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.

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Up To Speed

The Best Open Data Releases of 2012

The Best Open Data Releases of 2012.

The year 2012 is over. But it’s important to occasionally look back and see what we did well, and not so well, as a society over the last 12 months. One particular item that has become increasingly more significant in planning our cities is open data. From tracking crime in Philadelphia, bikeshare activity in Boston, transit usage in Atlanta, green roofs in Chicago, to rat sightings in New York City…open data has gone viral. More from The Atlantic on the top 10 open data releases of 2012:

Last year, Atlantic Cities named ten of its favorite metro datasets of 2011 from cities across North America, illustrating the breadth of what we might learn (regarding mosquito traps! misplaced vehicles! energy consumption!) in the still relatively young field of urban open data. For this year’s installment, we’re going one step further. Sure, raw data is great. But useful tools, maps and data visualizations built with said data are even better.

In this story, you’ll find our picks for 2012’s best open data releases from municipal vaults, with an emphasis on tools that can be used by anyone, not just developers and data geeks.

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Up To Speed

Which cities did the biggest music hits come from in 2012?

Which cities did the biggest music hits come from in 2012?.

South Korea’s PSY took the world by storm in 2012 with his smash hit single “Gangnam Style.” His song, however, was an anomaly for Asian cities with regards to internationally pop song hits, with the vast majority originating from artists in North America and Western Europe. More from The Atlantic:

In this evolving international soundscape, just how global is the popular music Americans listen to? Where are its major locational epicenters? To get at this, UCLA urban planning doctoral candidate Patrick Adler took a look at the geography of two lists of the year’s best music: Pitchfork’s Top 100 Tracks and Billboard’s Hot 100 Songs.

Adler used geographic data from Twitter, SoundCloud, AllMusic, and Pitchfork to assign a location to the metro area where the artist behind each track currently resides. He gave preference to the locations identified by the artists themselves. The list is based on where artists currently live and work, not where they originally hail from. This can sometimes penalize non-U.S. locations.

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Up To Speed

Tolled highways may soon become part of everyday life in Cincinnati

Tolled highways may soon become part of everyday life in Cincinnati.

The unwillingness of lawmakers to approve an increase to gasoline taxes is causing otherwise unforeseen effects. State officials from both Ohio and Kentucky have already stated that the reconstruction of the Brent Spence Bridge will require modern tolling, and now Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) is expanding the idea by proposing the use of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the reconstructed portion of I-75 through Hamilton County, in order to help pay for other state transportation projects. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The Ohio Department of Transportation will launch a study in coming months to examine charging tolls to motorists who want to travel quickly in uncongested lanes. Motorists could pay to use these so-called “price-managed” lanes, or continue to travel for free in lanes jammed with heavy traffic.

Price-managed lanes have become a national trend as states face transportation budget shortfalls and rising congestion in urban areas. The two-year, $105 billion federal transportation bill passed last summer opened the door for states to do more tolling – and Ohio is jumping in.

Gov. John Kasich launched an aggressive effort early this year to consider tolling and other alternative funding to eliminate a $1.6 billion transportation deficit and move up construction schedules on projects across the state…At some point, the I-75 corridor stretching from the Western Hills Viaduct to I-275 could be added to the list of highways eligible for price-managed lanes. That’s because the $980 million I-75 construction projects – separated into two, eight-phase plans known as the Mill Creek Expressway and Thru the Valley – call for one new lane to be added in each direction.

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Up To Speed

Rookwood Pavilion offering upscale outlets an urban destination

Rookwood Pavilion offering upscale outlets an urban destination.

Believe it or not, Rookwood Commons and Kenwood Towne Centre once were in a heated battle over which shopping destination would become the region’s premier stop. Due to a number of factors, including a messy eminent domain case that prohibited Rookwood from expanding, Kenwood has taken firm control of that title. Rookwood hasn’t died, however, and it may be looking to become a destination for unique retailers entering urban markets. More from the Business Courier:

The Nike factory store now under development at Rookwood Pavilion is part of a larger plan to reposition the 20-year-old retail center as something you’ve probably never heard of: an urban infill outlet. The architect of that strategy, Mark Fallon, says outlet retailers pay higher rents, attract fashion-conscious shoppers and are looking to expand into urban areas.

“This opens us up to 200 quality tenants in the future,” said Fallon, vice president at Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., which handles leasing for the 257,000-square-foot Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood. “It offers (outlet tenants) an urban infill location, as opposed to being out in the hinterlands.”

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Arts & Entertainment News

Ring in the new year on Fountain Square in VIP fashion

2011’s New Year’s Eve celebrations on Fountain Square. Photograph provided by Thadd Fiala.

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) has provided UrbanCincy with two complimentary tickets to its VIP party on Fountain Square this year, and we are looking to give them away to our readers.

The tickets include admission to the New Year’s Eve Blast VIP Party from 8pm to 1am at Via Vite. Those attending will be treated to a panoramic view of the festivities on Fountain Square, a celebrity meet and greet, dinner by-the-bit, an open bar, and a champagne toast at midnight.

Additional entertainment will take place on Fountain Square including live music and DJs, free ice skating, a fireworks display, a holographic holiday light show, and what organizers are touting as a “special midnight reveal” of mystery box that was placed on Fountain Square in November.

Event organizers say that music will be provided by uplift i, Aristar, Flynnville Train, and Arin Ray.

Those who do not win the two free tickets UrbanCincy is giving away are still able to purchase tickets. Three VIP ticket packages are available for purchase starting from $150 per person.

Those who would like a chance at one of our free tickets should leave a comment on our Facebook page explaining what you are most looking forward to in Cincinnati’s urban core in 2013. We will then contact the winners on Thursday, December 27 with details about how to get their ticket.