I'm pretty sure I'd pack up my stuff, sell my condo in OTR, and just leave if something like that was proposed. The Banks is bad but that's a whole 'nother level of bad. The architect's crapitecture game is on point.

Sweet zombie jesus that's something straight out of 1976. 

Apparently this is a rendering of the site from 2008. Though, I'm not sure what happened to the original buildings on either side.

 

Is it worse than these?

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1273673,-84.5147686,3a,75y,148.22h,93.11t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swPOoP480ufmY370o5NR9Ow!2e0

Is it worse than these?

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1273673,-84.5147686,3a,75y,148.22h,93.11t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swPOoP480ufmY370o5NR9Ow!2e0

 

I'd go ahead and say yes, definitely.

Johnny Rockets is nasty and I'm surprised they're still in business.  Probably the worst servers and burgers anywhere.

 

I didn't think the food was too bad, but the prices were beyond ridiculous.  My dad and I both got burgers and fries with a drink and the bill was $35.  And we didn't even get the full menu that was listed online.

I dont think that one on google maps is so bad, its atleast kind of cool in a futuristic way. they could always save money and copy the design of that health place on vine and liberty or the metal two round sections building between pnc and marathon on mlk near that dunkin donuts.  cranley would probably put a big mission accomplished banner up afterward.

Renaming 3rd Street conversation moved here: Cincinnati: State of Downtown

Why are there no trees planted in the massive sidewalks along 2nd Street? It makes 2nd Street feel so barren. All of the other streets (3rd Street, all north-south streets, Freedom Way, Mehring Way) have landscaped trees in the sidewalks.

There were trees planted on the opposite side, but like many street trees, they can be affected by shallow beds and environmental stress. Pretty much all of the trees along 2nd were stressed and in the process of dying; the ones on 3rd are not faring that much better. I believe there were also issues of the membranes beneath the plantings over Fort Washington Way and on 2nd prematurely failing, leaking water down below.

Seems like a good place for those round concrete planters.  Even if they can't support much of a shade tree, a small evergreen and some annuals would do a lot to help buffer the sidewalk from the highway...I mean 2nd Street. 

According to this article following Mayor Cranley around, there is a plan to make The Banks an entertainment district possibly by the All Star Game in mid-July.

 

At 2:26 p.m., incoming Ohio Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger, a Republican from Clarksville, in Clinton County, called Cranley on his cellphone to talk about the proposed entertainment district at The Banks. It won't be in place by Opening Day, but supporters are hopeful it can be approved by the All-Star Game in July.

What will that change? Is this in conjunction with an attempt to push for open container laws in entertainment districts as was previously discussed years ago?

I believe it will open up a certain number of new liquor licenses for restaurants to purchase. Cincinnati currently has a limited number of liquor licenses that they can dole out to the city as a whole (as does every city in Ohio) based on population. Entertainment Districts allow additional liquor licenses to be given within a geographic area to establishments that serve food. This means it doesn't take away liquor licenses from other neighborhoods and they aren't sold for $15,000-$30,000 each. Instead they are a flat rate. I think something like $2,000. It lowers the cost of entry for a new establishment.

That's what I thought. That's good then. Maybe we can get Phase I all filled up by then if the start-up costs are more enticing.

They need to start calling the open-container districts "Festival Districts" or something. There already are entertainment districts.

^But I thought the idea was that in order to be "open-container" it had to be an entertainment district. So essentially they'd be one in the same.

^But I thought the idea was that in order to be "open-container" it had to be an entertainment district. So essentially they'd be one in the same.

 

I don't believe so, but even if that is the case, the number of entertainment districts will greatly outnumber the other kind of entertainment districts. see how confusing this is?

I'm pretty sure the wording the last time the open container proposal came up was that a certain number of entertainment districts per population could be designated open container. 300,000 people was the cutoff for having three allowed meaning we'd only be allowed two with rumors of them being OTR and The Banks with Mt. Adams coming in as the third if we surpass 300,000 by the next census.

I haven't heard anything about those open container districts in a long time.  Is that still a possibility?

Funny you should ask: http://www.whio.com/news/news/local/ohio-senate-to-vote-to-allow-open-alcohol-in-enter/njKLg/

 

Fifteen cities and townships in the Miami Valley would be eligible to create half-mile by half-mile outdoor drinking areas where partiers could carry open alcoholic beverages, if an Ohio Senate bill becomes state law.

 

State senators voted 31-0 on Tuesday on a bill that would allow cities or townships of 35,000 or more people to create “outdoor refreshment areas” where adults could buy beer, wine and other drinks from establishments with liquor licenses and then wander outdoors while enjoying their beverages within the designated district.

 

This could impact areas such as the Oregon District in Dayton.

 

 

If applied at The Banks, do you think this outdoor drinking allowance would extend through the park and down to the River? It'd be so nice to be able to buy a bottle of wine and some food to-go to eat on the river bank...

^I would really hope so. That would be basically perfect for The Banks. Liven up the entire area.

 

One thing I've noticed about places with open container laws is that people tend to not get anywhere near as drunk because they're not just sitting at one bar all night repeatedly ordering but rather moving about, stopping into multiple establishments. Not only is that better for safety but it also helps add excitement to the street which is major for an urban district. Savannah always felt so alive when I lived there yet it's a tiny region. It obviously thrives in the tourism department, but even at times when tourists weren't flocking to the city the streets were always filled with people. It was one of my favorite qualities of the city as someone who personally thrives off being around lots of people and being social.

1/2 mile by 1/2 mile is pretty big. A quick measure looks like The Banks district could span from the north edge of Fountain Square to the river, and almost from Plum to Main. I wonder if the city would try for the full extent, or just keep it south of 2nd Street.

I've posted more details about the districts here.

 

To be clear, the area is limited to one half mile by one half mile. You can only drink opened containers that were purchased at places with permit to allow drinking on premises (such as casinos, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc). You cannot legally purchase from a corner store, walk down the street, and crack open a beer or open a wine bottle. That is illegal as the law is written.

 

There doesn't appear to be anything in the law that prohibits park space from being included in the district, though.

Also, let's refer to these as "Outdoor Refreshment Areas (or ORAs)" instead of "entertainment districts". This is how the law is written and will limit confusion when talking about actual entertainment districts.

 

If you have any general comments, questions, or concerns about the law itself, please use the new thread. If it's specifically about the area (such as, is this good for The Banks?) then you can use the specific project/location thread.

 

Here is the link again to the thread about the Outdoor Refreshment Areas.

 

Cheers!  :drunk:

 

As for what Cincinnati will do, I imagine they will initially limit the area to the south side of Second Street to avoid making a district that is too big. This will likely be the test case for the city.

They have planted bald cypress trees (which apparently make for <a href=http://forestry.about.com/od/urbanforestry/a/bald_cypress.htm>good urban trees</a>) along the northern edge of 2nd street, all the way from Main St to Elm St. This should help, but the southern side still doesn't have any landscaping, and the sidewalks on both sides are still absurdly wide with nothing to break up the sea of concrete.

Another non-surprise at The Banks:

Another non-surprise at The Banks:

Nahsville-based bar?  Toby Keiths 2.0?

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/12/16/second-restaurant-banks-closes-replacement-coming/20478595/

 

Called Two Bits... a different concept from the same owners as Tin Roof.

Another non-surprise at The Banks:

Nahsville-based bar?  Toby Keiths 2.0?

 

I love that Bar and Grill.e

At least this bar seems slightly better than the other crap that's down at the Banks.

It appears that the new apartment building going up will have concrete construction throughout the entire building, unlike the Phase 1 buildings, which have wood construction above the second floor. 

^This building is too tall to be wood. So it makes sense that it'll be concrete construction.

 

Overall the design is still lacking but it appears (time will tell though obviously) that this second phase will be of a higher quality than the first phase.

See the progress at the Banks' second phase: SLIDESHOW

Jan 5, 2015, 1:17pm EST Updated: Jan 5, 2015, 4:10pm EST

Erin Caproni Digital Producer- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

It's been about six months since General Electric announced it would build a global operations center at the Banks in downtown Cincinnati. It was the biggest story we covered here at the Courier in 2014.

 

Now, a building that will house about 1,800 employees is slowly rising from the site just west of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2015/01/see-the-progress-at-the-banks-second-phase.html

Does anybody know if the Phase 2 Apartment building is still planning on street-level parking along 2nd Street? As of August 2013, the plan was to have 40,000 square feet "temporarily" used as parking, which could be converted to retail at a later date. I really hope they just skip the temporary parking and go straight to retail. I haven't heard an official update since the GE deal was announced... so I hope that pushes them towards going straight to retail.

 

Even though the developers of the Banks said Phase IIA will have 21,000 square feet of retail space, this part of the development will actually have up to 40,000 square feet of additional space that could become retail.

Laura Swadel, vice president with Carter, part of the master development team for the Banks, said they have the ability to put a total of 60,000 square feet of retail space in Phase IIA.

The initial 21,000 square feet of retail space will be developed along West Freedom Way, wrapping to the corners of Race and Rosa Parks streets. In addition, the developers are building out a 40,000-square-foot space along Second Street as parking for residential units at the Banks, but this space could be converted once the developers land a tenant or tenants.

The space could be used by one 40,000-square-foot tenant or divided into two 20,000-square-foot spaces. One of the users Swadel said the Banks would like to land is a grocery store.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2013/08/is-banks-phase-iia-saving-room-for-a.html?page=all

Does anybody know if the Phase 2 Apartment building is still planning on street-level parking along 2nd Street? As of August 2013, the plan was to have 40,000 square feet "temporarily" used as parking, which could be converted to retail at a later date. I really hope they just skip the temporary parking and go straight to retail. I haven't heard an official update since the GE deal was announced... so I hope that pushes them towards going straight to retail.

 

Even though the developers of the Banks said Phase IIA will have 21,000 square feet of retail space, this part of the development will actually have up to 40,000 square feet of additional space that could become retail.

Laura Swadel, vice president with Carter, part of the master development team for the Banks, said they have the ability to put a total of 60,000 square feet of retail space in Phase IIA.

The initial 21,000 square feet of retail space will be developed along West Freedom Way, wrapping to the corners of Race and Rosa Parks streets. In addition, the developers are building out a 40,000-square-foot space along Second Street as parking for residential units at the Banks, but this space could be converted once the developers land a tenant or tenants.

The space could be used by one 40,000-square-foot tenant or divided into two 20,000-square-foot spaces. One of the users Swadel said the Banks would like to land is a grocery store.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2013/08/is-banks-phase-iia-saving-room-for-a.html?page=all

 

Me too.  I think it's absolutely ridiculous there's parking on top of Toby Keith's in Phase 1 of the banks. More parking atop a sea of parking, killing the space available for actual humans who provide life to the city and are the taxpayers and potential customers for the restaurants and retail. And they wonder why their efforts to build a neighborhood have struggled so far. Didn't I hear the underground garage was one of the largest in North America or something?  Should be sufficient for all parking needs. 

 

 

I believe that the underground garage is owned by the county whereas the above-ground garages are owned by the developers.  The Bengals have rights over the county-owned garage spaces. 

I believe that the underground garage is owned by the county whereas the above-ground garages are owned by the developers.  The Bengals have rights over the county-owned garage spaces. 

 

But that doesn't make it OK, it's just an excuse. 

The underground garage essentially replaces the old Riverfront Stadium garage, which was about 3,000 spaces and was used by office workers during the week. 

Every time I suggest that we can build housing in the urban core without adding a ton of parking spaces, or that the higher meter prices and longer meter hours will not hurt downtown businesses, people tell me that Cincinnati "is not there yet."

 

Well, we will never get "there" if we keep catering to the automobile. We will get "there" when developers realize that they can build new apartments or retail spaces without an equal amount of square footage for cars and do just fine.

2nd Street has five lanes of one-way traffic, with no parking allowed on either side at any time... which is just crazy. If you let cars parks on both sides of the street there, you'd have space for 20-30 cars, which would be great for potential retail... and it'd slow down traffic which would be great for everybody (including potential retail on 2nd).

That really needs to happen. 2nd and 3rd are entirely too large. Crossing them as a pedestrian is not s pleasant experience. Parking on both sides with one side having curb cuts (to allow for the other side to be a rush hour lane) would do wonders. If the south side of 2nd all along The Banks had parked cars it would feel quite different than it does now which is dead.

100% agree about the need for street parking on 2nd St. Also, the streets in and around The Banks hardly have any street parking either.  The street that goes through the heart of the development is only valet parking or something, which makes a simple trip to Orange Leaf fairly difficult. 

 

Every time I suggest that we can build housing in the urban core without adding a ton of parking spaces, or that the higher meter prices and longer meter hours will not hurt downtown businesses, people tell me that Cincinnati "is not there yet."

 

Well, we will never get "there" if we keep catering to the automobile. We will get "there" when developers realize that they can build new apartments or retail spaces without an equal amount of square footage for cars and do just fine.

 

I think the lack of a viable transit system is why we are not/may never get "there". When you no longer need a car to truly get around this region, then I think the car-free lifestyle will be more embraced, and developers will in turn respond with less parking. 

The issue with Second is that it's really an approach to the interstates, and the state might have expectations (requirements?) that there be so many lanes of approach as they transition to ramps. What we got with the FWW reconstruction was a step in the right direction, but not the holy grail of taking freeways out of urban cores.

To me it seems laughable just how much of a drag it is to have such a highly conservative region be so afraid to make an investment in itself (not talking about UO'ers, of course!)

 

I mean, just think if there was a light rail connection up to Northside, Light Rail on Wasson Way, and up and around UC, Avondale, and possibly up to Bond Hill / Roselawn.  That would make our region much more connected and development would center around to make it truly a car free environment.  I digress.

 

Just to throw this in, if anyone saw the Republican response to the State of the Union by the conservative up and comer Joni Ernst out of Iowa, the next star of the republican party, I am from Iowa and never once saw anyone in my life wearing wonder bread bags around their tennis shoes.  Not saying she was lying, but come on now, that is the republican stance?  Kind of ironic that they are pushing the pull yourselves up by your bootstraps when Joni Ernst is probably the less than 10% of people from that type of poverty background who make it out to a decent living wage.  And then we wonder why conservative metro areas have to fight tooth and nail to get some transit funding...

So the framing for the curved glass wall on the Banks is going in.  It will add a VERY exciting visual element to the Banks.  So long as they actually clad it in glass.

To me it seems laughable just how much of a drag it is to have such a highly conservative region be so afraid to make an investment in itself (not talking about UO'ers, of course!)

 

I mean, just think if there was a light rail connection up to Northside, Light Rail on Wasson Way, and up and around UC, Avondale, and possibly up to Bond Hill / Roselawn.  That would make our region much more connected and development would center around to make it truly a car free environment.  I digress.

 

Just to throw this in, if anyone saw the Republican response to the State of the Union by the conservative up and comer Joni Ernst out of Iowa, the next star of the republican party, I am from Iowa and never once saw anyone in my life wearing wonder bread bags around their tennis shoes.  Not saying she was lying, but come on now, that is the republican stance?  Kind of ironic that they are pushing the pull yourselves up by your bootstraps when Joni Ernst is probably the less than 10% of people from that type of poverty background who make it out to a decent living wage.  And then we wonder why conservative metro areas have to fight tooth and nail to get some transit funding...

 

Northside could very much use a lightrail connection to downtown.

From January 18th:

 

 

 

Nice 5 lane, one way, road there.

 

Edit: Sorry, didn't mean that to sound snarky. But that angle just really shows you the scale of 2nd St.