JYP

Actually went down to Circle A market this weekend. They don't have a very good selection and a lot of things are pretty overpriced when compared to a grocery store. But that's what you'd expect from a convenience store. Organic produce and wine? Does not even exist at these places. Unless they actually change their selection these stores will close. Maybe that's the point, but if done incorrectly, it could be a missed opportunity.

^Read the Draft Environmental Assessment. This is a good place to see the schematics you are demanding. Also, typically City Council's entrust the City staff and Administration to make adequate recommendations and decisions. If the Council trusts the Administration to determine the final route, then that is a vote of confidence that elected officials can trust that the job is done right. My apologies for causing this stir, I thought I read somewhere that Council had to vote on the alignment, probably on the Enquirer, which is as good as fish wrap these days anyway.

So the final routing will be determined by staff?

If you average out the Tier 2 scores in the Uptown Connector Feasibility Study, W Clifton scores the highest when given standard grading values (i.e. A=4, B=3, C=2 etc.): McMicken/McMillan: 2.96 W. Clifton Only: 3.34 W. Clifton/Vine Loop: 2.52 Vine St. Only: 2.22 W. Clifton also gets the most A's at 11 (McMicken is second w/ 9 A's) Why is this important? I think it can provide adequate guide as to how Council will vote on the matter. Although the McMicken route is the spoken of highly in the report, it costs more to construct, more for service and maintenance and will take longer to get to the University. W. Clifton would be ideal if Council believes the streetcar can overcome the challenges of an 8.9% grade. It's not completely impossible but its a good overall option. Vine St. seems to come in last with it's only benefit being it's quicker and easier to maintain (less slope) but has very limited development potential, reaches less of a population and is a narrower corridor.

Crane is still up past the deadline. Looks like they still need to work on the sign and the facade where the service elevator was.

Queen City Bike Receives $10,000 Grant for Bicycle Friendly Destinations New Program to Get More People Riding Bikes to More Places CINCINNATI (August 30) – Queen City Bike announced today that it has received a $10,000 grant from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) to help launch a new program to get more people riding bicycles to more places in the region everyday. The Bicycle Friendly Destinations Program will work with area employers, retailers, government agencies, and arts and cultural organizations to make it easy for people to reach and use their facilities on a bicycle. The overall goal of the project is to increase the use of bicycles for all kinds of trips, whether to work, to go shopping, or just to run errands in the neighborhood.

Contains some updates on Gateway Quarter shops moving into OtR as well as new anti-crime initiative. Stores agree to help reduce crime By Laura Baverman • [email protected] • August 30, 2010 Negotiations are under way between the owners of two Main Street markets, the Cincinnati Police Department and the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce for a "good neighbor agreement" that attempts to mitigate drug activity and crime and to better serve hundreds of new residents and dozens of new businesses in that neighborhood. Local markets on Main Street may soon agree to stop selling 40-ounce malt liquors, glass floral vases often used as crack pipes, single plastic baggies and the Chore Boy scrubbers used to clean pipe filters. They'll hang no trespassing signs to prevent loiterers. And they'll re-design their stores to appeal to new residents in the community, adding items like fruits, vegetables and quality bottles of wine.

A friend of mine that's in the record biz said the reason Cincy doesn't get as many shows as C-bus of Cleveland stems from the size of the their potential audience and listener stream. If you think about it, you have a better chance at seeing an indy or alternative band in Cleveland or Columbus than in Cincy, although I have been surprised that more eclectic bands have been playing at PNC Pavilion, Madison Theater and Southgate House.

Please stay on topic. Thanks!

I've moved discussion of concert venues to here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24335.0.html

Take a look at who owns the land under QCS...not W&S...it's...wait for it.... THE PORT AUTHORITY OF GREATER CINCINNATI!!!!!!! Oh boondoggles. :lol:

City adding bike lanes to Central Parkway, Spring Grove Avenue, Linn Street By: Randy A. Simes August 25, 2010 – 3:00 pm As summer draws to a close, Cincinnati city officials will be installing several miles of new dedicated bike lanes and sharrows. According to the Cincinnati Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE), crews have already introduced bike lane symbols along Spring Grove Avenue, between Crawford Avenue and Mitchell Avenue, and will be completing the separation line later this week. Other city streets to be improved later this summer include Central Parkway, between Brighton Place and Hopple Street, and Linn Street from W. 6th Street to Gest Street. In total, the projects account for approximately two-and-a-half miles of new bicycle facilities.

4 Ohio Cities are on this list! Columbus ranks high on national bedbug-infestation list By Adrian Sainz Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Bloodsucking bedbugs are biting in New York, and Philadelphia, and all over Ohio. The pest control company Terminix released today a list of the 15 most bedbug-infested cities, based on an analysis of call volume reporting bedbug infestations and of confirmed bedbug cases reported by sales professionals in 350 of the company's service centers. The Big Apple topped the list, followed by Philly and Detroit. Ohio has four cities in the top 15 -- Cincinnati is fourth, Columbus is seventh, Dayton is eighth and Cleveland is 14th.

2 new restaurants featured in today's Soapbox: Al-Amir Cafe opens in downtown Cincinnati's 8th Street Design District Downtown Cincinnati's 8th Street Design District has a relatively new food option. Al-Amir Cafe is now open inside the small space previously occupied by the 8th Street Deli Cafe, and is serving up authentic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. Located at 326 E. 8th Street, Al-Amir offers everything from sharwarma, kabobs, gryos, and falafels to burgers, chicken, fish, and salads. Appetizers include a similarly diverse collection of items like baba ghanoush, foule, grape leaves, and onion rings, fries, breaded mushrooms and chicken tenders. Gourmet hot dog restaurant, music venue opens on Short Vine In his years touring around the world as a Hip Hop DJ, Brad "Mr. Dibbs" Forste would always grab a hot dog after the show. "Literally all around the world, whether it was [the U.S], Japan, Australia, Germany - that was the one thing on tour that I clinched on, finding the hot dog," Forste said. He eventually used that international experience to hone his own recipes for specialty hot dogs and, along with his wife and brother, opened Flop Johnson's last Tuesday in a vacant restaurant space above Daniel's Bar on Short Vine Street in Clifton.

3CDC to partner with city to save at-risk historic church in Over-the-Rhine Those familiar with Over-the-Rhine know that the historic church located at 15th and Race Streets has seen better days. Over the past two years the vacant church has been badly damaged by separate wind and lightening storms which have put the structure into a vulnerable situation. The structure's roof is bowing such that it's severely at-risk for the upcoming winter and the snow it usually brings. As a result, the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) have partnered to stabilize the structure in the coming weeks.

Changing Travel Demands: Implications for Planning Todd Litman Sun, 08/22/2010 - 18:14 The graph below shows the most recent USDOT vehicle-travel data covering the last 25 years. Although vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) grew steadily during most of the Twentieth Century, in recent years the growth rate stopped and even declined a little. It is now about 10% below where it would have been had past trends continued. This is particularly notable because during this period both population and economic activity grew, so VMT per capita and per unit of economic activity declined. This has important implications for planners. The Twentieth Century was the period of automobile ascendency, during which personal motor vehicles grew from virtually nothing to becoming the dominant travel mode in most developed countries. During this period it made sense to invest in automobile-oriented infrastructure: paved roads, highways and parking facilities. However, demographic and economic trends are changing travel demands. Aging population, rising fuel prices, increasing urbanization, increasing traffic congestion, improvements in alternative modes, changing consumer preferences, and increased health and environmental concerns are all reducing demand for automobile travel and increasing demands for travel by other modes. Although automobile travel will not disappear, it will not grow as it did in the past, and in many developed countries motor vehicle travel will be flat or negative in the future.

Maybe this will help push Metro in a more positive direction? Metro board: Fired CEO misled us Shazor raised doubts about her credibility, performance By Barry M. Horstman • [email protected] • August 23, 2010 Credibility questions and a poor performance - marked by rising bus fares, cuts in service and plummeting ridership - are behind Metro CEO Marilyn Shazor's surprising dismissal last week, current and former board members said Monday. As the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority prepares for a special meeting Tuesday where Shazor's removal is to be discussed behind closed doors - board members said a recent episode in which she purportedly misled them sealed her dismissal.

Old St. George hotel proposal needs $65K Monday, August 23, 2010 A partnership of state and local companies wants to redevelop Old St. George Church in Clifton Heights into a boutique hotel, but needs an additional $45,000 in pre-development funding to make it happen. HineSite Strategic Services, LLC principal Douglas Hine presented the proposal for the Saint George House last week before community leaders at the Niehoff Urban Studio on Short Vine in Corryville, saying that his group needs the funding to provide and assessment of the building's architectural and functional suitability, schematic designs, a development budget and sources, construction cost estimates, a market study, operating projections, and a strategic development plan. See more at:http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2010/08/old-st-george-hotel-proposal-needs-65k.html

Broadway Commons district study to examine area impacted by new Cincinnati casino Cincinnati casino developers have selected Harrah’s Entertainment to operate the new casino to be built on Broadway Commons, and the city has approved the necessary funding to move forward on a new Broadway Commons district study that will include recommendations on design, policy, and programming for the newly developed area. The $15,000 study is being funded jointly by the City of Cincinnati, UC Community Design Center, and Bridging Broadway. The Local Initiative Support Coalition of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky (LISC) will help direct the six-month study with the rest of the group. See more at:http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/08/broadway-commons-district-study-to-examine-area-impacted-by-new-cincinnati-casino/

Completely disagree. What FBC's do is allow more freedom for development not hinder it. Under current zoning in most of the country, developments take years and are often diluted from involvement of special interest and obscure regulations from outdated subdivision regulations. FBC's allow for that. I do admit there are some bad FBC's out there, but a properly developed one like the one in Nashville would actually be helped by allowing development to meet market demand instead of the many abstract requirements found in most Zoning Ordinances today. As for sterile and ugly developments, a good FBC only regulates the form and placement of buildings. It's hard to regulate architectural features through design guidelines because most of the time they are only advisory and not enforceable. As someone once told me...you can't regulate ugly.

Downtown Cincinnati eatery to celebrate reopening after complete redesign On the evening of Friday, August 20, Cincinnatians will have an opportunity to be re-introduced to a local restaurant now known as The Bistro. The restaurant owners plan to host a party to show off the recent changes that took place following the well-publicized split of Jean-Robert de Cavel from the Relish Group. With native chef Chris Burns at the helm, owners at The Bistro say that the restaurant will focus on bringing local fare to the dinner table by using ingredients that are locally sourced. This new focus is complimented by the interior décor which has also been updated with a fresh look. See more at:http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/08/the-bistro-bar-bash-set-for-friday-evening/

300′ geothermal wells being drilled at new Cincinnati Riverfront Park Several components of the first phase of the 45-acre Cincinnati Riverfront Park are nearing completion, or are reaching significant milestones. The foundation for the Moerlein Lager House and Jacob G. Schmidlapp Stage & Event Lawn are complete, the foundations to the Roebling Suspension Bridge are being reset to accommodate a realigned Mehring Way, and the first section of the Hamilton County-controlled parking garage is now open. Also underway is the drilling of 300-foot geothermal wells that will provide the air conditioning for the Bike, Mobility & Visitors’ Center. The geothermal wells will provide a natural cooling mechanism that leverages the 56-degree temperatures found in the ground year-round. See more at:http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/08/300-geothermal-wells-being-drilled-at-new-cincinnati-riverfront-park/

Cincinnati officials impressed by results of Nashville’s form-based codes In late June 2010, 18 individuals from Cincinnati made a trip to Nashville, TN in order to learn more about that city’s form-based code efforts. While on the trip, local officials and community leaders toured three of Nashville’s most notable developments to see first-hand how such land planning initiatives have made a tangible impact there. The delegation attending the last of several trips to Nashville included Cincinnati City Councilmembers Laure Quinlivan, Charlie Winburn and Wendell Young; Hamilton Vice Mayor Rob Wile; leaders from Downtown, Walnut Hills, Mt. Auburn, Hyde Park, The Christ Hospital, the Cincinnati Form Based Codes Initiative, and UrbanCincy. See more at: http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/08/cincinnati-officials-impressed-by-results-of-nashvilles-form-based-codes/

From CincyBlog regarding the legal merits of the lawsuit: Metropole Lawsuit: Not So Fast, 3CDC Saturday, August 21, 2010 As the Enquirer reported earlier this week, the Metropole Tenants Association filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt the efforts of 3CDC and others to turn the Metropole into a luxury hotel. The tenants are now represented by preeminent Cincinnati civil rights attorney Jennifer Kinsley, as well as Terrance Brennan (formerly Lead Organizer with the AMOS Project). And they've filed a lawsuit that is compelling. I thought many of our readers would be interested in an explanation of the allegations in the lawsuit, and why it could be a major impediment to 3CDC's plans for the Metropole. More at: http://cincinnati.blogspot.com/2010/08/metropole-lawsuit-not-so-fast-3cdc.html

It's not over until its....well it's pretty much over. One River Plaza gets extension By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • August 23, 2010 DOWNTOWN – The long-stalled One River Plaza – a proposed 140-unit condominium project on Cincinnati’s riverfront – may not be completely sidelined. The project’s ownership group landed a one-year extension for the development’s zoning to “permit time for recovery from the economic crisis,” according to a report to Cincinnati’s Planning Commission. Rest of the story here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100823/BIZ01/308230034/One-River-Plaza-gets-extension