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Development News Transportation

City adding bike lanes to Central Parkway, Spring Grove Avenue, Linn Street

As summer draws to a close, Cincinnati city officials will be installing several miles of new dedicated bike lanes and sharrows. According to the Cincinnati Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE), crews have already introduced bike lane symbols along Spring Grove Avenue, between Crawford Avenue and Mitchell Avenue, and will be completing the separation line later this week.

Other city streets to be improved later this summer include Central Parkway, between Brighton Place and Hopple Street, and Linn Street from W. 6th Street to Gest Street.  In total, the projects account for approximately two-and-a-half miles of new bicycle facilities.

“We know that Spring Grove Avenue is already a major bicycling corridor, and we hope that the addition of bicycle lanes will encourage even more people to try using a bicycle for casual trips,” said Curtis Hines, Spring Grove Avenue project manager.

According to Hines, the timing is perfect as all of the streets receiving the new bike lanes and sharrows were already scheduled for routine maintenance work.

“We’re committed to building streets with all users in mind, so we plan to continue incorporating bike lanes in as many street improvement projects as possible.”

The new bike lanes and sharrows come shortly after Cincinnati City Council approved dramatic new bicycle policies that include new safety regulations, parking requirements, and a comprehensive Bicycle Transportation Plan that calls for 445 miles of on- and off-street bicycle facilities to be installed by 2025.

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Business Development News

Broadway Commons district study to examine area impacted by new Cincinnati casino

Cincinnati casino developers have selected Harrah’s Entertainment to operate the new casino to be built on Broadway Commons, and the city has approved the necessary funding to move forward on a new Broadway Commons district study that will include recommendations on design, policy, and programming for the newly developed area.

The $15,000 study is being funded jointly by the City of Cincinnati, UC Community Design Center, and Bridging Broadway. The Local Initiative Support Coalition of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky (LISC) will help direct the six-month study with the rest of the group.

“We hope to integrate what the community wants to see there, and make sure their vision is realized,” said Stephen Samuels, President, Bridging Broadway. “We also hope to be strong allies with the development team as a big part of our mission has been to help see this development happen in a constructive manner amongst so many constituents.”

The casino plan includes a $400 million, 500,000 square-foot facility located on the 20-acre Broadway Commons site. Rock Gaming (formerly known as Rock Ventures) developers hope to start construction, on the casino, in late 2010 and entertain the first visitors by 2012. It is anticipated that the massive development will attract more than six million visitors annually, and create 2,800 jobs.

In the mean time, local leaders will embark on the Broadway Commons district study which will study the economics, transportation, urban design, and social issues faced within a half-mile radius of the project. The study will officially begin on Wednesday, September 1 and include a series of community dialogue meetings.

Samuels says that to achieve these goals, the non-profit group could use additional help from those in urban planning, architecture, consumer research, technology, construction, community outreach, and grant writing fields. Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact Stephen Samuels at stephen@bridgingbroadway.com.

“I am both confident and skeptical that we can achieve these goals with Rock Gaming,” Samuels explained. “I would not have spearheaded this effort had I not had any concerns, but so far the city and the developers have been great partners.”

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Development News Politics

Cincinnati officials impressed by results of Nashville’s form-based codes

In late June 2010, 18 individuals from Cincinnati made a trip to Nashville, TN in order to learn more about that city’s form-based code efforts. While on the trip, local officials and community leaders toured three of Nashville’s most notable developments to see first-hand how such land planning initiatives have made a tangible impact there.

The delegation attending the last of several trips to Nashville included Cincinnati City Councilmembers Laure Quinlivan, Charlie Winburn and Wendell Young; Hamilton Vice Mayor Rob Wile; leaders from Downtown, Walnut Hills, Mt. Auburn, Hyde Park, The Christ Hospital, the Cincinnati Form Based Codes Initiative, and UrbanCincy.

While in Nashville, the delegation visited Lenox Village and The Hill Center. The two new urbanist developments located in Nashville’s suburban communities each have a unique focus as Lenox Village offers a walkable residential neighborhood, while The Hill Center is an upscale commercial district built in a walkable manner.

Inside Lenox Village, the delegation was impressed by the development’s tree-lined streets, wide sidewalks, public gathering spaces, and pocket parks with homes ranging in cost from $84,000 to $350,000. The development also includes a small element of office and retail space, while also providing ten percent of its total housing units as rental.

The area surrounding the upscale, 220,000 square-foot Hill Center development reminded some of the Cincinnati guests of the Kenwood area. But while many of the same upscale retailers were found at both, the physical implementation is much different. According to the developers of The Hill Center, much of the difference comes in the “road diet” that took place to accommodate bicycles, improve sidewalks and pedestrian connections.

“Granbery described the “ping-pong effect” that retailers desire, where a pedestrian can easily cross from one side of the street to the other to reach another retail store that catches his or her eye – even green space should not be so wide as to keep shoppers from crossing the street easily,” described Cincinnati Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls.

The third development the group toured was The Gulch which is a former railroad center turned mixed-use infill project adjacent to downtown Nashville. Restaurants, live music venues, trendy retail, and condominium towers now occupy the site which has become a popular destination for young people. The Cincinnati delegation also noted that the development project earned a LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) silver certification for its location, transit access, neighborhood design, green infrastructure and buildings, and its overall design process.

The Gulch is only the ninth neighborhood in America to receive such designation, and the first neighborhood in the south.  Since the plan was originally developed in 2002 by MarketStreet Enterprises, the City of Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Development & Housing Agency have invested nearly $7 million in infrastructure improvements.  The Gulch neighborhood has also required the incorporation of affordable housing in order to receive tax increment financing assistance.  Within the ICON, 44 of the total 418 housing units are affordable to those earning 80 percent of median income for the area ($34,000 or less).

The trips to Nashville were taken to help further develop Cincinnati’s initiative to develop form-based codes throughout the city as neighborhoods desire. Should Cincinnati develop such a system of land planning it would become only the third major American city to do so joining Miami and Denver. If all goes according to plan, city officials hope to start implementing the necessary zoning code amendments by fall 2010 with the help of Opticos Design.

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Development News

Ground broken on $1.2M sustainable learning facility in Avondale

Construction work has begun on the Civic Garden Center’s $1.2 million Green Learning Station at 2175 Reading Road in Avondale. The facility is the first of its kind in the Cincinnati region, and is described as an interactive, state-of-the-art learning laboratory for applying sustainable practices into gardens and the systems that support them.

“The Green Learning Station will be a field trip destination for people of all ages, open to the public for tours, workshops and classes related to green living in the city,” said Ryan Mooney-Bullock, Program Manager.

“Classes who visit the Green Learning Station will be challenged to conduct experiments and solve problems as they learn about urban environmental problems. Back in their schools, students will assess some aspect of their school’s environmental impact and develop a plan to make it more sustainable, whether by starting a compost system, a vegetable garden or capturing rainwater.”

Situated on a former SOHIO gas station, the project will include a variety of green features like pervious paving, rainwater harvesting units, bioswales, green roof systems, energy efficient utilities, and showcase sustainable gardens.

“The Board of the Civic Garden Center identified the need for the Green Learning Station more than two years ago,” explained Betsy Townsend, a volunteer and chair of the Green Learning Station committee for the Civic Garden Center. “Since then we have been diligently working to bring the project to fruition. The start of construction has been made possible by countless volunteer hours and generous gifts from local foundations, individuals and corporations.”

The Green Learning Station was designed by SFA Architects and Martin Koepke Design, and is expected to achieve LEED-Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Cincinnati-based HGC Construction is expected to complete work on the Green Learning Station in spring 2011.

Once complete, home builders, developers, and public officials will be able to use the Green Learning Station as a demonstration site on how to incorporate green technology into residences, businesses, and public spaces.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Randy Simes to appear on 95.7 FM’s Queen City Awesome radio show – 8/18

On Wednesday, August 18 you will be able to listen to yours truly on the radio from 5pm to 6pm on WVQC, 95.7 FM. I will be the featured guest on the weekly Queen City Awesome radio show hosted by Pat Feghali. During the show, Pat and I will be discussing a variety of topics including sustainable transport, green design, and even urban gardening.

Like other Queen City Awesome broadcasts, Pat and I will also discuss some music, and I will share a brief selection of some of my favorite Cincinnati-area artists including The National, Lions Rampant, Wussy, The Seedy Seeds, and Hi-Tek (sample below).

WVQC has recently returned to the 95.7 FM airwaves after an antenna problem that briefly kept the station to Internet only broadcasts on WVQC.org. Launched in early 2010, WVQC is run by Media Bridges which also operates four of the city’s public access television channels and the Internet radio station for WVQC called The Bridge.

Due to the low-power frequency, WVQC can only be heard on 95.7 FM within three to five miles of the station’s Over-the-Rhine location at Race Street and Central Parkway. Those outside the immediate listening area are encouraged to tune in online.

The show will air live on Wednesday, August 18 from 5pm to 6pm, and will air again on Thursday, August 19 at noon. Stay up-to-speed on the Queen City Awesome radio show by following its Twitter account @QueenCtyAwesome, or by becoming a fan on Facebook.