Tag: Politics

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News Politics

A not so new, new idea

The Cincinnati metropolitan area is an extremely fragmented area (particularly Hamilton County), and like much regions in the country it suffers from NIMBYism, white flight and concentration of social services. The mindset of, the different communities, distancing themselves from the inner-city has been in full speed for some time now…until more recently.

Inner-ring suburbs are starting to feel the pinch from the perpetuating nature of sprawl. Cincinnati proper has been dealing with this problem for years, and arguably might be at the point of getting past that issue. Recent population count challenges from the City of Cincinnati have been successful and are now showing a population growth not only for downtown, but for the entire City. Other communities, within Hamilton County, have now also been pegged with losses…losses that they have never seen before.

So…what’s new about a Midwest city losing population and struggling as a region. Well, nothing. But what is new with this situation is that the inner-city is showing signs of life as the inner-ring ‘burbs are now feeling the pinch. This is inevitably the future for many regions around the nation…so what are we to do?

Well Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has stepped up to the plate, and is taking a leadership role for this region in fighting this decline and challenging numbers that may very well be flawed from a Census methodology that favors new growth cities. It is more difficult to count the number of rehabbed buildings and/or reoccupied buildings. You can spot the number of building permits from a mile away and guestimate that 2-3 people occupy that structure (which may or may not be true).

So…what else is new? We have a leader that is stepping up to the plate and taking on a leadership role at a more regional level. Mayor Mallory is rallying communities from around Hamilton County. If Hamilton County can begin working as one cohesive unit then the region will surely benefit. In short…the voice of 800,000+ people is much more powerful than those voices being split up amongst dozens of jurisdictions.

The bottom line is that it’s beginning to look like the Cincinnati region may start to begin working together cooperatively to accomplish their goals…which for Cincinnati is a not so new, new idea.

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Business Development News Politics

Just to clarify…

Apparently my post regarding eminent domain was a controversial one, and it seems that some people may have missed the overriding point I was trying to make.

I am not advocating the use of eminent domain all willy nilly…I’m actually not suggest any kind of measures to occur with eminent domain, but rather I am simply complaining about the current system we have in place. Sure we need to protect individual freedoms (imo, that only goes so far though). In some instances government goes to far (see the Patriot Act), and I think that is what many seem to think I’m advocating. It is not, let me explain…

I am making an observation that in many of the high profile eminent domain cases, it is not the small guy or the innocent property owner fighting the battle. It’s quite the contrary…as I pointed out, many of the people involved in these legal battles are absent landlords, LLC’s, corporate entities and the like. I don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul…I just want to pay Paul for his efforts and enthusiasm in wanting to invest in the inner-city. Is that sooo wrong?

You may still disagree with me and that’s fine…I’m just looking at the situation and thinking, “Maybe we’ve gone a little too far with these rulings.” You know the knee-jerk anti-communist type reactions we’ve seen. I just ask that you cool your jets and look at the next eminent domain case that pops up…you tell me who is benefiting: the neighborhood, municipality, investor or some random LLC who has been stockpiling junk properties for years just waiting for this kind of thing to happen?

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News

Rewarding our bum landlords

This is something that I have been stewing about for sometime. It is the issue of eminent domain, and how I feel that the recent court cases are setting a dangerous precedent that will, in the long run, harm cities chances of revival and ultimately reward those bum landlords and tenants of the world.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are surely some instances where the property owner is completely legit in their stance and should not be forced from their home. But most of the time you end up with the logical/sane people selling and moving out, and the others just waiting to prey on the potential investors. This is where I get upset.

We live in a capitalistic market right??? Then shouldn’t we be rewarding the individual who is willing to take a risk on a project rather than rewarding the jerk who sat on some property for years and let it go to crap? With eminent domain you are typically offered higher than appraised value for your property, if that isn’t enough the potential investor is typically willing to up the ante. But for some, that still isn’t enough…they must thoroughly suck out as much as they can and send the redevelopment project into the red.

So you then have an investor who was interested in investing in an inner-city neighborhood who is now fed up and ready to build on a greenfield out in the exurbs. Who wins here…the neighborhood who had a few members stand up and say NO…the investor who lost a lot of money up front on a project that is no more…the municipality that may benefit from increased tax revenue and prestige of a major investment…or is it the few individuals that stood up for “property rights?”

This is a classic Lose, Lose, Lose, Win scenario…it’s great to see it happen before my very own eyes.

A couple recent cases in Cincinnati:
Cincinnati v. Clif Cor Co. (Calhoun Street)
Cincinnati v. Dimasi (Dixmyth Avenue)
Norwood v. Horney (Rookwood Exchange)

Categories
Business Development News Opinion Politics

City Council almost ran the table…almost

Now lately I would have considered city council to be on somewhat of a roll, and by that I mean vote the way I approve. But in all seriousness, they have done quite a bit of good work lately. Here is a list of a few of their accomplishments:

  • Approved a potential property tax rollback (albeit minor).
  • Voted to create a ‘vending district’ along Short Vine.
  • Looked at ways to cut costs around city hall that could potentially save the city another $18 million.
  • Rezoned a piece of land in Sedamsville that could end up paying off in the long run for city coffers.
  • Reinstated the city’s Clean, Safe Fund.

 

However there was a misstep along the way when they voted 5-4 to not approve a 25 cent bus fare hike for Metro. This is a crucial piece to the Metro puzzle; most of their buses will be needing replacement very soon, and this type of delay can critically set them back for years to come. While I agree with council that there are probably better ways for Metro to cope with financial hardships (i.e. make all the other communities pay into the system who use it), but that will take some time and this money is needed right now!

This is similar to the types of problems that Amtrak has faced over the years. They are constantly unsure of what their financial status will be on a year to year basis and can therefore not financially plan for anything farther out than their current fiscal year. I yearn for the day when Cincinnati has a real regional transportation authority that overlooks these systems, and sets up appropriate funding mechanisms for them.

Why is it that there is Metro, TANK, Bearcat Transportation Shuttle, and all of these other fragmented transportation services. Clean it up, remove the unnecessary overhead and move towards a real regional authority that we all really want and need.

External Links:
www.go-metro.com
www.tankbus.com

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News

Is Cincinnati ready to take that next step?

If you have a pulse you can notice the major changes occurring in/around Downtown Cincinnati. There are new restaurants, clubs, retailers, residents and overall just more activity at all times of the day. Now I’m not sure if city government should receive all of the credit for this, but it certainly deserves some. While all of this has been well and good; Downtown Cincinnati is still not where it could be…or where it used to be. Who is going to step up and take downtown and its surrounding areas to the next level?

I challenge city government to take this one by the horns and put downtown over the top. Downtown needs more everyday retailers, affordable shops, more affordable housing, and improved cleanliness/image. These are the items, the City of Cincinnati, should be focusing on in order to make downtown a truly great place to live, work, and play. Here are my suggestions:

1. Sell downtown to potential retailers that have been hesitant, in the past, to invest in downtown while making sure these retailers represent the people that you are trying to serve (urban dwellers…NOT SUBURBANITES).

2. Encourage middle-class housing development, by incentivising those developments that serve that segment of society. Push for better transit options (like the streetcar proposal) to help reduce overhead costs for new housing developments.

3. Finally, don’t be afraid to be positive…tell everyone/anyone about the great things happening downtown, and that they too can be a part of the change! Let everyone know that it’s not just a select group of people making a lot of noise, but rather a collective mass taking hold.

I hope our leadership can help the inner-city thrive once again; leaders like Jim Tarbell are a rare breed, and we must demand accountability from our other city leaders to make the city GREAT once again…we’re certainly on our way.