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 Transportation

Ballparks as means for urban revitalization

After the lights went out and the dust settled from the 80th take of the Midsummer Classic, fans spilled out of St. Louis’ beautiful new Busch Stadium into an area set to be developed as Ballpark Village.

Ballpark Village is much like The Banks development in Cincinnati. The idea is similar – following a major public investment in a new urban ballpark, a high density mixed-use neighborhood would fill the space left behind from the previous behemoth of a stadium that once existed.

This new wave of thinking towards sports facilities is a trend sweeping the nation that can be seen in cities from San Diego to Baltimore and minor league parks all across the nation. The idea is that new businesses and entertainment districts can thrive off of the tens of thousands of sports fans visiting the area 80+ times a year.

Both The Banks and Ballpark Village have suffered their setbacks. In both cases beautiful new ballparks have replaced the cookie-cutter stadiums…that part of the equation has been fulfilled. What has not yet been completed is the high density mixed-use neighborhood.

The Banks + Ballpark Village

There is no doubt in my mind that once developed, both Ballpark Village and The Banks will be successful if executed properly. The problem is that the execution has little to do with the ballparks built to spur these developments. In St. Louis the amount of residential space has been reduced from the original plan. In Cincinnati condos have become apartments, and the design has been “value engineered” to say the least. What could any ballpark do to change these results?

What the ballparks do accomplish is that they create an instant market for such “eatertainment” places like ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, House of Blues and so on. These places are perfect for these districts, but I honestly don’t see what else the ballparks can do otherwise.

In St. Louis Busch Stadium is connected with the region’s light rail system with a perfectly situated MetroLink station. Cincinnati has the opportunity to similarly connect Great American Ballpark with the Cincinnati Streetcar system.

St. Louis’ Busch Stadium MetroLink station – photo from dswinney

The important thing to vibrant urban neighborhoods is the amount of people. Downtown Cincinnati and St. Louis have no problem with daytime work week activity. What they both need more of is night time and weekend traffic, and this requires more people living within the core. Less residential at these developments is the absolute wrong idea. Transit makes high density residential more financially feasible, and has a considerably greater impact than that of a neighborhood ballpark.

Great neighborhoods aren’t made by great ballparks…great neighborhoods are made by the people living, working and playing there. A diversity of these activities is needed for a place to be truly sustainable in terms of its vibrancy, and instead of pouring our public dollars into new ballparks, stadiums and convention centers we should be putting our public money into transit choices, public spaces and a diverse housing stock.

Categories
News

Second Annual Cincinnati T-Shirt Festival – 7/17

The second Cincinnati T-shirt Festival takes place on Friday, July 17 on Fountain Square from 11am to 11pm, and will feature more than a dozen local vendors and companies.

The T-shirt “mini-market” will have offerings from major institutions like the Bengals, Xavier, UC and the Museum Center, but will also feature many local shops and companies like Park+Vine, Nati Evolvement, Alternative Motive (featured on MTV), Wire & Twine and much more.

Photo by Chris Glass, to see more of Glass’ photos from last year’s Cincinnati T-Shirt Festival go here.

Categories
News

Cincinnati’s Purple People Bridge: Past & Present

Cincinnati’s second oldest existing span across the might Ohio River was built in 1872 and was known as the Newport and Cincinnati Bridge. The river span was Cincinnati’s first railroad bridge, and eventually was retrofitted to also accommodate streetcars, pedestrians and automobiles.

The bridge was later renamed the L&N Bridge for the Louisville and Nashville railroad that used the span. The bridge was closed down to both trains and automobiles and was eventually rehabed in 2003 into the “Purple People Bridge” named for its prominent purple color and pedestrianized span across the Ohio River.

The bridge quickly became a local landmark and a spot for art installations, shows and other family-friendly events. At its pinnacle, the bridge became the spot for the Purple People Bridge Climb (video) which was the first of its kind in North America and allowed for people to climb the bridge’s superstructure and walk across the span.

The bridge climb attraction shut down one year after opening, and the group managing the bridge experienced some financial setbacks and have since tried to reorganize themselves and figure out what to do with the historic landmark.

So what’s to come for the Purple People Bridge? What do you use it for, or do you use the bridge at all? Below is a collection of seven photographs I took from the Purple People Bridge. The main pedestrian span was blocked off as crews were deconstructing an art installation that was on the bridge. Joggers, families and leisurely walkers were using the span during that time.

Categories
News

This Week In Soapbox 7/14

This Week In Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about a new Cuban restaurant in Covington’s Wedding District, the newly forming medical corridor along I-74, Cincinnati housing market trends, a new pro shop for Disc Golf enthusiasts at Mt. Airy Forest, major renovations at Krohn Conservatory, and how the American Can Factory took center stage for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with some of the latest development news in Cincinnati please check out this week’s stories and sign up for the weekly E-Zine sent out by Soapbox Cincinnati. Also be sure to become a fan of Soapbox on Facebook!

TWIS 7/14:

  • Cuban restaurant opens in Covington’s Wedding District – full article
  • Medical corridor forming along Interstate 74 – full article
  • Krohn Conservatory to undergo major renovations – full article
  • Nati Disc Golf debuts pro shop at Mt. Airy course – full article
  • Cincinnati housing market showing signs of recovery – full article
  • Vice President Joe Biden highlights importance of stimulus with American Can Factory rehab project – full article
Categories
Business News Transportation

Could streetcars be manufactured right here in the Midwest?

On July 1 the United States celebrated the completion of the first American-made streetcar. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in Portland to celebrate the moment.

The Infrastructurist points out that Oregon Iron Works felt like they could be profitable producing the modern streetcars, and feel that they are already producing a superior product than what is being produced overseas. CincyStreetcar says that this event illustrates two important issues.

“The first is that public transportation is not a partisan issue; both sides of the aisle benefit from increased public transportation. The second is the progress other cities around the country are making with increasing their transportation options and the positive returns on their investments.”

When examining this news one could also speculate on what this could mean for Cincinnati as it develops one of the first streetcar systems in the Midwest region of the United States.

Last month when the City announced the selection of the development team that will help finance, plan, design, construct, operate and maintain Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system they also announced that Cincinnati Streetcar Development Team partner, Stacy and Witbeck Inc., will be opening a new office in downtown Cincinnati and will also be relocating their executives to Cincinnati specifically for this project.

First American-made streetcar in Portland, Oregon – image from United Streetcar, LLC

Could the same also happen in regards to the production of streetcar vehicles in a state and region that was built on manufacturing and could easily produce streetcars with the existing infrastructure and talent in place here?

Columbus and Cleveland have recently examined streetcar systems for their cities. Milwaukee recently received tens of millions of federal dollars to build a three-mile modern streetcar system in their city that is being seen as a started line to a much larger, city-wide system (similar to Cincinnati’s effort). St. Louis and Minneapolis currently boast light rail that has vehicles similar to streetcars and could potentially be produced on the same line. Indianapolis is working on a light rail system there that would also fit into this category.

With all of these existing and future systems in the Midwest, it would seem reasonable to have a manufacturer for those vehicles right here. Could Cincinnati or Ohio attract such a firm, or grow one of their own so that it starts producing streetcar and light rail vehicles in one of the many plants we have that used to produce automobiles?