Category: News

Original stories from the UrbanCincy team.

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Good times in the 513

On Saturday, June 20 thousands of people converged onto Over-the-Rhine to participate in the GoOTR 5k and enjoy the festivities at the first annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration afterwards.

I can honestly say that the 5k was exhausting in that heat. I averaged an 11 minute mile which is not much better than a brisk walk, but I raised money for the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and got to hang out with lots of fun people in OTR all day.

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The Summer Celebration was a great addition this year as in past years people seemed to hang around looking for something to do after the 5k. In addition to the awards ceremony from Rookwood Pottery and drinks from Christian Moerlein, this year had tons of local vendors selling food, crafts and other items.

On the other side of Vine Street some neighborhood children set up a lemonade stand to take advantage of the perfect business opportunity. There was even a stage for music and dance performances that kept the crowd entertained at 12th & Vine all day long.

A couple of drinks, a mett and a wood-fired pizza later I was ready to head south towards Fountain Square to check out the Civil Rights Game Youth Summit festivities that were ongoing.

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There were lots of out-of-towners and lots of people enjoying the interactive areas for the kids (pitching area, batting cage, etc). Earlier some Reds players spoke to the youth baseball players and fans at Fountain Square.

The day was truly special and will hopefully be just as good, if not better next year with the second annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration and the second consecutive year of the Civil Rights Game being held in Cincinnati.

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This Week In Soapbox 6/30

This Week In Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about the future of the Kahn’s facility in Camp Washington, Nordstrom’s first Cincinnati location, the ripple effects surrounding the transition at Stratford Heights, a facelife for the 175 year-old Mercantile Library and Agenda 360’s rallying cry.

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.

TWIS 6/30:

  • The future of the Kahn’s facility in Camp Washington – full article
  • Nordstrom to open 138,000 square foot store in Kenwood this summer – full article
  • The ripple effects of Stratford Heights transition – full article
  • 175 year-old Mercantile Library to receive major facelift – full article
  • The Agenda 360 rallying cry – full article
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Broad Support

What do the mayor of Cincinnati, eight of the nine incumbents for City Council and eight of the non-incumbent candidates for council have in common? It’s not their political party; Republicans, Democrats and Charterites alike are all on this list.

(UPDATE: The number is actually 16 of 18 candidates for Council. My mistake.)

All of them believe that proposed amendment to the City’s Charter that would effectively ban rail transit for our region takes us in the wrong direction. They believe that at this time of economic uncertainty, we should be looking for ways of keeping and enhancing Cincinnati’s competitive edge, not finding ways to diminish it.

There is no better way to maximize the attraction of our city to the young, talented, and mobile than by building the streetcar. It is an investment that will encourage and guide development while making people’s movement within the city more efficient.

But there is another reason that so many of our leaders of today and tomorrow are urging us to vote against this Charter amendment. The language in it is so broad that its passage would diminish Cincinnati’s ability to receive federal funding for regional high-speed rail. Even streetcar opponents are leery of this amendment because it puts an election, which is expensive, between the city and its request for federal dollars.

Just about every city and state in the nation bids for a limited pool of federal funding for specific transportation projects, like high-speed rail, so the competition for those dollars is tough. Only the regions best able to demonstrate a need, and do so in a timely manor, will be considered. Forcing a vote will delay our proposals, and we will all watch the federal funding to offset the local cost vanish.

To keep the city competitive, we cannot stand in the way of this golden opportunity to enhance local development by connecting our region to other successful areas like Chicago.

Tell us what you think: Do you think that this amendment would be beneficial to the city? Or would its adoption diminish our region’s competitiveness?

For further reading:
Pro-amendment: We Demand a Vote
Pro-progress: Cincinnatians for Progress
US Department of Transportation re: Ohio’s importance to High Speed Rail

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The next phase for UrbanCincy

As of today I have started a new job in Atlanta that will have me traveling all over for the next year or so. In the mean time I will still be running UrbanCincy as always and look to engage additional writers and contributors to those currently on staff.

I will be back and forth between Atlanta and Cincinnati, but will not be able to provide that grassroots level commentary as much as I would like (this is where the writers come in). I will be taking what I learn from my travels and relay that information to you while offering up solutions to problems we have in Cincinnati, or just offer up ways in which we could be an even better city.

I will also continue to relay information about what is going on in Cincinnati’s urban core in terms of events, discussions and opportunities to get involved. Hopefully this site is both informational and insightful regarding Cincinnati’s urban life. The first two years have been great and steady growth continues to be realized. I can’t wait to look forward and see what the next two years bring for UrbanCincy and Cincinnati.

If you are interested in contributing to UrbanCincy please email UrbanCincy@gmail.com and include you name, background, areas of interest, why you want to contribute. I would also love hearing your thoughts on Cincinnati so feel free to ramble.

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Retaining Talent

This story in the Cincinnati Business Courier troubled me greatly. The article said that the majority of current college students in the state of Ohio plan on leaving Ohio once they graduate. Though no Cincinnati area schools were included, the numbers here may be similar.

I grew up in, well, not in Ohio, and came to Cincinnati because that’s where Xavier is. The school drew me to the region; Cincinnati didn’t draw me to X. I chose to stay here after graduation for a lot of reasons: UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning for grad school; good prospects for finding a job post-graduation; the low cost of living; the arts here; even Skyline. Actually, I typed “even Skyline” sorta tongue-in-cheek, but I recently left the area for about 4 months, and had regular Skyline cravings. Plus, the Indian food here is unreal.

What really kept me here was how much the area has to offer vs. the low cost of living.

If the city wants to continue to flourish (and it is flourishing – go downtown if you haven’t been in a while), we need to ensure that the young talent we draw here with our colleges and universities stay here. They will be the ones who will continue to grow our economy.

You tell me: how can we brand the city as a desirable place for potential new residents? What amenities are here for the young and mobile? What do we need here that isn’t here yet?