JYP

To the best of my knowledge these agencies conduct a survey of homeless shelters to get a count of bed occupancy. Then they go to known encampments and count who is there. The count is never 100% accurate, but it's a better count than no count at all. For the 2010 Census police officers went out to count the number of people staying at known places in the city and send that tally to the Census Bureau .

Yesterday evening, the Over-the-Rhine Community Council reviewed (and potentially approved) the OTR Infill Guidelines. They would move on to the Historic Conservation Board and the City's Planning Commission, then to City Council for formal adoption. Link to them below: http://otrcommunitycouncil.org/otr-infill-guidelines/ While there is a lot of good in the document concerning massing, form and granularity of streetscape, there are a few issues. My biggest concern is a new restriction on height. Currently, new infill can be one full story in difference to adjoining buildings in the district. This will change significantly in the new guidelines if they are adopted as is. In Part 1 of the guidelines package on the website it specifies that no new buildings can exceed the height of the tallest contributing building on the block face (that side of the block.) It also says that new buildings must vary in height a minimum of 10% of the average block face height average. This would de facto limit all new infill to 5 stories or less in this part of the urban core which will have huge impact on density, housing affordability, supply, transit, and economic vibrancy of this neighborhood.

It is. Is this the small corner lot opposite 1400 Race? Isn't Washington Park right across the street? Is a park of this type needed here?

I had a discussion with someone about the Phase 1B pad last week. They said the floor area was too small for most offices, since everyone wanted open floor plates, it was not as desirable. I don't agree. Always thought it could be built as spec. Put WeWork in a few floors, and make it a tower geared towards start-ups looking for the next level of growth.

It's not uncommon for new ownership to let leases expire and clear out older tenants to realize their redevelopment plans. For NOTL, that means losing Barnes, Brio, Mitchell's etc. I would not be surprised if more shops close. That's fine. They are going to redo most of the development, only keeping the AMC, Gameworks and maybe a few others.

This would go a long way on the pedestrian scale side. I'm not a fan of how close the stairs are to the sidewalk, from the rendering the sidewalk looks pretty narrow but that could just be the scale of how its drawn. Will be interesting to see more details when it goes to Planning Commission. As for the exterior design I am not a huge fan. Cincinnati had an opportunity to do better and we blew it. We shouldn't be building civic buildings that we are compelled to hide amongst neighboring infill. Given enough time there is room for improvement after construction. I like the light patterns on the crown and the inside is nice. It get a C/C+ IMO.

Agree. So many way so address flood protection with better placemaking than a levee.

I love how that giant cell tower pole stays and is so prominent in the rendering!

According to the Enquirer, construction has started on the concert venue. Meanwhile in Cincinnati....**crickets** 'Things are happening fast.' Construction underway on Newport concert venue Randy Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer Published 7:42 a.m. ET July 16, 2019 | Updated 9:12 a.m. ET July 16, 2019 After more than a decade of planning, developers have begun the first phase of construction on the new concert venue that will anchor a giant mixed-use project at the Ovation site along the Ohio River in Newport. Construction crews last week began digging the foundation for a two-story parking garage that will serve as a platform for the concert venue announced in May by veteran Columbus concert promoter PromoWest and its partner, Los Angeles-based AEG Presents.

It would almost be better to do what the Banks did and elevate the whole thing over a parking garage and demolish the flood levee. It would better integrate the site but is probably much more costly than the land bridge idea.

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati/linkservid/E506D20A-9B46-F3A6-6D763ECBC854F106/showMeta/0/ All 7 of the elements on pages 3-4, and the development program on pages 31-32. I get that this plan is 19 years old and what was developed does not entirely meet the framework of the plan. But right now, the Banks Steering Committee lacks the vision and determination to make the right choices with the remaining parts of this site. It has prompted an unnecessary and petty conflict of music venues and ferris wheels instead of focusing the conversation on building what downtown needs: more sustainable and financially successful development patterns like the housing, office, retail and hotels the original plan called for.

I went to the OKI session on this last week. It was well attended by gov officials and consultants. They hired MKSK to assist in developing the plan so it should hopefully end up being more than just window dressing. Either way, fill out the survey and try to make it to a session!

You missed my point. Most of that falls under general urban noise, the quintessential sounds of major cities across the world. I’m talking about living outside a place that has events all the time. Sure people buy into that that live there, but what is happening is that people are not living there per se, just staying there as lodging. Fine, if you want the Banks to be mostly office and hotel. Not fine if you thought you were getting the 2000’s era vision of a mixed-use neighborhood. Even with the two stadiums, there are only 90 home baseball games and 7-8 home football games. It was never active enough to be a true entertainment destination so it had a shot at being something of a neighborhood. Now we are doubling down on entertainment so why not?

Sure. But what has happened in the last few years is that the balance between livability and entertainment has shifted heavily towards entertainment amenities. This is hurting the sale of condos and the leasing of apartments in parts of OTR. It is why half of the Radius is run by a air-bnb style hotel company. Every city has "that" part of town with the club scene but if we lean too far into that and too much, then we risk putting all our eggs in the tourism basket, we fall flat in creating a truly sustained revitalization. Instead we just get 90's OTR Main Street part two. That scene came and went and OTR was none the better for it. While the current renaissance is more sustained in OTR, the same can't be said for the Banks. It's bad enough residents there have two major league stadiums to contend with, now they have even more entertainment outside their bedroom windows. I get urban noise and hustle and bustle, but who wants to live next to the late-night amusement park?

For the suburbanites to play, the urbanites must pay!

It seems like they won't even consider the actual Phase III development until the music venue is underway. So we are building more entertainment venues for tourists and no residences and office space.. you know, things that would provide real long-lasting tax base as opposed to disposable income that would disappear in an economic downturn. At this rate, we'll have a rollercoaster, a steeplechase and parachute drop (a la Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY) before we get a real development at the Banks.

His burger joint (which appear to only be on cruise ships) is really good. It's a la carte for the most part, so we avoided all the flavor traps.

The first draft is probably the only draft. Alternatively, maybe there is an earlier draft floating around with all the recommendations the administration cannot support, like bike lanes? Ha.

This article seems to imply that they will make some improvements, including the replacement of the temporary wheel with a permanent one. https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/downtown/skystar-wheel-a-permanent-part-of-the-cincinnati-skyline I hope if it's a new wheel its at least as big as the one Newport is working on.

It's for the "buy it in Mason, drive to the Riverfront garage, park and walk out onto the Suspension bridge for Instagram photo" crowd!

I would think they would still want a street crossing there as its too far of a walk from 14th to Liberty without one. Right now 15th and Vine is unofficially the only "Pedestrian Scramble" intersection in Cincinnati.

While I agree this is underwhelming from a skyline altering perspective, 344 units is nothing to sneeze at. It's larger than any of the downtown apartment projects currently underway or built in the last five years, including the second phase of the Banks. This is going to help the long rotating storefronts next door on Pete Rose Way, NOTL and some others. It's going to be a bit farther of a walk than desired for the rest of downtown and the Banks but I think residents here will figure it out that will help. The worst we can have here is a residential development with no street level presence. Both One River Plaza and Sky House did little to address and activate the street frontage. This one makes a better attempt to.

Bring back the top!

I've always been a fan of the StrongTowns podcast. Also the War on Cars has been a good one as well.

Will attend.