Tag: video

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Business News Transportation

VIDEO: Amtrak Sets Its Eyes on the Coveted Millennial Demographic

On the heels of kicking off their new Writers Residency program, where writers can ride intercity passenger rail for free, Amtrak welcomed 30 prominent new media “influencers” on a long-distance train ride from Los Angeles to SXSW in Austin.

The new initiatives are part of a larger effort by Amtrak to connect with a demographic they believe is already open-minded and passionate about intercity train travel.

“There’s a lot of talk about us being the Me Generation or the Do Nothing Generation,” said Charlie Monte Verde, who is a Millennial himself and also Amtrak’s Government Affairs Specialist for the Midwest Region. “The thing we always see about what we do, is that this can be one of those things that we take and run with. That we make our impact on the United States for the rest of our lives in growing this intercity rail network.”

Monte Verde says that the 30 participants had somewhere around 2.5 million followers on social media, and that the group logged their journey by using the #AmtrakLive hashtag.

The major takeaway for many of the participants, however, was the relaxing nature of the ride, and scenic beauty of the trip.

“I think train travel is a bit of a lost art. It was a very amazing thing to do years ago, and it’s still a very amazing thing to do now,” said Matthew Knell, VP of Social and Community Outreach at About.com. “What Amtrak is trying to do with the new generation; with high-speed rail and new technologies and solutions is great.”

Amtrak is currently in the process of upgrading intercity passenger rail service in the Midwest between St. Louis and Chicago and Detroit and Chicago. Segments of those routes are now operating at 110 miles per hour, with additional upgrades underway to bring the entire length of those routes up to higher speeds.

In October 2013, Amtrak officials signed an agreement with the State of Indiana to maintain Hoosier State service, and revisited the idea of improving service between Cincinnati and Chicago.

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Business Development News

VIDEO: New Playground to Open at Smale Riverfront Park in May

Despite all the recent bad weather, work has been progressing on the 45-acre Smale Riverfront Park. The latest phase of construction activity has moved to the west side toward Paul Brown Stadium, and is now becoming visually identifiable.

The next part of the park that will open to the public is the Heekin/PNC Grow Up Great Adventure Playground, which is scheduled to be completed this May.

“The newest feature to be completed is a serpentine wall that’s along the east edge of the playground,” Smale Riverfront Park project manager Dave Prather explained the eight-minute video update. “The way its sculpted entices challenges and encourages folks to do a balance beam walking and being challenged by the narrowness and the way it serpentines its way south toward a toddler-sized slide that is en route and will be installed in the coming months.”

Meanwhile, a series of columns, approximately 75% complete, are now jutting up from the ground at Carol Ann’s Carousel and the Anderson Pavilion.

The glass-enclosed carousel will sit on the upper level of the site that will be flanked by the historic Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Vine Street Fountain & Steps. Cincinnati Park Board officials say that the Vine Street design will mirror that of the currently completed Walnut Street Fountain & Steps.

The Anderson Pavilion will include an event and conference center fronting onto the rebuilt Mehring Way and will sit directly beneath the carousel. Both the carousel and pavilion space are scheduled to open in spring 2015.

Prather goes on in great detail about the various construction activities, taking place now, and lays out what construction work will be taking place in the months ahead.

“There’s going to be a lot happening in the next six weeks or so.”

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Business Development News

Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation Had Banner Year in 2013

Walnut Hills had a big year in 2013, and it seems as though the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation (WHRF) is only just now starting to flex its muscle.

The Walnut Hills neighborhood and neighborhoods surrounding it like East Walnut Hills and Evanston are beautiful gems in the Queen City’s crown, but they were gems that had not received the attention and care that they deserved. Kevin Wright, a former UrbanCincy team member who left the site in 2011 to serve as WHRF’s executive director, has guided the neighborhood’s recent resurgence.

One of the things the neighborhood has been most effective at over the past two years has been its community engagement and implementing placemaking strategies. The Five Points Biergarten, monthly community get-togethers, annual street food festival and various neighborhood cleanup activities seem to have sparked a renaissance there. In the fall of 2012 we even hosted a couple of story telling events in East Walnut Hills on DeSales Plaza.

Now all of those social events and neighborhood gatherings are being joined by public and private money that’s renovating historic buildings and creating new businesses like Hinge and Fireside Pizza, to name just two.

We are looking forward to what our good friend Kevin and his team have on-tap for 2014, but for now we are proud to look back on the terrific 2013 they had.

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Business Development News

Short Film on Seaside, Florida Wins Award at New Urbanism Film Festival

More than 30 years ago Andrés Duany‘s urban design firm gave the world Seaside, Florida – the real life setting for the 1998 film entitled The Truman Show. Yes, that surreal place showcased in the movie to be too nice to be real actually exists on the Florida Panhandle.

The master planned community sparked a movement, called New Urbanism, for which Duany is as much responsible for as the movement is critiqued by contemporary architects.

Seaside focused on a lot of design concepts that were not necessarily new, but were novel at a time when developers across America were building strip malls, generic subdivisions and carefully segregating land uses. Some people even contend that Seaside helped to spark elements of the green building movement.

Love it or hate it, Seaside made an impact and changed the conversation about community design. While just 30 years old at the time his firm designed Seaside, Duany is no longer young, but he still energetically tours the country talking about New Urbanism and the tenets of good urban design and environmentalism.

The following video won ‘Best Urban Design Short Film’ at the first annual New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. Seaside, The City of Ideas profiles the coastal community and the basic ideas that influenced Duany’s firm. It is a great video to watch for anyone not intimately familiar with Duany or his New Urbanist movement, and perhaps a good video to watch for even the most familiar planners and architects out there.

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Arts & Entertainment News Politics

William Mallory, Sr.’s Legacy Will Live on Through Family, Record and Monument

We lost a legendary Cincinnatian on Tuesday when William Mallory, Sr. passed away at the age of 82.

Mallory’s political history is profound and sparked a political empire that continues to this day through his five sons who have all continued the family business of politics. You can learn more about the Mallory family, and how William Mallory, Sr. got his start early on in the West End, in this great feature published by The Enquirer.

While the legendary 28-year state representative had been out of that seat since 1994, he continued to make an impact locally. One of his most recent contributions was the Black Brigade Monument at Smale Riverfront Park.

According to the Cincinnati Park Board, it was the Honorable William Mallory, Sr. who inspired the creation of the monument in order to ensure that the story 718 heroes from the Civil War was preserved.

“Upon reading about the experiences of Cincinnati Black Brigade several years ago, Mr. Mallory recognized the story as a rich tapestry—woven with timeless lessons of courage, the search for justice, the scourge of bigotry, and the value of human life and dignity that still speak to us today in the most profound ways possible,” Park Board officials stated in a prepared release.

The monument now stands within the first completed phase of Smale Riverfront Park near where Main Street (Joe Nuxhall Way) terminates at Mehring Way. It was completed in September 2012 and serves as a primary feature of the city’s landmark park.

The Cincinnati Park Board was kind enough to provide us with a video detailing the history of the Cincinnati Black Brigade that includes detailed explanations from William Mallory Sr. as to why the monument is important.

“Late 19th century Cincinnati educator Peter Clark was commissioned by the Black Brigade to document their story. This historical account made it clear to me that the Brigade wished for future generations to know about their contributions to the Defense of Cincinnati,” Mallory explained at the monument’s dedication just over one year ago.

“Having worked for a decade towards creation of a monument to their memory, I am pleased that its design and placement has been led by the Cincinnati Park Board and Cincinnati Parks Foundation. This monument secures Cincinnati’s Black Brigade its proper place in history.”

It is certainly cold outside, but if you have yet to visit the Black Brigade Monument, this is probably a good time to go and experience it for yourself. Perhaps even thank Mr. William Mallory, Sr. for his inspiration and leadership on the matter while you’re there.

There will also be a public service held at the Museum Center at Union Terminal on Sunday, December 22. Those who are interested in attending the celebration of William Mallory, Sr.’s life may do so by submitting an RSVP online.