Well, the old square was beautiful, because it had that fountain in it, and it had the view of Carew and such...but yeah, the square now is just wonderful...

 

I don't think it is fair to compare a packed square to an empty square, but I still think that new fountain square on a random saturday night would still blow away a picture of old square during oktoberfest.

edale, are you kidding me?

theres no comparison at all.

I had forgotten how much like a fortress the old square was, holding the city at bay

the new square welcomes you in where the old one put barriers in your way to view or approach it.

 

I also think the old square was quite beautiful in its own right.

 

in a Soviet block kinda way

 

No, I'm actually not kidding.  Did everyone think the old square was so awful before the new one came about?  I sure didn't.

 

 

The trees and chess/checker tables on the west side of the square were always fairly nice looking, the fountain, landscaping in the walls along 5th street, and the overall atmosphere was always fairly nice I thought. 

 

 

 

I guess you're right...it was quite beautiful in a concrete bunker kind of way.  I would go on to say that the old square had about the same amount of charm as a wet noodle.

 

How did Cincinnatians put up with this awful, concrete bunker space before the wonderful facelift. :roll:

Nati Life, any way you could send those comparison pics to ol' Peter Bronson and the other grumpy folks at the Enquirer (and those who have been writing letters of complaint to the Enquirer)?

I guess since I've only been in Cincinnati since 2004 I don't have the memories you guys do.

I stepped off the bus looked around and thought, this place is horrible! Who ok'd the design on this?

I have noticed the reactions of the square are divided right down between the native Cincinnatians and us transplants.

 

I would like to see "FAIR" pictures of the old Square with bad pictures of the new Square for comparison sake.

 

Here's a crappy picture I have looking at the Square from the same direction but opposite sides of the street.

My picture and The Nati Life's older picture.

 

 

How did Cincinnatians put up with this awful, concrete bunker space before the wonderful facelift. :roll:

 

Well it certainly wasn't the node of activity it is now.  You could say that is due to the programming, but one could also argue that the new square is more engaging, inviting, comfortable, relaxing and overall just more enjoyable.  The old square was just a public square...the new square has taken it a step further and has really become the epicenter of Cincinnati.

^^I can't find the fountain on the old square.

I think to be fair, you should take a photo of the new square in 20 years and see how it has held up.  They'll probably be planning to completely redesign it again. 

 

I agree that the new Square is an improvement over the previous version, though I think that there's a tendency to denigrate the old one a bit too much. The worst elements of the old Square were the walls on 5th St and Vine Street, which have been highlighted here very well. As for the idea that the view down 5th was only for cars, that's ridiculous. One could enjoy the vista from the sidewalk just as well.

 

Something tells me that if a giant tv were showing movies for free on the old square, plenty of folks would've shown up.

 

Here's an old, small pic from DCI's site. Not bad.

 

 

Here's a crappy picture I have looking at the Square from the same direction but opposite sides of the street.

My picture and The Nati Life's older picture.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, G-d forbid you be able to access the square from the street!

Without opining about whether the "old" or "new" Fountain Square is better - - that glass and neon background is fantastic! 

 

I personally like the contrast between this new element and the historic fountain. 

Here is another photo of the old Fountain Square that ColDayMan took:

 

you can see the fountain better while driving down 5th street in the old setup, but you can't actually walk down fifth street.

^Try the sidewalk.

^Try the sidewalk.

 

I think he meant walk along Fountain Square on 5th Street.

I did

^The square is where you walk.  It is the sidewalk on that section of Fifth Street.  Was the thin row of plantings and comfortable benches that fronted the southern edge of the Square and shielded it from traffic really that bad?

 

This whole non-dispute is really kind of silly.  I think we can all agree that the increased activity on the Square, the replacement of small tchotchky businesses with restaurants has improved the area, making it a destination.  The rest of the changes (except perhaps the entrance to the parking garage) are all relatively minor.

I disagree, none of the changes that have taken place would have happened with the horrible old square. It was designed to discourage large crowds. think about it, all the odd pieces of concrete sticking up everywhere, the stage, who thought that was anything but ugly, right smack in the middle of everything.

Its funny the people who complain most about how things need to change, complain and hate change the most.

I hope the people who don't like it and complain stay away. I'm worried I'll need to start getting there at 7am on Saturday mornings so Ms. 5chw4r7z and I can enjoy our pastries and coffee with the Fountain.

I'm not stopping until everyone throws up their hands and exclaim OK, you told us so, the new Square is 100 times better than the old one.

I'll be there Monday night watching the Bengals, so come down, arm wrestle me over it, and then we'll smoke a cigar.

I'm not really sure who you're referring to when you talk about people complaining and hating change the most. I like the new square more, it's an improvement in a lot of ways.

 

I just don't think it's perfect, and I really think that a big tv showing movies would bring people down no matter what else is around. Just like the old Star64 weekend movies in parks. You don't have to worry about LK coming down and messing up your pastries, though.

 

I don't think the old square was horrible, and the idea that it couldn't accomodate big crowds is demonstrably false, especially with the overflow capacity provided by the skywalks. See the gathering after 9/11, the 1990 Championship celebration, any Oktoberfest, and so on.

you only needed 15 to 20 people for an overflow crowd on the old square!

but like i said, i'm not originally from Cincinnati, and I didn't grow up with the square, so my first impression when I got to Cincinnati was how ugly it was so thats my baggage.

BUT!! Monday night, after Ocho Cinco scores his first touchdown of the night, we're arm wrestling, if you win, I'll let up, then we'll smoke a cigar.

you only needed 15 to 20 people for an overflow crowd on the old square!

 

^Clearly an absurd statement.  I would be surprised if the square footage of "crowd space" has changed from the old layout to the new.  If any room has been added it has been from the dismantling of the old permanent stage (though I believe there's a permanent skate rink now, not sure) and the leveling out of the lower well near the Fifth Third Bank building.

Not true Lincoln, you also had that big stairwell almost in the middle of the square, plus that stage, then on the west side of the square there was some funky outcropping surrounding the parking ramps, and also pedestrian ramps leading up to the square itself, if the usable space hasn't doubled I'd be surprised.

How many times a day do you estimate you are on the square? I live downtown, so I walk across it at least twice a day, more on the weekends. So if anyone can claim its more user friendly now its me.

 

BUT!! Come down Monday night, after Ocho Cinco scores his first touchdown of the night, we'll arm wrestle, if you win, I'll let up, then we'll smoke a cigar.

It's definitely more inviting now, to my eye - but I've gotta go with LincolnKennedy about the crowd space.  Google's aerial, which is from pre-rehab:

 

 

thx for the pics -- it looks great. better than before that is for sure. is all the work done now?

 

 

 

 

I think that the platform is a little too far away from the streets. For example, if there was protesting going on, or live music (which is one of the greater purposes of a public space) you might not notice as easily, if you were just waking by, on Vine St. or 5th Ave.

I think that the platform is a little too far away from the streets. For example, if there was protesting going on, or live music (which is one of the greater purposes of a public space) you might not notice as easily, if you were just waking by, on Vine St. or 5th Ave.

 

Are you referring to the old square?  I agree with you on the old square.

Love the neon on the building.  Thanks for the pictures.

Melanie: I was talking about both. I like the new square much better though.

Any pics from the MNF events?

Any pics from the MNF events?

I don't like football at all, and have never in my life watched a professional game, but with the crowds around town and at Cadillac Ranch, on the sidewalk, I almost wanted to cheer.

^You mean you almost yelled WHO DEY!!!

I just went to an interview at Nicola's. I really hope I got the job; I would LOVE to work on fountain square. That would be a great weekend job. It sounds like I got it though. We'll see.

Oh, that would be KILLER!  What a location to work!  Plus you could do the bike thing, because you wouldn't get sweaty going downhill to work, only on the way home!

 

heres a few crappy pictures I took. Doesn't do the crowd justice.

 

<a href="http://5chw4r7z.blogspot.com/2007/09/monday-night-football-on-fountain.html">WHO DEY!!</a>

 

the lights were orange and slowly crawling up the wall. cool.

Oh, that would be KILLER!  What a location to work!  Plus you could do the bike thing, because you wouldn't get sweaty going downhill to work, only on the way home!

 

 

I don't own a bike, but the 17 bus stops right by my house at Warner and Clifton ave. I seriously don't think I've ever waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus at that spot. Plus it's free for me :)

 

I'm not sure what the bus scheduling situation would be like for sunday nights though :(

not bad, last bus is at 1225am

so... what's the inside scoop as to when they are officially opening?  I think we're all hearing conflicting reports here.

*cough* DISCOUNT *cough*

so... what's the inside scoop as to when they are officially opening?  I think we're all hearing conflicting reports here.

The manager said he doesn't know. Very soon though.

 

Also, not sure if it has been mentioned but Nicolas at Fountain Sq. will serve lunch, unlike the one in OTR (which is the one I thought I was applying for lol).

 

 

*cough* DISCOUNT *cough*

 

:wink:

To be specific, Nicola's is the restaurant at Sycamore and Liberty; Via Vite is the as-yet-uncompleted restaurant on Fountain Square...

 

The <a href="http://www.loftsatfountainsquare.com/architect.html">Lofts at Fountain Square</a>, better snatch one up now while you can.

Any news on this?

 

EDIT**

What are the other housing options on/very close to Fountain Square?  I was surprised to see myfountainsquare.com didn't have links to the neighborhood...