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.

Categories
Business News Transportation

Cincinnati COMTO Chapter to Award Nearly $10,000 in Scholarships to Area Students

The Cincinnati Chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials has announced that they plan to award area high school and college students with $10,000 in scholarships.

COMTO says that three scholarships are open to anyone interested in pursuing a career in the transportation sector, while one scholarship will only be available to existing COMTO members.

The largest, the Mallory Humanitarian Scholarship, was established to encourage and promote leadership and public service, and will award $2,500 to someone seen as the “next pioneer” that will help move the Cincinnati region through its next era of growth. The First Transit Achievement Scholarship will distribute $1,500 scholarships to area college students looking to make a difference in the transportation sector.

The MV Achievement Scholarship, which is nationally competitive, will distribute $750 scholarships to those recognized as individuals who share the passion of Feysan and Alex Lodde, who founded the nation’s largest minority and woman-owned transportation organization in 1975.

The Will Scott Scholarship will round out the awards, and is only made available to active COMTO members. Named in honor of Scott’s passion for assisting individuals with developing strategies to achieve their vision and mission, the scholarship also recognizes his establishment of the COMTO Cincinnati Chapter. This $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to someone who is seeking to further their education or advance their career development.

All of the awards will be announced at COMTO’s area luncheon on Thursday, April 21.

“The transportation sector is thriving and can be a very rewarding career choice,” said Cincinnati COMTO President Brandy Jones. “Through our scholarship program, we hope to inspire interest in the transportation industry and help develop its future leaders.”

Jones says that the fields of study that qualify include engineering, urban planning, logistics, management and mechanics, along with a handful of others.

The deadline for applications is Thursday, March 31. Additional information and application instructions can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/comtoapplication.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

University of Cincinnati Hosting Film Series on Urban Social Issues at Esquire Theatre

Do The Right ThingThe University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning is co-hosting a film series this month with the Center for Film & Media Studies at the Esquire Theatre in Clifton.

According to Dr. Conrad Kickert; an Assistant Professor of Urban Design at the College of Design, Architect, Art & Planning; the series is intended to foster discussion about complex urban issues highlighted by each of the three films.

The first, to take place this Wednesday at 7:30pm, is Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, which explores the topics of race and gentrification. While focused on Brooklyn, the film provides a good foundation for discussion for many American cities currently struggling with both issues; and how they are often closely related with one another.

“The three films will focus on current social issues that our cities are facing, such as gentrification, social justice and racial exclusion,” Dr. Kickert explained. “The film series is a great way to for Cincinnatians to experience and discuss the social issues that cities are facing, and the role that cinema and urban planning has in these debates.”

The second film, Metropolis by German filmmaker Fritz Lang, will be shown on March 9, also at 7:30pm. Filmed in 1927, Metropolis depicts a dystopian future from the 1920s that reflects on social equity in the industrial city.

The final showing will take place on March 16, and will feature La Haine by French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz. In this film, Kassovitz looks at the life of young people in a notorious French suburb.

Each one of the screenings will be introduced by a professor from UC’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning, and will include a discussion afterward that will be led by a faculty member from the Center for Film & Media Studies.

Tickets for each of the film showings can be purchased on the Esquire Theatre’s website. They start at $7 for children and senior citizens, and $9.75 for adults. The Esquire Theatre is accessible by several Metro bus routes, and is within a block of a Red Bike station. Bike parking is free and located in the immediate blocks.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Will Over-the-Rhine Be Able to Hold On to Its Neighborhood Leaders and Organizers?

Each year the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce recognizes outstanding individuals and businesses within the neighborhood at their annual Star Awards event. This year’s event will take place at The Transept on Wednesday, March 16 at 4pm, and will feature Harvey Lewis as the keynote speaker.

Last year, Jai Washington was honored with the Individual Contribution of the Year award for her years of involvement in the neighborhood.

Washington told UrbanCincy that she was pleasantly surprised to receive the award last year, but says she has long been in love with Over-the-Rhine for a variety of reasons.

“I was nominated by good friend and coworker at the Peasley Neighborhood Center,” she said. “I believe it stems from two things – I have been involved with community most of my career, but I have also become more involved and present at the chamber as their community outreach liaison. They were able to see in real-time what I’m involved with in the community.”

Her engagement, however, extends far beyond her current roles at the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and the Peasley Neighborhood Center. Over the years Washington has worked or volunteered at Inktank, Elementz, Future Leaders OTR, ArtsWave, Black Family Reunion Festival, Cincy Cinco, and even at Fox19 for some time as a citizen reporter.

While being firmly connected with Over-the-Rhine, Washington says that she actually first became connected with the neighborhood while living in Wyoming and commuting to OTR for work at Iris Book Café on Main Street. After that, in 2009, she started Cincinnati Conscience – a radio show on Media Bridges – which is what many people still know her for today.

“This provided me a fertile ground to meet people,” Washington explained. “I would interview people in the neighborhood who were trying to make a difference.”

Of course, such a rooted history in Over-the-Rhine means that Washington has seen the neighborhood change over time. That change, she says, has brought both good and bad particulars with it; and it is her hope, in her next endeavor, to help raise the level of conversation and discourse about what is happening in the neighborhood.

“I think the changes are beautiful and bittersweet. OTR, in its rawness in the 80s and late 70s, had this bad rap of being an island of misfit toys, but it was also a place of refuge for me early on in life. I found it difficult to find my place in the city, but OTR was this place where I was welcome, and it didn’t matter my race, gender, or sexual orientation. History, necessity, and location brought us all together.”

This shared story, as Washington explains it, is defined by the city and neighborhoods in which we work and live. These physical and cultural experiences, regardless of who you are or where you come from, are things that can tie people together.

“I want to be a facilitator of our shared story,” Washington explained. “Political correctness has done us a disservice in that we’ve lost shared stories; and I want to provide the opportunity to people to share these stories in a very professional way.”

One such way she might go about doing this is through guided walks. By engaging people in such activities, Washington believes people can connect in a very raw manner while also connecting with the city’s past.

“I want the world to know that the misfits matter. They are still here holding the place for those coming here now,” Washington concluded. “We have gone from a place for the misfit toys, to Disneyland; and I’m not sure I will be able to afford to live here much longer.”

“The middle is being whittled away; and I’m saddened by that because I’ve invested so much in this community.”

Many efforts are being made to maintain Over-the-Rhine as a diverse and inclusive place, but as the pace of development gains more speed, it will become more important than ever for city leaders to determine priorities and craft policies in a way to make sure OTR doesn’t lose one of its stars.

We will find out who will be this year’s individual stand-out next month.

Categories
Business Development News

PHOTOS: Building Boom Changing the Face of Uptown Neighborhoods

The Verge [Eric Anspach]

While the construction activities taking place in Over-the-Rhine and Downtown often grab the most headlines, it is actually the city’s uptown neighborhoods where some of the most dramatic construction progress is taking place.

Numerous projects are underway that are adding four- to six-story structures all over Clifton Heights, Corryville, University Heights, Clifton, and Mt. Auburn.

The $15 million, 115-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is now topped out and filling in the remaining piece of the U Square at The Loop block along W. McMillan Street. Once this portion of the development is complete, attention will turn to developing the planned office building along Jefferson Avenue in between W. McMillan Street and Calhoun Street.

Just down the street from the hotel project site is The Verge – 178-unit residential development – which is also now topped out. This project has stirred controversy due to its demolition of two historic structures that were once on the site. In addition to that, the project is replacing a large surface parking lot and several small homes.

In Corryville, the finishing touches are being put on the $30 million, 147-unit VP3 residential development that, like The Verge, is targeting students studying at the University of Cincinnati. Likewise, the $25 million 101 E. Corry project is bringing an additional 123 apartments and eight townhomes to the historic neighborhood.

Nearby, and on the border of Clifton Heights and Corryville, is the University Plaza site, which has now been fully demolished of its previous structures. While the new development footprint will not differ significantly from what was there before, a new Walgreens is already nearing completion, and a new Kroger grocery store, twice the size of the previous store, will also soon begin construction as part of a $24 million redevelopment effort.

Finally, the $17 million, 117-unit Gaslight Manor residential development in Clifton is on-pace to be completed later this year. This project is replacing a less dense apartment complex that previously occupied the hilly site immediately northwest of Good Samaritan Hospital.

EDITORIAL NOTE: All 17 photographs were taken by Eric Anspach in February 2016.

Categories
Development News

Proposed Development at Fifteenth & Vine Lives Up to 3CDC’s Parking Promises

Rendering of Fifteenth & Vine [Provided]

When 3CDC first began developing the 359-space Mercer Commons Garage in 2012, they defended their actions for building such an over-sized garage by saying they would share the spaces with other planned nearby developments.

Nearly three-and-a-half years have passed since that time, but it is now becoming clear that 3CDC has largely lived up to the promises they made at the time.

When first criticized by UrbanCincy, 3CDC noted that the spaces at the Mercer Commons Garage were meant not only for the $50 million Mercer Commons development, but also the office space at the Paint Building, Cintrifuse, and former Boss Cox building. In total, 3CDC’s former Vice President of Development, Adam Gelter, estimated that those projects alone would need 90 to 100 spaces.

In addition to that, 3CDC’s previous plans for the former Smitty’s site called for 30 to 40 residential units, which would also have their parking provided for at the Mercer Commons Garage. Since that time, those plans have evolved, and 3CDC is now proposing a 55,000-square-foot office and retail building, which, by law, would require 155 parking spaces – much more than would have been required under the previous residential scheme.

City officials say that a potential 77-space reduction may be permitted due to the existence of the nearby Mercer Commons Garage and Washington Park Garage, which have an availability of 141 and 14 spaces, respectively.

Should 3CDC pursue to utilize those two garages to their fullest extent, then it would be feasible for the non-profit development organization to avoid providing any parking at all in the $16 million project slated for the southwest corner of Fifteenth and Vine Streets.

In addition to being located to two nearby parking garages, this site is directly across the street from a Kroger grocery store, located a block away from the Cincinnati Streetcar’s first phase, and within blocks of several Red Bike stations.

With a Walk Score of 96 out of 100 points, the proposed unnamed development at Fifteenth and Vine Streets boasts one of the most walkable locations in the region.

If all goes according to plan, and 3CDC is granted their zoning variances by City Hall, then project officials say they hope to begin construction as soon as possible, with a project completion scheduled for mid-2017.