Civvik

There are plenty of vibrant cities with plentiful parking. Seattle, Denver, Portland, to name just a few. Parking in Chicago is not difficult or terribly expensive. Come to think of it, the only American cities that I would consider to be a pain to park in are NY, San Fran and Boston. This idea that having cheap parking is a bad thing is misguided. There are great cities (NY, San Fran) where parking is terrible, but terrible parking isn't the reason that they are great cities. Chicago WHAT? Have you ever lived there? I have. I paid $300 a month for my residential space, and my company paid $300 a month for my work space. Then I ditched my car. People would defend on-street residential spaces with their lives.

Here's the same massing model I posted a few months ago, with residential on top that makes it 30 stories: No it's not the same arrangement of uses, but the original massing that I posted was very similar to what was submitted to the city in January.

Roll back property tax, city loses 10% population. Rebuild riverfront, city gains 300 households and a waiting list for more. Turn city into strip mall or prison, city dies. Spend money on making city a city, it grows. Wonder what the streetcar will do? Some day these principles will be taught in 4th grade social studies.

Exciting! Wanted to read the plan document, but the city's website is down.

That spot would look better with something that addressed the corner rather than treating it like an ODOT erosion control project. Maybe something with high roof pitches that reflected the Precinct turret...

Absolutely nothing about that looks like it will be successful, much less good urban planning. What a fucking mess.

I always chuckle at travel photos of Cincinnati from that "certain angle" across the river that make the city seem no bigger than Evansville or Lexington. I always wonder what people who assume it's this little river city would think after driving through its 25 miles of population hidden behind that silly camera angle that only captures 3 buildings and a hunk of stadium.

This dude couldn't possibly play the part of defeated, sinister antagonist futilely plotting and scheming in his stormy island tower.

I beg to differ. The Asian Food Festival was shade-less, table-less, and respite-less. I ate my food, drank my beer and went to the park because there was no place to just "linger" on the street. I thought it was a poorly designed festival, however delicious the food was. I don't know if you really noticed, but that part of town isn't quite...finished yet.

I don't like where this conversation is going.

I would answer but I'll wait for it to be moved to The Banks thread. :P

I would imagine a reservation?-given it is a restaurant and they are a group. Some of these abbreviated 'words' are ok-others, not so much. ha ha -- yeah that is foodie-speak for reservation! of course you have to be careful here as being "not so much" something will also get this exchange firmly pegged into the 'tweens era' too. on that note, is rigsby's still around and is it still....amazing? :laugh: :wink: I'm pretty plugged in to Cincinnati's food scene, but if I ever hear anyone use the word "rezzie" I might have to smack them! I won't smack you though, Mcadrenaline. You get a free pass.

I don't know how else to say this as succinctly without sounding offensive: Your standards are too low. If The Banks had been entirely a private endeavor and they spent so much building the infrastructure that they absolutely had to build cheap buildings to make the project work, I personally would not be so critical. But that is not the case. In reality, public money built all the infrastructure. Public guidance brought us the street grid, the parks, and held fast to the vision that the riverfront would be a natural and proper extension of the downtown grid. Then a private development team came in on top of all of that and built the cheapest building imaginable, which filled up in a matter of weeks, and in which they charged some of the region's highest rents. The proper response should have been "We have spent 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars creating this space, it is the most important space in our city, we have faith in it, and you are not going to build a cheap building there."

We're Cincinnatians, we have no choice but to believe our own echo is the smartest and most rational voice in the room. Just look at the Banks thread. There's a complaint about the building materials about every fourth comment. The Smale thread is starting to sound like a neighborhood council meeting. Cincinnatians, the laziest perfectionists you'll ever know. There is nothing wrong with complaining about the absolutely embarrassing architecture of the Banks apartments, and this criticism can exist with support and admiration for the project as a whole. I'm sorry that you live in a world where things cannot be so multidimensional.

PS: The only other option I can think of is that they close Mehring at Paul Brown and detour it up to Second.

Are there plans to move the big festivals, like Taste and Oktoberfest, to the new park someday? Asian Food Festival was freaking awesome at this location, even though it was set up on the empty street-bridge west of all the action. I do wonder, though, where they will set up such things. I can't imagine Freedom Way will accommodate being packed full of vendor tents when it is fully leased with food and service tenants. But maybe. Aside from that street, there is surprisingly little open staging area in the park, due to the slopes of the riverbank, the tiered areas, and the heavily programmed small open areas. If the first phase is any indication of the rest of it. Case in point: We were chilling at the south end of the Main Street Fountains and were surprised at how steep that drop is south toward the riverbank. I had always imagined it a more gentle slope that you could lay out on in the summer. It's more like the drop down a basketball arena bleacher section.

What is a rezzie?

Where are you from, Cincinnatus? Are you German?

I am currently on the apartment hunt for a location in downtown Columbus. I just graduated from college and need some advice on where to live. The only areas I have heard about are the Short North & The Arena District (but only in passing) so I would love everyones' opinions on the different areas & their vibes/demographics. I know basically nothing about where to live, definitely want to live in a complex. I've heard about flats on vine & the annex but would love some other options! Here is what I am looking for: 1) New(ish) apartments. I am willing to spend max of $1000 per month, need parking options. Hate to say this, but definitely a luxury apartment complex. I'm going to open on a dour note. You will be joining 10,000 other young professionals and grad students looking for the same thing, at the same time. It's competitive and frustrating. 2) Walkability. I've lived in the burbs my entire life and I am so excited to be able to walk around to run errands rather than drive. Being close to nightlife is also important, want to be able to not have to hike to the bars on weekends. Best place to start with walkability is to find a grocery store on a map and draw a 1/4 mile circle around it. This would put you in Short North, Grandview or German Village. So you're already looking in the right areas. 3) Safety. I am a 22 year old female, living on my own. Part of my rationale for wanting newer apartments is the added security You will have to choose between new/high security, cool neighborhood, and $1,000 a month. Newer housing like that near downtown starts at $1,000 a month. Arena district one-room studios go for slightly under that. 4) I like the idea of the Short North (the galleries & boutiques) but not sure HOW artsy the vibe is. I went to Miami if that helps describe myself. Short north is really a commercial strip that serves the residential neighborhoods of Victorian Village and Italian Village, roughly. In addition to the increasing amount of housing that's actually on or near High Street, those two neighborhoods are a mix of gays, grad students, wealthy urbanites, and some artsy hipsters. You'll be fine. 5) Young demographic. I don't have too many friends who will be in Columbus and I would like to meet new people. Really would like to be surrounded by young professionals rather than OSU undergrads/grad students. Honestly, all of Columbus will feel young and smart to you, coming from southern Ohio. That was my impression, anyhow. Also, on a personal note, I'm moving there to finish grad school and I'm 32. Undergrads are one thing, but there is no such thing as a "typical grad student" in a large city. 6) Relatively close access to highways. I will be working in New Albany and need to be able to have a relatively easy commute. Don't want to have to drive across town to get to the highway. This is part of my naivety about Columbus so if regardless of your location, highway access is easy - disregard this comment! They are about to reconstruct a major portion of the interstate system on the south side of downtown, so I think traffic will be dicey all around there for a few years at least. I personally have found highway access in Columbus to be pretty complicated, given how flat and featureless the city is, other than the rivers. But Short North/Arena is served pretty well by 670. Lastly, I need furniture. Not bringing my cheap furniture from college so I will need to purchase. Advice on either purchasing furniture at home & hiring movers or buying my furniture in Columbus? Always buy in the city you're moving to! That's my personal advice from when I graduated UC and moved to Chicago. I bought in Cincinnati and moved it up. It wasn't ready till the DAY I MOVED, they screwed the order up, I got it up there and couldn't get my couch through the door, etc, etc. Move first, buy a blow-up bed, and shop around in your new home city. You'll be able to easily measure everything and work with the local store on delivery. And avoid the ridiculous amount of gas that a moving truck uses.

I've seen that used as a ground cover in limited areas, it's very pretty. A bit tall though?

Look deep into that question and you will find the answer.

Yeah baby!

Hmm, another national chain restaurant signs at the Banks. Why do I feel like I'm starting to watch The Hunger Games: Restaurant Challenge. I wonder who will be the first to fall...

Your guess on the site looks about right. But how would you know that the businesses wanted to sell or not? This would be a great anchor building on that corner. And of course the apartments will sell out in 8 seconds like everything else being built in walkable neighborhoods these days.

Is the NKCDF similar to 3CDC?