RiverViewer

^...and the Seven Companies, or whatever they were called, were completely seat-of-their-pantsing it...like, they'd built roads, before, and sold the government on their ability to deliver, but had no idea what the hell they were doing...very fun (since it worked out well in the end).

Yeah, I'm even later...but Merry Christmas Et Al to all of you'ins!

Don't know my actual bill yet, because they estimated my gas reading (even though the meter's outside...aargh), so they're charging me $441 in gas - but estimating it based on the current reading, I think it's at most half that...

^Amen. You can't go from the "rundown gas station" ethos to "four story luxury condos" and not expect the look to change just a touch...as long as the facing material fits in (or sticks out in a good way), I'm going to be quite pleased. Adding all those residents right on the square - that's nothing but a big can of good. And indeed, let's see it in Oakley next! Then Madisonville!

45206 - population density of 6,621.5/square mile... Housing units: 7,486 Land area: 2.0 sq. mi. Water area: 0.0 sq. mi. White population: 3,658 Black population: 8,420 American Indian population: 21 Asian population: 83 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population: 2 Some other race population: 60 Two or more races population: 199 Urban population: 12,443 Rural population: 0 Median age: 35.7 Average household size: 1.87 Median household income (1999): $23,198 Nearest zip codes: 45219, 452HH, 45207, 45229, 41074, 41073. Year house built: 1999 to March 2000: 12 1995 to 1998: 64 1990 to 1994: 168 1980 to 1989: 555 1970 to 1979: 437 1960 to 1969: 932 1950 to 1959: 621 1940 to 1949: 900 1939 or earlier: 3823 Bedrooms in owner-occupied houses in Cincinnati, OH (45206): no bedroom: 13 1 bedrooms: 127 2 bedrooms: 641 3 bedrooms: 409 4 bedrooms: 225 5 or more bedrooms: 194 Bedrooms in renter-occupied apartments and housing units: no bedroom: 320 1 bedrooms: 2494 2 bedrooms: 1361 3 bedrooms: 471 4 bedrooms: 90 5 or more bedrooms: 58 Vehicles available in 45206 zip code in owner-occupied houses: no vehicle: 221 1 vehicle: 701 2 vehicles: 549 3 vehicles: 123 4 vehicles: 15 5 or more vehicles: 0 Vehicles available in renter-occupied housing units: no vehicle: 2162 1 vehicle: 2012 2 vehicles: 522 3 vehicles: 63 4 vehicles: 15 5 or more vehicles: 20 Estimate of home value of owner-occupied houses in 2000 in zip code 45206: Less than $10,000: 7 $10,000 to $14,999: 13 $15,000 to $19,999: 6 $20,000 to $24,999: 18 $25,000 to $29,999: 7 $30,000 to $34,999: 24 $35,000 to $39,999: 20 $40,000 to $49,999: 59 $50,000 to $59,999: 45 $60,000 to $69,999: 22 $70,000 to $79,999: 109 $80,000 to $89,999: 128 $90,000 to $99,999: 76 $100,000 to $124,999: 151 $125,000 to $149,999: 54 $150,000 to $174,999: 26 $175,000 to $199,999: 21 $200,000 to $249,999: 7 $250,000 to $299,999: 12 $300,000 to $399,999: 57 $400,000 to $499,999: 15 $500,000 to $749,999: 33 $750,000 to $999,999: 7 $1,000,000 or more: 10 Rent paid by renters in 2000 in zip code 45206: Less than $100: 246 $100 to $149: 441 $150 to $199: 312 $200 to $249: 368 $250 to $299: 416 $300 to $349: 595 $350 to $399: 530 $400 to $449: 343 $450 to $499: 343 $500 to $549: 238 $550 to $599: 163 $600 to $649: 162 $650 to $699: 153 $700 to $749: 125 $750 to $799: 64 $800 to $899: 73 $900 to $999: 50 $1,000 to $1,249: 88 $1,250 to $1,499: 7 $2,000 or more: 7 No cash rent: 70 Median price asked for vacant for-sale houses in 2000: $75,000 Median house value for: White Non-Hispanic householders: $132,400 Black or African American householders: $74,600 American Indian or Alaska Native householders: $17,500 Asian householders: $151,800 Two or more races householders: $95,000 Hispanic or Latino householders: $85,000 Travel time to work Less than 5 minutes: 139 5 to 9 minutes: 593 10 to 14 minutes: 1106 15 to 19 minutes: 1135 20 to 24 minutes: 614 25 to 29 minutes: 364 30 to 34 minutes: 475 35 to 39 minutes: 63 40 to 44 minutes: 137 45 to 59 minutes: 156 60 to 89 minutes: 125 90 or more minutes: 89 First ancestries reported: Other groups: 6905 German: 1157 Subsaharan African:: 613 African: 578 Irish: 389 English: 296 United States or American: 219 Italian: 137 Scottish: 116 Scotch-Irish: 92 Polish: 82 French (except Basque): 60 Russian: 46 European: 39 Swedish: 36 Ukrainian: 33 Dutch: 31 Nigerian: 29 British: 26 Danish: 24 Canadian: 23 Austrian: 19 Hungarian: 19 Croatian: 19 Lithuanian: 19 Iranian: 14 Arab:: 14 Welsh: 14 Swiss: 14 Scandinavian: 12 West Indian (excluding Hispanic groups):: 12 Jamaican: 12 French Canadian: 10 Czech: 9 Eastern European: 8 Egyptian: 8 Guyanese: 7 Finnish: 7 Portuguese: 7 Celtic: 7 Maltese: 6 Icelander: 6 Romanian: 6 Australian: 6 Arab/Arabic: 6 Other Subsaharan African: 6 Czechoslovakian: 6 Norwegian: 5

This is (left to right) our friends, me, and my wife, all reflected in a canal in Venice back in 2003...

Wow, what service! Actually, I think I prefer the winter shot, oddly enough - but it looks like a cool spot!

The State Street shot is so inviting and gorgeous...thank you, and keep them coming! Say, you happen to have a shot from that same angle from when it's warm? Would be a great comparison - would warm the heart!

Wow...just wow. So I'm guessing the last one is Sycamore, right at the turn... Interesting, the 1400 block of Eastern either means Twain's Point or Ted Berry Park... Thank you so much for posting these - they're fantastic!

Very nice - your gritty shot has a great look. First Ohio president was William Henry Harrison, then Grant, then Hayes, and then Garfield...then Benjamin Harrison, then McKinley, then Taft, then Harding...

Ah, thank you - especially the Boston one - it's great to wake up to an unexpected visit from Boston...and now that a) my computer's back up, and b) the trend is to post from the Ghosts of Winters Past, I'll have to do some digging, find some fun winter stuff...

I just tried to use both of the above links on my Blackberry, and it wouldn't connect...just wanted to check, are they still up and operational? Could easily have been the Blackberry...

I'm visiting family in Cleveland over New Year's...that means the last week of the season, with Cincinnati playing KC (currently 8-4) after playing three 4-8 teams, and Denver playing who, San Diego? (currently 8-4) after playing three 4-8 teams, with a 1st round bye and home field advantage likely to be on the line, what'll I have to watch? Cleveland-Baltimore. No offense to my Cleveland friends, and I'd love to see Modell's birds stomped, but honestly - aargh...

You rock.

Oh, that's really disappointing. I don't know enough about personnel to know if this is good or bad, but I know I really liked him...nice that he'll get to play at home, though...best to him.

I emailed Chip Hunter: I see that construction has stopped. Someone thought there were building permit issues...is that what's the hold up? Any idea when things might beging moving forward again? ...and he replied within a half hour: Construction is on hold only because we are waiting to get the required number of presales for the bank. There are no building permit issues. The site work done this Summer was just to get the area prepped so we can move ahead quickly when the presales are met. Behind the scenes the project is actually going very well. My reply: That's fantastic! Glad to hear there aren't any problems and things are proceeding apace. I've seen one unit go under contract - how many need to go to hit the target number? ...and his reply: It's more related to a dollar volume, but approximately eight. We are close with about four more It's great to see him so responsive to someone who's told him flat out that I ain't gonna buy a unit, just looking to be a good neighbor to them...

Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals?

Ink - indeed. Here's the thread. Jake - I think I agree with you on all of that. I generally prefer local control, and budgets are the biggest means of control - but we've tried it already and don't like the results. I'd be open to all the reforms you talk about. However, what does that mean for this CPS building and repair project? Reading back through your posts, I think what you've said is that you agree with the CPS building and repair program, because the facilities need it, but it's unfortunate because the schools could have been fine if they'd have been maintained properly over the years. Is that accurate? If so, I think I got confused because Ink said, "All I can say is that I hope all of you who are against modern schools were against PBS and GAB," and you replied "I was and still am." I read that as meaning you're against modern schools, but now I'm thinking you were just answering the PBS and GAB part. And that said, I think we mostly agree - but I do believe there are exceptions. Windsor Elementary seems like just such an exception, for the reasons I posted above.

"You're wrong, but don't pay attention to me saying that" is hardly an invitation not to upbraid you for putting words in my mouth. Stating that I could have been clearer is great - I agree, I didn't get the point across as well as I could have. But it's a hell of a leap from that to saying I think all public school families are poor and apathetic. I went to public schools too, and I like to think they did a pretty good job. Anyway, aside from arguments about things we didn't say, I think we're both supporters of the building and repair program, which is really what's relevant here.

A below-ground parking garage would be below flood stage of the Ohio, and depending on how low it went, even below pool stage. Maybe they could seal it off or something, but that would probably be pricey. And building an above-ground garage would block views from across the street, where Captain's Landing or whatever is going in. Not saying I wouldn't far prefer a garage to surface parking there - just bringing the points up.

Dude, you've got to start reading for comprehension. I never said every public school family was poor or apathetic. But if you've got apathetic parents, they aren't going to lay out cash for Catholic school tuition. That means you'll have a lower ratio of apathetic-to-involved families in Catholic school than you will in public school.

Every apartment I ever had that offered "free heat" just proved the old adage, "you get what you pay for." The worst was a house in O'Bryonville, where the bedroom would lock in around 56-57 degrees...we had to buy space heaters - but of course, we paid the electric bill...

I agree with a lot of your statements, but I'm not sure I understand exactly what your conclusion is - are you saying they ought not bother fixing the schools, or they should definitely fix some but not others, or they should fix them but not replace them, or replace some/fix some, or something else? I agree that there's an artificial selection that occurs, that the parents who couldn't care less aren't likely to pay for a Catholic school for their kids, which keeps the public schools overloaded with the poor and the apathetic - and I agree, learning is learning is learning, and if it was done in 1915, it can be done today. And I agree, CPS seems to have a poor track record of maintaining its buildings. But what are you saying should be done? Here's my earlier post regarding Windsor Elementary - I think replacing schools like this is the best solution for the district and for the kids. Its problems aren't rooted in neglect, but in the completely different world it was built in: It's 1888 construction, masonry walls, cast concrete floors - there's only so much you can do to update it. Its setting prevents you from controlling access to the site, which is a real security concern they didn't have in 1888; there was no ADA in 1888; there were no parking/traffic flow concerns in 1888, no school busses in 1888. If it were just one or two things, those could be worked around or dealt with. But considering all of those issues, plus inadequate ventilation, plus tiny classrooms, plus what I've read being described as "poor restrooms", plus no sprinkler system, plus maintenance costs, I think building the new Douglass Elementary is a wise use of funds. And I don't believe Windsor is the worst of the buildings they're decommissioning - I don't know the other facilities, but I'd imagine it's probably one of the schools in better shape physically - it looks well maintained on the outside, at least. It's just completely inadequate as a school today.

^Ouch...that sucks. I was sitting snug at home in front of a fire, eating some tasty beef stew with rolls and a nice glass of bourbon...sorry...

...meanwhile... Who. Frickin'. Dey.