Month: August 2010

Categories
Development News Politics

Plan Cincinnati to host learning forums on local planning initiatives

Plan Cincinnati will host two summer learning forums this month that will include information about local plans in place guiding the city’s new comprehensive plan, and what regional efforts are currently underway to help implement such initiatives.

The first of the two meetings will take place on Wednesday, August 4 in Corryville. This forum will include a panel made up of Larry Falkin from the Office of Environmental Quality, Terry Grundy from the United Way, Eric Rademacher from the University of Cincinnati, and Sam Stephens from the Department of Community Development.

The panel will engage in a moderated discussion of local plans and policies currently in place. Forum organizers say that the discussion will specifically focus on plans like GO Cincinnati, the State of the Community Report & Indicators, and Green Cincinnati that are seen as important factors helping to shape the comprehensive planning process currently underway.

The second forum will focus on regional efforts like Agenda 360, the award-winning Community COMPASS, 2030 Transportation Plan, and Strategic Regional Policy Plan developed by the OKI Regional Council of Governments. This forum will also include a moderated panel discussion made up by Todd Kinskey from the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, Robert Koehler and Emi Randall from OKI, and Mary Stagaman from Agenda 360. This forum on regional plans and policies is scheduled to take place on Thursday, August 26.

Cincinnati City Council is expected to vote on the completed comprehensive plan in 2011.  Cincinnati was the first major American city to adopt a comprehensive plan in 1925, but it has been 30 years since the last comprehensive plan was completed and updated in 1980.

Both forums are will be held from 7pm to 9pm in the auditorium of the CPS Education Center in Corryville (map). On-street automobile parking, free bicycle parking, and Metro bus service (plan your trip) is available for this location.

Categories
Business News Politics

UC study identifies huge economic gains from new regional water district

The University of Cincinnati Economics Center for Education & Research recently conducted a study to determine whether expanding Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) would have beneficial impacts. They concluded that expanding the service would prevent a 14 percent rate increase, save taxpayers money, and generate additional money for the City of Cincinnati.

The study concluded that a regional water district would allow for more people to absorb operating costs, and thus prevent the anticipated rate increase and save taxpayers $24 million over the next ten years. Furthermore, the study asserted that the increased coverage will allow the City of Cincinnati to receive an additional $15 million from the transfer of assets – money that city officials say go towards helping fill a projected budget shortfall.

The economic analysis also cites that a new regional water district would generate an additional $33 million in economic activity annually, and lead to the creation of 300 new jobs. The new jobs alone are anticipated to inject an extra $10 million into the economy each year.

The financial benefits extend even further according to Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney. He noted that a municipality owned water district, like GCWW, is barred under Ohio law from receiving payment from other jurisdictions. A regionally owned water district, on the other hand, is allowed to receive payment from outer municipalities, including those in other states.

As a result, many are now looking at an expanded regional water district to not only help the city shore up its finances, but also provide a step towards greater regional cooperation amongst municipalities.

“When we looked at the issue of a public regional water district, we approached it by asking whether expansion makes good economic sense,” says George Vredeveld, director of the University of Cincinnati Economics Center for Education & Research. “The analysis revealed that expansion will keep rates lower, create jobs and have a positive and lasting effect on the local economy.”

The next step is for the City to submit its plan for court approval, and if approved, voters will have the opportunity to vote whether or not to adopt the plan. A public vote on the sale of GCWW to a regional authority is now required following the approval of Issue 8 last November.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Two national community engagement movements to gather in Cincinnati tonight

Transition Town Northside will be meeting tonight at 5pm, and members of the Over-the-Rhine community will be taking part in National Night Out at historic Findlay Market.

The National Night Out event in Over-the-Rhine offers a chance for community members to engage with their local law enforcement officers. Police officers from District One of the Cincinnati Police Department will be at the event that will include food and games. Organizers state that the event is geared towards creating a safe, healthy community by strengthening relationship with the community and its police force. The event will take place at Findlay Market’s farmers shed (map) on the north side of the market house from 5pm to 6:30pm. Please contact the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce for more information at (513) 241-2690.

The Cincinnati Police Department will also be participating in five other National Night Out events throughout the city.  District One will also be at Mt. Adams Monastery (map) from 6pm to 8pm, District Two at the Mt. Washington Recreation Center (map) from 6pm to 9pm, District Three at the Kroger Grocery on Ferguson Road (map) from 5pm to 8pm, District Four at Fleischmann Gardens Park (map) from 6pm to 8pm, and District Five at College Hill Presbyterian Church (map) from 6pm to 9pm.

Meanwhile in Northside, a group committed to helping the neighborhood build community and achieve a more fossil-free existence will be meeting from 5pm to 7pm at the McKie Center (map). The goal of Transition Town Northside is to create an umbrella under which like minded individuals and organizations can pool their efforts, with the main goal of working towards a neighborhood that is local and sustainable. The grass-roots, community effort is generally geared toward responding to the challenges presented by peak oil.

All of these events are free and open to the public and most can be accessed by Metro bus service (plan your trip). Free bicycle parking is also available in the immediate area for most locations.

Categories
Business News

American Sign Museum provides unique look into Cincinnati’s past

You do not need to have the taste of an art critic or the knowledge of an historian in order to appreciate the beauty of the neon memories on display at the American Sign Museum in Walnut Hills. The museum is filled to the brim with historic signs that in their own way act as shimmering archives of Cincinnati’s past, providing us with an unwritten narrative of our own history.

The museum, hidden in Walnut Hills, opened its doors in 2005 and is the only public sign museum in the country. The space currently houses some 3,800 signs and pieces of memorabilia, some dating back to the late 19th century. It is, however, not always the objects themselves that provide the real attraction.

”We, of course, like to have the signs in the museum, but it’s as or sometimes more important to know the story behind them…they have more meaning that way,” said founder and museum director Tod Swormstedt.

One such example Swormstedt points to is the story surrounding an old Georgiton’s Pizza sign that last stood in the back parking lot of Mac’s Pizza Pub in Clifton Heights. According to Swormstedt, soon after opening his restaurant/bar Mac renovated his back parking lot and brought down the old sign.

He decided that it would be best to donate it to Swormstedt’s collection, and as the sign was brought down from its metal post a bit of history was, literally, uncovered. Once viewed up close it was apparent that Georgiton’s Pizza had simply been carved into sheet metal and layered over an older Papa Dino’s sign.

After some investigating, it was discovered that two brothers had once operated Papa Dino’s out of the building that now houses Mac’s Pizza Pub. The brothers eventually had a falling out that caused them to split up and form rival pizza restaurants. While one left and took the name Papa Dino’s just one block north to Calhoun Street, the other stayed and simply changed the name on the sign to Georgiton’s Pizza. Today, Papa Dino’s is still in business at the corner of Calhoun Street and Clifton Avenue, and although Georgiton’s Pizza is now just a memory, we still have two great pizza joints within one block of each other in Clifton.

You can currently view the Papa Dino’s/Georgiton’s Pizza sign and its story at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It is part of their Artworks: The American Road series that runs through August 29th.

The American Sign Museum is located at 2515 Essex Place in Walnut Hills and is open to the public on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.  All other times must be scheduled by appointment by (513) 258-4020 or tod@signmuseum.org.

Categories
Business Development News Politics

CPA to host seminar on historic building receivership – 8/7

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting a seminar on historic building receivership Saturday, August 7 in Camp Washington. The executive director of the Camp Washington Community Board will be in attendance to discuss that neighborhood’s approach to saving, renovating, and reselling buildings that might have otherwise been lost due to neglect.

Originally settled in 1846, Camp Washington is one of Cincinnati’s many historic neighborhoods. Over time the neighborhood has seen dramatic changes with the introduction of Interstate-75 in the mid-twentieth century. Since that time the community has dealt with a neighborhood street grid detached from its surrounding neighbors while also trying to adjust to changing demographics that led to disinvestment, and back to popularity today.

The issues faced by the historic Camp Washington neighborhood are similar to what many inner-city neighborhoods faced during the second half of the 20th century. Its urban revival is a narrative that is also ringing true with others, but the neighborhood’s historic preservation success is an element CPA believes can help other neighborhoods around the region.

CPA’s Saving Buildings With Receivership seminar will take place from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, August 7 at 2951 Sidney Avenue. The seminar will include a tour of a current receivership project underway in Camp Washington. Reservations are required due to limited space. Those interested can register for $5 by contacting CPA at (513) 721-4506 or info@cincinnatipreservation.org.  You can also RSVP for the event on Facebook.