Month: July 2009

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Growing business locally with Coffee Emporium

Coffee Emporium is a local favorite. The original location can be found in East Hyde Park, but they also boast an Over-the-Rhine location along Central Parkway and some new digs on Xavier University’s campus.

The Over-the-Rhine location is about to get some company as Coffee Emporium tries to grow a bit. Owner Tony Tausch recently signed a lease on the vacant building at 12th & Walnut that will soon be home to Coffee Emporium’s coffee roasting operations. The new facility will introduce a noticeable coffee roasting smell to that portion of the neighborhood as the exhaust will spew out from the interior.

Currently Coffee Emporium (Facebook Group) is able to produce about 24lbs of roasted coffee beans in each batch from its 12 kilo roaster. On average these batches take about 16 to 18 minutes, and once the company moves into the new facility the hopes are to double that production capacity.

The renovated two-story structure will also give Coffee Emporium (blog) much-needed office space on the second level. The first level will house the new coffee roasting operations and also be staged for special coffee tasting events for the especially particular coffee connoisseur.

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The differences are striking

On Saturday I pointed out some differences between where Seattle and Cincinnati are in terms of building their cities to be attractive to the next generation workforce. The differences are just so striking today.

In the Cincinnati Enquirer, the editorial staff ran a piece outlining why they think the Cincinnati Streetcar is too bold of a plan. One that isn’t necessarily a bad plan, but one too big for Cincinnatians to undertake during an economy such as this.

At the same time, the Seattle Times has been celebrating the opening of Seattle’s new light rail system. You’ll notice many people wearing bright green uniforms/shirts that nearly 70,000 people wore to Qwest Field on their way to the Seattle Sounders FC vs. Chelsea FC soccer match.

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The High Line (update)

A few weeks back, I wrote about a brand new park in New York City called the High Line. It is a converted elevated railway line that they turned into a park.

Pepsi has apparently decided to use this park as one of the faces of the Good Works portion of their Refresh Everything campaign. Seems fitting enough. Think they’d be willing to finance help any refreshing projects here in the 513? The Cincinnati Streetcar maybe? I’d be willing to let them poster one of the streetcars with a gigantic Pepsi logo on it, for the right price. Not that I make those calls. Or maybe they could do something to refresh the failure know as the Skywalk.

Below, see a short video on how the park interfaces with the existing infrastructure.

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Cincinnati continues to lose ground on its competition

In 2002 Hamilton County voters decided to vote down a half-cent sales tax measure that would have fundamentally changed the way in which Cincinnatians move about the region with a regional transit plan that included light rail (system map), streetcars (integrated map with regional rail plan) and a completely revamped bus system.

As Cincinnatians continue to be restricted to automobile travel and limited bus service, Seattle is now celebrating the opening of their light rail system. Having fewer transportation choices is a negative and it is no wonder that the talented young professionals and creative class are choosing cities like Seattle, Portland, Charlotte, Atlanta, D.C. and San Francisco over places like Cincinnati.

These individuals are choosing life styles and social experiences over household size, affordability and even job opportunities. The jobs are following the talent, and it’s only a matter of time before Cincinnati starts feeling the heat from its companies that are having trouble attracting the young talent they need to stay competitive. In this global marketplace Cincinnati can no longer afford to rely on its history and foundational strength – Cincinnati needs to be competitive and learn how to start creating a city and lifestyle that appeals to our nation’s changing demographics and urbanizing population.

The scenes from Seattle with more coverage here:

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The keys to revitalizing Washington D.C.’s Columbia Heights

Special thanks to Kaid Benfield for pointing out this great video on Washington D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood that is revitalizing itself in a green way. The revitalization efforts are focusing on the following key elements: landscape, streetscape, transit options and mixed uses, and sense of place.

Some places are building great cities and great neighborhoods, are we?