Mark your calendars, CincyPAC will be having its first event of 2008 on February 21 at Mixx Lounge on Main St. We are inviting all of the District 1 and District 2 Congressional Candidates to attend the event. Please check the blog at www.cincypac.com for updates on who is running and who will be attending.A great chance to meet the candidates and check out a new OTR venue.
What: Congressional Candidate Meet & Greet with Greater Cincinnati Young Professionals
When: Thursday, February 21, 2008 from 6pm-8pm
Where: Mixx Lounge on Main St.
For Questions or to RSVP: Email Sean@cincypac.com
Friday, February 08, 2008
CincyPAC - Meet and Greet Congressional Candidates
Sean Parker of CincyPAC has announced an event for Cincinnati YPs to a meet and greet candidates from the 1st and 2nd districts:
Thursday, February 07, 2008
CiN Weekly's New Look
Any thoughts on CiN Weekly's website redo? They have conformed with the formating of Cincinnati.com, so it looks much like the Enquirer's portal, which makes sense since the site now resolves to cinweekly.cincinnati.com.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
More Streetcar Obstacles Ahead
This week's City Beat has an article by the always-excellent Kevin Osborne suggesting that Mayor Mallory will have to overcome some significant obstacles to see his streetcar proposal to fruition. Most notably, 3CDC seems to have some concerns about whether they'll continue to get their share of the funding pie once the City starting spending on the streetcar infrastructure:
Many will remember that I wrote a post that was somewhat critical of the streetcar plans a few weeks ago; subsequently, I announced that I've come around--tentatively--to the pro-streetcar side of the issue (not that anyone cares what I think).
3CDC may have a valid concern: the streetcar ought to proceed alongside current development efforts, not in place of them. But assuming that concern can be mollified, there should be no reason for 3CDC to "derail" the streetcar efforts.
It'll be interesting to see what tone the hearing on the 25th takes. If Cranley wants to obstruct what seems like a positive step forward for downtown and OTR, he'll certainly have the opportunity to do so. Hopefully, he take the opportunity to see beyond what he sees as his fairly narrow base of support (which falls squarely outside of downtown) and do the right thing.
"We are concerned (that streetcars are) funded with a dedicated revenue stream and a sustainable revenue stream," says Steven Leeper, 3CDC's president. Any financing plan shouldn't rely on funds "presently being used effectively in the neighborhood. We don't want to stop that momentum. We want something that will complement that."
Due to 3CDC's concerns, city officials are tweaking the plan to use less TIF money and likely will borrow more cash. Other ideas also being considered include imposing a special assessment fee on surface parking lots for their "wasted development potential," sources say. There are more than 100 such lots in downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
Many will remember that I wrote a post that was somewhat critical of the streetcar plans a few weeks ago; subsequently, I announced that I've come around--tentatively--to the pro-streetcar side of the issue (not that anyone cares what I think).
3CDC may have a valid concern: the streetcar ought to proceed alongside current development efforts, not in place of them. But assuming that concern can be mollified, there should be no reason for 3CDC to "derail" the streetcar efforts.
It'll be interesting to see what tone the hearing on the 25th takes. If Cranley wants to obstruct what seems like a positive step forward for downtown and OTR, he'll certainly have the opportunity to do so. Hopefully, he take the opportunity to see beyond what he sees as his fairly narrow base of support (which falls squarely outside of downtown) and do the right thing.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
State of the City
Mayor Mallory gave his State of the City speech last night at Playhouse in the Park. How was it received? How does his vision gel with where we are headed? I was very pleased to see a Streetcar Plan from Downtown to Uptown was high on his list.
Read the speech here(doc).
Read the speech here(doc).
Monday, February 04, 2008
Reader Survey: Fifth and Race
There's currently no proposal at all for the large lot at Fifth and Race (for those of you not sure, we're speaking of the parking lot adjacent to the Millennium Hotel that stretches along Race between Fifth and Sixth). That gives us the opportunity to do our own creative thinking about what should be there. As Grif correctly points out, there's plenty "to do" downtown (I'd add Music Hall and the CAC to his list), but there's always room for more. In no particular order, what would you build at Fifth and Race if the decision were yours?
Of those, the condos are my least favorite. My thought is that the space should be either (a) something that the neighborhood residents need/want; (b) something that will draw people downtown; or (c) some combination of the two.
- Condos
- A grocery store
- A movie theatre (the kind that would show Rambo)
- An "indie" movie theatre like the Esquire
- A bowling alley/nightclub like the former Jillian's
- A really big Chipotle (sorry, that's just me fighting my own substance abuse issues)
- A gym or health club
Of those, the condos are my least favorite. My thought is that the space should be either (a) something that the neighborhood residents need/want; (b) something that will draw people downtown; or (c) some combination of the two.
Some Monday CinTV Fluff
Queen City Survey ponders TV ideas set in Cincinnati. The 6 given are actually pretty good. I was thinking of a period drama set in the 19th or early 20th Century, call it Pork Journalism and set it is as a drama through the eyes of a Cincinnati Post reporter.
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