Tag: uptown

Categories
News

Brian Kelly decides to jump ship…NEXT MAN IN!

Well it’s official. Brian Kelly did what everyone thought he would do and follow in the footsteps of Mark Dantonio. The reports are out that Notre Dame will announce Brian Kelly as their next head coach, and BK will more than likely not spend a minute more with his dedicated players and team after the team’s banquet this evening.

It’s a perfect ending to a perfect season in a sick kind of way. The whole year the team played with the motto of “Next Man In” almost as if Brian Kelly saw the writing on the wall months ago that he would cut and run on his team before the biggest game in UC football history. Three short seasons ago BK joined the Bearcats and coached them to an International Bowl championship, PapaJohns.com Bowl championship, then two consecutive Big East championships with a disappointing performance at last year’s Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech.

BK has made the most of his players and turned the program into a national powerhouse building off of the foundation that Mark Dantonio so nicely poured for him. Now BK is off to Notre Dame where the cabinet won’t be left quite as full and the expectations not quite so low.

In Cincinnati, BK was on his way to becoming a local legend and turning the Bearcats into the premier football school in the Big East with perennial BCS bowl games and National Championships on the line. At Notre Dame BK will be expected to win National Championships from the beginning and anything less will be a disappointment.

The news comes on the heels of the Bearcats undefeated season where they repeated as Big East Champions and in which they came just one second or a missed field goal away from playing for the National Championship. Bearcat fans rewarded the team and BK by turning out record crowd, after record crowd at Nippert…and by selling out the team’s entire 17,500 ticket allotment to the Sugar Bowl where the Bearcats will play the Florida Gators.

Add in the fact that BK’s seniors poured their hearts into a game that will go into the history books (video) against Pittsburgh in the final game of the regular season where they came from 21 points down to win in the waning seconds by 1 point. It was such an emotional and important win that senior leaders Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard broke out into tears of joy…but who cares.

BK certainly has a fat paycheck waiting on him in South Bend in addition to a slew of absurd benefits. He will also be able to play under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus, and be judged by fans who feel more entitled to everything and anything, without any real reason. BK will also be taking over a team that hasn’t had a defense in years, and whose two best offensive players just declared themselves for the NFL Draft.

The University of Cincinnati is a top-notch school and program, and Cincinnati is not some stepping stone city. As much as I love Bearcat football, and what BK has done for it, he’s gone now and I’ve moved on. Good riddance BK, and I wish you as much luck at ND as Dantonio has had at Michigan State.

In the mean time, watch this GREAT VIDEO on the Bearcats instant classic win over Pittsburgh. It’s inspirational and the sound track is perfect given this news. BK, you’re just the past now. It’s our time.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Bearcats finish 3rd in BCS, will play Florida Gators in Sugar Bowl

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats finished the college football regular season undefeated and #3 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national rankings. The top three teams all boast undefeated records and all hail from BCS affiliated conferences (SEC, Big XII, Big East respectively).

The win over Big East rival Pittsburgh on Saturday secured the Bearcats back-to-back Big East football championships, and their second straight BCS bowl game appearance. Last year the Bearcats struggled against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl and lost 20-7. This year the Bearcats will travel to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl to take on the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gators who are coming off a crushing defeat in the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

Tim Tebow is arguably one of the greatest competitors in college football, and ended the game against Alabama crying on the sidelines. It will be a test to see if Florida comes ready and prepared for the Bearcats’ offensive onslaught, or if they’ll be disappointed about missing out on a chance to play for the National Championship which most people believed they would do from the beginning of the season until just now.

The Gators have a terrific defense, but so far there really has not been a defense that has been able to slow down the Bearcats’ prolific offense led by Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard. Instead the best defensive strategy has been to just keep the Bearcats offense off the field by running a slow paced offense that eats of game clock.

Will Tim Tebow and company be able to keep the Tony Pike and company off the field? Will the Bearcats’ young defense be able to scheme for Tebow and the fast-strike Gators? Will Bearcats coach Brian Kelly still be around to coach in the game on January 1, or will there still be talks of him leaving acting as distractions? Will Urban Meyer and his coaching staff have similar problems as they entertain other coaching opportunities? In a nutshell, who will come ready to play?

The game will be played on Friday, January 1 at 8:30pm in New Orleans. Bowl Central is the spot to get all the information on the game including tickets, travel accommodations, and game notes. This is the Bearcats second BCS bowl game appearance, and their first appearance at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Categories
News Opinion Politics

Cincinnati plans multi-million dollar surveillance camera system

The City of Cincinnati, in combination with the Uptown Consortium, has announced that 14 new high-tech surveillance cameras will be installed in various locations throughout Downtown (8) and Uptown (6). The cameras are being touted by local officials and community leaders as being a 21st Century crime fighting tool that should make Cincinnati a safer place.

The $19,000/piece cameras are not going to stop at this initial installation, that is expected to be fully operational within the coming months, as officials will have another dozen installed throughout East Price Hill and Westwood along Glenway Avenue by summer. An additional 12 to 15 cameras will be installed to monitor bridges, piers and waterways. Two years from now, officials hope to have 50 to 60 cameras installed across the city in other neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine, Avondale, College Hill and Northside in addition to those in Downtown, Westwood, East Price Hill, Clifton Heights, University Heights, Fairview, Corryville and Clifton.

Public safety officials often proclaim that these types of cameras have the ability to deter crime and make neighborhoods safer, when in fact they don’t. Cameras simply move criminal activity around much like citronella candles keep bugs away from your backyard barbecue.

The cameras were paid for by a $2 million federal grant, but what about the ongoing maintenance? Who is going to watch the live video stream, or will someone? Who is going to review the tapes? What will be reviewed? What about archiving…how long, how much, where, and who manages it? What is the City going to actually do with all this information?

It would seem to be logical to assume that the primary use, for the cameras, will be for building cases against those who have already committed crimes. So, once again, how is this making the city safer? Instead it would seem that the cameras would just make prosecution more effective in some cases. But at the same time, I would imagine the criminals will be smart enough to see the bright white and prominently branded cameras and move their operations just outside the cone of view.

So then what, do we install more cameras…cameras on every street corner? Who will pay for that kind of an operation, and are Cincinnatians accepting of this Big Brother kind of a move? In New York they are in the process of installing some 3,000 cameras that will be fully operational by 2010. The costs of New York’s system is pegged at $90 million with a $25 million surveillance center in the project’s first phase in lower Manhattan.

The London Evening Standard just reported that even with London’s impressive array of more than 10,000 CCTV cameras, the most expansive system of its kind anywhere, that roughly 80 percent of crimes go unsolved. The $334+ million system not only is not solving the core issues surrounding the need for individuals to result to criminal behavior, but the system is not even showing effectiveness in the one area it is suppose to shine.

This approach to crime fighting seems to be a reactionary way to manage complex criminal behavior. More money should be spent on identifying the causes behind individuals resulting to criminal behavior, and how to address that. Instead what we’re doing is spending $2 million on a project that at best will put more non-violent criminals behind bars or at least through our legal system, and at worst, become cumbersome to manage and prove ineffective much like London’s advanced Big Brother system.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Development News Transportation

Memorial Day – 2012*

So, I’m sitting here at the Christian Moerlein Lager House enjoying a Helles and thinking about what lies ahead this summer… it’s going to be a busy one! Living in Cincinnati has never been better with all of the new things we have going on; I’m so glad I decided to stay after we turned down Issue Nine back in 2009. Back then, the downtown area was just starting to turn around compared to where we are today. I mean, Fountain Square had again taken its rightful place as the center of our community and things up in the Gateway Quarter were really starting to tick. There was some real promise, but many people had their doubts as well. Now though, there are very few doubters left, and almost all the concerns from back then have been alleviated.

I mean, the things that are going on these days in and around the center city are just amazing compared to where we have been for at least the past twenty years. I would call it a renaissance or even a rebirth, but it’s more like a brand Cincinnati is developing right before our very eyes. The Banks project is coming along nicely, even if we all know that it seems like it was talked about forever. We all knew that even when the project started it was going to take a while, but it’s so good to see people living and working there even now! Alongside it Riverfront Park has added a wonderful green space at the base of the freshly painted Roebling Suspension Bridge. I have to say it is so much nicer to sit here and watch people in the park than it would be to see another parking lot along the riverfront. Hard to believe we had to live through that for all those years!

Central Riverfront Park, Great American Tower at Queen City Square, Phase 1 of The Banks – Renderings Provided.

The city’s tallest building, The Tiara Tower, has been open for a little over a year and not only does it look great but it has a nice occupancy rate as well. It has brought a lot of jobs and driven interest in additional ambitious building projects around town. For example, over in Newport more development has taken hold as Ovation opened up recently. Really, when you stop and think about it, this area along the Ohio River is booming and both sides of the river have taken great pride in it all.

Speaking of pride, the Cincinnati Streetcar opened up early this year and the response has been amazing! People park down at The Banks, jump on the streetcar and find their way around town very easily. They are able to ride up to Findlay Market among other places, and next year they will be able to get all the way up to the University. New businesses and residences abound along the line and have really added a substantial amount of tax revenue to the city coffers that were not looking good even three years ago.

The Cincinnati Streetcar travels on Walnut Street past the Aronoff Center and the Backstage Entertainment District south towards The Banks.

What else is going on? Well, the World Choir Games will be here before we know it and we are expecting quite a crowd. It is the first time the games will be in the United States and estimates are that 250,000 people will be here in town in less than six weeks to take them in. It’s going to be quite an event and the hotels have been booked up for the last year. There is also a huge Pomegranates show this coming weekend. They haven’t been in town for a while because of their touring schedule, and we all miss them dearly. They really started cooking in 2009 back when we were all concerned with Issue 9. Additionally, the Major League All-Star Game will be here in 2015 and we are all looking forward to that gigantic event! People around the area are so glad that we have a city to show off and one that we can be proud of!

Cincinnati… we’ve had a lot of hurdles and obstacles to overcome, but things have been moving in the right direction for a while now and I don’t see how the momentum could be stopped!

*Denotes that this is a vision of where we are headed, and not truly a post from the future. As you can see, almost all of these projects are underway in 2009 and this post was meant to tie them all together & draw a picture of what it all will look like. As of now, the All-Star game & streetcar are the the biggest dreams, but hopefully that all begins to change tomorrow. NO ON NINE!

Categories
News

Cincinnati Zoo goes platinum, grows attendance

It doesn’t take a die-hard Cincinnatian to know that the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens is one of the region’s real assets. The Zoo provides a tremendous learning opportunity for children, terrific family outings, and so much more. And while the Zoo is one of the best in the country, it is also a community leader.

The Cincinnati Zoo was just recently deemed “America’s Greenest Zoo” by the green building community. It is the first zoo in the country to have multiple LEED projects, and is the second zoo in the country to attain the prestigious LEED Platinum certification for one of its buildings. As the zoo continues to grow and improve itself, Zoo leadership has pledged that all future projects will pursue the LEED certification – a first of its kind commitment in the country.

Vine Street Village photo courtesy of the Cincinnati Zoo.

What is even better news is that while the economy continues to slug its way out of hibernation, the Cincinnati Zoo is posting record attendance numbers. Zoo officials will welcome the 1 millionth visitor to the zoo this year sometime this week. The attendance numbers represent a 23 percent increase over the same time in 2008, and also is higher than total attendance numbers posted over the past four years.

The Cincinnati Zoo (map) is open daily from 9am to 5pm for the rest of the year (except Christmas), with tickets starting as low as $13 for adults. Metro provides bus service to the Zoo via the #1 (directly serves the Zoo…this is your best option), 46, 51, and 78 bus routes (plan your trip now); bicycle parking is also available.