JYP

Great pictures! Way to start off with a bang! (Pun intended) :-)

If you try to get yourself hurt, there's a 100% success rate. Did you try walking across the rails too? I hear they're a pretty hefty pedestrian trip hazard. Oh nos!

I've ridden my ROAD bike down elm along the old streetcar tracks numerous times. The only difference is that I am actively trying to not wipe out on them. You would think any sane biker would be aware of their surroundings. If they aren't they shouldn't be biking. Same for automobile drivers. If you slip up on the tracks its your fault, not the streetcar rails fault.

^I still don't see how the relationship between two countries that are still technically at war with each other and the streetcar negotiations that are between two organizations that share many common interests and agreements. Its apples and oranges because one situation is obviously more severe than the other. And what you've continued to advocate are "severe" reactions to a problem that requires diplomacy.

Yeah the difference though is that the options from your previous post are alluded to as the only options when they are not. There are still plenty of avenues left to reach an agreement both sides can live with. This is similar to Eminent Domain, its a tool of last resort but you don't start out a negotiation saying, "Oh hey we're just going to take your land because we can." There's a process, and ED is typically an option that shuts down any hope of negotiation. Similarly, lawsuits and court cases are tools of last resort. If the City or Duke said, "Okay, we'll take you to court," right off the bat, I doubt we'd see any fact finding missions or negotiations, only endless posturing and more negative media.

This is once again pure speculation. Last time I checked, in business and in government you don't jump to conclusions and use the nuclear option when negotiations are still on the table. Also I'd really like to know how replacing aged electrical and gas infrastructure is not in Duke's best interest since no legitimate findings were provided to back up the above argument.

At the Streetcar special hearing last month Mallory acknowledged that Duke is a partner with the city and that partnerships sometimes have disagreements on some issues. This issue is not something that will make or break the streetcar. Who cares whether or not those commenters on the WLWT website were shareholders are not? Does that make their viewpoints somehow more legitimate? Do they get to vote on everything Duke does? Should they oppose the Charlotte streetcar and light rail just as much as they oppose the Cincinnati streetcar? Take a step back, a deep breath and look at the bigger picture. The city and Duke are still working it out, they don't need to go to DC because all they really needed to do was go to Portland, Seattle and their own backyard, which they did. They've seen enough. They'll make money on this thing too, they just disagree with how much. Sheesh!

No but there are new photos on the Cincinnati Streetcar FB page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150760058101675.459228.56963906674&type=1

^Yeah I saw that after I posted.

This is ridiculous. The bridge is functionally obsolete, not structurally deficient. Once again they're using comparable terminology association to distort the situation and create a false panic. Politics at its finest!

Baudrillard seems to be commenting on the sense of reproduction through equals, i.e. nuclear powers cancelling each other out, twin towers that represent the implied beginning of a "perfect" skyline and twins which can be perceived as unreal cloning of sorts. The old World Trade Center represented the pinnacle of the super block and of modernism architecture itself. Itself represented as a "self-replication," or twins waiting for phase 3 and phase 4 etc. If the Le Corbusier model had been followed to it's logical conclusion, cities would be nothing but monolithic blocks of separated uses.

Yes, really. Please stay on topic and limit the personal attacks. Thanks.

What's pretty cool is when talking to out-of-towners about the city getting a streetcar they generally react positively to it. Lends to the growing perception that Cincy is becoming a progressive place!

CVG airport eyes London service By Dan Monk The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is negotiating with a charter company to establish twice-weekly flights to London this summer. The seasonal service could start by June and run through September, targeting primarily leisure travelers, according to sources who have been briefed on the plans. Meghan Glynn, vice president of external relations for the airport known as CVG, declined to confirm the talks, citing confidentiality concerns. But she also described London as “a recurring ask” among business and leisure travelers who use CVG.

Just wondering, how many historic buildings would be demolished by putting an arena on 4th?

Back in the early 1980's Buddy Gray and his supporters defeated several attempts by the city to designate Over-the-Rhine as a Historic District. The reason was if the designation went through, the neighborhood would be eligible for historic tax credits and would subsequently gentrify. He wanted OTR to be a homeless paradise of sorts where the downtrodden and rejected of the city would stake their claim, hence the concentration of social services in the neighborhood. Gray was killed in 1996 by a homeless man he was trying to help. Zane Miller and Bruce Tucker wrote an excellent book on the history of OTR in a broader planning context. It can be found here: https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/29305/1/CHANGING_PLANS_FOR_AMERICAS_INNER_CITIES.pdf

that's enlightening...did you introduce yourself and try to strike up a convo? or was it just mega awkward. I attempted a wave and then there were some awkward stares until they started talking amongst themselves.

I am always offended when people don't say hi on the sidewalk!! But all kidding aside, it was one of many examples of the changing nature of OTR that I've witnessed over the past year or so.

^Excellent news!

Yeah, there really was no way for me to know for sure but they didn't look like the type of people that even buy condo's in the Gateway Quarter. The thing was that it was the "communal table" and I could tell Bakersfield had it their for a reason, which is the opportunity for different groups to interact. I chalk this up to an opportunity lost but I'm sure it has been successful with others. I'm not trying to say this is good or bad, but that it's different and it's a good different that takes some adjusting to.

Discussion on the changing scene in OTR has moved to here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27051.msg606570.html#msg606570

It's been 2 months since the buildings were demo'd and still no construction. If they want to get that structured garage out of the ground for open in early 2013, they better get a move on it!

I'm going to briefly comment on Jake's post simply because I've had this discussion with him before. I took my girlfriend to Bakersfield once and we sat at the community table. I've been a resident of OTR for 2 years now so I haven't been here as long as Mike U. or others but I believe in OTR's potential and I wanted to be a part of the positive change that is happening in the city's core. Anyway, we were the only ones at the community table and this group of young people, two guys and three girls come in and sit across from us. They were dressed nice but not particularly fancy (looked like people I would see in Mount Adams). They never introduced themselves to us, and carried on as if we weren't there. It was extremely unnerving to witness these people because I could tell they had no idea they knew anything about the area, anything about the history. It was as if it was like the people that made OTR what it is today made it for them and they didn't really care anything about that, they just cared about themselves. It was unsettling but I realized that this is what successful revitalization looks like and in the end, even though OTR moves towards becoming yuppy/hipster gentrified it was a good thing for the city. I still hang out with the people that moved here because they loved this place and want to make it better but there is the other crowd that comes here from somewhere else to stare at me at Bakersfield but that's all part of the neighborhood improving. *Note: I am considering splitting this discussion off, but for the time being it can stay until I decide on what to call the new topic.

Bigger and brighter signs are an increased sign that NOTL is desperate and shaking in its boots as the Banks snatches away potential tenants like the Wine Guy Bistro. NOTL is the right location (excellent views of the city skyline) but the wrong type of development (disconnected from the rest of Newport). If they demolished the creepy mall and expanded the courtyard, they would have a fighting chance. Also if they built residential on the parking lot or at the IMAX theater, it would help tremendously.

Agreed. Technically that whole street is the sidewalk and cars have to maneuver so slowly that there is very rarely any incidents. This reminds me that a few European towns were in the news for eliminating all traffic markings and signage. The result ended up being safer streets. http://dc.streetsblog.org/2007/09/14/german-town-chooses-human-interaction-over-traffic-signals/ http://thecityfix.com/blog/naked-streets-without-traffic-lights-improve-flow-and-safety/