I think the rebirth of OTR is very exciting to watch as it progreses. The emergence of the Gateway Quarter is simply tremendous and I'm sure Washington Park will be something special as well.

 

I t do think a key for OTR to truly connect with downtown as a primary and appealing resedential area for downtowners, something has to be done w/ Centra Parkway.  Central PArkway is the gateway to OTR from downtown and vice versa and lets be honest; it is a very dumpy street. 

 

Without even spending to much money, the street should  be redone o.e. widen the median a bit and spruce it up ala PArk Avenue in Manhattan.

 

http://images1.comstock.com/Imagewarehouse/RF/SITECS/NLWMCompingVersions/0016000/16500-16999/KS16535.JPG

 

The sidewalks could be redone making it a tree lined blvd and if you wanted to get a little snazzy, you could do a paver style street alla Grant Street in Pittsburgh. 

 

 

^ You know ... I think about that a lot as well. Central Pkwy has so much potential it's insane, but we are just letting it sit there with poor landscaping, a good amount of surface lots, Monro Tire Dealership (wtf?), and troubled sidewalks ... why?

a streetcar is the missing piece

The city has a plan to improve Central Parkway!  My hope is that they integrate it with the streetcar system effectively and widen the medians.

 

 

^What/when is that from?!!?

That looks like part of a plan the UC Planning program did about 8 years ago.  I think I have a copy somewhere.

Personally either that plan needs to be updated, or a new one should be drafted...because this corridor definitely needs improvement and clearly no one is really doing anything to implement any type of plan there.

Brian Tiffany and Jim Moll were discussing this project on City Talk Radio earlier this year.  They indicated that the project would be starting soon.  The city has a webpage dedicated to Central Parkway here:  http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/transeng/pages/-7059-/

 

Right now the street has 6 lanes of traffic, 2 lanes of parking, and in some areas a turning lane.  That's 9 lanes...more lanes than on many Interstate highways.  I really think that two lanes should be taken out of Central Parkway.  If the median was 3 lanes wide, it could feature a lush parkspace right down the center of the street. 

 

 

The second step would be for 3CDC to get developers to put in rows of residential as a solid streetwall along the boulevard.  And to top it off, it should be renamed Park Avenue. 

 

A model for Cincinnati:

 

 

If this was done right, it would be one of the most desirable addresses in the city.

 

 

 

^ Yeah, I heard that there are plans for improvements to Central Parkway.  It doesn't seem like there is enough traffic to warrant all those lanes. 

Liberty st needs the same treatment. I like that napkin sketch, I am sure they were drinking Moerlein OTR Ale when they drew it  :-D

Here's a little bit about the history of Central Pkwy:  http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityparks/pages/-4533-/

 

The older version sounds pretty nice.  Maybe they'll go back to that.

 

Yeah, the original version was pretty impressive, especially in later photos when the double row of trees grew in.

 

Also...my suggestion for the wide 3-lane median would be for the four middle blocks between Elm and Main.  Alot of the major traffic is at each end of the street, from Reading Road to Sycamore and at the bend by Plum.  The many traffic lanes are needed only in those focal points.

^ Yeah, I heard that there are plans for improvements to Central Parkway.  It doesn't seem like there is enough traffic to warrant all those lanes.

 

Hopefully they start doing something to Central Parkway...it would be nice to see these ideas implemented.  And I agree...in no way shape or form are that many lanes needed on either Central Parkway or Liberty.

 

I could also go for a name change of both...

You couldn't do something quite as wide as what is envisioned in those old postcards of other cities, as those medians are probably 50-75 feet wide. A traffic lane being 10-12 feet, you could still do a nice median with 2 lanes in each direction and a parking lane. Unfortunately the ROW on Central Parkway is about 20 feet to narrow to get in a really nice broad median park and still have 2 traffic lanes and a parking lane in each direction. But, that's good in a way, too, because it pulls the building walls in more and makes it feel more substantial.

 

Central is calling out for a redesign, but more so it's calling out for a re-imagining. I don't think it really knows what it wants to be, or what its activities are. In that sort of fuzzy sense, I don't blame the city for not investing a lot in it yet. I think they are focusing their limited resources on the right spots...for now. If/when the streetcar goes in, if it's successful I think you will see a lot more attention paid to Central Parkway.

Here is a section of a study done by the UC School of Planning Graduate Comprehensive Studio in Spring 1996 touching on many of the issues mentioned above.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting that study...it brings up alot of interesting points.  One great thing that is happening along Central Parkway is the development of the Gateway Quarter, which has filled in the parking lot on Vine Street.  When the new School for the Creative and Performing Arts is completed, the Over-the-Rhine side will have a largely intact streetwall.

 

They identified a key corner in that study:  Main and Central Parkway behind the County Administration building.  There is an L-shaped plot of land that stretches to Court Street and is a very important development site.  If I remember correctly, doesn't the county own some of the property in this vicinity?

Did this guy go on to rehab the Walnut Hills Schoolhouse lofts??? Wow he really killed the Art Deco masterpiece "American Building" in that picture. 

"One idea is to establish a theme such as "Presidential Parkway" to celebrate all of the Ohio Presidents.

 

The physical components of the Presidential Parkway would be the re-creation of the two eastern most islands that were removed in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The improvements would consist of landscaping these islands, planting major street trees on both sides or flanks of the parkway and the addition of monuments or sculptures at the ends of the islands commemorating the Ohio Presidents."

 

 

This is pretty much exactly what I had in mind.  Again, whats currently going on in OTR is great but if you want to make continued changes for the better and I'm talking about permanant changes that will literally transform Cincinnati foreever,  Central Parkway is a big piece,  probably 2nd only to the Street car.

 

As for the presidents Parkway, some kind of monument theme on each island is exactly what I had in mind. I actually thought of doing a mini monument to each Sister City i.e. somethig oon Munich, something on Rome, thsi way it would give Cincy more of a global feel. I feel like CIncy has enough monuments dedicated to presidents.  Just my idea though. 

 

I think you're exactly right Mr. Lyles.  The city should definitely do something along that line, at Central Parkway and throughout the city as a whole.

Perhaps they could do monuments to famous Tafts.

I like the tribute to our sister cities more so than the presidential thing...that kind of stuff is seen all of the time.  The global connection type stuff is not.

Here's my ultimate concept for Central Parkway:

 

Since the county owns property in this area they could be a major force in getting this property redeveloped.  Here's an idea:  the county could purchase the rest of the Main Street and Central Parkway block and combine it with their Court Street parking lot and sell the site to 3CDC.  The county could then put that money towards the purchase of Broadway Commons. 

 

This would be a longterm plan.  3CDC is not going to buy a large plot of land such as the Main property right now, but I'm talking 10-15 years down the line, after the Washington Park redevelopment is completed.

 

This accomplishes several objectives:

 

1.  3CDC would be able to redevelop Main and Central Parkway, which is a key development site that would make Central Parkway a success.

 

2.  The county would own Broadway Commons, half of which could be turned into a major greenspace.  This concept is based on the Boston Public Garden:

 

 

 

 

 

3.  The county could then sell the other half of Broadway Commons to 3CDC to turn into parkside condominiums.

 

 

4.  The county would use the money from the sale to 3CDC to construct a garage at the corner of Ninth and Broadway, next to the jail.  A new parking garage would offset the loss of spaces at Broadway Commons, and partially shield the jail from the new condo property on the other side.

 

 

someone should email Portune or Pepper about these ideas

Or talk to 3CDC, but most of this is only possible 10-15 years down the line.  If they started planning for something like this in conjunction with the city's Central Parkway improvements, then they could make it happen.

 

Since the city is in charge of the streetscape improvements, they really need to do a first rate job by making major changes.  The way to exert pressure on them would be through 3CDC and possibly the OTR Chamber of Commerce.

 

I should also add that the county would need to find a funding source for the initial purchase of land and for some of the cost of a Broadway Commons purchase.

I like the tribute to our sister cities more so than the presidential thing...that kind of stuff is seen all of the time.  The global connection type stuff is not.

 

agree that the global conection stuff is not seen all the time and I'm not just saying that b/c it was my idea.  Cincy has a ton of positives but international presence/flavo isn't one of them ( at least compared to ther cities0> Things are improving and this would only help matters.

 

As for filling in the parking lot surfaces on Central "Boulevard", I think the downtwon grocery would be perfect i.e. a higher end Kroegers type store which would attract both OTR and CBD residents.

This is from the 1907 Kessler Plan.  I know it's on the wrong stretch of Central Parkway, but could still be usefull.

 

Something like that should be done between Elm and Main.

Does anyone know where i could get the CAD maps of Downtown. I am going into my senior year of landscape architecture, and need a Capstone project. The whole thought of reinventing central parkway/ broadway commons really intrest me.

Just convert cagis data to dwg.  Not completely accurate, but sufficient for a capstone.

Does anyone know where i could get the CAD maps of Downtown. I am going into my senior year of landscape architecture, and need a Capstone project. The whole thought of reinventing central parkway/ broadway commons really intrest me.

 

I've got most of OTR, downtown, and Mt Adams CAGIS files in dwg format.  Shoot me an email if you want them.

This article seems to fit here with all the ongoing discussion!

 

Beautifying Central Parkway

 

By Joseph Szydlowski

Post staff reporter

 

 

Drivers who travel on Central Parkway will be noticing a change as work begins today between 12th and Sycamore streets on a $660,000 enhancement of the traffic island...

 

FULL ARTICLE AT: http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/NEWS01/707050365

Not quite what many of us were looking for but any enhancement will help. Nice to see it startinf.

The plan calls for an 18-inch wide concrete edging

 

Yay!! more concrete!  :-P

How about ... ?

 

... extending Central Parkway due east from Sycamore Street (where it turns slight north to be become Reading Road) directly through Broadway Commons to Gilbert, thereby gaining direct access to I-71 NB and creating about ten new street-fronting commercial blocks on East Central Parkway, with laterals exending north and south from the extended Central Parkway to ber used for housing sites.

extending Central Parkway due east from Sycamore Street (where it turns slight north to be become Reading Road) directly through Broadway Commons to Gilbert, thereby gaining direct access to I-71 NB and creating about ten new street-fronting commercial blocks on East Central Parkway, with laterals exending north and south from the extended Central Parkway to ber used for housing sites. 

 

 

John,  thats a great idea!

 

 

Here's an idea I'm throwing out...turn the former canal turnaround area which is now a triangle into a diamond 400ft. block.  This block would have the potential to really create a dynamic streetscape while looking east on CP, north on Broadway or Eggleston, and other areas.  As drawn here it's a high-rise block and the rest is low-rise (actually cut-and-pasted from Newport).  I didn't bother filling in every single spot. But really however they'd fill this area in with streets and lots, there is tons of potential to create some really interesting blocks without resorting to a fake tangled European street scheme.  This drawing I think illustrates there's a bit less space there than it seems if a low-rise approach is taken, maybe space for 150 row houses or less than 1,000 people without some midrise construction.  Also given the current state of affairs the parking would need to be replaced with garages somewhere on the grounds or nearby.   

 

Here is a concept by Jeffrey Jakucyk from his portfolio:

 

His concept calls for an open park, but it could theoretically be filled in with Parisian-scaled architecture, at about 6 stories.  Note the use of the roundabout, which could be an interesting public space.  Something that you can see from this site plan is the vastness of Broadway Commons.  It's about the same size as Pendleton.

^As I pointed out Broadway Commons can't really be developed quickly because the shock of 3,000 lost parking spaces would be too severe. I also think it would be difficult to develop the top-right area (about 500 parking spaces) because it's both close to the interstate and a significant walking distance from downtown.  I don't see large-scale development of Broadway Commons as feasible for this reason without a subway station in the turnaround pool area as part of a line either using the CL&N line or Gilbert Ave.  Also I don't like traffic circles, the center space always seems like a waste.   

If done right, the center of the circle can be a really dynamic space (example: Dupont Circle)

^Agreed, if roundabouts (different from traffic circles) are done right...the center space can be brilliant, with a spectacular piece of public art or fountain.  The really interesting thing will be that once The Banks is under construction, this will be the next piece of land that the city really pushes forward on for redevelopment.  We might just be closer than we think to this piece of property being redeveloped.

McMicken: I've got most of OTR, downtown, and Mt Adams CAGIS files in dwg format.  Shoot me an email if you want them.

 

 

Yeah, mcmicken if you could do that it would be great [email protected]

found these on the Human Nature website:

 

 

 

I'm guessing those are the plans for the work that is going to get under way.

I'm guessing those are the plans for the work that is going to get under way.

 

Orange cones have been in place for about two weeks now. 

mohr, would you mind posting a link to where you found those?

Orange cones have been in place for about two weeks now. 

I am wondering why they have cones up for so long before they start.

 

Are the islands getting wider?  The drawings by Humanature do not appear to show that.  They cones have eliminated two lanes for the entire length, and traffic does not seem to be adversly affected, which makes me conclude that the islands should be widened.

Not sure why they put the cones out so early but my guess is (and judging from the plan) they are not widening the medians but probably need the extra lane to remove the old curbs and replace with the new, wider curbs.

It's supposed to be finished by December 20th or so. It's a re-landscaping, and I think the work is within the boundaries of the current islands.

I hope they're not going to remove all the existing trees, they are finally starting to look like something.

mohr, would you mind posting a link to where you found those?

 

http://humannature.cc/index.asp?page=open_central_parkway