Year: 2010

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Arts & Entertainment News

Bearcat Block Party to host UC tailgaters throughout 2010 season

The University of Cincinnati boasts one of the most urban college campuses in all of America, and quite possibly the most unique stadium in Division 1 football. As a result, Nippert Stadium’s scoreboard is mounted atop a neighboring building, midrises surround the sunken playing field, and the intimate venue is situated in the heart of campus.

This urban football setting also means that there are not seas of asphalt where fans can tailgate before and after the game. Bearcat fans instead tailgate on campus green areas, inside parking garages, and on surrounding streets. But as the Bearcats have their home opener tomorrow, fans will not only be treated to back-to-back Big East champions, but also a new tailgating experience just blocks away from the stadium on Short Vine.

Partially to satisfy the tailgaters displaced from one of the last remaining parking lots on campus which is now home to the Jefferson Avenue Sports Complex, and partially to create a fun new urban tailgating experience for fans, the Short Vine Business Association (SVBA) has created the Uptown Cincinnati Bearcat Block Party.

With help from UC Athletics and the Uptown Consortium, the SVBA will offer live music, food and drinks, and entertainment in addition to the wide array of businesses found on Short Vine that will remain open during the event. Organizers say that the free street festival will take place two hours before and after every single Bearcats home football game along the 2600 block of Short Vine.

Nearby parking lots will be made available for fans needing to stash their cars away during the game, and a free shuttle will transport those to the game that would prefer to not walk the few short blocks.

Categories
Development News Politics

Cincinnati region awarded $6M through third round of NSP funding

The Cincinnati region was awarded nearly $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the stabilization of neighborhoods that have been hard hit by the nation’s ongoing foreclosure crisis. In particular, the funds will be used to acquire and rehabilitate existing housing and demolish badly damaged properties.

The money was awarded through the third round of HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program which awarded an additional $1 billion to communities across America this week. The previous two rounds of funding included $3.92 billion in 2008, and $2 billion in late 2009 through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act which included $24 million for seven communities throughout Cincinnati region.

“These grants will support local efforts to reverse the effects these foreclosed properties have on their surrounding neighborhoods,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We want to make certain that we target these funds to those places with especially high foreclosure activity so we can help turn the tide in our battle against abandonment and blight.”

Winners in the third round of funding were determined by a number of key indicators that match funding to need in the 20 percent most distressed neighborhoods as determined by the number and percentage of home foreclosures, the number and percentage of homes financed by subprime mortgage related loans, and the number and percentage of homes in delinquency. HUD officials also say that housing price declines, increases in unemployment, and neighborhood vacancy problems are also taken into account.

Of the $6 million awarded throughout the Cincinnati region approximately $1.5 million went to Hamilton County, $1.3 million to Butler County, and $3.2 million to the City of Cincinnati.

“This is great news for greater Cincinnati. Our region was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, and we need to do all we can to help neighborhoods rebuild and recover,” said U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH). “The Neighborhood Stabilization Program brings resources into the hardest hit areas, and will make a difference for families and communities as we continue on the path toward recovery.”

Categories
Development News Transportation

Cincinnati officials select Vine Street route for uptown streetcar connection

City officials have announced that Vine Street has been chosen as the path for the Cincinnati Streetcar to reach the uptown area. The decision comes after a comprehensive study was conducted to determine which route would best connect downtown with uptown, while also best managing the steep hillsides there.

“Our direction from city council has always been to ‘connect the dots,’ but to do so in a way that was fiscally responsible,” stated Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney in a prepared release. “The Vine Street route accomplishes that.”

The Vine Street route is estimated to cost $20 million less in capital costs, offer $250,000 in savings annually in operations, pose fewer engineering challenges, and also offer greater options for future expansions than the West Clifton Avenue alternative. According to City officials, Vine Street and West Clifton Avenue stakeholders have been meeting to discuss the alternatives for months, and that the group had been informed of the final decision yesterday.

One of the primary objectives of the study was to determine how to best navigate the steep hillside leading to and from the uptown area. In this case, Vine Street’s maximum 6.7 percent grade scored much better than West Clifton Avenue’s maximum 8.9 percent grade. The project team said that while United Streetcar/Oregon Iron Works, Siemens, Inekon, Kinkisharyo, and Bombardier all could build modern streetcars to handle such grades, the preference was for engineering simplicity.

In addition to the engineering aspects, many streetcar supporters believe the selected route to get uptown will present greater opportunities long-term.

“The Vine Street route will offer the fastest service between Cincinnati’s two largest employment centers,” said Brad Thomas, Founder, CincyStreetcar.com. “The route also presents the greatest opportunity for future expansions including extensions west to Clifton Heights, north to Avondale and Corryville, or east to Walnut Hills.”

To date, the city has secured $114.5 million out of the total $128 million to build the entire first phase running from Cincinnati’s central riverfront to its uptown neighborhoods. The modern streetcar system will be the first of its kind in the Midwest and one of only three like systems in the United States. The first construction is expected to begin fall 2010 with the first passengers riding in early 2013.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Brewery District to host three new Oktoberfest tours next weekend

What does September mean in Cincinnati? Oktoberfest of course! One of the area’s favorite festivals, in all of its German heritage, food and beer splendor, returns downtown September 18-19. In addition to the traditional consumption of bratwurst, märzen lagers, and chicken dances, the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District is teaming, once again, with the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company to host a series of tours focusing on Cincinnati’s rich brewing history. The three separate, but intermingling, tours will be offered at various times on both Saturday and Sunday and all three will begin and end at the future home of Christian Moerlein brewing operations (located at 1621 Moore Street in OTR).

The first is the popular Prohibition Resistance Tour which is run by the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District every year during Bockfest in March, and now during Oktoberfest as well. This two-and-a-half hour tour begins with a historical overview of the brewing in Cincinnati, followed by stops at six different breweries including descending 30 feet underground into abandoned lagering cellars for an authentic glimpse of Cincinnati’s brewing past. This particular tour has typically sold out quickly and OTR Brewery District executive director Steve Hampton says that tickets have been selling just as fast this time around. The tour includes a beer ticket and costs just $30, so make your reservations soon.

A second tour will highlight the release of Mike Morgan’s new book entitled Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King. This new tour will take participants along the length of Vine Street through Over-the-Rhine, allowing them to travel through both the Crown and Kauffman breweries while also learning about OTR’s early history and politics from the author himself. Tour organizers say that Morgan’s tour will only be offered at two times this weekend: Saturday at 3:10pm and Sunday at 3:20pm. Each tour will last approximately two-and-a-half hours and include the requisite beer ticket. Tickets cost $35, however $45 gets you a ticket for the tour as well as a signed copy of Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King.

The third and final tour is much more informal, free, and included in both of the aforementioned tours. Throughout the weekend people are encouraged to stop by the former Husman Potato Chip plant to check out the future home of Christian Moerlein brewing operations and get a look at the the planned brewery layout, future equipment placement, and renderings of the new Christian Moerlein Lager House taking shape on Cincinnati’s central riverfront. The tour will be offered approximately every 40 minutes.

As a special early kick-off for these tours, please join the OTR Brewery District this coming Thursday, September 9 at 10am, as volunteers Reconnect the Kauffman. During this “open to the public” event a wall, sealed during prohibition and blocking an underground tunnel, will be ceremoniously torn down to reconnect 2 buildings of the Kauffman Brewery, which at its height was the 4th largest in the city.

For those interested in being more involved with the Brewery Districts efforts, or just more involved with beer in general, volunteers are still needed both for the tours, and for serving beer through out the weekend at the future Christian Moerlein Brewery in OTR. Get your tickets soon and please sign up to be part of this great Cincinnati weekend. Cheers!

Categories
Business News

UrbanCincy to be back to regular publishing schedule tomorrow

Please excuse the infrequency of content lately.  The UrbanCincy team has been hard at work lining up new stories and features we hope you will all find quite enjoyable.  On top of that, I have been in San Francisco for the past five days.  The trip to the bay area will certainly provide content down the road as I was able to learn a lot about their transit systems, urban design, and overall city functions during my visit.

While in San Francisco I got to see virtually all of the tourist destinations but also the city’s first parklet, their new bus stops, ride a bike down Lombard Street and across the Golden Gate Bridge to Saulsalito, try out one of San Francisco’s best taco trucks while enjoying Aztec dancing in the Mission District, enjoy some of the most walkable neighborhoods in the United States, and learn a lot about the region’s transit system thanks to Jeff Wood from Reconnecting America.  I took hundreds of photographs documenting the entire journey, but in the mean time enjoy these sub-par camera phone pictures.