Tag: urban design

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Development News

Urban basketball courts offer tremendous opportunity within cities

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) is currently in the process of working out details for a redeveloped Washington Park. The refurbished and expanded park will prove to be a major anchor for redevelopment efforts taking place nearby, but some existing residents have expressed concern over what elements are included in the final design.

Quite simply, not all desires will be able to be met for both logistical and financial reasons. But much of the concern has been over the removal of the existing swimming pool and basketball court. The swimming pool is to be replaced by a splash ground that does not bear the sky-high insurance rates that are making municipally-owned swimming pools cost prohibitive. The basketball court is just not returning at all.

Personally I love the game of basketball and played pickup games through much of high school in addition to organized ball. The problem is that basketball courts do bring a certain element to a park – one that does not mesh with the new design and focus of Washington Park.

It is natural for egos to be bruised in basketball, and nearly par for the course for a few shoving matches or fights to take place. No big deal, it is part of youth and how the game works on the street. The new park will include children’s play areas, an open lawn for lounging and passive recreation, a plaza for theatre-goers to congregate, a bandstand, and a dog park to name some of the more prominent features. These lend the redeveloped Washington Park to an atmosphere that is not conducive for basketball courts, and I do not blame park designers or 3CDC for choosing not to include them in its redesign.

With that said, basketball courts do offer a great means of recreation and exercise. They are also ideally set up for an urban environment where their small footprint lends itself well to the high demand for space in urban settings.

Located just a couple hundred feet away, along the western side of Race Street, are three vacant lots (map) owned by OTR Holdings Inc. which is a wholly owned subsidiary of 3CDC. These vacant lots are almost certainly poised for residential infill development, or parking to satisfy the needs of future residents, but they could be transformed into two basketball courts.

This would go a long way in easing tensions amongst existing neighborhood residents, but also provide the neighborhood with a beautiful asset. The courts could be fenced in and secured during non-hours of operation. They could be well lit and offer the complete amenities of basketball courts in New York City and elsewhere. The beauty is that basketball courts do not need to be set within the confines of a park to be successful, and in fact, they actually offer a tremendous experience when tucked within surrounding structures.

There is a real opportunity to do this right and 3CDC should make sure the western part of Over-the-Rhine holds on to the public recreation facilities that satisfy the needs of both the current and future residents.  If you have questions, comments or concerns about the new Washington Park you can share them on a new website dedicated to making sure the transition goes off without a hitch, and with as much community support as possible.

Categories
Business Development News

Monarch Construction awarded first work bid for CRP by Army Corps

Cincinnati-based Monarch Construction Company has been awarded the first work bid by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Cincinnati Riverfront Park. The $8.5 million contract will cover the construction of the Walnut Street Fountain & Grand Staircase which will begin within the coming weeks.

Monarch was selected by the Corps for meeting their qualifications for quality, cost and time to perform the work that will include a concrete structure with sandstone cladding and granite paving; bathrooms; an elevator; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems; landscaping; waterproofing; interactive fountains; and associated equipment, fixtures, and furnishings.

Phase 1 of the 45-acre, $120 million Cincinnati Riverfront Park is currently on schedule for a spring 2011 opening. In addition to the Walnut Street Fountain & Grand Staircase, the first phase of the project will also include an event lawn, donor wall, promenade and the highly anticipated Bike & Mobility Center and Moerlein Lager House. This additional work is currently out for bid and is expected to be awarded in summer 2010.

In total, the Cincinnati Riverfront Park is projected to cost $2.5 million per acre which is on par, or less than, other comparable waterfront parks throughout the country. Park planners put the cost slightly higher than Cincinnati’s International Friendship Park and Yeatman’s Cove, but less than those found in Louisville, Charleston, Indianapolis and Chicago.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Revamped parking system could yield additional $3M annually for Cincinnati

As Cincinnati faces the challenge of closing a $50 million budget gap this year a wide variety of solutions are bound to be presented. The most likely solutions will revolve around making deep cuts to the services and operations of Cincinnati city government.

There is a risk that recreational, planning, public safety, and health services could all be reduced. There is also a real possibility that some, possibly many, people will be out of a job once the cuts are finalized. While some cuts might be necessary during this stage of the game, and while controlling expenses is important, it has been seen that cutting costs to improve profitability rarely results in long-term benefits. Quite simply, you can not cut your way to prosperity.

To that end, Cincinnati must find ways to grow its revenues annually to help offset growing liabilities associated with employee legacy costs and an insatiable appetite for more public safety spending.

In 2009, Cincinnati collected roughly $8.91 million from its on-street parking meters, off-street parking garages and parking lots. Parking garage collections account for more than half of the total collections, while parking lots and parking meters account for nearly a quarter each of the remainder.

Historically public parking assets have been seen as keeping parking rates artificially low. Presumably this is to make urban environments more appealing to a temporary suburban workforce and shopping base that is used to vast seas of open and subsidized parking that is free in their suburban domains. These public assets should be treated, I believe, in a way that maximizes their revenues.

The City of Atlanta recently engaged in a new public-private partnership with Duncan Solutions, Inc. The partnership has resulted in the creation of PARKatlanta which is jointly overseen by the City of Atlanta and Duncan Solutions.

Duncan is tasked with managing Atlanta’s on-street parking services and assets. This means that while the City of Atlanta maintains ownership of its parking meters and right-of-way, Duncan Solutions will maintain the meters and regulatory signage, parking meter collections, on-street parking and right-of-way regulation enforcement, parking citation processing and delinquent collection services, and vehicle booting and towing services.

The financials of this partnership include an upfront annual payment of $5.5 million from Duncan Solutions to the City of Atlanta over the course of the seven year contract. In addition to the guaranteed money, the contract calls for the installation of more than 200 multi-space parking meter pay stations that accept various forms of payment similar to the 12 Pay And Display Meters found on 3rd and Court streets in downtown Cincinnati.

The public-private partnership is not only growing a source of revenue within Atlanta’s budget, but it is also offering a guaranteed income stream over the next seven years and is improving the quality of the parking meters by replacing dated meters with multi-space pay stations.

The comparison between Atlanta and Cincinnati is striking. Prior to Atlanta’s contract with Duncan Solutions, Atlanta had 900 parking meters which grew to 2,500 under the new partnership. Cincinnati currently has more than 5,700 parking meters. So while Cincinnati has more than double the number of parking meters, it collects less than half the revenue. On average a parking meter in Cincinnati collects approximately $428 annually, while a parking meter in Atlanta collects $2,200.

The two cities obviously have their differences in terms of parking demands and rates charged, but the gap in collections is striking. Cincinnati should explore a similar public-private partnership of their own that would improve the City’s on-street parking assets while also growing revenues. If a similar seven year term could be signed in Cincinnati, it would result in an additional $3.06 million annually.

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Development News Politics Transportation

Cutting through the clutter to get urbanism news

It was approximately one year ago when UrbanCincy dove into the world of Twitter.  We were not sure what to make of it or how to use it, but there is certainly lots of information to be had if you are able to cut through the clutter (if in fact you dislike the clutter).

As a result, UrbanCincy has been putting together a list of those Twitter users who share information and ideas about urbanist issues.  Some focus on transit, some on particular cities or regions, others on policy and others sharing their urban experiences.  The people behind these accounts include policy makers, industry professionals, residents, businesses and writers.

The value is that at any given time you can keep tabs on the heartbeat of urbanism across America, and beyond, by simply following this list of people.  You do not have to be on Twitter to follow the list, but if you want to engage in conversation you do.  In either case the information is there for the taking.  Bookmark the page to follow along at your leisure, or follow the list on Twitter if you have an account.

If you have any other Twitter users that you believe should be added to this list, please leave a comment below so that they can be added to the stream.

Categories
Development News Politics

Cincinnati’s hillsides present unique development opportunity

The beautiful Greek islands throughout the Aegean Sea are often known for their stunning landscapes, crystal clear blue water and their ancient development patterns often dating back to the Bronze Age between 3000-2000 BC. These ancient development patterns, while picturesque, also offer contemporary lessons on how to approach development in space-constrained locations.

In America, the problem is not limited land as experienced on the Greek islands, but rather, it is limited urban real estate. This dilemma often sends buildings and prices higher, with the most easily developed land to go first. Consequently, development often sprawls outward before communities fully maximize development possibilities within their urban centers.

In Cincinnati this scenario is most profound with the city’s hillsides. Early settlers built their homes, businesses and industry along the Ohio River for transportation reasons, and throughout “the basin” in order to take advantage of relatively flat and developable land. Over time Cincinnatians became more mobile and moved up on top of the hills developing areas like Price Hill, the Uptown neighborhoods, Mt. Lookout, Hyde Park and even Mt. Adams. Since then development has shifted even further out to more contemporary suburbs and exurban communities now gobbling up precious farm land in all directions. In the mean time, Cincinnati’s many hillsides have been largely ignored and allowed to either be over- or under-developed.

According to The Hillside Trust, 15 square miles, or 18%, of Cincinnati’s total land area is hillsides. Of the nearly 265,000 acres of land in Hamilton County approximately 60,043 acres, or 23%, consist of hillsides with similar percentages found in Northern Kentucky’s three primary counties – Campbell, Kenton and Boone.

On the Greek islands the exact opposite approach was taken after early Bronze Age settlers developed their communities. Those inhabitants quickly realized that they had to preserve their limited amount of tillable land, and as a result shifted their settlement patterns to the hillsides so that the other, more productive, land could be used for agricultural purposes. While less relevant to non-Medieval cultures like America, those living on the Greek islands also developed their communities in steep valleys where water would run-off from the higher lands towards to sea as a means of safety since these areas could often not be seen by passing ships.

On Santorini, the flat lands are largely preserved for agricultural purposes [LEFT] while the the densely built Thira is located directly on the caldera [RIGHT].

The development strategies found in Greece’s large urban center, Athens, are probably the most relevant as the city has developed in a way to maximize their urban center in a way to preserve surrounding natural resources.

Athens is the capital of Greece and the hub of its economic activities. The city accounts for roughly one-third of the country’s total population while dating back to 3,000 BC. Similar to Cincinnati, Athens is located within the Attica Basic that is surrounded by mountains to the north, northeast, east and west with the Saronic Gulf situated like the Ohio River to the southwest. The natural boundaries helped to influence dense development patterns in the Greek capital much like early Cincinnati. Unlike Cincinnati though, Athens has largely maintained these natural barriers over time as a means for continuing dense, urban development that concentrates the region’s growth into a relatively small area.

The balance struck in Athens is one of sustainability impacts. The conquering development patterns on natural hillside landscapes are as non-sustainable environmentally as they are sustainable economically in their immediate setting. The environmental gains are seen through the preservation of natural resources outside of the urban center. Similar sustainability processes can be seen in other major cities around the world including New York City which boasts one of the lowest carbon footprints per capita even though the city made a previously natural habitat virtually unrecognizable.

Athens’ dominating urban landscape does not yield to the natural landscape in its urban core [LEFT] while Cincinnati’s urban landscape weakens immediately at its hillsides [RIGHT].

A more densely built urban environment in Cincinnati needs to occur for it to experience similar economic and environmental sustainability benefits. The region’s resources are spread too thin to provide adequate public services to all, the region’s population is spread too thin to experience robust cultural benefits, and the region is wasting some of the nation’s most fertile farmland for cheap, low-density single-family subdivisions and strip commercial development.

Before expanding out, the Cincinnati region should examine its available land resources and determine where infill is best suited. Vacant lots initially will make the most sense, but following that, Cincinnati’s hillsides should be seriously examined for smart development typologies like the ones found on the Greek islands that respect viewsheds, private property interests and the natural setting of the hillsides. This will not only make Cincinnati more economically and environmentally more sustainable, but it will make Cincinnati unique compared to other like cities across the United States that lack these creative hillside development opportunities.

Disclosure: Randy A. Simes worked for The Hillside Trust as a GIS Consultant from 2007 through 2009, and this editorial does not necessarily represent the views or values of The Hillside Trust.