The $86 million renovation and expansion of the University of Cincinnati’s historic Nippert Stadium is nearly complete.
According to project officials, the work is expected to be complete in time for the Bearcats to host their first game back on campus – after a year away at Paul Brown Stadium – in three months.
The latest project video update reveals that virtually all exterior work is now complete, and that crews are now focused on interior finishings, along with some exterior facade treatments. They also note that the dramatic roll-open windows on the press boxes will soon go in, along with the ribbon scoreboards on both the east and west sides of the 114-year-old stadium.
Designed by New York-based Architecture Research Office and Heery International, the modern architectural style continues a trend on UC’s main campus of blending contemporary with historic designs. The large glass facade on the back side of the western concourse will, perhaps, serve as the best example of this as it looms over the historic, yet modern Tangeman University Center and internationally acclaimed UC Main Street.
The new Nippert Stadium will have an increased seating capacity of 40,000, and boast luxury boxes, press suites, new lounges, and a sorely needed expanded offering of restrooms and concessions stalls.
Originally projected to cost between $80-85 million, University officials say that the $86 million project is being funded through private donations and premium seat revenues.
These numbers can be misleading, and often don’t even pass the smell test.
Is Jacksonville, for example, really a bigger city than Detroit, Washington DC, Atlanta and Boston? Or out west, would most people actually consider Phoenix to be a larger city than San Francisco, Seattle, Denver or San Diego? Of course not.
Yes, Boston is actually a bigger city than Indianapolis [Emmanuel Huybrechts, Flickr]
No, Indianapolis is not bigger than Washington DC or Atlanta. [Serge Melki, Flickr]
In both scenarios, however, that is precisely the case. That is because the municipal boundaries for Jacksonville (885 square miles) and Phoenix (517 square miles) are disproportionately large compared to the population of their city. Closer to home the same is true for Columbus (223 square miles), Indianapolis (368 square miles) and Charlotte (298 square miles) – all of which skew the average population density for cities east of the Mississippi downward due to their huge municipal footprints.
If you were to simply pick-up a daily newspaper and read the listing of America’s most populated cities, you would not get this full perspective and perhaps be misled to think that Columbus is the biggest city in Ohio, or that Indianapolis is the fifth largest city east of the Mississippi River.
Using this same practice, some might consider Cincinnati to be a small city that doesn’t even crack the top 30 in the United States.
Of course, we know all of this is skewed by all sorts of factors. Some cities sit on state or county lines, others follow historical boundaries from hundreds of years ago that have never changed, while other are granted more liberal annexation capabilities. In short, it’s politics.
Now if we were to look at America’s 30 most populous cities again, but rank them by population density instead of overall population, the picture would change rather dramatically. Most cities in the west fall considerably, while older cities in the east would rise. The outliers that have artificially inflated their boundaries over the years also fall into a more normalized position on the chart.
While Cincinnati is not in the top 30 in terms of population, we considered it anyways since this is UrbanCincy after all. After adjusting for population density, Cincinnati would vault all the way to the 16th “biggest” city in America, just behind Denver and ahead of Dallas. This is also more in line with Cincinnati’s metropolitan population ranking that falls within the top 30 in America.
Those cities in this analysis that are in the east have an average population density, outliers included, of 6,579 people per square mile, while those in the west, come in at 3,804 people per square mile.
If outliers like Jacksonville actually were as large as they project, and followed the average population density for the region, it would need to add close to 5 million people. Likewise, Indianapolis would need to add around 1.6 million people and Charlotte 1.1 million. Local politics and market conditions in each of these cities will never allow for this many new people to move within city limits.
Construction work has progressed quickly on the $13 million Gantry development since ground was broken in June 2014; and developers expect to start leasing apartments in the near future.
Located in the heart of Northside, the project has transformed what had long sat as an empty and vacated rail yard. It is also the site of what had long stood as a controversial proposal to develop a suburban-style Walgreen’s on the site, which was adamantly fought by Northside residents in the early aughts.
After the success in fighting off what was seen as a damaging Walgreen’s proposal, and the success of the American Can Lofts just behind this site, which opened in 2011, the location has only become that much more desirable.
Construction Progress at Gantry [Jake Mecklenborg]
Construction Progress at Gantry [Jake Mecklenborg]
“Their [Bloomfield & Schon] work for American Can, getting that project through – I know it was a grueling process – really paved the way for Gantry to happen, and enables us to thrive in this great neighborhood,” explained Jake Dietrich at Milhaus, at the groundbreaking last year.
“Some might say that we’re taking a chance on Northside, but in a way Northside kind of took a chance on us, because this kind of project doesn’t happen more times than once. So the fact that Northside was willing to let an out-of-town developer come in and work with them so closely just goes to show just how much this neighborhood cares and how much potential this neighborhood has.
Wire & Twine was one of the first businesses to sign on for space at Gantry, and will open this fall.
While the new retail will fill in an important gap for the business district, it is the influx of new housing that has many in the historic neighborhood excited.
According to Gregory Martin, Vice President of Development at Milhaus, most of the framing is now finished inside the buildings, and that leasing on the studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments will begin in July, with the first residents moving in this September.
Those interested in getting on the waiting list now can do so by signing up on the Gantry’s website.
The project has been designed to achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition to its green building features, the development will also take advantage of being located in the walkable Northside business district, and being directly across the street from one of Cincy Red Bike’s newest stations at Jacob Hoffner Park, as well as Metro’s new Northside Transit Center.
“Northside is a community, that if you haven’t noticed, is a community that is very, very much on the upswing,” said Vice Mayor David Mann (D).
Stroll down Main Street or Vine Street and you might get a homogenous picture of Over-the-Rhine’s fabric. Brick buildings two-, three-, or four-stories in height, built up to the sidewalk, with dentils (nothing to do with teeth), and exquisite cornices projecting from the roof line.
It’s an amazing experience, but it’s not fair to whitewash all of Over-the-Rhine with that picture.
Over-the-Rhine’s buildings have been historically diverse, just like its residents. Some have long been forgotten. Many industrial and manufacturing buildings stand proud north of Liberty Street, small streets not more than a block long are held dear by longtime owners, and the hillsides are dotted with vacant land.
Peete Street Tiny Homes [Bradley Cooper]
Historic buildings should be treasured, and thankfully, they typically are. However, there’s not a conclusive argument for what style of architecture fits best in existing buildings’ shadows. There need not be one. For new construction, style should be irrelevant.
Over-the-Rhine’s ‘magic’ is owed to building location, massing, composition, and rhythm. Most historic buildings owe their looks to outdated modes of construction when labor was cheap, and material applications that predate standardization and mass production. Pastiche is disrespectful to the historic context and rarely responds to contemporary concerns for the environment.
Are these “tiny” homes appropriate in Over-the-Rhine, specifically at 142 and 144 Peete Street? Some of this discussion is my opinion, I welcome yours.
The Cincinnati Historic Conservation Board will provide preliminary feedback on my designs June 22 at 3pm. You’re invited. If you want to buy a tiny home, be there. If you want to show your support, be there. If you don’t think tiny homes are appropriate in Over-the-Rhine, well…you might want to be there before it’s too late.
Historic Conservation Board meetings occur every other week and are always open to the public. The next meeting is Monday, June 22 at 3pm in the J. Martin Griesel Room, Centennial Plaza Two, Seventh Floor, 805 Central Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Centennial Plaza is one block west of City hall and a 12 minute walk from Government Square Transit Center, and is within close proximity to Metro routes 1, 6, 20, 32, 33, 49, 50, 67. Individuals with disabilities requiring special accommodations to participate in or attend any meeting should call the Historic Conservation Office at 513-352-4888 seven days prior to the meeting.
Recent data released by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program shows that Cincinnati’s middle class slightly worse off than its Midwestern peers, but is about on pace with the national average.
The study, which categorized individual metropolitan areas and gave regional averages, ranked each city’s population based on six household income categories: Bottom 20% ($21,433 and below); Second 20% ($21,433-$41,109); Middle 20% ($41,110-$65,952); Fourth 20% ($65,952-$106,100); Next 15% ($106,100-$200,000); and Top 5% (Above $200,000).
Cincinnati’s percentage of households making less than $21,433, 34.9% of the city’s population, is significantly higher than the Midwestern and national average 25.1% and 20%, respectively. It is also significantly higher than Pittsburgh (27.9%), but lower than Cleveland (43.2%).
The percentage of households in the middle class (I defined this as the Second 20% and Middle 20%), however, is mostly even. Pittsburgh’s middle class population stands at 41.1%, with Cincinnati at 40% and Cleveland at 39.2%. Cincinnati also stands in the middle when it comes to the upper class, with Pittsburgh again leading and Cleveland trailing.
When compared with the rest of Ohio’s cities with more than 100,000 people, Cincinnati is found to have the highest percentage of Top 5% households, while also having the third highest percentage of Bottom 20% households. This, researchers say, follows a national trend where large cities are over-represented in both categories.
A perhaps startling trend is just how poor so many people are across the Midwest and Ohio.
Of Ohio’s four cities with more than 100,000 people, three of them – Cleveland (#2), Toledo (#4) and Cincinnati (#5) – all rank near the top in terms of the highest percentage of their residents falling within the Bottom 20%. While Columbus comes in at #29, this may be due to the city’s large municipal boundaries that account for areas that would in no way be considered part of any of the other three cities.
While, on average, the study found that Midwestern cities tend to have more low income households, and significantly fewer upper class households than the rest of the nation, it also found that Western and Northeastern cities each have high populations of those making over $200,000, although the Northeast has the highest percentage of households making under $21,433.
Researchers did note, however, that these numbers change somewhat when adjusting for cost of housing across metro areas.
Alan Berube, author of the study and a senior fellow and deputy director at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, also noted that despite media portrayals of some cities being entirely poor, and others being entirely wealthy, virtually all American cities still boast a large middle class.
