Posted June 14, 200420 yr Is it possible? Umm....From Saturday's (6/12/04) Enquirer: West Chester condos promise urban feel By John Kiesewetter The Cincinnati Enquirer WEST CHESTER TWP. - The five- and six-story brick buildings fronting a village square certainly don't look like anything else in Butler County's booming suburbs. That's why township officials like the urban-style neighborhood planned for 32 acres immediately east of the Streets of West Chester shopping area and Rave Motion Pictures theaters. --- E-mail [email protected]
June 15, 200420 yr nice change of pace, hopefully this leads to more. (although in the grand scheme of things, i could care less what they do up there) glaserworks is a great firm, so these should look impressive. but come on, The Villages at the Streets of West Chester??? that's pushing it people.
June 15, 200420 yr that price($270000) is pretty steep though. I would want to be in a real downtown for that price.
June 15, 200420 yr "Ye Olde Offe Rampe Village". :D I agree, rich. The one drawing I saw tends to look like you have to cross a pedestrian bridge and then walk through a large parking lot.
June 16, 200420 yr This is just another fake downtown, the kind that are popular these days along with lifestyle centers and "neo-traditional" tract housing. A walkable community that you have to drive to, and if you live there, not really walkable to anywhere else.
June 19, 200420 yr Wow I had no idea mill creek was all the way up there. Does anyone knows where mill creek starts? and where does it cross under I-275?
June 19, 200420 yr There are many branches, but the main ones start up in Liberty and Fairfield Twps. I think it crosses under I-275 in Sharonville near I-75. Check out these PDF maps: Mill Creek Restoration Project
June 19, 200420 yr There was actually a book on the Mill Creek published a while back..."The Mill Creek..An Unnatural History of an Urban Stream", by Stanley Hedeen.
June 21, 200420 yr Yeah, that book was put out by the Mill Creek Restoration Project maybe a year or two ago. I'd like to get my hands on a copy--so I just went on the library web site and requested one. I'll let you know if it's any good.
July 16, 200420 yr This is just another fake downtown' date=' the kind that are popular these days along with lifestyle centers and "neo-traditional" tract housing. A walkable community that you have to drive to, and if you live there, not really walkable to anywhere else.[/quote'] I understand your logic, but wouldn't you prefer this over vast lots of single family homes? You guys should be more embracing. West Chester isn't going away. I guess, no matter what the West Chesters of Cincinnati do, they will get the knife either way with urbanites.
July 16, 200420 yr When I read the title I had to make sure it wasn't April fools day or something.... But yes, I would prefer this to a bunch of sprawled out single family homes.
July 16, 200420 yr Fake Downtowns exist because theres a reason for them to exist. A space where a collection of businesses, people, institutions, and culture all mix and form a sense of place. You cant build that, it happens over time and it happens as a result of need. This sounds like what they're trying to do for Westlake here in Cleveland, a suburb trying to build a pop-up downtown. Its good and 'anti-sprawl' in a way, but then again its not in a central location and either takes away business from the main CBD or it cant survive and ends up being a flop due to its location or the fact that it cant keep up with Cincinnati. Either way its bad to develop like this because no matter how you cut it something is going to be hurt by it. However "Fifteen buildings - ranging from one to six stories " I dont think thats so much of a downtown rather more of a "dense neighborhood". So in this case itll probably have no effect either way. Although $270,000? May as well go for the real thing? :wink:
July 17, 200420 yr Sure it's better than tract housing on quarter acre lots. But I just can't see past my philosophical differences with what's going on in West Chester to appreciate it. It's all just a fad. After a decade or two, this will be left behind for something shinier.
October 2, 200420 yr Can this madness please stop? Can we stop naming everything after Reagan? Shouldn't "Voice of America" remain--since that was the (important) history of the site? From the 10/2/04 Enquirer: VOA park to take on Reagan name By John Kiesewetter Enquirer staff writer WEST CHESTER TWP. - A Butler County commissioner won one for the Gipper. The county is renaming its newest park to honor the late President Reagan. A 200-acre portion of the former Voice of America site will be named at 4 p.m. Tuesday for the president credited with speeding up the end of the Cold War. What had been known as the Butler County MetroParks' Freedom's Voice Reserve - and unofficially as that big sledding hill and lake at Cox and Hamilton-Mason roads - will be dedicated as Ronald Reagan's Voice of Freedom Park. ... http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/02/loc_loc1avoa.html
October 5, 200420 yr WTF? I thought this was dismissed. Leave it to a bunch of hard core right-wingers to push their adgenda. Kendall my thoughts exactly. I even like Reagan but enough is enough.
February 2, 200520 yr Duke starts construction at Centre Point Joe Wessels Courier Staff Reporter Duke Realty broke ground in January on its first speculative office building project in nearly five years. Called Centre Pointe IV, the $12 million structure will be the fourth and final building at the Centre Pointe complex on Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Township. The building will sit on a 7.5 acre plot behind the Rave Theater complex on the southeast side of the Interstate 75 and Union Centre exit.
February 2, 200520 yr I always find it funny that if there is a demand for office space in the region, why isn't there a demand downtown. Just goes to show you how much people prefer parking lots, short walks to the office, cars over public trans.
February 2, 200520 yr There isn't. Pictoria isn't have such success right now. It is only around 40-50% filled.
February 2, 200520 yr How does a developer make anything off 40% occupany. Maybe they think if they have a larger office complex that more people know about therefore, it will boost occupancy.
April 24, 200520 yr From the 4/24/05 Enquirer: The shopping and entertainment offerings of the Streets of West Chester, above, will be a stroll away for residents of the Village at the Streets, due to begin construction this summer. The Enquirer/Ernest Coleman Just a walk from home to shopping By Dan Sewell Enquirer staff writer WEST CHESTER TWP. - Lana Smith has a routine for her evenings out. She puts her name on the waiting list for dinner at the Bravo Italian restaurant, then strolls across the street to shop at Chico's clothing store while waiting for a table. "I already use that area for entertainment; I love eating at the restaurants; I meet friends over there," says the Hamilton resident, talking about the Streets of West Chester area. "I was ready to move, and this would work perfectly as a place to live." Information: www.newurbanism.org[/color] http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050424/NEWS01/504240429/1056/rss02
April 24, 200520 yr My comments: This developments proves that people are not turned away by urban design, but, in fact, they enjoy it. That being said, The Streets of West Chester still has the strip mall look. Maybe this is a step in a new direction. Building in a flood plain is usually a bad idea. I have canoed the Mill Creek from where it crosses 747 near biggs all the way to Columbia Street in Reading, passing under I-75, I-275, etc. This week would probably be a good time to do it, since the water is up. And a piece of good news: MSD has eliminated a major Combined Sewer Overflow in Reading.
April 25, 200520 yr This isn't New Urbanism. New Urbanism stresses the importance of infill development first. Fixing up and replacing what we already have (look no further than City West). Hence the word Urbanism. This is New Suburbanism. If this was really Urbanism then you would be able to walk to the transit stop, which isn't there, or walk to the gocery store, which isn't there, or maybe have the choice of walking to more than just 3 restaurants or so without worrying about the kid driving the honda civic with loud exhausts running you over with his rap music blasting. All this is is just some condos in a mall.
April 25, 200520 yr I agree completely, without reservation. However, I would add that it's a shit-ton better than the Old Suburbanism...
June 15, 200519 yr From the 6/15/05 Enquirer: New draw for Freedom Park $1.8M boathouse, lodge coming to West Chester By Janice Morse Enquirer staff writer WEST CHESTER TWP. - A manmade lake and a paved walking path are already drawing tens of thousands of visitors to Ronald Reagan Voice of Freedom Park. But the 200-acre Reagan park, operated by Butler MetroParks along Cox and Hamilton-Mason roads, is getting a new draw: a $1.8-million boathouse and lodge - an embellishment that could help transform the entire 530-acre Voice of America Park area into "a tourist destination," said Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox. "This lodge piece is just one step in a continuing journey to harvest the potential for that area," Fox said. "It's part of a larger vision for the three entities that own property there - MetroParks, West Chester Township and Miami University - to work together on creating a whole large complex." ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050615/NEWS01/506150386/1056/news01
June 15, 200519 yr ^ Yeah pretty much. You drive along it on Mason Road. It definately needs something so a lodge sounds good. Tens of thousands vistors is an over statement though. LOL
June 15, 200519 yr "Ronald Reagan Voice of Freedom Park"? Good lord. This renaming is dumb on multiple levels. First, why the need to name a park after a politician, or even any person at all when you've got a perfectly good historical name already on the sign? OK, so you're going to name it after a person. The best you could come up with is Reagan? Sheesh. But then again, maybe it's fitting since the place looks like a monkey's ass compared to Cincinnati's beautiful hilltop parks.
June 15, 200519 yr It happened after he died. What would you expect from conservative Butler and Warren Co?
June 23, 200519 yr Nobody's really seen renderings of these things, so here are a few I found on the glaserworks website: "Building G": "Building H": "Building J": "Building KL": "Building MN": Gateway:
June 23, 200519 yr This looks nice, would be better in the city, but at least its not all the same house, condo, or apartment going up like I see in West Chester/Mason.
June 23, 200519 yr ^ Agreed, I would be surprised to see that type of look in West Chester but if West Chester is going to sprawl anyway, this would be the way I would want to see it down.
June 24, 200519 yr It kinda of looks like a wanna be "City West". ...And watch, this thing will get all sorts of press while beautiful "City West" gets none.
June 24, 200519 yr If anything, it's an extended faux-"Over-the-Rhine" which is more than ironic. But whatever, it looks decent (can't lie). "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 26, 200519 yr Do I see sidewalks in that picture? Is this possible, walkable suburbanity? This characterless development gets no love for me, it's faux nature makes me want to gag.
June 26, 200519 yr ^ I always wonder about a development like that and how "walkable" it is for someone who doesn't live there.
June 27, 200519 yr Funny you should mention City West Montecarloss.... glaserworks is the same urban design group that worked on City West according to their website http://www.glaserworks.com/www2/Current/
June 27, 200519 yr ^ I wish we could pick them to build "The Banks". So far they are my favorite developer in Cincinnati just based on "City West"
Create an account or sign in to comment