I have no major problem with TipCincinnati, but in high crime areas, which are generally the poorer areas of town, what percentage of people actually have handy Internet access?
Also, is this website going to get a bunch of spam? Or worse yet, a bunch of local crime reports outside the city?
The form doesn't limit addresses, so this could be for anyone in the world to submit.
The cool part is that you can upload a picture with the report. If you have drug dealers in your neighborhood, take their picture, fill out the form, upload the picture, and wait for them to be arrested.
Hell, its not that much harder than ordering a pizza online. (cough, cough)
Friday, July 14, 2006
High Speed Train in Ohio
Great ideas are hard to come by, but the Plan for a high speed train in Ohio is one of them.
This concept will reduce traffic on highways and make traveling easier. Additionally, if the stations are located in the downtown area of each major city, it will make for a great way to connect the major cities in Ohio. That connection can be on a business and social level.
This concept will reduce traffic on highways and make traveling easier. Additionally, if the stations are located in the downtown area of each major city, it will make for a great way to connect the major cities in Ohio. That connection can be on a business and social level.
3CDC in OTR
Interesting interview in the Business Courier with former 3CDC OTR lead, Des Bracey.
He has left town, but the most interesting take on OTR is his contention that the Drop Inn Center could/should stay in OTR, just in a different place:
City Link may have been a start, but failed with the Nimby effect. Why not build the new jail, with the Drop Inn Center near by? Sounds cruel? Well, it is, but those who will not play along with the basic society shouldn't be afford with as much consideration as those who make an honest attempt to get along with the society at large.
The con to the Jail next to the Drop Inn Center idea is likely that the homeless who would go to the Drop Inn Center want to stay clear of the jail at all costs. They likely wouldn't face any more police attention then they do now, but they would likely percieve they would, keeping them away.
A large part of the perception game of safety in Downtown and OTR is getting the bums out. When I say bums, please understand that I literally mean the bums. Moving the Drop Inn Center would have the biggest impact on changing the perception of living/working/playing downtown as well as the reality of it.
He has left town, but the most interesting take on OTR is his contention that the Drop Inn Center could/should stay in OTR, just in a different place:
Q: Where is there work still to be done?The Drop Inn Center needs to move out of OTR, and most certainly away from Music Hall and pending new SCPA. It contributes far too much to the crime problems in OTR, and is the source of most of the pandhandling problem.
A: The Drop Inn Center. We've tried real hard to work with them and be open and transparent and find ways where their mission and our mission would co-exist and be achieved. I don't think we're there yet.
The problem of homelessness is much more than an Over-the-Rhine problem. The solution there probably necessitates a citywide response.
Q: Do you mean moving the Drop Inn Center, which is located near Music Hall and Washington Park?
A: I think the solution will be in a new facility for the Drop Inn Center. A 200- or 300-space on-site shelter is not the best way to provide homeless services. But that new facility should be in Over-the-Rhine and could be right there in Over-the-Rhine. It will need more staff and more resources and will require the Drop Inn Center to change the way they do business as well.
City Link may have been a start, but failed with the Nimby effect. Why not build the new jail, with the Drop Inn Center near by? Sounds cruel? Well, it is, but those who will not play along with the basic society shouldn't be afford with as much consideration as those who make an honest attempt to get along with the society at large.
The con to the Jail next to the Drop Inn Center idea is likely that the homeless who would go to the Drop Inn Center want to stay clear of the jail at all costs. They likely wouldn't face any more police attention then they do now, but they would likely percieve they would, keeping them away.
A large part of the perception game of safety in Downtown and OTR is getting the bums out. When I say bums, please understand that I literally mean the bums. Moving the Drop Inn Center would have the biggest impact on changing the perception of living/working/playing downtown as well as the reality of it.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Making News!
I wasn't there, and I don't think I know anyone who was there but this Enquirer story is a classic example of how to gain free media!
It sounds like someone complained and someone over reacted.
It sounds like someone complained and someone over reacted.
Alchemize to Move to Covington?
Nick's been talking about this for a while, but now is starting to get specific.
I've asked this before: Where is Midpoint going to be?
I've asked this before: Where is Midpoint going to be?
Save WAIF!
Joe Wessels is helping spearhead an effort to save WAIF-FM from its demise. Current leadership there are driving the station into the ground in what appears to be a few nutcases running the organization with mostly insane methods.
How can you help? Become a member and earn a vote! Then help vote out the board leadership!
Act now! you need to register before August 1st. Then vote on September 17th.
In all likelihood the current WAIF board is going to try to block this take over attempt, so we need tons of people!
Why do you care? Well, community radio is a way to keep culture alive in Cincinnati. The commercial radio stations are not out to preserve music and provoke ideas, they are out to make you listen to commercials surrounded by the popular music that often just sucks more than silence.
Its $15 to be a member. It ain't cheap, but it won't break anyone.
Join Online!
How can you help? Become a member and earn a vote! Then help vote out the board leadership!
Act now! you need to register before August 1st. Then vote on September 17th.
In all likelihood the current WAIF board is going to try to block this take over attempt, so we need tons of people!
Why do you care? Well, community radio is a way to keep culture alive in Cincinnati. The commercial radio stations are not out to preserve music and provoke ideas, they are out to make you listen to commercials surrounded by the popular music that often just sucks more than silence.
Its $15 to be a member. It ain't cheap, but it won't break anyone.
Join Online!
Anecdotal Suburban Ignorance
So I am eating lunch today at Panera in Mason. I overhear the conversation of a couple of women at the table behind me. One relays a story to the other about one time when she was driving on I-71. It was around Halloween and she got off at Dana Avenue Exit. She was so scared of driving in the area that she gunned it off the exit, running the red light. She said something about seeing a man walking along the road with a mask. It was, you know, Halloween and all.
This woman is in her early 30s and appears to me to be the poster child for the ignorance of the City. To think she was scared at exiting the Dana Avenue exit is laughable. She is but one person, who came across as an ex-sorority girl, but is her knee jerk unfounded fear of being on Dana Avenue indicative of people in Mason or West Chester? Are they foolish enough to equate Dana Avenue, which turns into Observatory about couple blocks from I-71, with a bad section of town? I would laugh my ass off if this woman was dropped off at 12th and Vine and told to walk to Fountain Square. She would likely just start screaming at the first sight of someone 'scary' looking, likely not even wearing a mask.
This woman is in her early 30s and appears to me to be the poster child for the ignorance of the City. To think she was scared at exiting the Dana Avenue exit is laughable. She is but one person, who came across as an ex-sorority girl, but is her knee jerk unfounded fear of being on Dana Avenue indicative of people in Mason or West Chester? Are they foolish enough to equate Dana Avenue, which turns into Observatory about couple blocks from I-71, with a bad section of town? I would laugh my ass off if this woman was dropped off at 12th and Vine and told to walk to Fountain Square. She would likely just start screaming at the first sight of someone 'scary' looking, likely not even wearing a mask.
Ok, What's With This?
I am guessing it is a coincidence that pipe bombs were set off near Crossroads, but I hope people are looking at treats the church may have gotten.
This is latest in a rash of local pipe bomb reports: here, here and here.
UPDATE: WCPO is reporting that the pipe bombs went off in the parking lot, while the Enquirer says in the woods behind the church.
This is latest in a rash of local pipe bomb reports: here, here and here.
UPDATE: WCPO is reporting that the pipe bombs went off in the parking lot, while the Enquirer says in the woods behind the church.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Address the Motives
Why did Taft sign and why did the Ohio legislature pass a bill requiring religious sayings in schools? Yes, In God We Trust" and "With God, All Things Are Possible" are religious, lets not pretend they are not, no matter what the rulings by religiously biased judges.
What is the motivation for this? What is the big deal? The article ends with this:
What is the motivation for this? What is the big deal? The article ends with this:
Moms for Ohio, a small political action committee that mostly promotes conservative causes, pushed the bill as instilling the right values in children.What are "the right values." Why don't people come out and say what they are trying to do with these tactics? They are either trying to gin up the right wing with votes or they are pushing Christianity (or both). There is no other value, purpose, or motivation in existence. This is yet another brick laid for the theocratic foundation.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Nice Looking Site: Underneath Cincinnati
If you haven't already, check out the look of Underneath Cincinnati's site. Very sharp.
Monday, July 10, 2006
You Won't See an Outcry
You reap what you sow, and Christopher Allen Tull was out in the weeds with Crack Cocaine. Few will say much about how he died, which will have as much to do with his skin color than his circumstances.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Personal Grudge or Hate Crime?
The Enquirer sums up the incidents at a Jordanian family owned business:
What is amazing is that this has been going on for some time, and didn't get the attention of the media. That might have been the family's choice, but it is funny how things can go under the radar for so long and not get any notice.
"May 20-21: Someone threw a beer bottle containing a flammable liquid at the side window, burning the outside of the window and cracking it.The article states that police have no suspects. If there were a personal grudge, it logically follows that the victims might have an idea of who they may have pissed off. That then points to a hate crime.
June 11-12: Someone threw a piece of concrete through a side door, then tossed in a Molotov cocktail, igniting a fire inside the restaurant.
July 5-6: Someone broke in through a window and set the store on fire."
What is amazing is that this has been going on for some time, and didn't get the attention of the media. That might have been the family's choice, but it is funny how things can go under the radar for so long and not get any notice.
Enquirer Editorial Page is Clueless
This editorial from the Enquirer:"Levee's appeal offers clues for Banks" demonstrates with little doubt that they are not qualified to have any say in the development of the Banks. If their answer is to look to Newport on the Levee, then they must be lazy, ignorant, and foolish.
Firstly: Newport on the Levee is not exactly a success. Last time I was there it had lots of empty space. So looking to it as a model for anything is suspect. I like the levee, so I don't mean to disparage it, but it is no way a panacea.
Secondly: Survey's like the one they are referring to and the bulk of attractions at the Levee are volatile and can change like the wind, not something one would normally use as the basis for a marquee project.
Finally: Why would you want to copy something that exists right across the river that would then compete with the thing it is copying? Why not be unique? Why isn't the Banks something that would bring people to the river because you can't get it anywhere else? Yes, the idea of having a mix of attractions is a very good idea, but the Levee doesn't really have that.
Philosophically speaking, the Banks needs to be its own community that is parlty based on bringing people together. It should have wide appeal to all demographics. That means, painful as it may be, that it really targets the suburbanites with kids, but doesn't make it a Mickey Mouse Land. It needs residents open to suburbanite tourists visiting a few times a year. It needs linked major attractions (Freedom Center, Reds, Bengals, US Bank Area, City Parks). It needs some retail, office space, restaurants. It needs to be a 7 day a week spot for people to live, work, play, and visit. The Levee model doesn't do that.
What must happen to really complement this type of mass market attraction is to then target Fountain Square to be an entertainment district 7 days of the week. That means targeting it to adults. Fun/unique retail, office space, restaurants and bars are what will make the Fountain Square area work. Busy during the day with downtown workers, busy at night with downtown residents and adults from all around the area wanting a place to go out on the town. The Square needs to feed off the banks as the place to go after the game for the adults, keeping the bars off the river.
What loses out with this approach is Main Street. We can't sustain entertainment districts every five feet in the city, unless again the targets are narrow, and then how long can they really be sustained? I don't know if any this does anything to attract new young people to the city, which is what should be a primary goal of new development. That may be where Main Street, Uptown (UC), Covington's art district and Northside fill in the gaps, but not by being the entertainment zone for the masses, and instead retain a character they can create on their own. That unique character is what would attract the creative class, while Fountain Square would attract you more buttoned-down YPs.
Now, I'm sure that no one is going to want me to be planning the Banks or anything at all, but Enquirer seems to be using blinders when thinking about the future of the various areas in the city, without considering what happens there when your put money/resources here.
The Levee's broad-based appeal with its mix of aquarium, cinema, restaurants and retail says a lot for the entertainment formula of trying to offer something for everyone and packaging multiple attractions in a relatively compact space. The planned Banks on Cincinnati's riverfront already equipped with the Freedom Center, Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium could assemble a similar winning combination.
Firstly: Newport on the Levee is not exactly a success. Last time I was there it had lots of empty space. So looking to it as a model for anything is suspect. I like the levee, so I don't mean to disparage it, but it is no way a panacea.
Secondly: Survey's like the one they are referring to and the bulk of attractions at the Levee are volatile and can change like the wind, not something one would normally use as the basis for a marquee project.
Finally: Why would you want to copy something that exists right across the river that would then compete with the thing it is copying? Why not be unique? Why isn't the Banks something that would bring people to the river because you can't get it anywhere else? Yes, the idea of having a mix of attractions is a very good idea, but the Levee doesn't really have that.
Philosophically speaking, the Banks needs to be its own community that is parlty based on bringing people together. It should have wide appeal to all demographics. That means, painful as it may be, that it really targets the suburbanites with kids, but doesn't make it a Mickey Mouse Land. It needs residents open to suburbanite tourists visiting a few times a year. It needs linked major attractions (Freedom Center, Reds, Bengals, US Bank Area, City Parks). It needs some retail, office space, restaurants. It needs to be a 7 day a week spot for people to live, work, play, and visit. The Levee model doesn't do that.
What must happen to really complement this type of mass market attraction is to then target Fountain Square to be an entertainment district 7 days of the week. That means targeting it to adults. Fun/unique retail, office space, restaurants and bars are what will make the Fountain Square area work. Busy during the day with downtown workers, busy at night with downtown residents and adults from all around the area wanting a place to go out on the town. The Square needs to feed off the banks as the place to go after the game for the adults, keeping the bars off the river.
What loses out with this approach is Main Street. We can't sustain entertainment districts every five feet in the city, unless again the targets are narrow, and then how long can they really be sustained? I don't know if any this does anything to attract new young people to the city, which is what should be a primary goal of new development. That may be where Main Street, Uptown (UC), Covington's art district and Northside fill in the gaps, but not by being the entertainment zone for the masses, and instead retain a character they can create on their own. That unique character is what would attract the creative class, while Fountain Square would attract you more buttoned-down YPs.
Now, I'm sure that no one is going to want me to be planning the Banks or anything at all, but Enquirer seems to be using blinders when thinking about the future of the various areas in the city, without considering what happens there when your put money/resources here.
NuTone Closing Local Plant
Over 400 jobs will be leaving the region up word of NuTone Co. closing its doors. This closure has some earmarks of a plateauing company, where contraction is the only means of survival.
More from the Business Courier.
More from the Business Courier.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Reds' Shackelford Arrested For Sexual Assault
Ok, what I don't get is that the article says he was arrested but not yet charged with a crime? Is someone jumping the gun? If this guy is a slime ball, then lock him up, but the situation has to have more to it. Throwing in the Match.com profile makes it look like a plant. What is a professional baseball playing doing using an online dating service?
Hate Crime?
This sounds like it is being taken lightly by local officials, but the signs of a hate crime are there. If not a hate crime, then some really nasty feud is raging.
Black Police Convention
I am hoping that all of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives enjoy their stay in Cincinnati, but lets hope none of them get profiled by the CPD or even worse, arrested.
Stickland and Blackwell to Duel in Cincinnati
We don't know when or where but the campaigns for Ohio Governor have agreed to hold one of their four debates in Cincinnati, with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce as the main host.
I hope this is not a homer event for Blackwell, and is instead run like a classy debate with a quiet audience. I wonder who will get tickets? Also, what's the format, and who is moderating this? Getting the candidates to agree on journalists to moderate will be as much of a struggle as picking the time and place and number of debates.
I hope this is not a homer event for Blackwell, and is instead run like a classy debate with a quiet audience. I wonder who will get tickets? Also, what's the format, and who is moderating this? Getting the candidates to agree on journalists to moderate will be as much of a struggle as picking the time and place and number of debates.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Newport on the Levee Top in Survey
How does one separate Newport on the Levee from the Newport Aquarium in a survey of the best attractions in the region? What did it take to get on this list? What is totally open? Who would include "Movies" on a list of "Top 10 attractions to take out-of-town guests?" When is going to the movies on par with going to the Zoo? I can see from a marketing perspective you want to include all activities, but going to the movies is certainly not what is being measured here. Comparing unique local entities would seem to be the goal.
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