Gordon Bombay

Interesting question about the trees. This is a circa 2009 photo (and it's super low resolution and doesn't show much detail), but if you look at the circle—those boxes hold the soil for the planters/trees along that stretch of road at The Banks. I imagine, since The Banks actually sit above a massive garage, that this kind of construction limits the tree's growth/lifespan. I would think FWW decks would be similar? I agree, the spaces above need to be usable and I worry that if they were to install park space or green space—would someone be opposed the second that someone wants to build on them? Which begs the question: would anyone want to build on these decks? I.E. Is there enough potential in open downtown surface lots, redevelopment space, and the rest of The Banks that more space isn't even needed at this time?

What if US Bank buys out Heritage...

In what way? Are you referring to the Oakley Station Development? It's not great, but it's still better than Surrey Square simply from offering more mixed uses than just fast food and a grocery store. If you're talking about Oakley as a whole including Okaley Square, I fail to see how Norwood "business district" is better.

This would be awesome. Right now it takes about 50 minutes to reach Surrey Square via bus from Downtown (compared to 15 minutes with driving, 20-25 minutes if you don't drive on the highway). Having used Metro+ to Norwood (and Kenwood) a handful of times, it's... rough... unless you've got time.

Let's just review your list real quick.... Larosas (Uptown has one, Downtown closest is Queensgate) Frisch's (Uptown closest is Central Parkway, Downtown has one) Skyline (Several around Downtown and Uptown) Taco Bell (Located in Downtown & Uptown) McDonalds (Located Uptown, Downtown closest is Covington) KFC (One uptown, also the closest one to Downtown) Arby's (Closest is Bellevue, KY) White Castle (Located uptown, closest to Downtown is Queensgate, Covington, or uptown) Wendy's (Not uptown, formerly downtown, closest is Queensgate) Chipotle (Both uptown and downtown) Subway (Both uptown and downtown) Jimmy John's (Both uptown and downtown) Lee's Fried Chicken (closest is in Bellevue, KY) So yeah, on top of all the other options in uptown and downtown (the one's that are local, quality, and not the usual sub par fast food fare), I'd say Downtown and Uptown are doing just fine when it comes to "getting" a collection of this amazing cuisine. Although those neighborhoods really do lack the surface parking lot charm of Surrey Square. A good fast food/suburban development district is also always just a quick Southbank Shuttle ride away over to Covington.

Couldn't agree more. It's astounding just how many stops each route has. When I was a regular 11 rider, it felt like the bus was stopping at almost every block between Downtown, WH, and Oakley. On days where I'd ride my bike (from WH towards Oakley, mostly downhill), I could easily compete with the bus (at rush hours, not at off-peak times).

lol ok. The perfect place to shoot up is a corridor near a public square lined with cameras (in front of a bank branch), a regular guard who watches the square, 5/3 private security, 3CDC ambassadors, constant vehicular/transit traffic, regular foot traffic, and a late night bar. Way, way better than any of the nearby alleyways or the more quiet spots just a few blocks over. Get out of here.

Used to walk through there daily. No one was shooting up heroin in that space. Stop trolling.

Thanks for the shout out, @taestell! So, does anyone think that the RTC's usage for Blink may prompt a question on the center's future usability? Could the idea of using it as a Gov. Square replacement be something tied into the "Reinventing Metro" campaign? Granted there are logistical hurdles: cost to run, rerouting buses, etc.—but could the recent use be used to capture the imagination? Metro + TANK combined in the RTC (maybe you get Greyhound and Megabus/other charters on board), make it an Uber/Lyft geofence for ball games, etc? Combine that with a more frequent/reliable streetcar and other circulator bus routes/Southbank Shuttle and you could have something good. Any chances? Wishful thinking?

You're arguing over the semantics of what the term "big deal" encompasses/means. I don't think intelligent conversation is what's happening here at this moment.

Is this report online anywhere? Would love to read that.

If anyone knows about poor attendance, it's the Columbus Crew fan. ?

Nail on the head. And in the end—Poison, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard will still just continue to play out the remainder of their careers at PNC Pavillion or the Taste of Blue Ash.

What? The soccer stadium is going in Cincinnati and always had a better shot of landing in the city limits anyways (even though Newport was an excellent location). Hilltop is not considering locations in KY. The "coliseum" has had no serious discussions about "moving" to NKY, in fact, the only discussions they've had have been their brief moment of asking for a handout to renovate or rebuild on the existing site (and until they have a real primary tenant or offer up substantial amounts of their owner's own money, that privately owned facility will continue to sit and languish). And even if a new arena went to Northern Kentucky.... who cares? It's the same argument with the soccer stadium. It'd still be in a fantastic location and crossing the river border only seems to be a problem for those who still lament the banishment of Pete Rose.

As do I, very well, and while I have all the faith in the world in their abilities—my worry isn't what they're capable of, but rather, what resources they'll be given on account of pairing this proposed funding with "infrastructure." This term has been used several times in Reinventing Metro and community meetings by various personalities both affiliated and not affiliated with SORTA. Totally agree on expanding the hours and operations of some of the express routes. Before I moved to the city, I rode the 42X regularly. It offered very little wiggle room if I ever had to leave the office early or wanted to stay in town for a happy hour. However, from what I've seen on ReinventingMetro.com it seems currently that the express routes will not likely have expanded hours (I could be missing that somewhere). The bulk of hour expansion seems to be focused on key corridors to boost frequency and hours (Rt. 43 for example).

Is it "very likely" though? I've not seen a guarantee or even a vague description of what might come. And I'm skeptical considering many keep calling Metro*Plus "BRT Lite." Metro*Plus is has frequent operations and branding—but it's little more than just a frequent bus line. And it still takes way too long to traverse Montgomery.

I'm not advocating a position on how people should vote, but I do take some issue with the "let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good" mentality that has been expressed on this topic in many places over the years. Perfect would be a truly comprehensive, multi-modal transit system that truly spans the entire region. Ambitious would be a rail component. Striving for better-than-average and learning from a peer city with be (at best) including a BRT component similar to Indy's new Red Line and (at worst) mimicking Cleveland's Health Line. As a citizen who has used transit in this region for a decade—what I see being proposed is more of the same in terms of Cincinnati attitudes. I'll echo what others have said here: if this passes, that's it. For a long time. There won't be a larger push for better transit. And despite some of the grassroots efforts here, while absolutely well intended, I think this region needs to strive not just for "more," but even just the bare minimum. This is a region that lacks rapid transit. This current proposal does little, if nothing, to advance the "rapid" aspect of it. Many are not letting "perfect be the enemy of the good," they're just seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away at the expense of what has become a typical Cincinnati notion: a compromised, limited improvement, politically motivated plan that while it will improve day-to-day service does very little for expanding transit throughout the region and will not be something that can shape the attitudes and habits of a greater-community towards using transit. And of course, we just had to include roads and line the proposal with vague language. I'll keep an open mind, but seeing how this plan has devolved over the years to this—it's very hard to be excited.

If that's the case then we need a truly better bus system, not small incremental improvements that barely move the needle. I.E. If we're going to built "BRT" thehn it needs to be on par or better than Indy's Red Line, not more of "Metro+."

Allegiant would be perfect. Sh!tty airline and sh!tty arena.

Signage started coming down today... https://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2019/08/fading-advertisements-us-bank-arena.html

I would argue that Kings Island is still a flagship park, but their focuses are different. Cedar Point is very much a destination for vacations and travelers in addition to a season pass base. Kings Island is primarily a season pass base. And while it does have some drawing power, the overwhelming majority of its guests are regional passholders who Cedar Fair hopes visit often (and then spends money when they do visit). As for innovation, you could make the same argument for Six Flags, but it's important to note that these chains didn't just do that to be the first or best—Paramount often took a risk on "new" rides because it was cheaper. I.E. Premier was very anxious to get their LIM coasters into market. Paramount Parks was a way to do that. Same story for HUSS, Vekoma, etc. The downside was these rides didn't always work out operationally. The key with Cedar Fair's additions to Kings Island (Diamondback 2009, Banshee 2014, Mystic Timbers 2017, Orion 2020) is that they're adding rides that have high capacity/quick lines and are reliable. They want the experience to be good. No more waiting 2 hours for Tomb Raider when it is working, 4 hours when it's having fits. It's a smart move. To be fair to Paramount, there were several other additions in there too over the years. Delirium, multiple kids area revamps that won (and continue to win) industry awards, shows, experiences. The quality just wasn't consistent depending on what conglomerate oversaw Paramount Parks. Under PP, the chain was smaller and KI truly the top property so it got massive investment every single season. Paramount also failed to realize just how good Canada's Wonderland can be (and to an extent, Great America). Cedar Fair seems to be taking full advantage of those parks now. Carwoinds is also seeing major focus due to the projected growth of Charlotte. This was traditionally a park viewed as "yeah, it's there" by Paramount. Every regional/seasonal park that was upgraded or built ground up in the 70s wanted to be a Disney-style full experience resort. I don't think KI so much wanted to compete with Disney (Disney as a corp even consulted in KI's construction), rather, they wanted to offer that experience closer to home in an era where traveling wasn't as economical and the massive parks weren't as huge a draw. Eventually, almost all of the regional/season parks figured out that the "resort" doesn't work long term when you A) Don't have iconic properties to draw on financially and from a marketing standpoint and B) Can't truly offer a year-round experience.

I love it too. The real theme isn't "adventure," it's "skirting copyright laws."

Only if the digital boards outside just constantly scroll through with the latest posts in the Trump thread.

Sorry, to double post, but here's some old school "Crown" stuff... Also, if you're like me and barely remember what the arena looked like before the 1996/1997 renovations, this website has some GREAT photos. EDIT: one more cool thing I just found. Original concept art for the arena from Clark Engineering based out of South Dakota and Minneapolis.

That's not true, another Adventure Express (with working theming) would be exciting. ?