JYP

Looks like the firm that is doing this is the same contractor working on Phase II of the 15th and Race condos and is a WBE. They have an aggressive growth strategy and can get things done. Exciting.

I think Cincinnati leadership knew they were not going to get HQ2 but hoping to get on the finalist list in order to elevate the city's national profile for other potential site selection opportunities. Before the city was not on the national radar in any meaningful way, but now it is so in a somewhat tarnished light as an HQ2 also-ran.

Macy's won't even have a store within the City of Cincinnati limits after the downtown one closes. Not a good sign for a corporate HQ.

The City's zoning administration has been taking a very hard line on parking over the last few years. Requiring leases to adjacent parking garages or lots as proof to satisfy parking requirements and demands. In most cases, this is the city enforcing its laws better. What is needed is a more holistic parking strategy for the urban basin, one that takes into account the streetcar, RedBike, ride share, Metro and walkablity into account. As it stands right now we are building an urban core that will be more of a suburban and regional entertainment district than a true urban neighborhood. A great place to visit and show tourists but a less attractive place to live.

Since the beginning, the streetcars have run 3/peak 2/off-peak. And since the beginning that should have been increased to 4/peak and 3/off-peak. 12-15 minute waits are too long. Nobody who has options waits that long. Between running more streetcars and getting teh green light priority we could get frequency down to 5-6 minutes during peak periods. That's how often the streetcars run in places like Toronto and Boston. So Cinci's streetcar schedule should be on par with massive transit cities like Toronto and Boston? Are you kidding? Just in Boston about 780,000 ride the T on an average weekday and another 226,500 ride the most heavily used light-rail system in the U.S.. That's about 780,000 daily local rail commuters in Boston. Combined it's about 241,000,000+ annual ridership just on those local rail systems. How many people would be commuting on the Connector every 5-6 minutes, given Boston's level of riders. This is crazy-delusional. No wonder I'm getting hounded out of this forum. Yeah, have you not read Jarrett Walker? Frequency is one of the most important aspects of transit. It doesn't matter if its Boston, Cincinnati or the Middletown bus system. If you want people to ride it, you want to minimize those wait times.

Sorry, just haven't been able to read up on a 1,003 page streetcar thread. Close the thread then if it's controversial for anyone to enter the discussion yet the thread continues to update...constantly. This streetcar thread may be the longest of all the Cinci threads. What I have been enlightened on though is that the lackluster use and national bad press on ''how not to start a streetcar'' is strictly due to political conspiracies and sabotage. This thread is THE largest thread on this site. It's going nowhere. As for the other things. Many of the people commenting on these threads have lived through the planning, advocacy, political drama and referendums of the streetcar for years. They are trying to help you. Attacking them and pointless back and forth about your city spelling preferences do not help and may inspire the admins to action.

Well, one of the big reasons for tearing it down is that trains tend to derail and hit the support pillars. The new span will have very few if any support posts in the Queensgate rail yard.

Not a big enough footprint for HQ2 Pretty much all of Cincinnati's biggest towers sit on smaller footprints. The Carew Tower/Netherland Plaza footprint is almost exactly the same. Scripps and 600 Vine are probably about half as big (1/4 of a block). Queen City Square's footprint is about the same sans the parking garage. Man, this HQ2 thing is going from a “moonshot” or “nice to have” to a “need to have” for Cincinnati’s downtown. An aside- I am NOT connected in any way, I do NOT have any info whatsoever and I am NOT trying to start a rumor, but my hypothesis would be if HQ2 came to town, Amazon may purchase Macy’s (as in, the whole company) and that could be a reason for them to choose Cincinnati. Name your source Bill!!! NAME YOUR SOURCE!!! ;D

That whole side of the street is vacant in both Phase I and II. Speaks to how horrible the highway facing side is for pedestrian activity.

Hopefully this change will help relieve the bus driver shortage!

Banks don't want to say it but I think many are getting nervous about a downturn in the market and don't want to be left holding the bag again like during the Great Recession. Also cost of living remains low in Cincinnati while cost of construction is in line with the national average, leaving huge gaps in many developers pro formas.

I was pleasantly surprised by the housing at Weninger Circle. It is a step above all of City West and I think its the best new-urban single-family infill in the entire city. If you compare it to other peer-city markets new urban residential like in Columbus (Gay and N. 5th for example) then its at best a C+ but for Cincinnati this should be the standard for infill, not the exception.

Oh man... that Bond Hill development makes me so sad because it was such a missed opportunity. Your point is spot on: by making the "alleys" so overbuilt, you end up with no pleasant backyards... AND no usable front yards. And it looks like that is exactly what is going to happen with this proposed West End Citirama. All of the potential "backyard" space will be dominated by driveways and overbuilt alleys. What's amazing is that if they just reduced the curve radius on the alleys and streets, it would look and feel more urban. Most of these new-suburbanism (a term I use when developer try and fail at applying urbanist principals) projects would succeed if they just tried a little bit harder.

All of City West, including the block where these homes are going is zoned RM-0.7 which is described as, "the most intense residential district and it will normally consist of tall multi-family or condominium structures. The character is intended to be urban and should be used where high-intensity residential is needed to provide a residential base for important commercial areas." https://library.municode.com/oh/cincinnati/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIXIZOCOCI_CH1405REMUMIDI Huge wasted opportunity.

Just what we need: More detached single-family homes right next to downtown. They can't even do rowhouses or townhomes!? Or any other missing-middle quality infill? What is their target demographic? Mind-boggling.

I've heard Camp Washington and Spring Grove Village are the two places where the old demographic of Northside are relocating.

Lookin' good!

It's especially egregious/sad/hilarious/depressing when the misunderstanding comes from the person responsible for actually collecting tax revenue: https://twitter.com/AuditorRhodes/status/941387872539742208 People get so worked up about tax abatements because they see all of these new renovations in hot neighborhoods getting tax abated and they somehow think their neighborhood is getting screwed. What they don't seem to understand is that tax abatements can happen in any neighborhood. So if I renovated a historic building in Westwood or Kennedy Heights, I could get a tax abatement too. Additionally, I think people misunderstand the term "tax abatement" and think it means that you don't pay property tax. But you do still pay tax on the pre-renovation value of your property. What people like Dusty should really get worked up about is the way that the giant corporations in town get their tax bills reduced by appearing in front of the Board of Revisions and saying their property is worth less than what the auditor thinks it is. The result is that corporations keep paying a smaller and smaller share of the county's overall property tax bill while residents keep paying a bigger and bigger share. Corporations challenging high tax valuation is a right. Property tax abatements for urban development are the fleecing of America!

That picture looks straight out of 1997!

They are going to take 8-10 feet of the north side of the street most likely.

Current Oakley Station Site Plan:

Surely now is the time to get 3CDC involved in that too!

They should put a roundabout at the Madison Rd/ Ridge Ave intersection. And 3 more up Ridge at Ibsen, Alamo and at the 71 N exit ramp. It would ensure a continuous flow from Oakley station to most of the highway/Norwood Lateral exit and entrance ramps.

Any connections to that site through to the rest of Oakley or Norwood will have the residents there up in arms. This is near the same area that had streets connecting to Edwards cut off because of Rookwood traffic.

The WHRF.