It's a really hard site to plan. It's basically your nightmare scenario: "A" streets on your front and back, and not enough block depth to deal with it. This site was my sophomore studio project. Nobody could make the dual-frontage thing work with parking, even when you pushed the requirement way down. Parking is an urban designer's worst enemy

I'm not clear on the number of levels of parking (including the exterior "Plaza" level), but it seems like a few bays(structural) on the bottom level of the McMillan side could be spared for small retail of some sort. Any amount would be better than a huge wall of parking. I guess it all depends on how far back they are willing to excavate into the hillside. It is a challenge, but I believe this is the biggest issue with the plan.

The newest business coming to The Clifton Heights "Old Towne Business District" is... Quiznos Subs!

 

It's going in at the corner of Wheeler & McMillan.  I believe there was a salon located in the space, but they moved into the very next unit.  I guess you just can't get enough subs... Penn Station, Jersey Mike's, and Subway are all right there in that strip, not to mention the sub and sandwich options from Baba Budan's, Potbelly, Panera, Spicy Pickle, etc...

We Cincinnatians love our sandwiches and burrito options.

Quiznos is great, although this new branch will put an end to my bi-monthly (or so) trip downtown for the specific reason of going to Quiznos for lunch.

^So you go Downtown once or twice a month and go to Quiznos of all places for lunch?

^ :-) I go downtown 3, 4, 5 times a week.  Once or twice a month I do make a trip for Quiznos specifically, though.  Have you been to Quiznos lately? It's pretty darn good.  One of my favorite chains.

Oh, ok...that's much better.  I just read it the wrong way the first time.  I had Quiznos maybe two months ago and it was just as average as I remember it being.  But to each their own.

Ugh. Quiznos sucks. I'd much rather have Penn Station. Hell, I like Subway better than Quiznos.

Subway is by far the worst uptown sandwich option.  You guys are crazy, hating on Quiznos.  It's a welcome addition to what is basically the CUF food court. 

To be painfully candid, whenever I go into a Quizno's it smells like puke to me (maybe it's just the downtown 4th street one, although I am not so sure).

To be painfully candid, whenever I go into a Quizno's it smells like puke to me (maybe it's just the downtown 4th street one, although I am not so sure).

 

$5 for the five meat stack.  I rest my case.

... Penn Station, Jersey Mike's, and Subway are all right there in that strip, not to mention the sub and sandwich options from Baba Budan's, Potbelly, Panera, Spicy Pickle, etc...

 

Don't forget Jimmy John's!

Subway is the worst.  Been going down hill since they eliminated the Sub Club.  Quizno's will be a good addition for hot subs, but of course they can't beat Penn Station.

To be painfully candid, whenever I go into a Quizno's it smells like puke to me (maybe it's just the downtown 4th street one, although I am not so sure).

 

OMG! LOL! I thought the same thing! It was a couple years ago when I was in there but smell is the strongest sense tied to memory.

Subway was pretty bad in the 80's.  No matter how bad you think they are now, they're way better than they were then.  Also, there are different prices around town due to the various franchise agreements.  I recently discovered that the BP on Mitchell Ave's subway has *$4* footlongs on Tuesdays. 

 

Also, the Taco Bell in Northside is a few cents cheaper than the one at McMillan and Highland. 

There is some construction/streetscaping going on at the corner of Ohio & Calhoun.  If I had to guess, I'd say they are installing either a traffic signal or just a lighted crosswalk sign at that intersection.  (The Uptown Commons plan called for the addition of a new signal there.)

Interesting. I drove through that yesterday and didn't notice any construction whatsoever. They must have started today. There is a significant amount of pedestrians that cross there (over 100), so it must have warranted a traffic signal.

Interesting. I drove through that yesterday and didn't notice any construction whatsoever. They must have started today. There is a significant amount of pedestrians that cross there (over 100), so it must have warranted a traffic signal.

 

I think I saw a little work being done yesterday, but they have a giant auger there right now.  Which is why I believe they're going to put in a telephone pole or traffic signal pole.

Drivers here hate pedestrians so the more traffic signals the better.  Anything to slow down the drivers that aim for the people walking.  When Commons is built, that whole area will be a madhouse of people just you watch.

^This is just a random musing, but I wonder if fewer traffic signals and more roundabouts or stop signs wouldn't actually increase safety for walkers.  I know I get exasperated when I am stuck at a traffic lights that require me to wait when there is clearly no traffic.  Drivers, particularly in urban areas, get used to the traffic lights to tell them what to do, and subsequently feel as though they own the road when there is no read light.  If one didn't have the feeling, "if I don't beat this light I'll have to wait here for five minutes" one might end up being a more respectful driver.  Just a consideration.

kinda like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space

^Exactly.  This quote from the wikipedia article says it all:

 

"We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behaviour, ...The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."

 

Another aside- I find it ridiculous that you can often get a ticket for going 10 miles above the speed limit on an Interstate but I've never seen anyone get a ticket for driving through a zebra-stripe crosswalk when there are people crossing the street (e.g. Fifth Street between Fountain Square and the Westin).

^ I've seen the University of Cincinnati Police ticket plenty of people for not stopping for pedestrians around campus. 

 

Being both a frequent driver and pedestrian, I'm on the fence here.  I do think it should be the responsibility of the pedestrian to make sure the driver see's you before stepping out into the street though.  When you're moving at 25MPH and paying attention to other cars, signals, etc. it can be difficult to spot pedestrians. 

 

^That's good.  I can't say I'm driving around the University too often.  I've certainly never seen that happen Downtown, where I generally am.  I've also never seen it happen in Hyde Park Square or on Glenway Avenue.

The new Ohio avenue signal is desperately needed.  There are far more people crossing there than at the Stratford Heights crosswalk on Clifton avenue, which has its own signal.  Don't forget that when McMillan Park/Uptown Commons is built, there will be massive structures on both sides of Clifton Avenue, which will make it "feel" much more congested and naturally slow traffic.  Right now, it seems like a wide, open space which encourages speeding.

^I think that the parking on both sides of the road already slows traffic.  However, during the hours of 4pm to 6pm, parking is prohibited in the right parking lane.  That's when it gets crazy.  Even worse, those parking on the left side of Calhoun next to Urban Outfitters actually obstruct the line of sight for pedestrians looking to cross.  Perhaps if they prohibited parking on the short block between Scioto and Ohio on Calhoun, then visibility would improve for pedestrians.

 

Better yet, why not just encourage visitors to use the UPA parking garage, while freeing up the right-lane parking altogether, and adding a bike lane from Vine to Calhoun?  East of Jefferson/Vine, there's no parking on the right after you near the Auburn/Euclid intersection.  I think that would work out quite well.  Euclid would be a decent connecting bike route from MLK too.

Saw today that a light pole was put up and hooked to the power line that runs along the street.. on corner of ohio/calhoun where urban outfitters is. The UPA side still has a board over the hole they dug a couple weeks ago.

They also appear to be putting up a stoplight at the corner of Clifton and College Court, which will make it more difficult for pedestrians, in my opinion.  (I use that crosswalk 4 times a day, at least).  A signal at Ohio seems necessary, because both traffic and pedestrian access is bad.  Neither of these things are ever a problem at Clifton and College Court.

I would say that America suffers from "over-signalification."

Detroit's six major avenues suffer from a lack of traffic signals, meaning people have to hang out in the chicken lane waiting for gaps.  There are many 1/4 mile stretches on these avenues where there are no traffic lights. What's so stupid about it is that all six avenues are paralleled by expressways, which makes the pursuit of speed on these big streets totally redundant from a traffic engineering perspective and a disaster from the perspective of pedestrians:

 

 

Not good:

 

This one really shows how horrible these avenues are:

Detroit definitely needs some landscaped medians, the population density there has shrunk so much that 6 lanes aren't needed, hell they probably don't even need 4 in most places.  Signals wouldn't fix the problems there, though, much like they may compound the situation around UC's campus.  around UC there's density and high numbers of pedestrians and cars, whereas Detroit has no density, and few peds and cars.

 

Of course, pedestrian crossings aren't really the biggest urban problems facing Detroit right now, so I understand if nothing is done about it. 

Detroit's six major avenues suffer from a lack of traffic signals, meaning people have to hang out in the chicken lane waiting for gaps.  There are many 1/4 mile stretches on these avenues where there are no traffic lights. What's so stupid about it is that all six avenues are paralleled by expressways, which makes the pursuit of speed on these big streets totally redundant from a traffic engineering perspective and a disaster from the perspective of pedestrians:

 

 

Not good:

 

This one really shows how horrible these avenues are:

 

These morons could have use the cross walk.  Especially the woman in teh second picture.

 

Why stand in the turning lane of a busy street on a damn cell phone?

Oh, I've got more pictures of people on cell phones.  But look at that picture again...do you see a crosswalk in the quarter mile behind her?  There isn't one.  This isn't the suburbs, either, this is in the fat middle of Detroit city.  Ironically when you cross the city limits (8 mile Rd.) into the suburbs all the sudden there are landscaped medians, but even fewer people. 

MTS, there are few crosswalks along any major boulevard (or street) in Detroit outside of downtown. Crosswalks can be one or two miles apart on these eight-lane throughfares. Why bother when you can cross the street on these mostly vacant roadways?

The continuous center turn lanes are where the streetcar tracks used to be.  The irony is that as bad as these streets are, they could be really nice with well-landscaped medians. Detroit is actually very well-suited for surface light rail because the streets are flat and wide. With underpasses for light rail at the major intersections, they could have travel speeds that approach rapid transit.  But not counting Fort, which is more industrial, if they put light rail on 8-10 miles of each of the five avenues, that would be 50~ miles of light rail, which is a hugely expensive prospect, even though the construction would be so straightforward.  Light rail is proposed for Woodward between Wayne State and downtown, but that's not going to achieve much in a city so huge.   

Not sure where's the best place to put this, but Hughes High School is coming along.  It looks like construction is finished on the McMillan side of the building.  All of the windows on that side have been replaced and earlier this week, they poured a new sidewalk from McMillan to a side entrance.

Not sure where's the best place to put this, but Hughes High School is coming along. It looks like construction is finished on the McMillan side of the building. All of the windows on that side have been replaced and earlier this week, they poured a new sidewalk from McMillan to a side entrance.

Hughes is looking great..I would have to say that the most improvement happened when they cleaned up all of the yellow molding and trim around the building

Detroit's six major avenues suffer from a lack of traffic signals, meaning people have to hang out in the chicken lane waiting for gaps. There are many 1/4 mile stretches on these avenues where there are no traffic lights. What's so stupid about it is that all six avenues are paralleled by expressways, which makes the pursuit of speed on these big streets totally redundant from a traffic engineering perspective and a disaster from the perspective of pedestrians:

 

 

Not good:

 

This one really shows how horrible these avenues are:

 

These morons could have use the cross walk. Especially the woman in teh second picture.

 

Why stand in the turning lane of a busy street on a damn cell phone?

 

A mid-block crossing with no accessible crosswalk nearby is not considered jaywalking. But the girl in the second pic is DEFINITELY breaking the law. So is the dude in the third pic. But then if I lived in Detroit I don't think pedestrian laws would be the first thing on my mind...

Fresh look on the way for Clifton Heights' business district

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/1020cliftonheightsnbd.aspx

By Randy A. Simes | Soapbox Cincinnati, October 20, 2009

 

Over the past several years dramatic changes have taken place in Clifton Heights' neighborhood business district, primarily bounded by Calhoun, McMillan and their cross streets.  A host of new businesses have opened, facades have been improved, new buildings have gone up, old buildings have come down, and more is on the way.

 

The always busy Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC) is working on plans to reconstruct the business district's streetscape and create a new gateway at Classen Park - the eastern most part of the business district.

 

Streetscaping work throughout the "Old Town" area of the business district will cost $1 million and include new sidewalks, curbs and lighting.  So far the design work has been funding through the Cincinnati Neighborhood Business Districts United (CNBDU), while another $530,000 is being applied for to help with the first phase of implementation.

 

"The business community is very excited about the progress being made," said Bourgeois.  "This has been planned for years as part of the overall revitalization and people are ready to give their input to shape the streetscape."

 

Streetscaping work at Calhoun, Ohio, and McMillan streets will include similar improvements, but also include a new traffic light at Calhoun and Ohio streets which CHCURC director Matthew Bourgeois says will cure a serious safety issue at that intersection.  Work is expected to start in early Spring 2010 and be completed within six weeks.

 

The work at Classen Park is expected to include a redesign and renovation of the current park space, and include new gateway signage, reoriented sidewalks, landscaping, lighting and more.  So far CHCURC has received $75,000 from CNBDU and $70,000 from the Cincinnati Empowerment Corporation for the $150,000 project.  Bourgeois expects work at Classen Park to begin in November and anticipates a Spring completion date.

 

"The park is our primary gateway to the neighborhood with over 22,000 cars passing daily.  The project gives us our best chance to make a positive first impression and define our neighborhood within the context of Uptown," said Bourgeois.

Where is Classen Park?

Where is Classen Park?

 

It's that little corner park at Jefferson & Calhoun, by Old St. George

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qhn8f07yqmfv&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=9034994&encType=1

 

 

Grand visions for Old St. George

 

By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • January 29, 2010

 

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100129/BIZ01/1300351/1055/NEWS/Restoring+Old+St.+George

 

 

Nearly two years after a three-alarm blaze toppled its iconic spires, the Old St. George Church near the University of Cincinnati remains boarded up and broken.

 

But momentum is slowly growing on a plan to restore the 135-year-old former Catholic Church and ensure that it remains an anchor for the evolving Calhoun Street corridor.

I'm not real educated about the local hotel market, but everywhere we turn we seem to be hearing about all kinds of hotel developments.  Certainly not all of these are going to happen, so I guess it's sort of a race to the finish line to see who can snag the hotel tenants first for their development.

Grand visions for Old St. George

 

By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • January 29, 2010

 

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100129/BIZ01/1300351/1055/NEWS/Restoring+Old+St.+George

 

 

Nearly two years after a three-alarm blaze toppled its iconic spires, the Old St. George Church near the University of Cincinnati remains boarded up and broken.

 

But momentum is slowly growing on a plan to restore the 135-year-old former Catholic Church and ensure that it remains an anchor for the evolving Calhoun Street corridor.

 

I got my first photo of the tiles there.  Already created a block.  I was hoping there would be more somewhere.  (I'm "addicted" to the computer application Electric Quilt!)

 

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2084119400011108594MwTGRT

 

Kay Ahr

hometown Cincinnati

now in Reno/Sparks, Nevada

It seems like people are noticing that there is a severe lack of non-chain hotels that exist today. People who want to live in and experience the true urban experience don't want to stay at some old dumpy downtown, suburban looking Days Inn or a Holiday Inn off of some exit in the burbs. Consequently, most of the other downtown hotels are still big chains and/or too pricey. There is a certain attraction to staying at a hotel that is truly local and not overly huge. It gives it a character and atmosphere that can't be matched in other settings.

 

I would say that makes up a small percentage of the market. Many want familiarity when they travel from place to place. Business travelers, for instance, receive a lot of perks for staying with one particular chain (e.g. Holiday Inn/Holiday Inn Express), or with the Hyatt family. My employer recommends us to stay at a particular hotel while on business, while others will not.

 

In that regard, those hotels are also more mobile and more apt to change to market demands. The Vernon Manor on Oak wasn't in a good location -- not on a major roadway, dislocated from the interstate, and not well advertised. The writing was on the wall for years, but it took the opening of the Spring Hill Suites (or whatever it is called) by Interstate 71 off of Gilbert to kill it off. The chains can move around since most are flush with cash, and recoup their losses in a few years easy.

 

And many families don't want to tempt it with some place new and foreign. I seek out chains when I travel if I'm on the interstate or in some urban area. I can expect the same quality unit, a uniform price, a standard feature set for each Hampton Inn I go to. I've stayed in many off-beat locations, and quality, service and cleanliness vary considerably. I typically don't go non-chain unless I'm at a state park lodge, or a well regarded hostel in a naturalized area.

^I think the net has made it easier to be an independent hotel (or a small group of hotels).  You used to need to be part of a big chain to help get reservations.

I'd add that revenue for hotels are collapsing in this recession (see www.calculatedrisk.com for data). I think hotels have become increasing a disposable development. They are building them for short term revenue generation with the expectation that in a generation or so the hotel will deteriorate enough that it will torn down/slowly decline in brand quality. I think the boutique model is perhaps an expansion of the European model of inns, which is sort of a bigger better run variation on the 70s and 80s of B&B movement. I think the boutiques need to be built for the long haul.

The new thing going up at Vine & MLK is the 'Nati's next roach motel. 

 

Dave, I agree, with the exception of the very nice prewar hotels, rebranding postwar hotels is a challenge.  Actually I've heard many remark that the Omni is a "bad" hotel, again symptomatic of what was the industry standard in 1930 versus now.  That said I'm sure it's better than the many old hotels which survive in New York which feature rooms with no windows or a view of a brick wall and/or shared bathrooms down the hall.   

 

If anyone's gone on the famous Portland trips, the group stays at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Portland, which was probably built around 1910.  They've done fantastic work on it and the staff is excellent.  If it's any indication of what's coming to Cincinnati, many of the questions people are asking here will be answered. 

 

Detroit's six major avenues suffer from a lack of traffic signals, meaning people have to hang out in the chicken lane waiting for gaps.  There are many 1/4 mile stretches on these avenues where there are no traffic lights. What's so stupid about it is that all six avenues are paralleled by expressways, which makes the pursuit of speed on these big streets totally redundant from a traffic engineering perspective and a disaster from the perspective of pedestrians:

 

 

Not good:

 

This one really shows how horrible these avenues are:

Knowing the effects that automobile-oriented development has had on American cities, isn't it more than a little bit ironic that the city that brought the world the automobile was killed by it?

 

Sorry for being off topic, but the karma is unavoidable.

The two that were the most successful in stopping highways and tearing them down, NYC and San Francisco, are many people's #1 and #2 favorite American cities.