Civvik

I hope they don't knock it down. Someone went through the trouble of getting the entitlements, might as well use them.

Living in Chicago and seeing all the trains on Cubs game days, this also never struck me as preferential. It was just...good transit planning.

^ Aww, broken link Prok!

I'm not entirely sure how that would play out architecturally. But hey, anything's possible.

Conflicts of interest undermine trust, but do not invalidate facts. I would hope most points are factual. Really, I'm just asking to be critical of what is said here, and if you're not getting the facts you want, keep asking. Pontificating will not get them.

Re: the argument that some people can't afford a hotel stay for a ball game. Noozer said that many people do, not that many people would. You guys are arguing about speculation, but I don't think he was speculating. You could of course ask him for evidence.

Who pays a lot of taxes to the city? Suburban residents? Or are you a city resident? If you mean suburban residents, I wasn't aware of that. Can you explain? Isn't there a payroll tax for Cincinnati? Thank you Sherman. Things that are obvious to some are completely missed by others. All you had to say was "people who work in Cincinnati." Clearly not everyone works in the city, nor even a majority. Your generalization made it sound like there is some blanket transfer from the suburbs to the city, of which I was not aware, so I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt, politely.

It is funny that you say this, because in my experience the Cincinnati region has one of the weakest relationships to its namesake city that I have ever seen. I grew up in the suburbs (like many if not most on this site, so I don't quite buy the "we don't understand the suburban point of view") and I know people who have never been downtown. To me, greater Cincinnati is pretty fragmented and insular. I think you have a lot of good observations. But I wonder if the real culprit is not so much city-hating, as it is the illogical and overlapping patchwork of jurisdictions in this metro area, among many others. I think many people in the region don't understand because our interdependence is not clearly explained, and is not part of everyday awareness.

Who pays a lot of taxes to the city? Suburban residents? Or are you a city resident? If you mean suburban residents, I wasn't aware of that. Can you explain?

Do you think business travelers are the only ones using the interstates?

Well, one of the bigger issues with one-way pairs is that they dominate the whole circulation pattern of the neighborhood. There will be trade-offs, hopefully not zero-sum. But, one thing you do gain outright is route flexibility, not limited to the converted streets but to all turns and approaches hooking up to them.

Wealthy and traditionally powerful communities like HP that answer to a larger city government are often indignant and can quickly move with a lot of neighborhood solidarity on an issue. A nice way of saying they're know-it-alls and are used to getting what they want. That doesn't let the city off the hook for bad communication though. You should have neighborhood buy-in.

According to all of the streetcar supporters, people WILL NOT ride buses. Which is it? It is a straw man argument. Behave.

I think it falls under the category of "city" and not "business." Contrary to conservative American belief, all currency-using entities are not businesses. People are not businesses. Families are not businesses. Governments are not businesses. They share some characteristics, like various forms of budgeting resources. But they are different animals. A different example, maybe not better but just from a different perspective, is that a city is an organism. In Cincinnati's case, maybe it's a depressed organism. You could assess the symptoms of its depression, and the negative effects in life that the depression causes. You could focus on these and try to improve them. You could try counseling. But perhaps a specific antidepressant would help. Something small, focused. It might not work, but it might. It might cost money, but it's worth a try. It's certainly better than just smiling more, or wearing nicer clothes.

I've met many homeless people who I have enjoyed talking to, who add to an interesting street scene, and who have a real sense of pride. Still, if I were the Drop Inn Center board, I'm not sure I would be welcoming the new park, the new school, the new Music Hall, and the new residents - and thinking that "we have it pretty good." The small percentage of DIC users who do and will cause trouble, even though its mostly nuisance calls, will cause grief for the DIC in proportion to the amount of new development. I think it will simply become untenable for them to stay, and if they are smart they will move to a better long term location before their reputation and support is seriously damaged. I think you are probably right, and apparently so do people on city council.

^You? Taller building? I'm shocked. I think it looks pretty good, from what I could see of the I-just-pirated-phantom-menace-on-opening-night video clip.

^ True but the quotes from Qualls strongly indicate that they are considering breaking up the facility to cater to different users. The concentration of poverty is more of a problem than poverty itself. It could be responsibly broken up. To underscore how big of a threat homeless men actually are (or are percieved to be even in the social services community) I used to volunteer at the Orlando, FL center. It was mainly for grown men, with outdoor lockers and shelters for the frequent rainstorms. We served breakfast in two phases. Women and children came in from other parts of the neighborhood, the doors were deadbolted, and they ate. They were cleared out the opposite doors and given time to disperse, then the grown men were led in. Based on the experience I had working with that organization, I can only imagine what CPS and SCPA think about having the DIC moved.

What if the state let the 4 cities decide on their own hours? Cincinnati could define a "casino district" where last call was say 4AM, or 24 hours. You couldn't really argue with that on moral or crime grounds at this point. Pandora's box is already open. And if the state doesn't budge, no neighboring states have 24 hour consumption anyhow. These casinos won't be at a disadvantage. It's not like they are competing with Las Vegas.

The Drop Inn Center has it pretty good right now. They don't have to move. The neighborhood is getting better all around them. The park that is their de facto overflow space is about to get upgraded.

I love how he quotes Central Parkway as a "dream road," and today it's a dead zone operating at about 30% of lane capacity.

This brings the funding to about 86 million? Does that sound right?

re: Luken, didn't someone mention that he is involved in the highway lobby?

It does not appear that they plan to bury any utilities. The $2.3 million that's cited for all the projects wouldn't be nearly enough if you included burying utilities. Most Europeans find it baffling that we go through the trouble of digging open the ground to run pipes, but then just hang power lines from wooden poles like animals, especially right downtown in our biggest cities. But they do it in Canada and Australia, too, so it's not just a "stupid American" thing.

What of the transit center under 3rd street, then?

That diagram of the park's fountain makes no sense to me. Is there a glossary of water fountain terms online somewhere. Specifically I'm wondering about "Water Jet Rooms" and the "Interactive Water Runnel" It's just a sprayground! Build random water gadgets, add children, profit. A runnel is just a small course of water, like a small stream. A water jet room is just an area where vertical jets of water periodically or continuously enclose a small space. And you know the bums won't be sleeping on it.