Gordon Bombay

I could see Gold Star arena, but the building does currently serve Skyline... In all reality, I'd bet money on "WYLER DOT COM ARENA" Also, you can't rename this dump The Gardens, that's an insult to Cincinnati's fallen, true, historical, and wonderful arena. How dare you! ? If anything just to make the old highway signs relevant again. Remember the short lived radio jingle? "Down at the Crown (Down at the Crown) DOWNTOWN AT THE CROWN!"

Technically, that was the name. As I understand it, The Coliseum was a different entity. When Doug K. bought the arena in 97 or so, it became The Crown for about ten minutes. Then Firstar Bank bought the rights. Then US Bank bought Firstar. Then the Reds never needed the arena space for the ballpark. Then the arena remained in a state of obsolete purgatory.

It’ll be curious to see who sticks their name on that dump.

I mean, I'm personally a fan of the European/International style naming convention. Soccer is set apart from the other major American sports in many ways (especially with how the fans support, celebrate, and rally around their respective clubs). If the name can pay homage to where that sporting culture comes from and give people pause/recognition as a soccer club (as opposed to sounding like a AA baseball club), I'm all for it.

You joke, but those types of naming conventions have been super popular the last few years. Cleveland should go with Burning River SC or Balloonfest 1986 FC.

Ohhh, I like that play on Star Wars. I've noticed Homage sells a Force retro t-shirt.... could be very cool.

Thanks for the insight! Looks like it was a "Maintenance Operations Outpost" per this city PDF: https://www.columbus.gov/uploadedfiles\Public_Service\Home\PSD business function T O.pdf Interesting that you mention it still being Downtown (and to be fair, that photograph was made with a wide-angle lens that makes the distance seem more dramatic), because the "downtown" feel certainly carries to the ballpark. Once that's all extended down to here, I'm sure the feeling will continue. It really is a great site. Will it have any transit connections? Thank goodness they didn't waste that site on a casino.

For awhile now there's been a lot of back and forth over revitalizing "historic soccer brands," mimicking European/International naming formats, and using purely "American" names (City name, team name). The internet seems rife with soccer fans who have turned against the European mimic style, but it must be working since so many teams continue to find success with it. The Kansas City Wiz(ards) underwent a re-brand into Sporting Kansas City that helped change the perception of their team (alongside a brand new stadium). Often, revitalizing the older names works too: Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, San Jose Earthquakes, etc—but those names/franchises still existed in some form past their 70s NASL glory days. I'm curious if The Cleveland Force name would do well from a marketing standpoint since... 1) The Force were an indoor team, not an outdoor team associated with the heydey of NASL 1.0. 2) The name seemed to go dormant when the team did, not continuing in other leagues ala Timbers, Sounders, Cosmos, etc. 3) While it's remembered by some, is that fondness/history on the minds of a new generations of potential ticket holders/attendees? 4) While "retro" and "history" have become marketable commodities within civic identity/a resurgence of civic pride—does the Force name illicit a positive reaction? For example, I think FC Cincinnati would've immediately had people scratching their head/viewing it as a total minor league endeavor if they had revived the names "Silverbacks," "Cheetahs," "Riverhawks," "Comets," etc. Just curious how much weight the Force name still holds in Cleveland.

Any Crew fans/Columbus locals mind adding some insight for a few tourists? @ryanlammi and I attended Hell is Real Part 1 at Mapfre this past Saturday (soft penalty, that was Cincy's match ? ). On our way out of town on Sunday, we swung by to check out the new stadium site/Arena District developments. Couple of observations: 1) Arena District has aged really, really well. Been a Jackets fan since the first days and love how that arena still looks great—inside and out. 2) Ballpark also holding up well and looking great. The brick in the district is fantastic. Jesus, what The Banks could've been. 3) That municipal light building.... wow. 4) Assuming we were at the right spot, the new Crew stadium location will be awesome. If my understanding is right, the new Crew stadium will be just beyond the pole in this photo, correct? While checking out the area, we happened upon what I think was the former "Dept. of Human Services" offices? At least that's what a sign said. I don't think I've seen it mentioned in previous articles, but the sight seems to have been abandoned since 2016 or so. Can anyone share what these structures were/are... Google street view link: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9690913,-83.0208955,3a,75y,102.26h,89.21t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPnV85EEakEdKq8eA8e-SjA!2e0!5s20180801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

Honestly, I think your take here is a bit too narrow and frankly rude. People from Hamilton, Butler, NKY, and Indiana counties drink Bud Lights our of an Igloo cooler in a parking lot 8 days per year too! But for real, screw this. They STILL have massive amounts of tailgating happening west of the stadium. Hell, that's where most of the action is because it's out of the sun/covered by the highway. Why we're dedicating prime riverfront land to Bengals fans makes little sense. At this point, tailgating is a cultural/NFL thing. Most of those people aren't going to visit a bar or local business instead (ala FCC matches in Clifton), because... well... they'd probably get tossed from most of those. Still, they have space. They're losing nothing. Can't wait for the Bengals to move and for the Brown/Blackburn family to be gone from this city.

Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling nonsense, haha. Very cool to hear your memories and if this proposed team goes with the Force name, I think that's the kind of nostalgia they're hoping to tap into.

Tangentially related: https://theathletic.com/1083944/2019/07/18/sources-usl-may-drop-mls-owned-teams-from-second-tier-championship-to-third-tier-league-one-by-2021/ Looks like the USL Championship may be looking to force down the "II" teams by 2021. The USL has a long and winding history filled with ups and downs since the old USISL days. In my opinion, its "modern history" starts in 2014 when they first started moving toward ambitious stronger markets (Orlando joined in 2011, but things didn't start picking up until Sacramento in 2014, followed by Louisville in 2015, and Cincinnati in 2016 among others along the way). Since 2016, the league has actively worked to strengthen both itself and its franchises. Shaky, struggling clubs playing in high school football stadiums such as Wilmington, NC's Hammerheads left while larger ownership groups from bigger markets joined. Poaching teams from the death of NASL 2.0 also helped. One of the things that has helped stabilize USL, though, was the dissolution of the MLS Reserve League. Through an agreement, MLS placed its reserve teams into the USL (Orlando City B, New York Red Bulls II, Toronto FC II, etc.). This provided stable franchises and a steady rotation of opponents (although sometimes those matches sucked to watch i.e. 35,000 people at Nippert then you turn on the tv next week and FCC is playing in front of 20 people in suburban Orlando). The last few years, though, USL (which is now USL Championship) has had incredible growth with really strong franchises in larger market (they also started a division 3 league known as USL-1). It makes sense to start transitioning the reserve teams down to the third division league and allow the Championship to keep growing with independent, stronger teams that have followings and fans. It's very likely that the USL is about to lose St. Louis and Sacramento to MLS. Indy, Vegas, and Tampa could also jump to MLS at some point (and you could maybe make an argument for New Mexico and Louisville). Now is the perfect time for USL to snatch up key markets that don't have teams (at least at their level). Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Jacksonville. If the reserve teams drop down and the USL-C is stocked with truly independent teams, it could be an awesome time for Cleveland to come in. Technically, the league is in the "2nd Division" of American soccer, but not at all like AAA baseball. I just love the idea of having two pro leagues in the pyramid finally stocked with independent clubs. USL is a great league already, but those changes could make it even stronger.

A good friend of mine up in Columbus did a lot of work with Northstar back in the day (he's actually the guy who encouraged me to check it out at Liberty Center). I asked him once if Northstar would ever consider moving into a more urban/city location and he seemed mum on the idea. Their Short North location seems to be the only big city/downtown style location. Would patronize them a lot more if they were in the CBD/OTR or Northside, Walnut Hills, etc. While physically, yeah it's a little different, but the tenants aren't all particularly unique. The Cheesecake Factory, Graeters, and H&M may all be in a faux urban environment, but there's also locations of all of those in easier to reach locations. I think Liberty Center's problem will ultimately be that it lacks anything unique to make it a destination. As it currently stands, it simply cannibalized other developments. Bridgewater Falls and The Streets of West Chester are just down the highway in either direction. Neither was ever fully built out and now that Liberty Center is the new thing in the region, they likely won't be. In my opinion, it's just a matter of time till the next development starts stealing LC's thunder. The Greene in Dayton seems to make due simply by virtue of being the location in Dayton. Down in Cincinnati, it's just a matter of time till someone steals that title from Liberty Center with the next "lifestyle center" development a few townships, towns, or communities over. What'll be telling with LC is if it gets an Apple Store. Apple is notorious for how much planning and bet hedging goes on with where they chose locations. Even back in the early days of Apple Retail, they announced (and then back tracked) on going into the Dayton Mall all while that mall was relatively strong (Florence was also rumored for years). It took them forever to go into The Greene (and often, they'll subsidize a third party "partner" store to test a shopping center for them ala The Greene). If an Apple Store makes it to Liberty Center, I'd say that's a sign the development has some long-term staying power. P.S. Really wish Apple would build a flagship/destination store at The Banks. The Cincinnati market could really use a second store, particularly one that's easier for the West Side/Northern Kentucky to reach. But given the pace of The Banks' progress and the challenges it has, I don't see it happening anytime soon. Would be a huge boon for the businesses down there, though. You'd no longer have to rely on Reds traffic when you can sell lunch and dinner to people waiting for an iPhone 6S battery swap to be completed.

"urban" @ryanlammi - the only thing worth visiting there is Northstar Cafe. Excellent, excellent food and a nicely designed space.

I'm fairly happy with the changes and think it looks a lot better now (I'm also a fan of PBS' elements so YMMV on my takes, ha). I initially was a bit disappointed with the design, but as @ryanlammi pointed out—anything they would've done to make it look "old" or "blend in" with bricks, etc. would've just come off tacky and cheap. Hopefully once some of the development fills in, it'll blend in a bit better. Overall, I really like the "fins" as opposed to the orange blob originally envisioned. Only things I don't particularly care for: The Southeast corner originally had a cut out in the structure that allowed spectators inside to have a clear view of the skyline, it's now been replaced by a video screen. Although, this may have been for sound mitigation/Music Hall considerations and might've just come off as bland as GABP's "gap." Minnesota has a really cool promenade/plaza with a retro scoreboard. So far, our interior doesn't seem to have any unique elements, but those may be revealed later. As a season ticket holder in the current supporter section, I'm very happy that safe-standing is coming. The next steps I'm cautiously watching, though, are development and connectivity. Whatever gets built nearby needs to be useful and not look like Oakley Station or a Blue Ash strip mall. And while this may not all be on the club: the city needs to really connect this thing to other areas. Streetcar operations need to be tailored for matchday capacity; there are multiple bus routes nearby that need to be promoted as connecting with Clifton, Northside, the westside; the bike lane on CPKWY needs to be cleaned up to encourage cycling and red bikes, etc. Although, no matter who is mayor by then, I doubt any of them will be able to Google another city and take any interest in how any of that could work.

Which, honestly, is for the best. The Newport venue will have just as good a location, draw better acts by virtue of the management, and then The Banks could build literally anything else that's more useful than a redundant music venue that will host the occasional symphony concert and acoustic shows featuring three members of Whitesnake.

Don’t forget, OTR also has an abandoned Suncoast video.

What's the latest on Northern Row? The beers I've sample at Bay Horse have been excellent and I'm really excited for their building to open. I hear the roof is amazing. @ColDayMan, I'm a maybe. Hoping to go, but will have to see what stuff is like in the days before.

I think you summed it up quite nicely, @JYP. I'm a fan and supporter of this team, but I will admit that the stadium saga has been a bit of a disappointment (reaching all the way back to the opposition of Newport). I'm no architect or urban planner, my "taste" in design is based solely on what I like, but I don't find the stadium too terribly off-putting for its environment. That being said, it's incredibly disappointing that no one seems to be learning the lessons of the past (in regards to both the West End and "urban renewal" as a whole). It's incredibly easy to say: "oh, it's just X buildings," but why should Cincinnati settle as it always does? Why not build a stadium better suited to the area? Why not integrate historical structures, etc. into surrounding development? These buildings and structures have stood the test of time. Liberty Center, Newport on the Levee, Kenwood, etc. wont. In the end, the development will probably be a win, but Newport on the Levee and The Banks should be some hard lessons to look at. Because the people everyone thought would go to those spaces aren't there, they're in the neighborhood across the street from the new stadium. Also, @jmecklenborg, speak for yourself on Fuddruckers! It may be a chain, but that's a chain I will gladly welcome back to this market. Don't piss on my hamburger hopes.

Apparently there are only two vehicles on the track today. Tried to transfer from a bus at Government Square this morning and had a "Next train 21 minutes" sign. Opted for a scooter. Perfectly timed a vehicle from OTR to Downtown at lunchtime, but just missed one when leaving lunch. The next closest streetcar to 8/Main was still waiting to turn off Central Parkway and head back towards Downtown. Would've done the scooter again, but there was rain. Got a decent amount of steps in. The lack of reliable frequency is becoming such a bad joke now. Free rides with a Reds ticket are nice, but where's the traffic study? Where are the better timed lights? Where's the council committee?

So since we're not getting any NHL or NBA team for the foreseeable future (not at all happening), looks like we've got three major league sports teams. The Bengals play at Paul Brown Stadium. The Reds play at Great American Ballpark. FC Cincinnati will play in Newport Oakley the West End. Not holding my breath, but I hope by the time this place opens—the city and County realize how great the multimodal connections are here. A properly built Central Parkway bike lane could be great for cyclists as well as Red Bike users. Metro has several routes from the West Side, Clifton, Northside, and Downtown that all connect here. And of course: the streetcar. Make Elm's right most lane transit only on match days and let the buses/streetcars ferry people in. Would love to see shots on ESPN of orange and blue clad fans departing a streetcar at Washington Park with Music Hall in the background.

I'd actually flip that, but I agree. Neither the NBA or NHL are going to come here, even with a new arena. Not as long as Columbus, Cleveland, and Indy exist with teams while other markets are more lucrative and appealing.

I use a similar storage facility out in Springdale with the little house and all. The guy who manages the place was telling me that before him (and before the facility was under Life Storage), the facility manager used to actually live in the house, on site. Nowadays, the guy running the place is just there at normal business hours and the first floor is an office, but I wonder what's going on with this one. Will someone live on site in that random house?

You can find it here: And the folks at KICentral have pretty intense discussion going on here (but it is fascinating to see all the theories, work, and ideas being put forth): https://kicentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34621-decoding-2020/page/81/&tab=comments#comment-819892 I really hope it's not small/short in comparison to similar models at other parks. If this is going to be a marquee coaster, I hope they pull out all the stops.

I actually love this. "The Columbus Pavilion."