JYP

Hipsters are not just a fedora and skinny jeans ya know, they're an ironic way of life with obscure references to things no one has ever heard about!

And then there's this guy... Another candidate weighing a run for Cincinnati mayor By: Lucy May Senior Staff Reporter/Associate Editor- Business Courier Cincinnati Councilmember Charlie Winburn is weighing a run for mayor in 2013. Winburn told me this morning that he hasn’t made up his mind about running. But he’s been getting encouragement from supporters throughout the city who want to see him run. Starting immediately, Winburn said he’ll begin gauging his support in five ways: a voter survey, polling, focus groups, a discussion with family and friends and a discussion with his political party. (Winburn is the lone Republican on council right now.)

I'm not going to worry about over saturating OTR with restaurants until I can walk in the Senate or A Tavola at 6:30 on a Friday night without having to be put on a waiting list.

Sorry I did not phrase that correctly. It should have read, "The very fact that Kroger thinks it has a lock on the Cincinnati market."

Opponents of the streetcar are frequently criticized for tying anything & everything to the streetcar, the proponents here seem equally adept. UO'ers, particularly in the Cincinnati threads, are obsessive about determining what is on-topic and what is not. I agree that threads get off-track. Anytime people are communicating freely, there's an opportunity to veer. I also notice that relevant tangents are proclaimed off-topic fairly often. Instead of commenting on others being off-topic, I would just contribute info I deem relevant if I desire the thread to return to a strict, linear focus. As long as it can be tied back to the streetcar (i.e. Blue Ash airport, Duke, MSD and other utilities, media portrayal, and people and figures tied to having views or taken action regarding the streetcar) its fair game. However, discussion about how off-topic this thread is...off-topic.

^ Agreed. The very fact that Kroger thinks it has a lock on the Cincinnati market is the reason why we have not seen other stores like Publix in the region as well.

..Huh? We don't want hotel visitors just so we have new people to talk to! :-D We want hotel visitors because of the money they spend in our shops, bars, and restaurants and the impact that has on our local economy. Also, better/more hotel options = Cincinnati being more likely to attract and host more conventions. But yes, I hope that more residential projects are announced soon too. Revenue from hotel visitors ebbs and flows with the local tourism industry. Residents tend to care more about their neighborhood than visitors, eyes on the street, etc. You don't really get that with hotel guests. Also with downtown apartments in such high demand I really don't know why we haven't seen anything going on outside of 5th & Race in the CBD.

I think maybe 3 or 4 new hotels downtown is acceptable. After that the focus should be on creating residential. It's nice to have visitors but honestly the city is better off having people stay for longer than a few nights.

This new thread is meant to address Kroger, and other grocery stores including Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in Cincinnati and efforts to preserve, close, open, construct grocery stores in the city's central neighborhoods.

Discussion on Walnut Hills Kroger and other grocery store related stuff has been moved to: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,10268.0.html

Neighborhood grocery stores are essential in promoting walkable neighborhoods in the urban core. As population trends have show desirable neighborhoods are walkable and either have or attract services including grocery stores. I agree that the Kroger in WH or OTR doesn't have to be like the Hyde Park ones but they should follow the model other large department/grocery stores are pursuing such as Walmart (I can't believe I am actually using them in a positive example), Target and even Walgreens. A small footprint, multi-level grocery store is the ideal solution for neighborhoods such as OTR and WH. As for the new thread. I'm working on it, hang tight!

JYP is my old college nickname!

The Walnut Hills Kroger actually is nicer and has more selection than the one on Vine in OTR. I was shocked because I expected a run down store. I think a lot of people have that perception. If they continue to work to clean up the scene around the store and improve it, perhaps it would be a draw for the Eden Park and East Walnut Hills folks who now go to either Hyde Park or Newport.

Are you sure its not going to be like "Weekend at Bernie's"?

This thread is for the entire development which had been 2 condo towers and an office building but is now 1 condo, 1 apartment, 1 proposed condo that may never get built and a boat harbor.

When the skywalk system opened in the 60's downtown had 25% of the regions retail sales, by 1990 that had dwindled to 4%.

Meanwhile, Duke is raising cash for the effort to build that new bridge next to the BSB...

In the United States 1. New York 2. Washington D.C. 3. Chicago 4. Los Angeles 5. Cincinnati Rest of World 1. Paris 2. London 3. Brussels 4. Toronto 5. Shanghai

I don't believe it lessens the demand for both because demand in both uses is so strong for downtown. Downtown needs both more hotels and more residential. The disappointment here is that previous hotels like Terrace Plaza continue to linger abandoned as new hotels are developed from previous office (Old Enquirer Building, Old Red Cross Building), residential (Metropole & Phelps buildings) or on new ground (Casino & the Banks). And even though new residential is planned at the Banks and 5th & Race, there are no plans for conversions of old Class C spaces such as the Bartlett Building into residential. Downtown development should focus on both restoring, rehabilitating and adapting old buildings as well as new construction, both of which appeal to different markets. The population downtown is still too small for a full service grocery store however small steps are being made (at least in OTR) to provide more services for residents. New residential and mixed-use construction on existing parking lots and renovations of smaller buildings have a better chance of happening with the removal of parking requirements.

Unfortunately, the layout of the new streetcar tracks on Race & Elm will prohibit 2-way conversion on those streets. The same thing applies to Main and Walnut downtown however I'd definitely like to see Main Street become 2-way north of 12th.

^And because of that they became unnecessary which is why they are being demolished!

They are apartment housing built and operated by Eagle Realty in the 1990's. If they took LIHTC then yes they are required accept vouchers for at least 30 years.

This is the latest from Building Cincinnati: http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2012/06/elimination-of-downtown-otr-parking.html

Church architecture discussion has been moved to here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27665.0.html

The skywalks problem is that they tend to remove street life from downtowns. This effect is not that noticeable in larger cities, many of which feature skywalks and elaborate underground passage ways but is very noticeable in small to mid-size cities such as Cincinnati. When I researched the Cincinnati skywalk, the most active connection was from 5/3rd's HQ to the former Great American Insurance Building across Vine. It got about 2,000 people per day at peak times. Actual the only way into the old GAI building was through that one skywalk. When 3CDC began redoing Fountain Square they realized that this particular skywalk contributed to the perception that downtown was vacant when in fact there were thousands of people up in the skywalk. It prevented street level retail and instead encouraged skywalk level retail. If anyone walked through downtown or drove, they would see a very empty downtown. Other reasons for removal of certain sections were crime which was the result of lack of maintenance and ownership issues since some sections were private but over public streets. All and all, even though the skywalk seemed convenient to people wanting to get out of the weather, it didn't do the urban core any favors in terms of vitality.