Tag: young professionals

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Balls Around The Block Event to Raise Money for Fido Field Dog Park

As the number of people living in the center city continues to increase, so does the number of dogs. One of the problems, however, is that center city residents do not have yards where their dogs can run around or take care of other, let’s say, daily needs.

This is where dog parks come in.

The problem is that, in 2008, Cincinnati had just 1.2 off-leash dog parks per 100,000 thousand residents – ranking it 15th nationally according to the Trust for Public Land (TPL). The ratio has remained unchanged at 1.2 off-leash dog park per 100,000 residents, but other cities have made significant improvements since 2008 while Cincinnati has not. According the the TPL, Cincinnati has just four such dog parks and its ranking has plummeted 17 spots to 32nd in the nation.

This will be the ninth year for the annual Balls Around The Block (BATB) event downtown, and since 2010 the event has donated its proceeds to support Fido Field – an off-leash dog park on the eastern edge of downtown. While not a new dog park, the effort is helping improve Cincinnati’s standing.

Event organizers say that BATB raised more than $10,000 for Fido Field last year, which paid to top the large dog section with recycled rubber. The goal for this year is to raise more than $12,000 this year.

This year’s event is expected to attract more the one-hundred participants, as it has the past several years, and will include stops at 11 official venues in the Backstage Entertainment District block bounded by Sixth Street, Walnut Street, Seventh Street and Vine Street.

The event works with so many people due to the team setup. Organizers require that each person participating in the event sign-up a team consisting of 25 members. Each of the teams will start at different bars. From there participants will be instructed by group leaders once 30 minutes has lapsed and it is time to move on to the next destination.

Venues this year include Mr. Sushi, Knockbat Nats, Play, Local’s, Madonna’s, Nicholson’s, Righteous Room, Igby’s, Mynt, Rock Bottom and Scene, and each will have its own drink and food specials for those participating in BATB. Organizers also say that they will be giving out a variety of raffle prizes including gift cards to local businesses, adult beverages, doggie daycare and food, a Hustler gift basket and more.

This year’s event will cost $35 per person and will take place on Friday, February 7. Registration will close at 3pm the day of the event, but those who wish to register at the door can do so for $40 cash, if there are spots remaining.

Those that would like to contribute to the cause, but don’t have the balls (sorry, I had to) to participate, can make a tax-deductible donation by contacting the event organizers at ballsaroundtheblock@yahoo.com.

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Business Development News Opinion

Retooling Cincinnati’s Industrial Neighborhoods for the 21st Century

In the last few years, evidence has shown the possibility for a revival of manufacturing within the United States. Recent trends have seen the “reshoring” of factories – with polls showing more and more companies considering the move – and the expansion and opening of new factories as well.

Much of this reindustrialization has occurred in the South and, for the most part, outside major urban areas. For far too long cities, especially northern cities in the Rust Belt, have written off an economy based on manufacturing as something from a bygone era, never to come back.

Spring Grove Village
Once viable industrial neighborhoods like Spring Grove Village have made way for the proliferation of car dealerships and fast food restaurants. Could their future be something greater? Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Cities from Cleveland to Flint have tried to reinvent themselves as a something like a Rust Belt version of Portland, Oregon, thus turning their back on any sort of industrial and economic policy in the hopes that gentrification and arts will revive their city.

While these sorts of developments have a place in economic policy for American cities, it is an unwise move for industrial cities such as Cincinnati to turn their backs on the opportunity to attract industry into the city once again.

Cincinnati is well-positioned to capitalize on a manufacturing renaissance in the nation. With incredible industrial infrastructure, an already heavy industrial sector in the region, and an incredible amount of vacant space, the city can create an economy where the bustling coffee shops and boutiques of Over-the-Rhine are only a short walk from the buzz of manufacturing (advanced and traditional alike) in Queensgate and the West End.

The days of entire cities being built upon industrial production have passed, that is without a doubt. But when urbanists discuss cities with mixed-use, diverse economies, manufacturing must be included.

These higher-than-average paying jobs could attract residents and revitalize neighborhoods. Through aggressive economic and industrial planning in the city, zoning that doesn’t ignore manufacturing, labor cooperation, and innovative education initiatives, Cincinnati could become a nationwide example of a city building a solid, diversified economic foundation on which to reclaim its storied past and prepare for a healthy future.

Editor’s Note: Jacob D. Fessler is a new member of the UrbanCincy team. He grew up in Northern Kentucky’s Erlanger community and went on to study International Relations and Latin American Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, and is currently studying International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati.

Jake will focus on urban economics and specifically examine policies that impact our region’s industrial – and thus economic – competitiveness. How and what can Cincinnati do to inject new life and jobs into the Mill Creek Valley? How should our community leaders be looking to improve earnings and the financial health and stability of our residents? These are the kinds of questions he will be exploring. Please join us in welcoming Jake to our team!

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Arts & Entertainment Business Development News

New Artist Live/Work Homes Coming to Covington’s Lee-Holman Historic District

The Center for Great Neighborhoods (CGN) will celebrate the completion of Covington’s first of five affordable artist live/work spaces later this month. The artist residence project Shot Gun Row is named for the project’s five shotgun-style houses being rehabbed and developed by the Covington-based nonprofit organization.

Shot Gun Row is made up of five row houses on Orchard Street in Covington’s Lee-Holman Historic District. The houses were originally part of seven homes built in the late 1800s. After World War II, shotgun homes were seen as functionally obsolete and abandoned in favor of the modern ranch home, but Kentucky historic guidelines prohibit Orchard Street’s five remaining houses from being torn down.

The Center for Great Neighborhoods, which has completed over 25 historic renovations in the city nestled along the Ohio and Licking Rivers, said they looked at the houses as a unique opportunity to re-purpose the existing houses and help revitalize Covington’s west side.

In 2012 CGN was awarded a $168,000 grant for the project from the Kresge Foundation. Construction on the first house began last summer; the other four homes will be completed by summer 2014. The total project cost is around $600,000 for all five houses. According to Sarah Allan with CGN, most of the live/work spaces available to artists are only available for rent.

“We wanted to provide something [artists] could build equity in that was either the same as or cheaper than their rent,” Allan said. “Part of it is we want to lower people’s overall overhead. If they can live and work in the same space for cheaper, then it might help them to further their art.”

Shot Gun Row’s artist selection policy broadly defines an artist as “an individual who has seriously committed themselves to professional production of their respective art form (i.e. exhibitions, performances, screenings, grants, publications, reviews, commissions, peer recognition),” and earn at least 20% of their income from art.

This flexible definition allows applicants to include tattoo artists, graphic and interior designers, chefs, musicians and set designers in addition to traditional fine artists like sculptors, painters and photographers. It also helps that Shot Gun Row’s developers are able to customize the home’s layout depending on the artist’s needs.

“We recognize that artists want to have some creative say in their living space so we want to provide that flexibility,” Allan explained.

Shot Gun Row’s model home at 323 Orchard Street is laid out so that the studio is located in the front of the house so that it is accessible to the street for art openings and meetings, and also receives northern light which is attractive to many artists. In other homes, an artist could work with the contractor to develop the floor plan as an open studio or place the kitchen in the front of the house, depending on the homeowner’s needs.

While the development will offer affordable, flexible housing for artists, CGN also wants the project to encourage artists to get involved with their community. As part of Shot Gun Row’s artist selection policy, artists are required to contribute something back to the community within a year of purchasing the home, and will work with CGN staff to determine a specific project, whether it be a public sculpture, theater camp, or something else. A sculptor, for instance, might create a piece for Shot Gun Row’s public sculpture garden.

In addition, artists are expected to participate in SpringBoard, ArtWorks’ business development program for creative entrepreneurs, unless they have run a profitable arts-related business for more than three years.

“We’re looking at this not just as a housing projection but an economic development project,” Allan told UrbanCincy.

The market price for a home on Shot Gun Row is $90,000, though Allan said that some homeowners may receive a subsidy depending on income. The City of Covington also offers down payment assistance for anyone purchasing a home in Covington.

In addition to the Kresge Foundation grant, the project received funding through a combination of  U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Community Development Block Grants, and private contributions.

All photographs by Chris Kromer for UrbanCincy.

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Up To Speed

Are pay-per-minute cafes the next generation of coworking spaces?

Are pay-per-minute cafes the next generation of coworking spaces?.

Cincinnati has seen its ups and downs with coworking spaces, including our favorite but now closed Cincy Coworks in Walnut Hills. The idea was and still is great – especially for the growing number of freelance or independent professionals who would like a space to work that isn’t either their living room couch or a congested coffee shop. Well this new company out of Russian has a slight twist on the traditional coworking space, if you can call coworking spaces traditional. What they do is operate a bit like a coworking space and a bit like a café, but instead of charging monthly memberships or for the latte; they charge users for occupying the space. More from Grist:

Ziferblat, a Russian company that just opened its first branch in London, works on an unusual premise: It charges you for the time you spend in its space, rather than what you consume there…The charge for the space is 3 pence (about 5 cents) per minute, and it works out to about the same rate you’d pay in a coffee shop, if you bought a small item for every hour to 90 minutes you linger. But it’s your choice — do you actually need a fancy latte? Do you want a sandwich? If you’re not hungry or caffeine-deprived and you just want a space to work or hang out — well, that’s all that’s required here. It’s sort of like a private park, but inside and with couches and free coffee.

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Up To Speed

Cities should engage outside help to develop new solutions for old problems

Cities should engage outside help to develop new solutions for old problems.

On the campaign trail last year, we were repeatedly told about all the problems facing Cincinnati. Much of it was hyperbole, but some of it was in fact true. Our pension system needs to be reformed, our budget structurally balanced, infant mortality rates and childhood poverty improved, we need more diverse transportation options for everyone, fix our combined sewer overflow disaster and reduce blight in our neighborhoods. And yes, there are certainly other issues needing to be addressed, but how does the new mayor and council intend on tackling all of these issues? It might be a good idea to bring in some outside help from sharp young minds from around the country. More from Governing Magazine:

With low turnover and few new workers, cities are in a quandary when it comes to stoking the innovation process. To address this challenge, cities are increasingly using fellowships to import talent from outside the public sector to support particular projects and initiatives. We’re beginning to see the results.

The infusion of outside talent into a city provides an important addition to under-resourced teams and initiatives. Local governments are eager for these opportunities. But as Anastasoff notes, fellowships like Fuse Corps are not just simply expanding capacity; they seek to interrupt the existing modes of work and provide the energy and ideas needed to redirect projects for better outcomes. “This isn’t just a question of more hands — the champions within city government who are working with our fellows recognize and value that they are here to help change culture,” she says.

But city governments wouldn’t be signing up in significant numbers for opportunities like this if the results were limited to intangible culture shifts; public sector culture can be resistant to change, and without seeing real tangible impact, the “interruption” provided by a fellow would likely remain just that.