Category: Up To Speed

Links to keep you up to speed on what’s happening in Cincinnati and what we can learn from other cities.

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Up To Speed

How an abandoned building in St. Louis became an urban rock climbing destination

How an abandoned building in St. Louis became an urban rock climbing destination.

An abandoned building in St. Louis has become a destination for rock climbers. Similar transformations have occurred elsewhere throughout the United States including exterior rock climbing walls on the sides of buildings in Chicago, and a church turned rock climbing venue in Dayton. Is this something Cincinnati could do with the former church at Fifteenth Street and Race Street in historic Over-the-Rhine? More from Rust Wire:

The video explains the construction of Climb So Ill, a rock climbing gym constructed in the city of St. Louis in a formerly abandoned industrial building. The guy who sent me this, Adam Koberna of Walltopia, said his company is looking to build gyms like this throughout the industrial Midwest.

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Up To Speed

Clifton Gaslight Market may open as soon as early 2013

Clifton Grocery Store To Reopen Early 2013

Clifton residents are close to being able to shop at a newly remodeled grocery store that has taken the place of Keller’s IGA after its closure in 2011. Although work on reopening the neighborhood grocery store had been delayed, Steve Goessling, who purchased the struggling store after it closed, is close to winning approval of a crucial development loan package that will relaunch the store with an expanded food selection more tuned to the neighborhoods needs. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

If all goes as planned, Goessling will accomplish a feat far more amazing than simply opening a new neighborhood market. He’ll prove that big things can happen when a business, a city and its people give their time, energy and money to a common cause, even in the worst economy. In this case, Goessling will bring back the fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, wines and beers that neighborhood shoppers sorely miss. He’ll return a business district anchor, recreate the neighborhood’s chief gathering place and likely make a nice living for himself, too.

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More cities looking to roll the dice on urban casinos

More cities looking to roll the dice on urban casinos.

As Cincinnati moves forward with its new casino in Pendleton, Chicagoans are dealing with a political setback that is preventing a casino from operating in Illinois’ biggest city. While Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) supports the idea, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) is concerned expanded gambling could open “loopholes for mobsters.” More from Next American City:

Emanuel insists that a downtown casino is so lucrative an economic development tool that any delay in construction is depriving the city of valuable tourist dollars and a new source of educational funds.

The debate is just the latest in a decades-long controversy over what role, if any, casinos can play in the revival of America’s cities. The economic downturn has given states an impetus to open up new sources of revenue, with gambling often viewed as low-hanging fruit. Twelve states have expanded gambling options in the last three years, 22 now permit commercial casinos (up from two in 1974), and Hawaii’s legislature is currently considering plans that would leave Utah as the sole state without some form of legalized gambling.

Depending on the outcome of the political struggle, Chicago could supersede Philadelphia as the largest American city with legalized gambling.

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Remembering 9/11 through Baldwin Lee’s early photographs

Remembering 9/11 through Baldwin Lee’s early photographs.

It was eleven years ago today that two glass, steel and concrete towers that once dominated the skyline of Manhattan fell in the worst terrorist attack in the history of this country and thousands of lives were lost. But these photographs from the 1970’s by Brooklyn native Baldwin S. Lee and Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee look back on a time when the then recently completed World Trade Center stood above the struggling old city below it.

At the time of its completion in 1971 the World Trade Center complex boasted 16 million square feet of office space in three low rise buildings and two 110-story towers designed by Minoru Yamasaki. The World Trade Center held the record for the world’s tallest buildings from 1971 to 1973 after being surpassed in height by the Willis Tower in Chicago. More World Trade Center photographs from Professor Lee:
Photograph by Baldwin Lee
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New Enquirer format delayed until 2013, corresponding paywalls unphased

New Enquirer format delayed until 2013, corresponding paywalls unphased.

The Cincinnati Enquirer and Columbus Dispatch newspapers had planned to shift to a new tabloid-sized print version this fall, but both debut’s will now be delayed until early 2013. The Enquirer, however, will still move forward with its content subscription model, on its planned October 1 date, that will charge readers for access to its website, e-newspaper, tablet and mobile sites, and smartphone applications. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The new edition had been scheduled for this fall; however, unexpected mechanical issues at Dispatch Printing in Columbus, where the new Enquirer will be printed, prompted the delay, Buchanan said.

The new format is 10 1/2 inches wide by 14 2/3 tall, is easier to manage for readers, will feature the same amount of news content, more color, and still have traditional sections. It will feature in-depth coverage of topics readers have said they’re passionate about, and more investigative stories. The paper also is revamping news and entertainment coverage.