cincySAL

the baseball stadium in that 4th and Race picture looks sweet. So does the park renderings.

Definitely a loan of $300k and possibly $500k more, why isn't a bank doing this financing? Is that normal?

where is the new Adriatico's? Man i love their pizza.

Anyone know anything about the bike facilities going in at Mehring way? Like is it going to be a rental shop, locker rooms, bike storage, etc?

why is there so much discussion on this? not that I care that there is, but are they changing the name or is this just everyone's hope?

I noticed last night leaving work they had the water flowing from the stairs as well as the overhangs (not sure what they are called). They were also all lit up in various rainbow colors. Not sure if I liked that. It kind of looked cheezy but it could grow on me.

But even if the streetcar stops at 2nd street, the plan is still to serve the crowds for Reds games, correct? Being able to jump on the streetcar from OTR, Fountain Square, hotels for out of towners, etc and taking it to a Reds or Bengals game has to be part of the plan?

I fully admit to not knowing infrastructure and urban planning and all that stuff (I'm just here because I enjoy the discussions), but...wouldn't the streetcar dropping off passengers at the doorstep of GABP be a huge asset? I know walking a block isn't a big deal but it seems like the mental aspect of being able to jump on the streetcar and take it right to GABP would be beneficial and I could see a lot of people that were against the streetcar support it for just this reason. In addition, if they took it to Freedom Way it would allow more people to use it for the CRP. Again, it's not a far walk but the southern portion of CRP could be a decent walk from 2nd street.

I would think it'd be tough to build much there, but it is pretty much completely razed now. sorry, can't get the link to work. maps.google.com/maps?q=45202&hl=en&ll=39.100992,-84.500774&spn=0.003293,0.004823&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.401733,79.013672&vpsrc=6&hnear=Cincinnati,+Ohio+45202&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=39.100867,-84.500979&panoid=5jNGK71F6ywwgzI_PS95Cw&cbp=12,326.32,,0,9.31

Anyone know what is going on at Pete Rose Way across the street from the old Montgomery Inn Banquet center? They are razing the land there.

Sears is about as risky as Chiquita is, maybe more. At least people will always eat bananas. Who the hell shops at Sears or KMart anymore? I hope to god Ohio doesn't get them for $400MM.

Technically it was more like 57 million, but still 22 million for doing nothing but moving some office spaces is like accepting free money. Frankly I'm glad Cincinnati didn't cave in.

They may fly private out of Lunken for domestic flights, but if they have a lot of international flights they wouldn't be flying out of there. And I'm sure they require a lot of international flights.

Honestly, I don't care where you stand on issues, even the streetcar, but how in the world can anyone who is semi-intelligent endorse Smitherman? I'm not sure I've ever read the Cincinnati Herald so I don't know much about them, but endorsing Smitherman tells me they haven't been paying attention to anything that has been going on in the city.

What obstacles are there after this election? Hasn't council already approved everything? I thought this election was really the only thing holding the streetcar back. What difference does it make if some council members get elected that are against the streetcar? Would/could they just change the previous decisions made by council and stop streetcar funding?

maybe this isn't a "major" business, but there are companies that move to a location because of a streetcar. Companies rarely ever move to a specific location because of one, and only one, reason. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/0519rookwood.aspx

Regardless, I still don't see how this benefits the city. We're spending $8 million to make $4 million. Again, what am I missing? The CITY is spending $2.4 million over 7 years to make 4.4 million over 10 years, plus additional revenue for having 500 new bodies working, parking & spending downtown. Also, downtown vacancy rates drop. The City gets to say another Fortune 500 company is located in downtown, etc. The state is paying $5 million. I thought the 4.4 million would include the 500 bodies, parking, etc?

Thanks for the answers. I wasn't trying to argue that this was a bad move, but to Ram23's point, I don't understand clearly how tax incentives work, which is why I was asking the question.

Regardless, I still don't see how this benefits the city. We're spending $8 million to make $4 million. Again, what am I missing?

What am I missing? We offered $30 million in incentives and expect to earn $4 million over 10 years? Obviously I'm missing something b/c this would be a horrible deal.

Talk about being out of place. Unless I'm misunderstanding something, high rise towers there will look terrible and won't fit in at all.

The purpose of for-profit media companies, especially those that are publicly traded, is to make money. That's the sad truth.

Thanks for the info.

So the private citizens pay to have the petitions counted and ensured that they are accurate? I thought the city had to ensure that the signatures weren't fraudulent?

Does anyone know the cost to the city for the streetcar petition? How isn't that another waste of taxpayers money? How is that not being mentioned anywhere?