also have a track hoe on site. I'm guessing they are starting on City Home II?

Saw this in the window of the building next to Righteous Room on the south side. Anybody know what this is going to be? The 9-5 hours lead me to believe it's not another bar. Sorry didn't know how to rotate the picture.

They are pouring the sidewalks in front of Parvis today.

anyone know what's going into the old Lucky Step space? There were people in there 2 days ago tearing up the old floor and the cabinets. I heard a restaurant was going in like a month ago then didn't see a release about it.

I wrote to all the council about getting a piece of the twin towers that NYC was giving away to install it in this plaza, and heard nothing back. It would fit perfectly at the Freedom Center

While at a flee market today i bought an antique from Olde Good Things. They are an architectural salvage store with locations throughout the country. I got on their website and saw this http://www.ogtstore.com/garden-antiques/antique-statues-fountains/spectacular-fountain-from-fairmount-park-in-philadelphia.html. I've always thought that Washington Park was missing the historic fountain feature to give it the charm that many historic parks on the East Coast and historic south have. This is a beautiful historic fountain with a great history, and would really look great with Music Hall in the background. Any thoughts?

i think i remember that they are able to hold 4 story structures. This was what they told us at the AIA design charette a few years ago

Innovations: New business recycles old barns It's hard to imagine unemployment being some great blessing. But Chris Roberts and Justin Sears talk about it with laughter and smiles. The two guys were anxious to have me out to their leased warehouse in Camp Washington, where they've spent the past few months stockpiling wood salvaged from deteriorating 100- and 200-year-old barns. They match the wood with buyers who range from architects and flooring installers to interior designers and lumber mill reps. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100514/BIZ01/5140331/1055/NEWS/New+business+recycles+old+barns Pretty good article. I'd like to see these guys expand their business into stripping places like the Friar's Club before they are demoed as well.

3CDC will help Cincinnati relocate Drop Inn Center The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. has offered to help move the region’s largest homeless shelter away from the tens of millions of dollars of redevelopment occurring around its location in Over-the-Rhine. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2010/05/17/story1.html?b=1274068800^3350401#

We are looking to move in either May 31 or June 1st. I got in contact with Karen (the person in charge of Parvis). The rent prices are doable, but I was hoping for a 1 bedroom to be more in the $750 - $900 range. They are priced at $985 - $1,025. On the steep end for a place where i do have to worry about my girlfriend's saftey.

My girlfriend and I are moving home after living in Washington D.C. for the past 2 years. We are looking to rent an apartment in Over-The-Rhine, Downtown, or Prospect Hill. We would like to keep the price below $1000. Unfortunately we are not going to be able to come home before we move to look at apartments, so that makes it much more difficult. We have been looking at the apartments by urbansites, and we like the price points of two of them on 1400 block of Walnut, but that street concerns me as to the safety of my girlfriend walking at night. I think that Walnut stays fairly dark and lacks pedestrian traffic up in that area. Any thoughts on that? We are also interested in the new Parvis Lofts, but it would make it a lot easier if they had a website. If anybody has any suggestions on buildings, units or areas of downtown I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Cincinnati casino planners want to fit in with neighborhood The architectural firm working on the Broadway Commons casino project describes its early concepts with words like iconic, urban edge and connectivity. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2010/05/03/story1.html?b=1272859200^3271941#

Is there anything that we can do to stop the demo after the permit has been awarded? This building is important to the City's history shouldn't be demoed. Ohio Ave. has way to many suburban style apartment buildings and demoing this building is only going to further degrade the value of the area. If anything they should work on demoing the 1970s style buildings and building new single family homes in their place. Apartments should be in the business districts. http://www.friarsclubinc.org/pdf/Friars%20Mural%20History-1.pdf

i heard the Friar's Club is being torn down for a new apartment building. The thing that really pisses me off is there are other underdeveloped sites that a new building could go on. This building deserves a better future. It could be repurposed, or even redeveloped into appartments. I guess it's just easier to tear it down and not use any inovation in the solution.

Persevering to brew up a bright future http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100423/BIZ01/4240331/Persevering-to-brew-up-a-bright-future The youngest beer-brewing venture in town, Rivertown Brewing, is technically considered a micro-brewery, but in reality it's more of a nano-brewery. With a mere 1,500 barrels to be brewed this year, Rivertown, tucked away in an office/industrial park in Lockland, is just a notch above a home brewer. And with only three employees, and one out because he got hit by an exploding keg cork, founder and owner Jason Roeper is doing whatever it takes to keep the operation running. That includes laboring deep inside a 36-foot semi-trailer on an unseasonably warm day recently, unloading a shipment of 100,000 bottles, one pallet at a time. It would be great to see him move to OTR.

This would be a place that I'd be looking to live in for at least 5 - 7 years and probably longer.

I'm looking at doing my first rehab project, and don't have the financial means to do it without the bank. I have been advised by several people to use a 203k, and by other not to use it. Does anyone have any experience with the 203K HUD loan? Any advice or precautions I should be aware of? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Looking great. Are you going to be open for happy hour on friday?

^ It's not just Cincy. I live in Washington D.C. possibly the liberal Capitol of the East Coast, and people here talk about how much they love diversity until it's in their face. I work in a largely "progressive" office where people claim to be for poor people, however they never will interact with any of them. People in Cincy do avoid poor people, whereas here people simply ignore them. People always say that it's only like this in Cincy, but it's really not. It's everywhere.

^ I also think that as more businesses move into the neighborhood it will change drastically during the daytime. Most of the people that have bought into the neighborhood are young professionals which means they are at work during the day on weekdays. As more offices move to the area you will start to get more daytime foot-traffic. As someone who doesn't live in Cincy and really only gets to see it several times a year the progress is outstanding, but there is still a long road ahead.

^ I think that one of the biggest problems with North Avondale is the lack of a nice business district. The most successful neighborhoods all have nice walkable business districts. (Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, Mariemont) I’m not sure if one is a product of the other or not, but it definitely makes the neighborhood more desirable. The interesting thing is that most of the successful business districts have greenspace incorporated into the design. I think possibly creating a business district around a round-about would be a great way to create a unique space. Something like Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. It could be done at the intersection of Reading, Paddock and Berry. Reading in my opinion is too wide and the design speed is too fast to create a comfortable pedestrian environment. Reading should be treated as a boulevard through Avondale with a planted median, and bike lanes. This would drastically reduce the vehicular speed as well as create a much more pedestrian friendly environment. Avondale might have the Cities best housing stock, and it is very affordable. It would be a shame to let it crumble the way many other neighborhoods have.