Gordon Bombay

I have now seen multiple people blaming Portune for "politicking" on social media. I think most of those people are two young to remember the stadium deal and how it soured local politics for at least 15 years after it passed. (Of course many people still remember it, or have read about it, but the vitriolic anti-government attitude seems to have mostly gone away.) Meanwhile, the Western Hills Viaduct is currently closed because a chunk of concrete fell onto the lower deck. I would rather have the county spend $300 million on replacing the viaduct (or whatever its local share would be, assuming we could get state or federal funds to cover the rest) rather than giving incentives for a new FC stadium. It's because Portune always does things like this: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics-extra/2017/07/14/px-mls-needs-accept-nippert-portune-says/478016001/ Portune's probably well aware that MLS isn't going to consider or accept Nippert Stadium. I'm not saying that's right/wrong or that public money should go towards a new stadium, but the reality of the situation is this: MLS doesn't need Cincinnati to the point where they'll let FCC in while renting a college football stadium. Yet, here's Todd Portune still going on about Nippert and Paul Brown Stadium as worth MLS options. It's a smart play, because to the average voter unfamiliar with MLS expansion: how do you argue with that logic? Average joe taxpayer: "Hey, Todd's right. Why isn't Nippert good enough for the MLS, didn't ya see em play on ESPN?" MLS isn't interested in Nippert, FCC isn't interested in pursuing an MLS bid with Nippert in mind. End of story. Portune pulls this kind of crap a lot and even as a Democrat, I find him incredibly frustrating. You can go back and pull up so many articles where he claims we're finally going to get the Oasis Rail Line running. First it was going to be as simple as purchasing used Diesel Motor Units in the 90s and then progressed to "we'll have it before the All-Star Game (2015)" We can walk down to the Transit Center right now and not only can we not go in, but there's no trains running and most transit-minded folks seem to agree that the Oasis Line is a bad idea anyways. Yet, Todd will roll it out every few years. Another example is Metro's recent funding woes. Portune has floated two ideas while asking Metro to hold off on seeking out a tax levy. He's suggested using money from other levies (while offering little detail as to if this can even be done, how much would go to Metro, etc) and creating a multi-state, truly regional transit agency. All of that sounds good in theory, but he never follows up on how to make any of that come about, nor does it do anything to fix the current situation. https://www.freep.com/story/news/2017/04/25/todd-portune-pitches-plan-county-levies-help-sorta-shortfall/100912124/ He's also the guy claiming we'll be able to cap Fort Washington Way, one cap at a time: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/13/next-up-riverfront-decks-over--71/99131430/ I'll be honest, I'm a big fan and supporter of FC Cincinnati. I'd like to see a stadium get built whether that'd be Newport or Cincinnati. However, I'm watching cautiously at what funding method will be proposed and I believe the county and city have far more pressing matters at hand than a stadium. This latest round of comments from Portune is just more of the same though. He's not going to convince MLS to change their minds and he knows that. Gets his name in the paper though and he comes off as sounding reasonable.

^That's good to hear, that theatre used to be one of the best in Cincinnati, but in recent years has faced some stiff competition.

^To follow up on that, Houston has had strong AHL support for years on top of being a large metro area and Seattle has long been a well considered candidate, but always lacked a suitable arena. Kansas City has a relatively newer arena that was thought to get a relocation team (Islanders) a few years back, but nothing ever came of it. Not so sure about Portland. Since it's unlikely that Cleveland and especially Cincinnati would ever get an NHL franchise, I'd love to see the Blue Jackets establish a true embrace of the state. Love that the Monsters are the AHL farm club for the Jackets, but would love to see Cincinnati join in and become the ECHL affiliate. You'd have the entire farm system lined up in Ohio with... CBJ(NHL)-->CLE(AAA/AHL)-->CIN(AA/ECHL) *Ironically the league level would run reverse to metro area size Not only would that be great marketing (easily set up ticket packages and bus travel to see the big club in Columbus), but you could really grow awareness of the Jackets and hockey in general. To top it off: play the preseason split between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Or if Cincinnati brought back the AHL and rebranded as "The Stingers," that would be just fine too.

Do you really wonder that or are you just showing off that awesome drone? For real, this would've been a really good site to consider.

This is one of the things that concerns me: I prefer the West End as the top option and Newport second, but are there any, concrete details about money on either side of the river? Some seem to think that Newport is "shovel ready," are there any concrete examples of financing/assistance/agreements in place? And if the club wants Cincinnati, what exactly are they requesting from the county/city? I think it's reasonable to expect some sort of political support, but what exact type of support is that? Money that could be used elsewhere? Tax Incremental Financing? Infrastructure? Sorry, but the kind of information needs to be out there if they want to win the PR battle.

So does this cover up the last remaining open space aka Lot D?

Travis, these shots are absolutely great. Can't wait to see more. Love that density and hate seeing it broken up by garages. Looking out towards Taft Stadium, makes me wonder how well the FC Cincinnati stadium would fit in with the surrounding environment if it was to go there. I think I may be starting to feel even better about Newport...

I prefer this spelled to Cincy any day of the week. The 'y' is beyond kitschy. Florence, Ya'll!

Now I have a friend who lives in Columbus that has mentioned the same thing to me before, i.e. free tickets. I counter with the fact at least 10k season tickets have been sold. Not to mention that as a season ticket holder (of Zone 1 seats), 4 of the 5 games I was unable to attend I was able to sell the tickets on StubHub (with 3 of those 4 at a profit). And at my work the only FCC offers we get are the occasional 15% off. Friends that work at P&G, CinBell, Convergys, Duke, Paycor have never seen a free ticket offer either. Have any of you? If the dude is spelling it as Cinci, he's lying.

Wrote an opinion piece about the proposed arena renovations along with a recap of the building's history: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2017/06/opinion-new-stadiums-in-cincinnati-part.html

I know Withrow HS has a soccer team, but do all of the CPS schools? The new stadium could be a great way to start up programs at all CPS schools at all age levels similar to how the Blue Jackets arriving in Columbus really got high school hockey going in that area.

^IMHO, Oakley is the WORST of the three options. Personally, I'd love being able to walk to and from matches, but the surrounding area just isn't great. Several of the bars in Oakley near the square are small and would be unbearably packed on match day. MadTree is already packed without 20,000 fans in the area and Bar Louie just sucks. That's great there's a movie theatre nearby, but for tomorrow's match I have absolutely no plans to catch a movie before or after the game. There's a Kroger and Target, so I guess if I need off brand Doritos that's a plus. West End helps jumpstart development in that area. Newport has the view and close connection to downtown. Oakley has an Olive Garden.

Is it?

What's the point/need for these? Cleveland and Columbus' airports seems to be doing fine and while I've heard complaints my whole life about the CIncy airport being in NKY, it's on the uptick and keeps doing much better. Why would we need more airports to split up the already fragile industry in this area? I've flown out of Columbus when it's convenient as from CIncy the drive isn't bad at all. Same goes for Dayton and Indy if CVG wasn't a good option. Is the state really big enough to support two international airports that work in conjunction with the previous ones becoming "regional?" This is just someone looking for a headline. The rail component is laughable. Republicans had their shot at establishing high speed rail and they chose to give that money to other states instead. Also, worked for Kings Island/the amusement industry for years and have thoroughly been over its history. I've never come across anyone criticizing the location of the park when it was first announced. If anything, people were excited that the park would be bigger/no longer be in the flood plane like Coney was. The rep in this article is just being an ass.

While FieldTurf is more durable, it seems to me that the preferred surface for most players seems to be grass. For example, the US Men's National Team will play only on grass and not on turf. In Seattle, when they (USMNT, CONCACAF, International Friendlies, etc) play at Century Link, a grass surface is brought in over the turf even though the MLS franchise typically plays on turf. I've been to nearly every FCC match and Nippert and here's my take: the stadium has far exceeded my expectations. When this club was announced, I couldn't believe Nippert was chosen over Paul Brown. The first match really won me over. I didn't attend UC for school, have not attachment to the venue outside of FCC, and have only been to a handful of UC Football games, but Nippert is a really good venue. That being said, it does have some downsides: - No dedicated booths for merchandise and no room to put them in. March is sold in tents that have often have lines backing up into the concourse. - Limited concession areas where the lines often compete with concourse traffic. Also, beer sold from tents has this issue. In particular: the Madtree tent line always moves quickly (with wonderful beer flowing), but it's always very crowded as the line from it meets the line from food, bathrooms, and general traffic. - Restroom facilities that exist are fairly clean, but crowded and the club brings in a ton of "port-a-john's" to accommodate. - Outside of the club, you're left with just bleachers. While The Bailey stands and doesn't seem to care, the red bleachers in the lower bowl (metal in the upper deck) feel cheap and aren't the most comfortable. Couldn't agree more with this, the location is great and while the downtown/OTR renaissance has been wonderful, it's great seeing so many people in Uptown that aren't just UC students. If FCC moves to its own venue elsewhere, the thing I will miss most is Mecklenburg Gardens. It's the absolute perfect pre and post match hangout spot. Great local business, great food, great beer, and you can always find a spot to to sit and relax with friends. I currently live in Oakley and the idea of being able to wake up and walk to the stadium/bar and then home is incredibly appealing. As someone who spent 5 years in NKY (Ft. Thomas (nice, but not great walkability and nothing going on after 4 PM with poor transit connections) and the one year in the suburbs (West Chester hell), I've loved living somewhere where I hardly ever touch my car and can utilize my bike or walk. However, that Kroger/Center of Cincinnati development is complete garbage with more garbage going in. I don't think it would provide a decent environment at all for the stadium. Not to mention, the stadium would be surrounded by residential housing and while there's great bars around here, most of them are small. Totally agree that the Newport Ovation site should be geared towards density and residential. Loved Newport when I lived in NKY and would love to see its nightlife on par with Covington/downtown/OTR. West End would be my preferred option: help move the development of OTR in that direction. Hopefully reasonable proximity to the streetcar (or a SC extension to Union Terminal where a daily Cardinal would bring in tons of rival fans from Chicago). I believe FCC's own venue would be superior to Nippert. No matter if UC is a partner or not, FCC will always be the second hand tenant. I'm not saying this is negative, but the building is clearly there to serve primarily for UC's football program. You can put up all the FCC logos you want, but you're still renting a room in UC's house. While it's been a great temporary home (and could be an excellent long term USL home should MLS not happen), it's not soccer specific. I'd love to see a venue with a safe standing section, where we could maybe have a capo stand, where all seats line up with the pitch, where a true grass surface can be maintained. Where I don't have to wait in line at a port-a-john. Something top class and on par with others in the league. Ultimately, this is what it comes down to for right or wrong: MLS is no longer sticking their hand out hoping someone wants to invest/join. They don't need to rush and add teams to keep the league afloat. They're no longer the beggars, they're the choosers. While Seattle was a market with a fanbase that they needed for revenue and they could overlook playing in a cavernous facility, times have changed. If FCC wants to be in MLS, they'll need their own facility where they control almost everything. If they don't/can't go that route, MLS isn't going to wait. There's plenty of other markets out there. It comes down to who can make it work and deliver what they want. FCC could take a strong stance and stand by Nippert, but there's 9 other markets who MLS could turn to and those are just the other applicants. There's still even more who are up and coming or could jump on the radar eventually. Not saying that it's right, but it's just reality. I'm waiting to hear all these details about public/private partnership, I think that is what makes or break this. However, in the meantime: You want in to MLS? Build a stadium. You want to stay at Nippert? Get used to USL. I'm content to support this club in either venture. While I'd love to see them jump to the highest level, I'm enjoying Nippert and league/US Open Cup play.

Went to the Chili Peppers show at USBA this past Friday and it was interesting, was the third time I've seen RHCP play in Cincinnati and in that building. Show was excellent, but the building felt worse than ever. Earlier in the day I was on a Redbike down near Sawyer Point and did a lap around the arena. Some observations: - All of the touring act's buses and semi trucks were crammed in, but were able to fit around the arena. As per usual, one last on Westbound Mehring Way was coned off for parking buses/trailers. I know in the past concern was raised about the Republican Convention potentially being here and having enough room to stage media trucks and while that kind of national press attention would've been challenging, USBA seems to still reasonably be able to accommodate a large, national touring music act. - Stage was set up alongside one end of the floor with only one side of the area's two curves closed off. Earlier in the day, the arena opened up more seats for sale with the crowd fitting in along the edges of the stage. Floor was packed. However, they didn't utilize the full arena so it wasn't at its full capacity. Nevertheless, the amount of people packed into the concourses was awful. The narrow pathways around the arena were jam packed with lines for merchandise, concessions, and the women's restroom. To make things worse, mobile beer vendors were set up everywhere in the concourse forming even more lines randomly in the path of those trying to walk around. - The arena set up port-a-john's out in the fenced off smoking area to offer up more bathrooms. While the men's restrooms didn't have anywhere near the line that the women's did, all of them were disgusting. They all have water (or something else) on the floor. Most of the soap was gone and half the toilet's don't flush. - The signage is the arena is really showing its age. Most of it is still maroon/gold from when it was briefly known as "The Crown" in 96. A lot of the US Bank stickers on those signs are peeling off, probably on top of the Firstar stickers from the previous name. - On the outside, the red and blue paint is starting to really look faded. - In one upper deck section, a large section of seats was blocked off with caution tape. All in all, this building can still technically hold a national touring act and has the capacity for it, but it's an unpleasant experience marred by congestion, outdated facilities, and an apathetic staff. Now more than ever, I think this thing really needs to be replaced. It looks bad on the outside, even worse on the inside. That being said, I 100% agree that no taxpayer money should go to this endeavor. There's no major league tenant, no events we seem to be missing out on (who cares about the RNC, even if we had gotten that it was a 1-time deal), and no public money involved originally. Why the hell does anyone at USBA or Neiderlander Entertainment think taxpayers should contribute? They sell RC Cola there for Christ's sake. You'd think the money they've saved by not selling decent soda would've by far made up for the cost of building a new arena by now.

I'm not jumping the gun on this being the end of things. A certain presidential election has taught me not to assume that people are turned off by these kinds of gaffes or blatant lies. Hell, Cranley's falsehoods last time didn't even really phase anyone. How long until we see an Enquirer editorial stating these talking points: - All of this was horribly unfortunate, but it was a mistake. - That the accountable people were fired. - That Cranley took responsibility although he didn't have to. - That there's important work for the mayor to get back to and we shouldn't dwell on this long enough. - Queue up several stories about balancing the budget and "is anyone riding the streetcar? I have a feeling this isn't going to be remembered as well come election time and if Yyvette uses it as a slight against him in debates and rhetoric that could come off wrong if she's not careful. Then again, the community (even outside of Cincinnati) really rallied around the Sonny Kim shooting and was really affected by it. Maybe they won't give Cranley a pass, but does that translate to staying home or voting for Yyvette? To me, the more concerning thing is the crying in front of the cameras. I get that this was a horrible gaffe and a really bad mistake. I get that he's positioned himself as a champion of law enforcement, but.... crying? If I make mistakes at my job and go into my bosses office with tears in my eyes, I'm probably not gonna fetch much sympathy.

What an idiot.

^Amen. As a side note: I ride the streetcar almost daily. I've seen a lot of fare checking by CPD, yesterday was the FIRST time though I saw someone not in compliance and watched an officer issue them a citation. The woman who received the citation was pretty upset, gave the cop a lot of attitude, etc. Officer handled it well. "Gotta pay the fare."

I think the focus of a Yyvette term needs to be on transit in general. Maybe there's a discussion later on about further study for Phase 2 or something similar, but in the meantime there's a lot of good that can be done to help the existing streetcar route: - Transit only lanes (that also help out buses) - Priority lights/proper signal timing (that also help out buses) - Coming to a solution on Metro's funding woes. We can continue making the current streetcar even better and rallying support for a potential Phase 2. I believe Simpson has alluded to potentially using the transit center. I'm not sure if that's feasible or provides any real benefit (as has been discussed in that thread), but it would be interesting to pursue and consider. A central bus hub that allowed for Metro/Tank/CTC customers to wait out of the elements would go a long way to making transit in this city somewhat more accommodating. Also allow for ride shares/taxis to use it, maybe even Greyhound/MegaBus/China Bus and we'd truly have a central hub. Plus, the streetcar circulator is right above.

My understanding is that they're plastic passes if purchased online, at City Hall, or the Metro sales office. Obviously just digital if through the app.

Streetcar now offering monthly passes for June, July, and August. $33/month available online, in person, or through the app: http://cincinnatibellconnector.com/news/41/35/Connect-to-Summer-Fun-With-Unlimited-Ride-Monthly-Passes-For-The-Cincinnati-Bell-Connector-Streetcar

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some MLS meetings about expansions. Granted, I'm inherinently bias towards Cincinnati, but while our media market size may not move the needle much for television ratings, the support here is unbelievable. Confirm that MLS is a certainty and I think that support will stay just as strong if not go up even more. At the same time though, I can see the value in adding a market like San Diego or Tampa. Those areas move the needle and I don't think Tampa's middle of the road attendance is a good indicator. If the squad goes to the top level and has a modern stadium, I think people will show up. That being said, I think Tampa's stadium plan is both unrealistic and a poor design, even if it looks nice visually. Their owner is also kind of an asshole with some questionable business dealings. Interestingly enough, the author of the above article failed to mention Detroit and Indianapolis. Indy's run into some trouble with their bid, but Detroit still has life left in it.

How great would it be if we could get Richardson/Yyvette as the top two in the primary. Let Cranley sit there for months on end knowing he's a lame duck.

Yet nobody knows any of the players' names, just like a Cyclones game. Actually plenty of people are well aware of who the players are and their names. Several banners, songs, and chants about many of them. Not to mention the regular mainstream sports coverage as well as an entire podcast produced by others that discusses the team in depth. What FCC has going is quite a bit different than the Cyclones, come check it out sometime.