The Gateway Quarter is having a special holiday event on Thursday December 13, and they want all DRCers to know they are welcome to attend. Our neighbors from OTR, Pendleton, West End, etc have also been invited to attend.Hat tip to Jacki D.
Join us December 13 in Over-the-Rhine's Gateway Quarter. The fun kicks off at 6 p.m. with music and refreshments at Enzo's followed by special offers at City Roots, Metronation, MiCA 12/v and Park + Vine. Caroling starts at 7:30 p.m. in the 12th and Vine parking lot. Head to Below Zero Lounge for more holiday cheer at 8 p.m.
Ten percent of all sales go to the School for Creative and Performing Arts.
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Gateway Quarter Celebration
Come on down to the Gateway Quarter this Thursday for a holiday celebration:
Friday, December 07, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Choo Choo
My two previous posts are not-so-happy thoughts about downtown. Sorry about that. To balance those out, I thought I'd mention my favorite Cincinnati holiday tradition: the train display at the Cinergy--err, Duke Energy Building at 4th and Main.
300 train cars (0-gauge). 50 engines. 1,000 feet of track. Open 10-6 (except Sundays, when it's 12-5). What more do you need? According to Duke, more than 9,000,000 visitors have stopped by since the trains began running in 1946.
If you're new to the city and haven't seen this, it alone is worth the trip downtown (especially if you have kids). If you're a native who hasn't been to see the trains in a while, then come on down and refresh those childhood memories.
300 train cars (0-gauge). 50 engines. 1,000 feet of track. Open 10-6 (except Sundays, when it's 12-5). What more do you need? According to Duke, more than 9,000,000 visitors have stopped by since the trains began running in 1946.
If you're new to the city and haven't seen this, it alone is worth the trip downtown (especially if you have kids). If you're a native who hasn't been to see the trains in a while, then come on down and refresh those childhood memories.
Time To Get Off The Pot
Sorry...that may be an overly-vulgar title for a post, but this article, reporting that Eagle Realty Group (a division of Western & Southern) is seeking yet another extension of time to submit a plan for Fifth and Race, is truly frustrating.
I was excited when, earlier this year, Eagle Realty proposed the construction of a large condo complex on the site. (For those who don't know, the parcel we're discussing is the parking lot adjacent to the Millenium Hotel.) But once again, Eagle Realty has failed to deliver a concrete plan to accomplish anything other than more empty promises.
Don't get me wrong--cutting through that parking lot when walking from my home to my office saves me about half a block of shoe-wear. But Eagle Realty has had the development rights since 1998 (it's been a parking lot since 1999; before that, it was an office building).
Maybe Eagle Realty isn't the right company for the job. Maybe the City needs to deny an extension and open up some sort of bidding/proposal process to determine which company is best-suited to do something with the space. But it's too valuable a location to allow Eagle Realty to hold onto the rights in perpetuity in the absence of any real sign of progress. And if there is progress, then it ought to be shared publicly: for instance, is there any financing in place for the putative condo building? How about feasibility studies? Construction timetables?
When it takes eight years to put together a plan to develop one block of space, it becomes clear why the Banks is taking so long.
I was excited when, earlier this year, Eagle Realty proposed the construction of a large condo complex on the site. (For those who don't know, the parcel we're discussing is the parking lot adjacent to the Millenium Hotel.) But once again, Eagle Realty has failed to deliver a concrete plan to accomplish anything other than more empty promises.
Don't get me wrong--cutting through that parking lot when walking from my home to my office saves me about half a block of shoe-wear. But Eagle Realty has had the development rights since 1998 (it's been a parking lot since 1999; before that, it was an office building).
Maybe Eagle Realty isn't the right company for the job. Maybe the City needs to deny an extension and open up some sort of bidding/proposal process to determine which company is best-suited to do something with the space. But it's too valuable a location to allow Eagle Realty to hold onto the rights in perpetuity in the absence of any real sign of progress. And if there is progress, then it ought to be shared publicly: for instance, is there any financing in place for the putative condo building? How about feasibility studies? Construction timetables?
When it takes eight years to put together a plan to develop one block of space, it becomes clear why the Banks is taking so long.
Visibility Problems
As I was scurrying down Vine Street yesterday (scurrying because of the cold, not out of any sense of insecurity), I overheard a conversation between two women who were obviously visiting downtown. One asked the other, "Did you find the mall?" The reply: "It's not really a mall; there's just a Macy's." I assured the inquiring woman that there was, in fact, a mall (not "just" a Macy's), helped her locate it, and went back to my errand.
The episode brings up one of my biggest pet peeves about downtown: why is Tower Place Mall so invisibile? Frankly, if you don't know it's there, you could walk past it on Vine, Fourth, or Fifth many, many times without any awareness that you're walking past a mall.
If we're serious about downtown being a destination, then we need to start acting like downtown is someplace where people from outside Cincinnati want to be (rather than just hoping they'll drop in). Visit other (more booming) cities' downtown areas and you'll find strategically placed maps. Why don't we seem to have any of those? Even UC has figured out that permanently-affixed maps help people find their way around campus; why not the same for downtown? Or more signs (geared towards pedestrian traffic) with arrows towards major attractions (Fountain Square, Tower Place, CAC, the Underground Railroad Museum, and Music Hall, just to name a few)?
Downtown needs to be more than merely safe (which, by the way, it is): it also needs to be accessible and accommodating. Let's work on that.
The episode brings up one of my biggest pet peeves about downtown: why is Tower Place Mall so invisibile? Frankly, if you don't know it's there, you could walk past it on Vine, Fourth, or Fifth many, many times without any awareness that you're walking past a mall.
If we're serious about downtown being a destination, then we need to start acting like downtown is someplace where people from outside Cincinnati want to be (rather than just hoping they'll drop in). Visit other (more booming) cities' downtown areas and you'll find strategically placed maps. Why don't we seem to have any of those? Even UC has figured out that permanently-affixed maps help people find their way around campus; why not the same for downtown? Or more signs (geared towards pedestrian traffic) with arrows towards major attractions (Fountain Square, Tower Place, CAC, the Underground Railroad Museum, and Music Hall, just to name a few)?
Downtown needs to be more than merely safe (which, by the way, it is): it also needs to be accessible and accommodating. Let's work on that.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Criminal or hero?
The Enquirer reports that Arthur Graham, a disabled veteran, happened upon a woman being assaulted in the 1100 block of Race. His response? Stab the guy assaulting the woman. The police's response? Arrest him for felonious assault. I know the legal definition of felonious assault, but I'll admit I'm not sure where the line between self defense (or defending another person) and felonious assault is. I can't help but feel that if I were the woman he saved from being assaulted that I'd feel pretty bad that he got arrested for it. The strange thing is that the man assaulting the woman, Jeffrey Lowery, was only arrested when Graham told the police that he had been hit by Lowery with a bottle. What about assaulting the woman?
(Edited location for accuracy.)
(Edited location for accuracy.)
What Happened To The Humans? -- Part Deux
"What kind of man hits a kid" (a former council member notwithstanding) or points a sawed off shotgun at kids selling Christmas trees? Yet, that's exactly what happened last night at the corner of Gilbert and West Galbraith, where some Boy Scouts were selling trees and three young thugs came up, pointed a shotgun at the kids and their parent, hit the father and one of the kids, and stole money. Is this what passes for courage in the groups in which these thugs were raised? Is it simply poverty, lack of education, or lack of opportunity that creates these thugs or is something else at work? What do we say to these kids who had a gun shoved in their faces and who were robbed about the state of the world in which they live? "Happy first day of Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, 2007!"
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