BlackBengal

I don't understand. In what way should the Clay Way bridge be a part of the conversation? It seems like a lot of you are only looking at this project as a way of getting a cool signature bridge built. It would be nice if that happened, but that isnt the point of the project. The point of the project is to get as many cars and trucks across the river safely as possible with as little disruption to the neighborhoods in Ohio and Kentucky as possible. If building a signature bridge is a practical part of the solution to this problem than great. But criticizing an alternative simply on the basis that it doesnt involve building a cool looking bridge is silly.

You are basically proposing the most expensive alternative that will also take the longest and be the most disruptive to commuters just so Cincinnati gets a sanzy new toy. What a waste. I'm all for improving the appearance of the city, but tearing down the Brent Spence to build a state of the art cable-stayed doesnt make any sense. Besides those things are ugly IMO.

Changing the name won't change how people feel about the project. People arent that dumb. Changing the name looks desperate. Changing the name calls more attention to the frustration of the past ten years and will invite another round of jokes about the project from the local-yocals. I really hope they just stick with the Banks.

I dont get this desire to change the name. Its called the Banks for better or worse. Changing the name will feel very contrived.

I couldnt agree more. I realize that the city and 3cdc would be walking into a minefield if they made an aggressive attempt to move social services out of OTR, but they need to do it anyway. It is absolutely crucial.

^ Great article. I wish they would do a story like this every week.

Park at the URS Building garage (7th & Walnut) if you are going to the Aronoff, Bootsy's, Nada etc. Much closer and probably cheaper.

I would look into: -Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Columbia Tusclum & Oakley- Very nice neighborhoods grouped together on the east side of town. Lots of great bars and restaurants. Very walkable. About 10 minute drive to downtown. Lots of housing options. -Mt. Adams- Very unique, trendy neighborhood on a steep hill overlooking downtown and the river. Lots of bars and restaurants, great views. Housing is more limited and more expensive. Parking can be bad. In my opinion this is the best neighborhood in the city. -Clifton and Corryville- Diverse neighborhoods surrounding UC. Given your age I would take a hard look at these areas as this is where college age people tend to live. I would not recommend Over the Rhine to someone new to the city. It is up and coming, but it is very rough around the edges.

Its not great, but I can live with it. I'm sure most people on here will absolutely hate it. They seem to be focusing heavily on street level activity, which is great. Anyone else think this is going to look a little out of place without a cap over FWW? There needs to be a connection to downtown or else it will feel like an island. Its funny how much this project really does parallel Atlantic Station in ATL. Atlantic Station is also separated from downtown ATL (well technically midtown) by a canyon of interstate preventing it from connecting to the center of the city. I am really hoping for good news on those decks.

Any word on this yet?

A grocery store at Tower Place doesnt make any sense. Converting space in that old building into a grocery store would be prohibitively expensive. National grocers like Kroger, Whole Foods etc. typically will only do new construction. All of the stores are cookie cutter, even their urban stores. Plus, where are people going to park? I always envisioned the surface lot at 4th and Plum to be a great location for a future grocery store. It would be the perfect place for a Whole Foods like the stores throughout inner Chicago. They typically have a small parking garage connected to the store that is monitored so office workers dont use it as free parking. Lots of prepared foods and a big wine/beer section. I also think that is the ideal part of the CBD for a grocery store. It is slightly more residential on the SW end of downtown and it is very close to the Banks. They would also get a big lunch crowd if they focused on prepared food and had a big dinning area.

Cincy already has a pretty nice children's museum in Union Terminal. My son loves it.

Whirlyball

Is this Trinity Flats?

From a pure design standpoint it probably looks better to hide/setback the handrails on rooftop decks, but I like it here. Its a good idea to call attention to the rooftop deck feature. It sends a not-so-subtle message to pedestrians that this is a fun, young neighborhood where people party on their rooftop decks. It doesnt hurt to hit passerbys over the head with this message even if it slightly detracts from the aesthetics of the building.

I think that Mayor Mallory and other local leaders should make their support of a Cincy casino conditional upon having imput/veto power on the design and layout of any casino that is built at Broadway Commons. The casino owners shouldnt be allowed to throw up just any old design. People that have the best interst of the city should call the shots on not only how the buildings look aesthetically, but also how they are laid out. It should be organized in a way that prevents the casino from becoming an island unto itself. Perhaps by breaking it up into multiple buildings. Obvioulsy, the casino owners will have opposite motivation. They will want a cheaply constructed building that contains barriers to a patron venturing out of the casino and into the CBD or OTR. I say tough luck. If you want to build your casino in our city you should have to do right by the city. I hope that Mallory and others will adopt this view.

What about the timeline? Will it break ground anytime soon?

I think the plan is fine on the Calhoun side of the street. It kinda sucks on the McMillan side, but I think that is more a product of the fact that McMillan gets very narrow and steep as it approaches Vine. If the demand for retail space was greater in that area then they probably would utilize that part of McMillan better, but as it stands it just doesnt make sense to extend the retail portion of this project to the corner of McMillan and Vine. That corner is too far away from campus, existing retail, and the densest student housing to hold good retail space.

I think that you have to look at how casinos have impacted the neighborhood when they are placed in established urban areas. Looking at the impact a casino had on a rural Indiana town won't tell you much about how a casino placed in downtown Cincinnati will effect the surrounding area. I also dont think that you can use Atlantic City as an example, because the casinos pretty much took over that city. That isnt what is being proposed for Cincy, Cleveland etc. I better comparison might be the casino in New Orleans. I have been to that casino and the surrounding area seemed pretty nice and safe, but that was my quick impression of the area. Someone more familiar with that area of New Orleans might have a different take.

My main question is how would a casino at Broadway Commons impact OTR? Do casinos in urban areas increase development in the surrounding area, or do they stifle development and contribute to more crime? I am sure there are plenty of case studies on this issue. If a casino would help OTR then I am all for it.

While I have heard of the Flats, I'm not at all familiar with it. What happened to it? What went wrong? Is there a lesson in the Flats for the developers of the Banks?

^ I have watched this project closely because I go by it every day. From what I can tell the building was constructed and enclosed many months ago, but the interior and some windows and balcony railings were left unfinished. Then the building just stood there without any visible work being done for about 6 months, maybe more. It appears that they are now back to work as of about three weeks ago, but at a much slower pace. It will be a nice looking building when it is finished. If I had the money I would snatch up a unit in a second.

Does anyone remember the Cowboys and Indians mural that was painted on a building on Jefferson in Corryville during the 80s? I think it was on the corner of Jefferson and Daniels, across from what is now the UC Rec. Center. It was probably very un-PC, but I used to love it when I was a little kid. If anyone has a picture of that mural please post it.

I always thought it should be called the Bottoms for historical reasons, but develpers probably dont like the negative connotations associated with that name. Like naming a subdivision "Sudden Valley" (arrested development joke).

It would be cool if a large archway was built on the west end of Freedom Way at the entrance to PBS as a sort of front door to the stadium. A person could stand in the middle of Freedom Way and looking west into the entrace to PBS and turn 180 degrees around and look east into an entrance to GABP.