Civvik

Don't forget a possible currency crisis! That $3 might magically turn into $5. :P

I just spoke to one of my partners who was a volunteer at the event. He felt that many were getting off onto tangents that was not design focussed, ie. putting hiring requirments on the casino and still debating the casinos affect on crime. I would not lay this at the feet of the developer as to whether the charrette was constructive or not. In some ways it sounds reminiscent of how 3CDC was talked about in certain circles when they first started in OTR. I lay everything at the feet of the developer. It's their project. All charrettes are hard to keep on task, but when they are conceived and paid for by a particular interest who expects some level of guidance and a set of deliverables, they can be more productive. In this case the "particular interest" would be the developer. As an alternative example, the city of Charlotte has a Developer Response system where they call in a consultant-managed charrette process to represent the city's input on a major private project or infrastructure decision. But to Cincy's defense, usually the first pow wow is all over the place, with people airing their grievances and going on tangents. That's why they are often set up as a series over several days.

I believe I read summer...

Wow, and they want to be operational WHEN?

I just spoke to one of my partners who was a volunteer at the event. He felt that many were getting off onto tangents that was not design focussed, ie. putting hiring requirments on the casino and still debating the casinos affect on crime. I would not lay this at the feet of the developer as to whether the charrette was constructive or not. In some ways it sounds reminiscent of how 3CDC was talked about in certain circles when they first started in OTR. As someone who has helped facilitate a similar type of event (a SWOT), I can tell you that it is easier to keep a classroom of 3rd graders on task, then a room full of adults. Oh hell yes. I've done both. First graders on field trip...MUCH easier than room full of property owners. Dear God...

The length and productive capacity of the event might be proportional to how seriously the developer actually takes the idea.

I know I've mentioned this before, but y'all really should explore what Pennsylvania is doing with the policy reforms in their DOT. http://www.smart-transportation.com/themes.html

Here's an alternative list that came out last year. http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20091217/southern-states-are-the-happiest

I can say that from my perspective of just coming back from Florida in the middle of winter, even with all Florida's problems, Ohio feels like total crap. What do I mean by that? First of all, the weather. Its a massive shock on the body to go from ubiquitous and ever present sun and warmth to a gray, desaturated world. But weather is easy compared to the ever-present emptiness of Ohio cities. You get used to this chaotic, tacky, infuriating population in Florida that chatters loudly at you in random languages and clogs the roads and makes weekend waits at restaurants 4 hours long. Its infuriating, but its also very much alive. Growing and pushing at the boundaries of the built environment in every way. Back in Cincinnati, it's like someone threw a party and nobody showed up. Block after block of grand old buildings, and not a soul on the street. A lot of urban Florida looks like absolute shit. But people use it. There is very little there that is abandoned. You come to a place like Cincinnati or Cleveland and you see these great dark swaths of city that are just rotting in place, and it's not just a shame, it feels viscerally wrong. Like you're looking at a corpse. You get the sense that you should run, that its bad energy, that you're witnessing something unnatural and disturbing. Certainly, you get used to it. Especially if you grow up here. And if you have imagination and courage, you can see through it to something better. But, coming back to Cincinnati from Florida has given me a great deal of understanding on why people flee the rust belt, and why people in other parts of America don't like this place.

I remember when people were flying the Chicago flag instead of the American flag after the 04 elections.

I personally think Carew should be re-clad in vertical aluminum, granite and glass bands, Cesar Pelli style.

I'm guessing that's all sarcasm? I honestly can't tell.

Dan B: I said in a perfect world, not the real world Sherman: Don't argue just for the sake of being argumentative

Oh yeah and brick. Brick would be nice.

Orientation - Entrances clearly identified by the buildings form and oriented towards the street or corner; keep the "back" things in the back like loading, maintenance, mechanicals; overall massing should match or at least compliment the surrounding buildings Articulation - Interesting variation and patterns in the building facades along the street, ideally no more than 40' of facade without a structural break of some kind; windows and openings should be vertical instead of horizontal; overall, the neighorhood is regular patterns of vertical elements - vertical windows, doorways, facades, massing, so a new building should respect that Transparency - Buildings should activate the street, so transparency at street level as much as possible, be that actual windows or using articulation, access and lighting to keep the street-level facade interesting, inviting and safe feeling

National security doesn't get mentioned much as an argument for rail. What happens to the gas-tax-funded highway system when we stop buying gas? Will there be tax increases in other areas to compensate? Will we tax the electricity that recharges your hybrid? The hydrogen? The system will blow a gasket.

I think 75 certainly should be widened, in its current state. It's a broken pipe. In a perfect world, the interstates would never have penetrated the beltway at all, we would have a nice transit system, and the area that 75 demolished would be a thriving historic neighborhood. Unfortunately for us, that perfect world is called Western Europe.

I still believe there needs to be some sort of collaborative vision. The Plat of Philadelphia, NYC's Commissioners Plan of 1811, the Chicago Plan. All grand enterprises. Did they all completely come to fruition as originally drawn up? No, but their ambitious goals enabled each of these cities to grow in a successful and well managed manor. I know I'm being an idealist dreamer because it all comes down to time and money but just once I'd like to see Cincinnati be bold. Cincinnati will never be bold as you wish for it to be. If the people were more progressive, took more risks, it would not be Cincinnati. It's in the region's DNA. Part of what makes it what it is.

The Senate had its Friends and Family soft open tonight. It was packed of course. They had a few things circulating from the menu: a curried fried eggplant sandwich, a few of their hot dog varieties and a really good corn and crab chowder. It turned out about what you'd expect from the construction photos, simple but warm. I think it will be a nice addition to the neighborhood.

I would put my entire planning career on the line (actually, I will, since I'm dumping the profession for medicine) in saying that this was political far more than it was a technicality on the NEPA process or the "competitiveness" of the application pool. I can only assume that Mallory/Dohoney aren't stupid; they wouldn't aggressively pursue funding for this if there were some blatant hole in the application.

I can't remember what that thing is called when you say but dont say the T in a word like Dayton. I think it's a glottal stop?

^Epic.

As for this news today, I was personally shocked, and my intuition is that some political shenanigans pulled Cincinnati off of the list in the last month or so. Let's look at the strengths of the initiative: -Connects largest employment centers of a city with no fixed transit -Activates an enormous underutilized historic district -Championed by a black democratic mayor, benefits diverse neighborhoods, under a black democratic presidency -A swing state I know Cincy's plan wasn't bulletproof, but no plan ever is. Does it assassinate the project? Nah. But this was a high profile process, and I think this was political, perhaps the result of some exchange for something else.

Orlando is still the largest. Their Light Rail defeat by the county commission was a surprising and terrible blow to its supporters, much more so than anything that's ever happened in Cincy.

Is that 350 feet WITH or WITHOUT a flagpole? ***In before trolls.***