Posts tagged “young professionals”

Enrique Peñalosa speculates on the future of American cities

The United Nations projects that 2.7 billion people will be living in cities across the world by 2050. What is the future course of cities in America? Historically Americans rejected the city for the suburbs after World War II, now a new generation of people are rejecting the suburbs for the city. Fomer Bogota mayor, Enrique Peñalosa offers his speculation on the future and what cities can do to prepare for it. More from Atlantic Cities:

If low-density suburbs are not desirable and a return to city life in the 1920s is not desirable either, then what should the future American city be like? It is a platitude to say that the new city should be designed for people, but over the past 90 years we have designed cities much more for the mobility of cars than for the well-being of people. Moreover, the best measure of a city’s quality is how good it is to its most vulnerable citizens—children, the elderly, the disabled, the poor—who often have no access to an automobile.

PHOTOS: 2013 DAAP Fashion Show Dazzles Sold-Out Crowd

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When the College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning puts on their annual DAAP Fashion Show at the University of Cincinnati, it is the hottest ticket in town. The region’s best fashion designers show off their work to their families, friends, and potential employers as they make their fabulous exit from DAAP, and sometimes Cincinnati.

This year’s DAAP Fashion Show was the 62nd year of the event, and it was held last Friday inside the University of Cincinnati’s architecturally acclaimed Campus Recreation Center.

Hundreds packed the event, which was hosted by 1985 DAAP graduate David Meister. and featured the work of the School of Design’s Fashion Design and Product Development departments. All 52 of the following photographs were taken by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

This Month’s URBANexchange to Take Place Tomorrow Evening

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The biergarten doors will swing open this Wednesday evening at 5:30pm at the Morelein Lager House for our third URBANexchange of the year.

The goal of the URBANexchange gatherings is to maintain a monthly event where fellow urbanists can gather to discuss what’s going on in the city, and meet others with similar interests as their own.

The event is a casual way to unwind from the day and an opportunity to meet similar like minded people. There is no formal presentation or formal anything. And as always there is no cover charge for attending.

We encourage people to come out, bring some friends, and make some new ones.

“Its exciting to see newcomers at these URBANexchanges because they frequently come not knowing anyone and make some great connections with some of our more regular attendees,” noted Randy Simes, founder of URBANexchange. “I take every chance I get to come to event and I am very impressed with the way it has been able to bring people together and foster the exchange of different ideas about Cincinnati.”

At this month’s event we’ll be giving away two signed copies of James Jenkins’ Photography for the People coffee table book. The book, which is part of a limited series of 100 copies on first printing, features many stunning and vivid color photographs of downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Mr. Jenkins’ will also attend on Wednesday to discuss his book and other topics.

A percentage of all purchases at URBANexchange go to support the operations of the adjacent Smale Riverfront Park. We hope to see you there!!

Rhinegeist Brewing to open in OTR’s Brewery District

Another brewing operation will join Christian Moerlein in Over-the-Rhine’s historic Brewery District. The new brewery, called Rhinegeist Brewing, will renovate and operate out of the second floor of the former Christian Moerlein bottling plant on Elm Street. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

A building that could never be recreated comes back to life. A diverse group of angel investors provides financing, drawn by the potential return and promise of adventure. And the revitalization of the urban core, where entrepreneurs are already bouncing off each other like pinballs, takes another step forward.

Bob Bonder, president of the Tazza Mia chain of coffee houses, and business partner Bryant Goulding are renovating the second floor of the Christian Moerlein bottling plant, work that will advance the revitalization of a growing Brewery District that made Cincinnati a Midwest Brewing hub at the turn of the 20th century. Bonder and Goulding plan to turn part of the 250,000-square-foot complex on Elm Street just north of Findlay Market into a craft brewery called Rhinegeist Brewing.

MOTR ownership team to renovate Woodward Theater into 600-person music venue

MOTR Pub has become an Over-the-Rhine destination with seven days a week of live music. The success at the small music venue has encouraged the owners to embark on a new venture, and they will acquire the vacant Woodward Theater building across the street and open a second venue. More from the Cincinnati Business Courier:

The new renovations will be extensive. McCabe plans to eliminate a staircase in the center, add a new staircase to one side, install bathrooms and bars, and build a stage that juts out into the crowd.

For bands, the Woodward would provide the bridge between smaller bars like MOTR and larger area venues such as the Taft Theatre and Bogart’s. It would also give Cincinnati a leg up in attracting musicians, McCabe said. When a band is making its way from Chicago to Nashville, it doesn’t make stops at Indianapolis, Columbus and then Cincinnati; it just picks one.

Join author of book on Cincinnati’s incomplete subway at March’s URBANexchange

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Jake MecklenborgHopefully everyone thoroughly enjoyed their February and the introductory weekend to March known as Bockfest around these parts.

We will be back in the biergarten of the Moerlein Lager House tomorrow for our monthly URBANexchange event.

Last month’s giveaway was a big hit, so we’re going to do it again this month. This time we will be giving away two signed copies of Jake Mecklenborg’s book about Cincinnati’s abandoned subway. Jake will even be in attendance to talk about the book and his findings.

If you did not have a chance to participate in the Bockfest activities over the weekend, then this will be a great opportunity for you to try out the Lager House’s selection of bock beers.

As always, the event will take place from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, and we will gather in the northwestern most corner of the biergarten. If you are nervous about picking us out from the crowd, simply inform the employees at the front desk that you are there for URBANexchange, and they will direct you to the correct location.

The event is a casual atmosphere and is free and open to the public, so feel free to bring a friend. Those who decide to attend can come and go anytime during the scheduled event hours, but we do encourage you to come hungry and thirsty to support our kind hosts at the Moerlein Lager House (map) and Smale Riverfront Park.

It should be a great time to talk about city issues with all sorts of big news happening over the past month. The city’s proposed parking modernization and lease plan, Wasson Corridor, city budget, proposed 30-story residential tower, Bartlett Building hotel conversion, MLK Interchange, casino opening, and the efforts to accelerate both the Cincinnati Streetcar and Oasis Line rail projects.

If you are on Facebook, then you can connect with others attending the event by RSVPing for the March URBANexchange. See you there!

PHOTOS: Kansas City’s Surprisingly Gritty Urban Core

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I visited Kansas City February 6-10 for the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, where the people behind Streetsblog were kind enough to invite a number of urbanist bloggers out to the event.

The intent was to conduct a training session about how advocacy journalists and bloggers can better reach and influence policymakers, and how those websites can better reach non-white and lower income individuals – two demographics bloggers traditionally struggle to reach. To that end, I was asked to present on the things that UrbanCincy has been doing in Cincinnati, and how younger bloggers might be able to learn from our experiences in the Queen City.

Kansas City

It was a great opportunity, and we’ll be doing more of these gatherings in the future…hopefully hosting one in Cincinnati in the not-so-distant future.

When not collaborating with these writers and new media types, or attending the conference, I spent my time wandering about Kansas City’s urban core. I stayed in the central business district, but also checked out the Crossroads Arts District, Westside North, Central Industrial District, West Bottoms, River District, Crown Center, Hospital Hill, Westwood, Paseo West, and the 18th & Vine Jazz District.

Perhaps the largest takeaway for me was the surprising amount of industrial architecture and infrastructure in the city. I guess I should have known better since Kansas City was always a prominent industrial center and transfer point for much of the Midwest, but it was an impressive surprise nevertheless.

I think I walked 11 miles on Sunday alone, in overpowering wind at that. But the discomfort was worth it for all I was able to see, but I hope to return to check out Midtown and Country Club Plaza at the very least, and to get some more of that amazing barbecue at Oklahoma Joe’s.

If Photobucket wasn’t so lousy, you could have just viewed them in slideshow form within this post. Instead, please view all 82 of my photographs from Kansas City here.