Cincy's street grid was based off of Philly, I'm pretty sure the streets in the core of Cincy are the same width as much of Philly's center city.

 

That's still a very windshield-centric viewpoint.  One-way streets only convenience through traffic.  In fact the one-way streets are a hindrance to navigating the neighborhood because the incomplete grid makes it more difficult to reach a particular destination without circuitous detours.  Convenience is not more important than safety.

 

I'm not sure how analogous it is to OTR given the population discrepancy, but Center City Philadelphia is comprised almost entirely of one way streets, including South Philly which is highly residential, and I found it much nicer to deal with as a pedestrian than areas with two-way streets. One-way streets can be narrower and allow pedestrians to just check one direction when crossing. Not saying it's exactly what OTR needs, but in principle one-way streets can be highly pedestrian-friendly and don't need to just convenience through traffic.

 

The street *naming* (streets named after trees) is based on Philadelphia's but not much else.  Also, Government Square was originally more like Philadelphia's city hall square, but at some point it was split in half in the configuration it has today, and obviously the streets don't converge there in a cross.  The public markets were laid out in the original grid (Pearl, 5th, 6th, 8th [Piatt Park -- this market space was never used as a market], Court, Findlay), all of them east/west, but oddly the two Indian burial mounds were *not* given public land and were leveled in the 1820s or thereabouts. 

 

 

Nice little piece on OTR...

 

Jessie: Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati

by John Sanphillippo 10/17/2015

 

 

This is Jessie. She’s a well educated thirty year old professional with a good income. She could live anywhere she wants. She was offered excellent positions with good companies in San Francisco. While she was excited by the opportunity to live in a top tier coastal city she was smart enough to actually run the numbers before taking a job.

 

http://www.newgeography.com/content/005073-jessie-over-the-rhine-cincinnati

 

That looks like it's in Mt. Auburn to me  :-D Prospect Hill is strange because it's not actually a neighborhood, just an area, sort of like Brighton. Cincinnati has so many neighborhoods that it doesn't really have many place names like that because it’s usually not necessary to further classify a place beyond the neighborhood level.  In fact, those are really the only two in regular use that I can think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure there are more (there are some corners like Peebles and Knowlton’s but you don’t hear those much).

 

I have noticed people who live in Prospect Hill almost take offense to being told they live in Mt. Auburn, though. Once more areas of Mt. Auburn, the West End, and even CUF get redeveloped, the term “near OTR” is going to be used a lot.

 

Nice little piece on OTR...

 

Jessie: Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati

by John Sanphillippo 10/17/2015

 

 

This is Jessie. She’s a well educated thirty year old professional with a good income. She could live anywhere she wants. She was offered excellent positions with good companies in San Francisco. While she was excited by the opportunity to live in a top tier coastal city she was smart enough to actually run the numbers before taking a job.

 

http://www.newgeography.com/content/005073-jessie-over-the-rhine-cincinnati

 

That looks like it's in Mt. Auburn to me  :-D Prospect Hill is strange because it's not actually a neighborhood, just an area, sort of like Brighton. Cincinnati has so many neighborhoods that it doesn't really have many place names like that because it’s usually not necessary to further classify a place beyond the neighborhood level.  In fact, those are really the only two in regular use that I can think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure there are more (there are some corners like Peebles and Knowlton’s but you don’t hear those much).

 

I have noticed people who live in Prospect Hill almost take offense to being told they live in Mt. Auburn, though. Once more areas of Mt. Auburn, the West End, and even CUF get redeveloped, the term “near OTR” is going to be used a lot.

 

 

Obryonville

^^ actually a part of Evanston. Gasp! :-D

Nice little piece on OTR...

 

Jessie: Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati

by John Sanphillippo 10/17/2015

 

 

This is Jessie. She’s a well educated thirty year old professional with a good income. She could live anywhere she wants. She was offered excellent positions with good companies in San Francisco. While she was excited by the opportunity to live in a top tier coastal city she was smart enough to actually run the numbers before taking a job.

 

http://www.newgeography.com/content/005073-jessie-over-the-rhine-cincinnati

 

That looks like it's in Mt. Auburn to me  :-D Prospect Hill is strange because it's not actually a neighborhood, just an area, sort of like Brighton. Cincinnati has so many neighborhoods that it doesn't really have many place names like that because it’s usually not necessary to further classify a place beyond the neighborhood level.  In fact, those are really the only two in regular use that I can think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure there are more (there are some corners like Peebles and Knowlton’s but you don’t hear those much).

 

I have noticed people who live in Prospect Hill almost take offense to being told they live in Mt. Auburn, though. Once more areas of Mt. Auburn, the West End, and even CUF get redeveloped, the term “near OTR” is going to be used a lot.

 

 

Yeah, Prospect Hill, Mt. Auburn, and Pendleton residents seem to get pretty upset if you incorrectly refer to them as OTR residents. Meanwhile, a majority of Cincinnatians incorrectly refer to everything surrounding UC as "Clifton."

O'Bryonville, Prospect Hill, Brighton, Northern Liberties, East Hyde Park, CUF is technically three sub-neighborhoods (Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview), Little Bethlehem, Lytle Park, The Banks, Western Hills, The Incline District, Knox Hill, Dayton Street, Mohawk District, Clifton Gaslight District.

Don't forget the historically separate neighborhoods that are all lumped in under "East End" (Fulton, Pendleton, part of Columbia-Tusculum, Turkey Bottom, and even Linwood).  Granted these aren't really used much in general conversation like O'Bryonville, East Hyde Park, Pendleton, Brighton, etc., but there's a similar historical context anyway, and some newer signage has tried to bring back a little of that history.

I assume Jessie had to comply with the OTR historic district guidelines.  (I can't recall whether she did or not.)  Assuming that is the case, she should definitely get to say it is OTR. 

Except it's not in OtR regardless of what guidelines you want to apply to yourself.  I guess most people think of hughes st as OtR, which its not or the OTRCH keep our courts thing, which are not in OtR.  There is alot of nuance so I often just say basin and it really doesn't matter as most of the people I went to high school with think i live in clifton.

Except it's not in OtR regardless of what guidelines you want to apply to yourself.  I guess most people think of hughes st as OtR, which its not or the OTRCH keep our courts thing, which are not in OtR.  There is alot of nuance so I often just say basin and it really doesn't matter as most of the people I went to high school with think i live in clifton.

 

Although I usually try to be more specific, I would consider "downtown" to encompass all of the CBD, OTR, Pendleton, and everything going up the hill. I have definitely told people that I live "downtown" when I wanted to avoid getting into a conversation about Over-the-Rhine.

Sorta thinks the same as you - metro buses tell you your downtown when you hit the basin

Except it's not in OtR regardless of what guidelines you want to apply to yourself.  I guess most people think of hughes st as OtR, which its not or the OTRCH keep our courts thing, which are not in OtR.  There is alot of nuance so I often just say basin and it really doesn't matter as most of the people I went to high school with think i live in clifton.

 

I guess I wasn't clear, and I don't know what she actually did or not as far as the restoration.  But my place on Mulberry Street required full compliance with the OTR historic district guidelines to be able to do any work on the house.  It wasn't something I chose to apply to myself.  It's located in the district and you are stuck with it. 

 

Like I said, I don't know as far as her actual location what the requirements were.  Perhaps she didn't have any and is in Prospect Hill or Pendleton technically.

^ Prospect Hill is its own historic district, and isn't in the OTR historic district (though they may have the same guidelines). Actually, not even all of OTR is in the district (the area around Mohawk is excluded).

Just for everyone's reference, there are three "Over-the-Rhine" boundaries. The city neighborhood, the national register historic district, and the local historic district.

 

Below is the city's defined neighborhood. Just like Clifton, The West End, or Westwood this is a city neighborhood and not a historic district.

 

 

Below is the National Register Historic District of Over-the-Rhine. The city has set the same boundary as the local historic district. The historic district includes all of Pendleton as well as most of Over-the-Rhine. The national district provides funding assistance by opening up tax credits for redevelopment. The local historic district allows the city to place restrictions on the buildings to protect it from demolition and improper renovations. As you can see from the map, the northern edge of the OTR neighborhood is not included in the historic district.

 

 

The Mohawk-Bellevue Historic District is a separate historic district along McMicken Avenue in the northern tip of OTR. There is also a new historic district being created east of Mohawk along McMicken to fill in some of the missing pieces. It has been officially designated a historic district by the National Register, but it is not yet listed as a local historic district. Guidelines are being crafted by the OTR Brewery District. The new one is called the Mohawk Place Historic District.

 

http://cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation/local-conservation-guidelines

No one has been able to answer this question, but why is Pendleton a separate neighborhood when something like fairview or clifton heights not one?

I don't know why CUF is a single neighborhood. It's just the way it is. I don't know why Pendleton is a separate neighborhood. It isn't some scientific or census based reason. It's just the way it is.

 

I imagine CUF wanted to join into a single neighborhood and Pendleton wanted to be separate from OTR. What elected official is going to force Pendleton to be absorbed into OTR?

 

Perhaps CUF joined to get more clout in city hall to work together in a unified voice to combat UC's expansion a few decades ago?

No one has been able to answer this question, but why is Pendleton a separate neighborhood when something like fairview or clifton heights not one?

 

I've always wondered why East Westwood and The Heights are separate neighborhoods.

Perhaps CUF joined to get more clout in city hall to work together in a unified voice to combat UC's expansive a few decades ago?

 

That is exactly the story I have been told from some old timers. CUF was formed so the community could stand up to UC when needed, as the individual communities were just too small to have any noticeable impact on UC.

No one has been able to answer this question, but why is Pendleton a separate neighborhood when something like fairview or clifton heights not one?

 

I've always wondered why East Westwood and The Heights are separate neighborhoods.

 

The Heights is a neighborhood because CUF was discriminating against students at UC by requiring members to have lived in the neighborhood for a prohibitive amount of time. Essentially silencing them on the neighborhood level. I think they have since removed that requirement. The Heights should be absorbed back into CUF in my opinion.

 

I think Millvale, English Woods, East Westwood, Fay Apartments, and (maybe) South Cumminsville should all be merged into a larger Millvale neighborhood.

I also think the city should specify neighborhood boundaries for community councils. The community councils should be required to accept anyone in those boundaries. They should be allowed to accept additional people if they want (like OTR does to the north or they could for Pendleton residents). Also, the city should establish a structure that all councils follow (while allowing some flexibility by adding officers and whatnot). Right now it's really fragmented.

There hasn't been a post about actual development in OtR in this thread for quite a while. Why don't we get back on topic and move the above discussion to a new thread called Cincinnati Neighorhood Boundaries or something?

EXCLUSIVE: OTR nightspot owner opening music venue to compete with Bogart's

Oct 21, 2015, 6:48am EDT

Andy Brownfield Reporter

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

A Cincinnati entrepreneur behind Over-the-Rhine's Mixx Ultra Lounge and Joe's Diner is opening a large new music venue that he hopes will draw national touring acts.

 

Julian Rodgers purchased the buildings that formerly housed the Red Cheetah and Club Glitter at 1133 Sycamore St. in OTR back in August. His intention was to bring a live music venue with the same feel as the House of Blues, so he reached out to Live Nation, which owns House of Blues.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2015/10/exclusive-otr-nightspot-owner-opening-music-venue.html

I wonder if they'll invest more into it than the Club Glitter owners who literally only purchased those wavy Ikea mirrors and threw actual glitter all over the freaking place.

 

I kind of just want this building to be torn down and for proper urban infill to be built in its place. It's a terrible building and very standoffish to the street and sidewalk.

Maybe it's not fair, but if you can't own a diner that makes at least a very good hamburger, then I'm losing confidence in what your standards are for accomplishing something.

My friend is the owner of the pop-up party Tinderbox who for awhile partnered with the owner of Mixx and the diner to throw parties in those spaces. From everything I heard the guy is a trainwreck of a business owner and doesn't give a damn about much other than money. My friend bar tended for him and said it was the worst run bar she has ever worked at (she has worked at about a dozen bars in Cincy and NYC). From everything I've gathered this new venue isn't going to inspire confidence.

I would agree. Everytime I pass that building I always ask myself how the historic conversation board approved that hideous structure? Truth be told that Parkhaus Garage, that former Red Cheetah/Club Glitter building, and Diner space could all be torn down and be filled in with proper quality infill that fits that appropriate characteristics of the neighborhood.

I actually like the diner as it adds something interesting to that part of the neighborhood. I'd rather not see it torn down but rather owned and operated by a more competent business owner.

 

More importantly though is filling in the massive parking lots south of the SPCA. Not only are they gigantic and a divide between OTR and Pendleton but as far as parking lots they are just super shitty and rundown. Even if they were just cleaned up, repaved, got new fencing, etc. it would be a huge improvement for the area until buildings can be built there.

Since they're moving Mixx off Main St, any word on what will be going into that location (1203 Main)?

EXCLUSIVE: OTR nightspot owner opening music venue to compete with Bogart's

Oct 21, 2015, 6:48am EDT

Andy Brownfield Reporter

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

A Cincinnati entrepreneur behind Over-the-Rhine's Mixx Ultra Lounge and Joe's Diner is opening a large new music venue that he hopes will draw national touring acts.

 

Julian Rodgers purchased the buildings that formerly housed the Red Cheetah and Club Glitter at 1133 Sycamore St. in OTR back in August. His intention was to bring a live music venue with the same feel as the House of Blues, so he reached out to Live Nation, which owns House of Blues.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2015/10/exclusive-otr-nightspot-owner-opening-music-venue.html

 

Best quote from that article: "Mixx accounts for 80 to 90 percent of black Cincinnati eating sushi."

 

I think the new Mixx location opens up a lot of new possibilities for them, as well as freeing up a big retail space right next to the 12th & Main streetcar stop for something new. I'm excited to see what opens there next.

 

It sounds like he has quite the vision for Mixx and what it was intended to be. It just doesn't make sense to me how the same owner runs Joe's Diner, which does not have much of a concept or identity. He should either make Joe's a really great old school diner like Tucker's or try for something unique like the former Olive in the old Wympee diner in Dayton.

 

I actually think Mixx moving is sort of unfortunate. The crowd out front and the line that formed added to the streetlife of late night Main Street. Having it off by Sycamore is going to remove a large number of people from the action. Hopefully whatever replaces it is something that's equally as active at some point in the day. It's a gigantic space so it could definitely be something cool.

I actually think Mixx moving is sort of unfortunate. The crowd out front and the line that formed added to the streetlife of late night Main Street. Having it off by Sycamore is going to remove a large number of people from the action. Hopefully whatever replaces it is something that's equally as active at some point in the day. It's a gigantic space so it could definitely be something cool.

 

I agree. I always liked the Mixx activity on Main.

If the Mixx crowd follows the owners to the new location, it could help out Joe's Diner a lot by putting a very active nightlife spot right across the street.

That's true. Sycamore is just such a no-man's-land that I worry that Mixx moving there will be the end of it. There's a lot to be said about being right in the middle of the action opposed to off to the side fully separated from it for attracting people to a bar.

Look at this someone got this property 2 years ago for 20k now selling it for 500k 207 e.clifton

 

 

http://www.comey.com/p/207-Clifton-Ave-Cincinnati-City-OH-45202/mls_cincy/1469878

Though you could argue that neons is the same and id argue that it adds to the street life of main, it's only a few steps away

But Neons is different than the space Mixx is moving to in that it is visible from Main. The space Mixx is going to is the part that faces Sycamore. It's around a corner a block away. It's technically only a couple hundred feet further away, but that does a lot.

Back in the day...having Sycamore Gardens there really wasn't a detriment to either the life on Main or the club itself was it?  I lost interest in the Red Cheetah days.

I actually like the diner as it adds something interesting to that part of the neighborhood. I'd rather not see it torn down but rather owned and operated by a more competent business owner.

 

More importantly though is filling in the massive parking lots south of the SPCA. Not only are they gigantic and a divide between OTR and Pendleton but as far as parking lots they are just super shitty and rundown. Even if they were just cleaned up, repaved, got new fencing, etc. it would be a huge improvement for the area until buildings can be built there.

 

Im taking bets with my friend on how long it'll take those massive empty lots to become new condos, similar to Mercer Commons. That land right there in my opinion is prime real estate. You would think that with the Ziegler park rennovations, SPCA becoming apartments, and a 400 parking garage being built underground that whoever owns the land will realize it's a good time to sell.

I think most of them are owned by the Law Offices of Arnold S Levine.

The new Historic Board Packet came out.

 

Interesting note is that there are more new construction, this one in particular in Mulberry street. Looks very traditional Italianate. Nice cornices and trimmings as well.

 

 

The other developement is more interesting. On republic street, a developer is interested in taking that 1 story warehouse (that sits adjacent to the Trinity flats, and Low spark)..The developer wants to turn this space into a resturaunt/bar, and create a rooftop dining space. The building will also have a mural painted on it (I guess the place will be called The crown and Key?)

 

If approved, construction will start this fall and be open by early 2016.

 

 

I also thought it was interesting that this space wasn't considered a "contributing" piece of OTR, yet was built in 1920, and will soon be a 100 years old....wonder why it's considered non contribuiting in that case..?

I'm glad to see the building on Republic being used for something more than storage again. It was a residence for awhile and was pretty interesting (that OTR metalwork and garage door open up to what was the living area) but it has been used by the Quan Hapa people for storage for a couple years now. This corner has quickly become a really nice little area off to the side of the main streets.

I just got a detour alert from Metro stating that a building has collapsed in the 1800 block of Race.  Is there anyone in the area that can confirm which building and if it's salvageable?

I just got a detour alert from Metro stating that a building has collapsed in the 1800 block of Race.  Is there anyone in the area that can confirm which building and if it's salvageable?

 

doesn't sound fatal to the building from this

 

http://local12.com/m/news/features/top-stories/stories/Building-collapses-on-Race-Street-in-OTR-223542.shtml

Where is the new construction on Mulberry, TroyEros?

Where is the new construction on Mulberry, TroyEros?

 

It didn't appear to be in the OTR boundaries. It's in the historic packet for October though, look there :)

Just a random thought...So I noticed that with the new wave of construction thats happening in OTR your getting a wide range of developers, and architects. Doesn't this kind of benefit OTR? Your essentially creating a collection of diverse modern interpretations  that is similar to what you would see in OTR already (in terms of diverse architecture, and not a row of buildings see a mass production of likeness like we see today).

 

Don't get me wrong, clearly, with bigger plot sizes, you'll still see "same-ness", but with these smaller plot sizes, and more diverse portfolio of architects and developers coming on board nowadays you sort of start creating a more "authentic" modern OTR in the process.

That's definitely an accurate assessment of what's beginning to happen. I've stated it many times here, but every urban redevelopment story begins with bad new construction. It's just a reality of the finances of construction. But as a neighborhood solidifies its success more and more individuals see the merit in investing their time and money in proper design because the finances begin to work in their favor. That's when you start seeing single lots being redeveloped, single lot buildings being built, architects that specialize a little more in small scale development being hired, and developers who aren't working with nonprofits and don't need subsidies in order to make their projects work.

 

OTR is at the beginning of that point now. 3CDC is still active but now you have larger developers like Model Group, Northpointe, etc. all doing projects on their own and smaller developers doing projects like the Krukmeyer at 15th and Vine without help from tax credits or the like and Architect/Developers like BILT doing really interesting work with a really keen eye towards detail and doing things correctly. It's a good time for this city and OTR.

Developer plans new townhomes in Over-the-Rhine

Karvoto, a real estate developer and construction company founded in 2015, has plans to renovate four existing buildings and construct five new townhomes on Wade Street and Kemp Alley along the streetcar route. The approximately $4 million project will create a total of nine townhomes priced between $500,000 and $600,000.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/10/26/developer-plans-new-townhomes-in-over-the-rhine.html

 

 

There's also more info on this project in the Oct 26 HCB packet: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation/historic-conservation-board/oct-26-2015-packet/

 

And there are some listings on the CBWS website:

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/oh/cincinnati/206-wade-street/pid_9038938/

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/oh/cincinnati/208-wade-street/pid_9038632/

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/oh/cincinnati/210-wade-street/pid_9038630/

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/oh/cincinnati/212-wade-street/pid_9038637/

 

THIS is the type of place where townhome infill is appropriate. And they're a modern interpretation of typical OTR buildings instead of the same faux historic crap repeated multiple times over *cough Towne Properties cough.*

 

But seriously, the fact that only 7 townhomes are going to occupy that GIGANTIC lot along Elm is frustrating. My complex (Westfalen II) isn't much larger of a piece of property and has 33 units ranging from 420 square feet to 1,234 square feet. There's no reason the same couldn't fit on that piece of land and there's no reason we shouldn't be actively pushing for that level of density. The townhomes belong on the side streets and in the tiny gaps between existing buildings.

 

That being said, there are currently around 30 towhomes (most new construction) that will be built in the coming months in that small section of OTR. That's pretty damn impressive. It's funny when you go back to the first pages of some of these OTR development threads and compare what was exciting news back then to what is exciting news now. Sometimes it's difficult to remember just how little was happening a decade ago until you review projects that were happening back then and use Google Streetview's time machine button to tour the neighborhood back in 2007 and see the massive changes that have happened.

 

Still tons of work to do, but the pace of redevelopment and new construction is definitely impressive and continues to increase.

The financing process is much easier to build single-family homes which contributes to them being able to get these done and roll the profits into their next project.