RiverViewer

Looks like an absolutely gorgeous day! Thanks so much for the beautiful thread!

Oh, and regarding uses of old churches, while this is non-ideal, it's probably fairly unique - the steeple on the old Walnut Hills Presbyterian Church was saved when the rest of the church was torn down: http://www.mullerarchitects.com/cpa/projects/initiative_first_pres_church.html

Quimbob - that church is owned by dear friends of mine - the folks who built stained glass windows for us, among a hundred other projects. They're artists, they live on the lower level and have their studio in the upper level. Here's Rich, installing one of our windows: http://www.pbase.com/reh/image/58803846.jpg ...he does everything, from sewer lines to electric to plumbing to tattooing to stained glass to master carpentry...his wife Niki is a fantastic painter, designer, etc. Wonderful eye...the two of them are the most amazing couple I know... The church is an old German church of some sort, then it was used by the VFW for years. The first thing Rich did when they bought the place was repair the steeple...the whole support structure was rotting out...he sistered boards up to other boards, replaced, repaired, worked his way up, doing it on scaffolding all by himself, over a couple years. The most amazing part of it was that he said he spent $1200 just on bolts. I mean, holy crap! They've really saved that building. The whole thing was falling apart - part of the steeple had actually fallen off. The roof was in disrepair, the floor, the heating system, the ceilings, etc., etc. These folks are part of what makes Northside so great, and it's definitely an honor to know them...

Hmm...balancing the budget, in part, on the backs of the police and fire departments...hmm... And all that Norwood whining about the budget with the Eminent Domain abuse rings just a tad hollow now...

Like most other ex-urbs, they offer a lower tax rate - for now. Down the road, when they overbuild homes, overwhelm the infrastructure, overcrowd the schools, etc. you'll see those taxes go up. Mayday - I work in Blue Ash, a good post war Cincinnati suburb, which has utterly overwhelmed its transportation infrastructure, and just raised its income tax from 1.1% to 1.6%...how right you are...

Anyone subject themselves to Bronson's columns enough to know if he ever responded to this?

Sorry, coming on this late, but please bear in mind that the CAC and Dennis Barrie were acquitted by a jury of normal Cincinnatians, and 81,000 people saw the exhibit that liberal democratic Washington DC had already pussied out on showing... http://www.citybeat.com/2000-03-30/cover.shtml

All the parties I've been to there have been awesome... the Roberts know how to put on a good show. And the hotel is great, the lobby is just amazing, and I don't have anything to complain about the Max&Erma's thats connected. I took my date there for homecoming, and we had a great time. The balloon artist, Bernard, is pretty funny. exurbkid, endorsing Wilmington's convention center as a place for a 40-something couple to relive their club-hopping youth on New Year's Eve...

I heard that they decided not to file charges...

The signs on the buildings still talk about condos for sale...hmm...

a six-week program that culminates with playoffs and the Feb. 23 Contusion Bowl. The Contusion Bowl...funny as well. Not as funny as Frosy Balls, though...

Regarding Albert Paley: could be very interesting! Here's some of his stuff: http://www.albertpaley.com/portfolio.asp?category=4&title=sitespecific

Batsakes rocks...definitely a treasure. I bought a hat from them a few years ago - service was indeed stellar.

Yes, indeed! Nicely done!

Thought I'd see if anyone were interested in reviving this thread...can you name where this shot was taken from?

Indeed, very, very nice...not sure how I missed this one! Thank you so!

You could also bookmark http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?action=unread or http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?action=unread;all or http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?action=unreadreplies - just another option!

Yeah, getting to Highland at Ridge (which is actually Columbia Township) is an odd one, but that's not really a good measure of SORTA's performance. I guess if it doesn't get you to where you want to be in a timely way, then that's poor performance...but it's certainly not universally slow. From downtown, you can get to UC in 12 minutes, Rookwood in 25 minutes, Glenway Crossing in a half hour, Western Hills Plaza in 35 minutes, Mt. Lookout Square in 40 minutes, and even all the way out to Tri-County Mall in an hour...generally, it's twice the time it would take to drive - with exceptions like Highland at Ridge, or Kenwood Mall, which for some reason takes at least an hour from downtown... But the point is, you can definitely get around to a ton of great neighborhoods in a reasonable amount of time using SORTA...I'd love it if it were better, but bang for your buck, it's really a great deal, with pretty darn good service.

Gov't Square is a few blocks, too, although these buses seem incredibly slow for getting to neighborhoods beyond downtown. An hour to Norwood! I can't imagine it taking an hour unless something went wrong...looking at the schedule for the #4, it's 25 minutes during off hours and 35 during peak times, downtown to Surrey Square. If you're talking about Rookwood, it's 20 minutes on the #11, #12x or 69. Maybe if you were going to Clifton first and connecting on a cross-town bus, but that's the only way I can imagine it taking that long... BTW, welcome to the city!

A quick driving tour up Vine Street in Carthage...had cause to swing through there yesterday, and while I certainly didn't capture the feel of the lower strip of Vine, I think I got the character of the upper strip pretty well... First, beautiful St. Matthew's Evangelical. Never been in it, but it looks gorgeous: A Carthigian side-street: El Valle Verde corner store, next to Casa Guerrero II: Carthage Lodge, 573 F. & A. M. Googling shows that this Masonic lodge merged with the Norwood lodge. A "medical center": ...and a used car lot: I missed a lot of the feel of the street - I mean, I didn't get out of the car, I just pulled over to the side - but there are a lot more shops, and a lot more people, than this thread shows...note that even the Buy Here/Pay Here used car lot is small, unobtrusive, and in an interesting building. I really am a Carthage fan. That is, I'm a Carthage fan on Vine below Paddock/North Bend. Here's Carthage's Vine Street above P/NB: One fun redeeming item: ...and as an added bonus, I saw this bumper sticker on the way home, and thought they really should have printed "not" with a better quality ink..."Addicted to Sports Drugs" isn't exactly a great message to be sending...

Why, there are Taco Bells all over the city! In fact, with a new one planned at Highland and McMillan!

...actually, that's not true...at least according to this, there were more immigrants in 1996 from Mexico than from all of Europe combined. See also here. Not to say that it's tolerable to some people to accept certain folks and reject certain others - I have no doubt that is true. But as a nation, we accept far more Hispanics than any other group - it's not even close. EDIT: Here's another link, this time to actual government data...

For driving directions, I just use 45202 instead of Cincinnati...but yeah, every map I remember using has done the same thing...

You just need to read more closely!

Indeed...26ish feet is pool stage, and most of the time it's below 30 feet - in these shots, it's at 46.44 feet.