Right now the Cincinnati music scene is producing some great bands. I thought I would share a few of my favorites
The Growth & Opportunities Survey for the City of Cincinnati (aka GoCincinnati) has finally been released – all 98 pages of it. I will venture to say that the majority of people will not read the report, and if you do, it will probably consist of skimming…so I have taken the liberty of reading it for you, and here is my report on GoCincinnati.
The report seems to offer a two-fold solution. First, the City should focus on its strengths (i.e. walkable communities, urban areas, culture, etc) for mid/long-term growth strategies. Secondly, the City needs to eliminate the edge that currently exists for suburban communities over the city in attracting office/retail/residential growth.
The analysis is overall not flattering, but does report a stable industrial market that is holding strong against regional competition…and that with a little more attention could easily establish itself as the premier industrial market for a couple of categories (i.e. Flex/R&D space and Green Industrial Parks). There are currently only 18 green industrial parks in the nation, and the potential of turning Queensgate into one poses possibly the greatest opportunity, and the ability to position Cincinnati as, “a global leader in ‘green development’ via the rehabilitation of these spaces.” (pg. 34)
The report also places a large emphasis on creating a multi-modal transportation system…which can be started with the streetcar proposal. The report states, “It is strongly recommended that the streetcar line be completed between Downtown, Uptown, and OTR in the 1st phase of its construction. There is probably no infrastructure investment that will have more long-term tax generation and economic development benefit to the city than this streetcar line.” (pg. 40)
Another key area of emphasis is on converting obsolete office space, in the CBD, into non-office uses…primarily in the form of residential spaces. This would allow for rates to creep up and possibly create demand for new speculative office construction, additionally it would inject even more people into the center city.
One final key note of mine was the recommendation of a joint Cincinnati and Hamilton County development authority. The report proposes that it be called the Cincinnati USA Development Authority (CUDA). It is recommended that the operations of the Port Authority be expanded to include all of the city/county. It also noted that this expansion, of the Port Authority, has already begun during this report process.
For any more information you’ll just have to read the report yourself…it’s good for you. All in all, I find this to be fantastically informative and well done. This is something that Cincinnati should really embrace and attempt to position itself strategically for economic and population growth.
Image Credit:
www.cincystreetcar.com
I thought I would start out my first post on this blog with a mission statement, here goes:
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and it’s probably best that you are prepared for the “big day.” You’re in luck, because UrbanCincy has the perfect evening for you. May we recommend a trip to the Ensemble Theatre…it is a very intimate theatre that hosts great productions and will be something unique and fun to do with your significant other. Mary’s Wedding by Stephan Massicotte (Feb 6-24) will be going on during the Valentine’s time-frame and should definitely make for a romantic evening.
You could make a night of it by grabbing some of the city’s best Italian at Nicola’s just a few blocks away. Take a lovely stroll from dinner to the show…If dinner gets out a little early you could always do some browsing through the many great businesses in the Gateway Quarter.
After the show, take a stroll down to Lytle Park and take in the night with that special person.
This work in progress called UrbanCincy has evolved some more…and I thought I should keep everyone apprised as to what has happened.
First off, I’ve changed the header graphic around slightly to something I think is a little more visually pleasing. Secondly, I have removed the Downtown Cincinnati News Bits section (on the left), and replaced it with a news feed from Cinplify.com. The other change is the big one (at least to me…maybe not you). No longer is it http://urbancincy.blogspot.com…oh no, now it is simply www.urbancincy.com.
Tell your friends, coworkers, family, and loved ones. UrbanCincy continues to get better for all of you. Be on the lookout for more improvements down the road as UrbanCincy will continue its maturation into your Cincinnati blogspot.
***EDIT: The proverbial glitch has now been fixed…you can now simply type in “urbancincy.com” and it will direct you to the site. All is well!