Author: Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.

Categories
Development News

Covington examining dog park for MainStrasse Village

Residents of Covington’s historic MainStrasse Village are yearning for a dog park that will provide another amenity in their neighborhood. Dog parks have become highly sought after by urban dwellers as city living becomes increasingly more attractive.

In Cincinnati, early efforts were stalled for a dog park downtown due to the lack of capital money to build the park. The efforts to create a downtown dog park yielded fruit earlier this year when Procter & Gamble’s Pet Care division announced that it would contribute $50,000 towards the construction of a dog park on a half-acre piece of land on the eastern edge of downtown Cincinnati. Planners have also included a dog park in Washington Park’s redesign that is to be reconstructed over the next year in historic Over-the-Rhine.

Dog park supporters in Covington will meet on Thursday, April 29 at 5:30pm on the second floor of Chez Nora (map). Those in attendance will hear from Tom Biedenhorn who was instrumental in making the Pioneer Paw Park reality. Biedenhorn will be joined by Covington Commissioner Sherry Carran who did the site design for the Pioneer Paw Park, and will share information from that project with the audience.

Urban Dog Park image courtesy of Ask Dog Lady.

Categories
News Transportation

Cincinnati to host conference on high-speed rail

The European-American Chamber of Commerce (EACC) will host the Urban & Regional Public Transportation Conference on Wednesday, May 5 at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will gather a group of international, national and regional transportation experts to discuss Ohio’s 3C rail corridor and high-speed rail in general.

“High-speed rail has brought economic, social and environmental benefits to many countries around the world,” said EACC Executive Director, Anne Cappel. “The United States and the Midwest region can learn from case studies and experiences from our European counterparts and, hopefully, provide time and economic savings as we move forward.”

Event organizers say that the conference is designed to address issues surrounding the 3C rail corridor with a pragmatic approach. Conference attendees will hear from experts involved in Ohio’s high-speed rail plan in regard to its cost-effectiveness, safety and environmental impacts from local, regional and national levels.

Ohio’s 3C rail corridor was recently awarded $400 million from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, and will eventually carry nearly 500,000 passengers annually between Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland. The 3C rail corridor itself serves an estimated 6 million people and is considered to be the most under-served passenger rail corridor in America, and would eventually be connected into the larger Midwest High-Speed Rail Network.

The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will include three panels made up of representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ohio Department of Transportation, Midwest High-Speed Rail Association, American Public Transportation Association, FirstGroup America, General Electric, the City of Cincinnati and representatives from England, France and Spain. The three panels will focus on Economic Development, Performance/Environmental Impact, Financial/Operational Models.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation, John D. Porcari, will deliver the conference’s key note address to the hundreds of decision-makers and thought leaders expected to be in attendance.

The EACC 2010 Conference & Gala will take place at the Westin Hotel (map) in downtown Cincinnati from 10am to 9:30pm and include lunch, a cocktail/networking session following the conference, and the gala dinner. A variety of registration packages are available until Friday, April 30 at 5pm.

If you are unable to make the event, be sure to follow UrbanCincy on Twitter where we will be live tweeting from the conference using the #eaccConference hashtag.

High-Speed Rail image from Environmental Law & Policy Center.

Categories
Development News

The Banks development team releases new website, renderings for $600M development

The progress being made at The Banks development along the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati is palpable. Underground parking garages have been built to lift the development out of the 100-year flood plain and provide parking spaces for those living, working and visiting Cincinnati’s central riverfront. With that complete, the buildings that will house 300 apartments, retail and office space are now rising on the eastern portion of the site near Great American Ball Park.

The development team responsible for the $600 million private investment has now released a new website, updated renderings for Phase 1 of the project and has begun a branding and marketing campaign intended to “define and illustrate” what it will be like to live, work and play at The Banks. The new campaign focuses around a slogan of “It’s happening on the river” and includes a new logo in addition to the new website and marketing effort.

“I think after all these years, it’s hard for people to believe that things are finally happening at The Banks,” said Malloy Peterson, vice president of marketing at Carter. “This campaign, along with the ongoing construction now visible at the site, will help change that perception and start to build interest among the community that The Banks is really taking shape.”

The updated renderings illustrate the large sidewalks that will accommodate the many visitors and residents of the mixed-use development. The mid- and high-rise structures will include street-level retail that has apartments with balconies or office space on the upper floors.

Residential development above street-level retail spaces looking east along Freedom Way towards Great American Ball Park [TOP]. Corner retail development at 2nd & Main streets [BOTTOM]. All images provided by Carter and The Dawson Company.

“Throughout all aspects of this project, we’ve been steadfast in delivering a development that creates excitement and interest throughout Greater Cincinnati,” said Harold A. Dawson, Jr., president and chief executive officer for The Dawson Company. “With a grand opening a year away, this new campaign brings to life our team’s vision of The Banks.”

Those interested in living at one of the 300 apartments in Phase 1 of The Banks can now contact Kristi Fickert from Village Green Management at (888) 371-7241 or by email at liveatthebanks@villagegreen.com.

Both the private and public portions of the overall development are currently on-schedule, and will see the underground parking garage to the east of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center open this June 2010, with a grand opening of the private development portion scheduled for spring 2011. Once fully built-out, The Banks development will house more than 3,000 new residents and will be Cincinnati’s largest single, mixed-use development composed of residential, office, hotel and retail components.

Categories
Development News

Cincinnati to debut form-based code implementation strategy

The City of Cincinnati will present its recommended strategy for implementing form-based codes at a special Planning Commission meeting on Friday, April 30 at 9am.

Form-based codes are two years in the making in Cincinnati where officials have met with communities around the country that have successfully implemented form-based codes of their own. Locally, the City of Bellevue, KY has finished the public involvement portion of their form-based code development process and is now moving towards adoption of the non-conventional zoning practice.

Cincinnati’s implementation strategy will detail how form-based codes can be incorporated into the existing Cincinnati zoning code while also developing a process for creating and applying them throughout city neighborhoods.

This strategy has been developed through a collaborative effort between the City, Opitcos Design and Lisa Wise Consulting over the past four months. In 2008, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Councilmember Laketa Cole introduced a motion directing the administration to develop such a plan. Stakeholders have been meeting month since that time and are now getting closer to implementing a form-based code in one of the largest cities nationwide to date.

The special Planning Commission meeting being held on Friday, April 30 will be held from 9am to 11am at Two Centennial Plaza (J. Martin Griesel Room, 7th Floor) in downtown Cincinnati (map). Free bicycle parking is available nearby and the site is served by Metro (plan your trip). Cash parking garages and on-street parking is available nearby for automobiles.

Categories
Business News

Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori High School seen as national model of success

The nation’s first public Montessori high school is a feather in the cap of Cincinnati Public School District, and Clark Montessori is also one of the best schools in Ohio’s third largest public school district by student population. The school has now gone even further and been recognized on a national level as a model of educational success for other high schools across the United States.

This accomplishment has not gone unnoticed by President Obama who has established a goal of having the world’s highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. As part of President Obama’s education goals, he has established the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge which has been whittled down to six finalists including Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori.

“These six schools represent just a few of the stories of success that are happening all across the country,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We won’t accomplish the President’s national goal of leading the world in college completion by 2020 without the hard work and dedication of the school leaders, teachers and students exemplified by our six final high schools.”

To get to this point, Clark Montessori seniors worked with representatives from the Get Schooled Foundation to produce a video illustrating the excellence at their school. The video is currently being used as a judge for those voting for a winner from the six finalists. Starting today, voting opened to the public and Clark Montessori’s application and video have been posted to the White House website. The winner of the competition will receive a visit from President Obama where he will deliver the spring commencement speech at the winning high school.

“The quality of the applications we received is a testament to the exciting work happening in schools throughout the country, and I look forward to visiting and speaking at the winning school later this spring,” said President Obama.

In 2009, Clark Montessori graduated 100% of its senior class. You can vote for Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori in the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge now until 11:59pm on Thursday, April 29.

Race to the Top Challenge announcement photograph provided.