Category: Development

Categories
Business Development Transportation

Metro to debut real-time arrival screens at transit centers

Metro will debut real-time arrival screens at its Government Square transit center on Friday. The announcement is part of a recent series of moves by the transit agency to modernize its operations.

Since 2010, Metro has implemented a new electronic fare payment system, GPS tracking, GoogleTransit interface, articulated buses, and a new westside commuter hub.

“We’re collecting more feedback from our riders with our Way To Go initiative,” explained Metro’s Public Affairs Manager, Jill Dunne. “We have already received close to 2,000 surveys online and in person at various events this summer, and these changes are adding the types of improvements that our riders want.”

The new real-time arrival screens at Government Square cost $11,200 each and will be positioned at each of the transit center’s eight shelters, with a master information board at the front of the Government Square booth at Fifth Street and Walnut Street.

According to Metro officials, bus departure times will appear on the boards 45 minutes before a bus is scheduled to depart from Government Square. The boards will then begin a real-time countdown once the bus is within 20 minutes of its scheduled departure time.

The real-time arrival upgrades were made possible thanks to an $8.2 million American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant that funded Metro’s computer-aided dispatch and automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) technology in 2011, in addition to the new video boards.

The implementation of the real-time arrival boards at Government Square is just the beginning. Metro officials say that they will soon install the same technology at the new Glenway Crossing Transit Center and the Uptown Transit Hub which is scheduled to begin construction later this year.

In addition to the physical upgrades, transit officials say they plan to leverage the GPS tracking data to add real-time arrival information to its website, and debut a smartphone application within the next year.

The system updates do not, however, include open-source GPS data which is increasingly being more closely studied throughout the United States. Dunne says that Metro is working with their data vendor, and is working on developing these types of interfaces in 2013 through Google Transit Real Time Feed.

Real-time arrival board photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Categories
Business Development News

Bread & Spice brings vegetarian-focused bakery to Covington

Just over two years ago, Amber Jones realized a dream when she and her husband Jason were able to purchase a historic building in downtown Covington, fix it up, move in to the upper floors, and open a bakery on the first floor. As time progressed, so did Jones’ family and she was forced with making the difficult decision of closing up shop.

Not long after, Jones was in contact with another family-driven entrepreneur interested in operating a bakery out of the 1,000-square-foot space at 212 W. Pike Street.


Bread & Spice along Pike Street in downtown Covington. Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

“After looking at several restaurant and bakery locations available in Kentucky and Cincinnati, Dawn, my wife, and I decided we really preferred this location,” explained Daniel Tinney, owner of Bread & Spice. “We have both always enjoyed the look and style of older buildings, and we liked the positive neighborhood spirit we found here.”

Daniel operates Bread & Spice with his wife Dawn, and says that the two have waited long enough to pursue a mutual dream of theirs to open a café.

“Through my 20s and 30s I experimented with a variety of cuisines from around the world. I enjoyed savory, slightly spice food, and I learned how to cook them through trial and error,” Daniel told UrbanCincy. “I have been a vegetarian since age 15, and I have often found the options available to vegetarians dining out were either clearly an afterthought, or prepared in a rather bland way.”

To counter that, Daniel explains, that Bread & Spice features a multifaceted menu with a primary focus on vegetarian food that is savory and flavorful.

The Tinney’s celebrated the café’s grand opening on May 9, 2012, and have signed a one-year lease with an option to renew. Bread & Spice is currently open Monday through Friday from 7am to 3pm, Saturday from 8am to 3pm, and is closed on Sundays.

In addition to savory vegetarian options, Daniel notes that the café offers pour-over coffee and baked goods prepared at the store by his wife.

Daily specials and other product information is updated on Bread & Spice’s Facebook Page and Twitter account @BreadSpice daily.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Development News

Cincinnati’s new riverfront park immediately exceeding expectations

If you have yet to visit the first phase of the Smale Riverfront Park, then you need to do yourself a favor and go visit the beautiful new park. From a personal perspective, out of all of the new developments along the central riverfront, the new park is by far the best product and is a true civic asset for Cincinnati.

In the latest video update from project manager Dave Prather, he takes viewers on a tour of the now completed features of the Smale Riverfront Park that are open to the public. Prather also gives some insight into the elements that are soon to come including the continuation of the tree grove, Women’s Committee Garden, Adventure Playground, construction of the river’s edge and the transient boat dock.

“We’re proceeding with design and grant application for the transient boat dock, which will be aligned with the Main Street Fountain,” Prather explained in the project video. “That grant application is due the end of July, and award will be announced around early March next year. So we’re planning on next May to present the completed portion of the tree grove and break ground on the boat dock.”

In addition to the boat dock, Prather says that plans call for construction to begin on the Vine Street Steps next May as well, and would complete the framing of the Roebling Suspension Bridge.

One of the attractions of the first phase of the park is the new Cincinnati Bike Center which is now open to bicycle commuters 24 hours a day, and boasts a retail shop that includes merchandise and allows for people to rent various types of bicycles and Segways.

Reports from various media outlets and first-hand accounts highlight the immediate popularity of the park. One problem, according to Prather, has been that visitors want to play in the dramatic water curtain along Mehring Way which was not designed for interaction.

The early summer project update is nearly 13 minutes in length, and is the first video of the series to highlight a finished product.

Categories
Development News Politics

City officials hoping for surge of resident input on final day of community planning survey

Plan; Build; Live; these three words represent the process of developing and implementing a future vision. Cincinnati recently embarked on an endeavor to reform its land development codes and streamline the process of applying for a building permit.

The initiative which is aptly named, PlanBuildLive aims to achieve comprehensive reforms including the development of the city’s first form-based code.


PLAN Cincinnati Open House. Image provided.

Last month, the city hosted a four-day,city-wide Urban Design Workshop to engage residents in building a better community. One of the exercises from the workshop included a six question survey about city priorities.

The survey, called, What Would You Tell Her?, starts by stating that a friend has recently been elected to City Council, and then lists some options of advice the participant would give to their council friend on certain issues. Participants are also encouraged to come up with their own solutions to the hypothetical problems.

According to Della Rucker, who is working on the PlanBuildLive initiative, the survey “asks people imaginary but pretty real-world-relevant questions about urban development and maintenance regulation issues.”

Rucker went on to say that the survey has received a lot of responses thus far. Those interested in taking the online survey can do so through today. Results will then be released in-person and online after June 20.

Categories
Business Development News Politics

The Triumph of Cincinnati’s Center City Plan

Cincinnati was a different place ten years ago. It was a city still reeling from the destruction left behind by the civil unrest in 2001, and had a downtown in decline with retailers closing up shop and office vacancies soaring. The Banks project was regarded as a pipe dream, a field of mud between the elevated islands of sports stadiums and a lonely museum overlooking construction on the opposite side of the Ohio River.

Over-the-Rhine was a different place ten years ago as well. The corner of Twelfth and Vine Street consistently rated as the most dangerous in the city. Block after block of boarded buildings stood silently as echoes of an era time forgot. This was Cincinnati’s center city, a dried up husk of its former glory where redevelopment projects stalled and floundered and everyone returned home before dusk.

My, how far things have come.

In ten years time, the city center has experienced a resurrection from what appeared to be a near death experience. Fountain Square now attracts concerts and events, The Banks has become reality, Over-the-Rhine is being revitalized before our eyes, and it seems like every day there is a new project, a new store, a new cultural amenity, or a new festival choosing the downtown area.


Phase one of The Banks has been built [LEFT], and a major revitalization of Over-the-Rhine is underway [RIGHT]. Photographs by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

There is a saying that it takes a village, but in this case, it took a plan to change the area’s trajectory.

The Center City Plan as conceived in 2002 by consultants as a report to the city’s Economic Development Task Force. What the plan did is lay out a vision and way forward for the city to begin restoring the vitality of its largest economic center.

“The Economic Development Taskforce was a public-private partnership that looked at how the city could thrive,” City Spokesperson, Meg Olberding, explained. “The task force laid out a structure whereby the public and private sectors each have their role, but must work together.”

The task force made 23 recommendations, in total, including the creation of a one-stop permit shop, establishment of the Port Authority as an economic development agency, and the formation of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC).

City officials and 3CDC were tasked with making the goals laid out in the Center City Plan a reality. In particular, the plan detailed four initiatives aimed at restoring vitality.

  1. Redevelop Fountain Square: The plan recommended that the city, “transform Fountain Square into the city’s retail, cultural and civic heart”. Consolidation of retail at street level and creation of an attractive public space went into the redesign of the square. The removal of pedestrian skywalks also seen as a way to focus pedestrian activity on the street.
  2. Revitalize Over-the-Rhine: With regards to Over-the-Rhine the plan said, “Without intensive focus on Over-the-Rhine, efforts in the center city will be wasted.” Starting with a focus on the Vine Street corridor as the primary retail corridor, the plan envisioned a catalytic development agency spurring redevelopment along Vine Street in the historic neighborhood. The plan was to start at Central Parkway and work north towards Liberty Street.
  3. Build the Banks: The plan initially tasked the agency that would become 3CDC with the mission of building The Banks project. Years later the project moved forward under a steering committee to overcome conflicts that arose from the various parties involved in the riverfront redevelopment.
  4. Restore Washington Park: It was recommended that the city, “Implement a comprehensive development strategy to make Washington Park a civic treasurer.”

Of the many recommendations that stem from the Center City Plan, nearly all of them have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented today. The success of the plan, and those implementing it, can be seen every time a new project breaks ground, a new business opens shop, or a new cultural attraction takes root.

Other less visible accomplishments can be credited to the implementation of the other recommendations of the Economic Development Task Force such as the evolving direction of the Port Authority, the Plan Build Live initiative, and the city’s revised marketing approach.

Olberding concluded that, “This has proven to be a winning strategy for the City and one that will be more and more important as we take Cincinnati to the next level of growth and opportunity.”