Author: Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.

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News

2Q State of Downtown Report

I don’t know how many of you get the quarterly emails from Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI), but I do…and I am obsessed with the quarterly reports that they put out on the state of Downtown Cincinnati. No fluff…no shenanigans, just facts. If you would like to receive the quarterly emails as well just let them know. From here though I am going to highlight some of what I think are the most important numbers/pieces of information from the 2Q report:

  • The CBD/immediate periphery saw 44 condo sales and 9 single family home sales in the 2Q, selling for a median price of $279,032 and $228,000 respectively.
  • 10 new retail establishments opened (including bars/clubs) while 8 retail establishments closed…but in all honesty, a good chuck of the businesses that closed had other issues not related to downtown.
  • Downtown hotels continue to boast the best occupancy rates in the region (62.6%) and also saw the largest increase in occupied rooms over 2006 (+3.4%). Downtown hotels also boast the highest cost per room ($126.12) and accordingly the highest revenue per room($79.00) in the region.
  • Part 1 crimes (more serious crimes) are down 11.4% and Part 2 crimes (quality of life crimes) are down 16.1% over the numbers from the same time period for 2006.
  • DCI Ambassadors assisted 13,858 pedestrians, removed 23,740 lbs of trash, addressed 3,019 instances of panhandling, removed 513 graffiti tags and distributed 3,800 Go To Town Guides.

As for development…there is either proposed or under construction:

  • 4,877,160 sq. ft. of space
  • 2,641 residential units
  • 13,800 parking spaces
  • For a grand total of $1,450,300,000 in total investments.
Categories
News

Rehab Progress

Just want to keep everyone apprised on the changes I have made thus far. Some have been minor and barely noticeable, but hopefully will prove to make the site more navigable and user-friendly in the long run.

1. The first change I made was the background. I wanted to clean it up a bit, so that all those dots didn’t distract from the material on the page. I kept the matching color to keep the site tied together.

2. I wanted to keep the dots around somewhere…so I incorporated them into the Header Banner for the site. You still get the look, but without the overdone dots on the entire page.

3. That header is now linked to the main page for UrbanCincy (http://urbancincy.blogspot.com). This will come in handy if you link to the site via cinplify or somewhere else and are viewing a single post. Instead of retyping in the url or simply moving on…you can now just click the header and it will redirect to the main page with all of the recent posts.

4. I have increased the width of the content on the page. Previously I was annoyed by how narrow the content appeared on the page. So I tweaked with it and came up with a little wider format that I feel is more visually pleasing.

5. I’ve also added translation buttons for those international readers.

6. I have added a poll at the top of the page. This will stay around, but will change each month. The goal is to continue reader engagement on the site and get people thinking/discussing things about Cincinnati. The more discussion and exchange of ideas the better.

7. Finally…I removed the Google AdSense feature that used to be at the bottom of the page. It really added nothing to the page in terms of content, and just added more clutter in my opinion.

I am still working on another feature that will link to my photography collection, but that is still in the works and will take some time to get going the way I want it to be. If you have any more suggestions please let me know and comment on this post. Or if you would like, you can send me an email and I usually respond quite quickly.

Categories
News

Cincinnati Mercantile Library

The Cincinnati Mercantile Library has a long and rich history…one that many don’t even know about. Did you know that the Mercantile Library is just a stones throw away from Fountain Square at 414 Walnut Street?? Not only that, but it has been at that exact address since 1845 and was founded ten years earlier by a group of young professionals. Oh and in case things are a bit too hectic for you to drop by and check it out soon…that’s alright, because the Mercantile Library has a 10,000 year lease on its current home.

The place is an absolute historic gem to check out. The book collection is fantastic, and the personal attention/expertise from the librarians is second to none. Not to mention it is extremely quiet and private for reading, studying or working (more so than a public library). Something else it has is that historic charm that most public libraries lack.

The split level floors, that house the main book collection, are separated by a glass floor. That is because the library has not had electricity for very long, and this was a way to help maximize the natural sunlight from the large windows. There are other numerous architectural throwbacks like the ironwork, woodwork/carvings, and many other non-architectural features. Like the old wood phone booth for example, or the physical card catalog (no electronic catalogs here), the furniture, the stately looking safe that sits behind the front desk and the many pieces of artwork.

All in all, this place is a MUST see for any Cincinnatian…and for very reasonable membership rates you could have all of this and more at your fingertips. Be sure to also check out the Mercantile Library’s weblog for book reviews, events and other things happening with the library.

For more pictures from the Mercantile Library and other images from this past weekend, check out my photothread on UrbanOhio that includes pics from around Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

External Links:
www.mercantilelibrary.com
www.urbanohio.com/forum

Categories
News

Three wishes

Well it seems as though my last post brought up some people’s wishes for downtown, and what they want to happen. So, I thought I would throw it all out there and ask everyone to comment on what their Top 3 wishes for downtown are. They could be anything, from development projects, to culture changes, to new/different laws, etc. Go wild…I want to hear from you.

I’ll start with my Top 3 in no particular order:

1. The creation of a transportation hub along 2nd St (as has been proposed). This could be a hub for light rail, streetcar, bus, bike and have tie-ins to the potential high-speed rail system in Ohio and the Midwest. Why is this in my top three…well great urban centers are the center of cultural, economical, political and transportation services (to name a few). Cincinnati fairs quite well in most of these…and is quite honestly the center of transportation services for the region…but it is a sad system of services to say the least. So my wish for downtown is kind of a cop out wish for the entire region (but it’s my blog and I can do it).

2. How about an open-container policy for downtown. Now I understand that you need to restrict it someway…so create some sort of open-container district based on the location of the popular bars/clubs downtown. You could even have more than one district…and in those districts vehicular traffic could be closed off. This would give downtown a huge advantage over all of the other bar/club districts in the region and really make it a hot spot for activity after the sun goes down.

3. ZERO parking requirement…yes, you heard me right. No parking requirements. This is obviously a controversial proposal, but it has the potential to pay off big time with massive downtown development. This is one of those rare occasions where I think government is out of its element by mandating parking.

If a business or developer thinks that their project can succeed with less parking, no parking, or more parking then let them make that call. My bet is that people will error on the side of less parking, but if you want to sell condos and market them with 2 spaces then you’ll build your two spaces per units…but if you think you can do it with only one space per unit, then go for it. This could potentially lower the upfront costs of many developments that eventually are killed by the costs of parking.

So have at it and let me know what your wishes are, and what you think of my brilliant ideas.

Categories
Business Development News Opinion

New Signature Tower Needed??

There has been some discussion recently over the need (or lack thereof) for a new signature tower in Cincinnati. Queen City Square II offers that potential with it’s signature style architecture and size. It would be the new tallest in Cincinnati, and would have a new/fresh look that isn’t all too prevalent in Midwestern cities. But the question still exists…does Cincinnati need a new signature tower…or for that matter does Cincinnati even have a signature tower/landmark.

I would argue that Cincinnati does have a signature tower in Carew, but whether it is a landmark feature is another question. I would say that outside of the world of people who are interested in Cincinnati and/or city history that very few people know the history of the beautiful Art Deco skyscraper. You could also argue that Union Terminal is landmark-esque for Cincinnati, but the same holds true for it with the average joe.

So, does Cincinnati need a new signature tower…well I’ll answer with yet another question. What is the signature tower in Portland, OR…San Diego, CA…Boston, MA…Miami, FL or Washington, DC? Now sure, some of these places have their landmark buildings (most notably DC), but they don’t really have signature towers. What makes Paris, London, Madrid, or Rome so special? They all lack the skyscrapers that are prevalent in American cities, but they have great built environments and pedestrian friendly amenities.

Proposed Queen City Square II

Cincinnati is special in the same way…sure it doesn’t have the skyscrapers like new boomtowns of Atlanta, Miami, Houston, or Dallas. But it has a built environment that those cities will never be able to duplicate. Over-the-Rhine is a landmark for Cincinnati, so is Union Terminal, Carew Tower, Central Trust Tower, Roebling Suspension Bridge, and one could even argue Columbia Tusculum.

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not opposed to another stylish skyscraper downtown, but I don’t think that Cincinnati needs it by any stretch of the imagination. Often times skyscrapers actually hurt that all important street-life that you hope to create in an urban environment. I say go for it, but don’t go out of your way to accomplish building these skyscrapers. They are pretty…but like a book, the quality of a city should not be judged by its cover.