Author: Jenny Kessler

Jenny is a local designer who has a passion for people and for Cincinnati. She began writing for UrbanCincy in September 2009, and served as the website's operation manager until March 2012. Jenny currently works for ArtsWave and manages the OTR Urban Kickball League.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Special hearing geared to test supporters of Cincinnati’s streetcar plan

Three Republican members of Cincinnati City Council have requested a special meeting to review the Cincinnati Streetcar project, in order to get further clarification from city administrators about the project in its revised form.

Council members Charlie Winburn, Wayne Lippert and Amy Murray have requested the meeting. Despite previous opposition to the original plan, the council members now want clarification on the new route that will not initially connect Downtown and Uptown.

Lippert admitted that the original plan had great economic implications, and is now voicing concerns about the reduced route. This new view contradicts other Republican members of Council who expressed their doubts about the original plan’s economic impact.

At a press conference last week, Mayor Mallory emphasized that the revised version of the streetcar route is a phased implementation, with the line reverting back to its original state once there is more funding in place. The governor’s office pulled all state funding for the project, and even this week the federal government passed over Ohio when reallocating two billion dollars from another high speed rail project. This move was presumably due to Kasich returning money for the 3C Corridor project at the beginning of 2011.

The meeting will be held at 6pm in Council Chambers at City Hall (map). There will be an open comment period, and any available streetcar supporters are strongly encouraged to come early, fill out a comment card, and give a short, prepared statement explaining why they are in favor of the project.

Streetcar supporters march in the 2010 Bockfest Parade. Photo by Sherman Cahal.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Cincinnati Fashion Week offers seven days of style

Cincinnati Fashion Week, a celebration of all things couture in the Queen City, is finally upon us. The event launched for the first time in 2010, and was a uniquely grass-roots movement. Over 200 people came together – volunteers, retailers, media, sponsors and partners – to produce a series of events that drew over 2,000 participants from all over the region.

The five-day fashion marathon included unique retail experiences at seven high-end boutiques, VIP Parties, a Tribute event with Landor Associates, a merchant fair with Future Blooms and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, and two full-length runway productions. The collaboration for the event experience was born as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase the wealth of young and professional design talent in the area, highlight local non-profits, and increase local revenue.

This year the producers aim the bar higher, with one event each night of the week aiming to please fashionistas all over. The week sees male-oriented fashion on Tuesday, Japanese-inspired couture from an expert at the Art Museum on Wednesday, Graphic design inspired windows at the Shillito lofts on Thursday, a fund-raising dinner on Friday, and a fashion show finale Saturday night. Phew!

Ten designers, including local favorites Amy Kirchen, Laura Dawson, and Lindsey Lusignolo, are displaying their creations during the week. The styles range from women’s ready-to-wear to socially conscious fabrics, and everything in between.

The next wave of design talent is alive and well in Cincinnati, and Fashion Week helps bring the creativity front and center. Be sure to check out one or all of the events to get a taste of global design in the heart of the Queen City. For more information on designers and events, head over to the Fashion Week website.

Cincinnati Fashion Week 2010 photo for UrbanCincy by Thadd Fiala.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Weekend wrapup

If ever there was a weekend to go out and celebrate Cincinnati’s urban core, this would be the one to do it. Lots of great events happening – check it out!

* Tune-in Park – May 6, 7pm-12am – Far-I-Rome Productions (of the OTR Skate) is presenting a big music event at Burnet Woods and Arlin’s. It’s $5 for access to both venues, and you can catch sets from The Minor Leagues, The Ohms, Buckra, Skeetones, Ford Theatre Reunion (Lexington, KY) and more.

Since Far-I-Rome does it big, we’ve also got art installations (Bunk, Ant Farm Collective and others), food vendors (Habaero, Cafe de Wheels, Toppers Pizza) and of course, beer (Moerlein, Mt. Carmel, Hudepohl). Local beer, food, tunes in an underutilized park space… a great combination!

* Crafty Supermarket – May 7, 11am-6pm – Clifton Cultural Arts Center – Crafty Supermarket is back for round four with over fifty local crafters from seven states with wares and goodies for sale. The first one hundred shoppers in the door get a swag bag. Food will be available from La Terza Coffee, Dojo Gelato, Sweet Peace Bakery, Picnic + Pantry and Fireside Pizza.

There will be screen printing demonstrations and local DJs from ProjectMill spinning tunes. This is the perfect opportunity to get Mom something local for her big day.

* Upstairs Downstairs Historic House Tour – May 7, 1pm-5pm – Cincinnati Preservation Association and Architects Plus will present the annual “Upstairs, Downstairs” Historic House Tour showcasing architecturally significant houses on Grand Vista Avenue in Pleasant Ridge. Advance reservations are required. Tickets are $25.00 for members and $30.00 for guests. Tourgoers will receive an informative program with historic profiles of each house. To make a reservation or receive an invitation, call 513-721-4506 or email to info@cincinnatipreservation.org.

* Ride With Confidence – May 7, 1pm-2pm- Park + Vine, 1202 Main Street
Learn the law of riding your bike on Ohio’s roadways and strategies for protecting your right to ride as a bicyclist from Steve Magas, Bike Lawyer, 1 p.m.

Steve’s presentation touches on the history of bicycling in America, several criminal cases where motorists were prosecuted for hitting cyclists, and hot button issues impacting cyclists today. Space is limited to 25. $5 suggested donation benefits Queen City Bike. RSVP bikelawyer@aol.com before May 6. For more information about Ohio’s Bike Laws and Steve’s bicycle law practice, visit www.OhioBikeLawyer.com.

Last but not least, don’t forget about the Fourth Anniversary party Saturday, May 7 at Below Zero!

Crafty Supermarket image via Mixie Studio

Categories
News Transportation

Local transit map exceeds expectations

In less than six months, Nate Wessel has helped bring change to Cincinnati’s transit system. After debuting his bus-riding basics map on UrbanCincy earlier this year, Wessel launched the project on crowdfunding site Kickstarter in April. People from Cincinnati and around the world responded to the design, and in 30 days the initiative had raised twice its initial goal of $1,000.

In five days, the Transit Guide raised over $1,200. By the deadline, over one hundred donors had given $2,105 to help print and distribute the pocket guide to bus riders all over Cincinnati.

Wessel also had an opportunity to interface with donors and solicit feedback on the map’s design during the fundraising period, and the updated version is better than ever. Described as a diagrammatic illustration of the Greater Cincinnati area’s transit system, the guide shows conceptually where, when, and how one can travel by bus.

It’s nearer to New York City’s Subway Map or that of London’s Tube in design than to the more literal and more difficult to read maps of most Midwestern cities like Akron or Cincinnati.

Like the New York map, his new map for Cincinnati highlights the important frequent and convenient transit lines over services that are infrequent, specialized or too complex to readily apprehend. Lines are spaced for easier reading, and line thickness indicates how long one can expect to wait for the next bus. The most frequent lines have buses that come every ten minutes in each direction for most of the day. The thinnest lines have service every 1 hour or slightly better.

The map does not include routes that only run during rush hours to serve commuters, since these have a relatively limited application. The back of the map will answer some common questions for people who have never been on the bus before, point out peculiarities of specific lines and highlight major routes and bus stops in Downtown.

The funds from the project will be used to print and distribute more than 30,000 pocket-sized copies of the map and several hundred posters to organizations and businesses in the area.

“I particularly hope to get maps in the hands of students, young professionals and recent immigrants and visitors to Cincinnati,” said Wessel. “As it is, people who are new to the city, or just unfamiliar with the transit system face an enormous hurdle in trying transit for the first time.”

He believes many in the city would utilize the bus service if they understood it better – where and when the buses go. The local transit authorities have tried, but not completely succeeded in making their maps user-friendly.

Wessel admits the current transit system is not perfect, but it is pretty good. “My goal is to allow people to see what good service exists, and where it can take them,” he explained. “This way users can better understand the system that serves them and to begin to see public transit as a realistic transportation option.”

Nate will be giving a talk at the Contemporary Arts Center on May 23rd to further explain the project.

Updated Cincinnati Transit Guide map provided for UrbanCincy by Nate Wessel.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Development News

Framester takes event photography to the next level

Chances are, if you have a Facebook account, you’ve seen the pictures floating around your friends’ feeds. High quality photo booth style pictures, perfectly capturing the essence of an event or party. This phenomenon is the brainchild of local entrepreneurs David Dewitt and Adam Kleshinski. It’s called Framester.

The philosophy behind the event photography company is that, given the circumstances, every person wants the chance to show their creative, spontaneous selves… and to take the perfect picture. The self-timed setup – a camera, a backdrop, and a little red button – allows party goers to create their own portraits in a way that traditional event photographers can’t.

DeWitt, a former DAAP student at the University of Cincinnati, set up his camera one night at a friend’s party in 2008, and was taken aback at the response it received. “It took a lot of trust, to leave my lighting and camera equipment up all night, but no one messed with it,” David explained. “My friends loved it, and it turned into something bigger.”

Through various connections around town, DeWitt took his setup to local philanthropic events over the next year, experimenting with props, backdrops and photography techniques. Bars and parties began to hire him as a special addition to their shindigs- tagging and sharing the pictures on Facebook helped gather name recognition for the venues, as well as give everyone kick-ass profile pictures.

DeWitt and Kleshinski connected near the end of 2010, where the Xavier MBA graduate saw a business opportunity that couldn’t be passed up. “I couldn’t believe it was just [DeWitt],” said Kleshinski. “I knew it could be something bigger.” The two worked through a business plan, and launched the Framester brand in the beginning of May.

“The goal now is to expand through the Cincinnati area,” explained Adam. “We want it to expand organically, and with 2.5 million people in the region, there’s a lot of room for growth here. Things are changing and moving in the right direction. Cincinnati is a base of ingenuity and entrepreneurship and good business – it’s a great market.”

The duo feels that Cincinnati is a perfect test market – a microcosm with enough diversity to try out different things as they tweak the business model and prepare to grow.

The difference between Framester’s services and any huckster with a camera is the professional level of quality and attention to detail for each event – no two are alike. The service naturally offers a distinctive brand marketing advantage to event sponsors and venues by levering advances in social media technologies, and former clients have seen immediate results in collecting contact information from their attendees along with targeted brand exposure.

Ultimately, Framester is helping to celebrate and showcase the momentum that is driving Cincinnati forward. Kleshinski and DeWitt both say it’s been incredible watching the amount of energy building in Cincinnati’s urban core.

“For too long there’s been this theory that Cincinnati is boring – there’s nothing fun to do here,” said DeWitt. “We know that’s not true – and we’ve got the pictures to prove it.”

CityBeat Best of Cincinnati Party photo provided by Framester.