It is rumored that Tucker’s will be having their parking spot (possibly with live music!) open later today. There have been people stopping by all morning and now into the afternoon. It’s been great to meet new people and take a minute to enjoy the streetscape of Cincinnati. It’s slowed down, and the spots have consolidated a little, but I’ll be around until around 5pm. Come hang out in a re-purposed parking spot at PARK(ing) Day!
Tag: downtown
Today is National PARK(ing) Day. In 2005, San Francisco art collaborative REBAR decided to take over a metered parking space for a day and turn it into a public space. The ratio of public space to parking space in San Francisco is heavily skewed toward parking. In 2006 it went public, and now PARK(ing) Day is celebrated all over the world.
Various individuals and business in the Cincinnati area have come together to make spaces for the public to enjoy. You can check out the map of individual locations here. There are currently several spaces taken up on Vine Street near Central Parkway, outside the Segway store and Park+Vine. Check back later for updates of other PARK(ing) spots around the city!
One of the elements of the Green Cincinnati Plan (pdf) is an educational outreach effort that focuses on businesses, health and educational institutions, and community non-profit and faith-based organizations that have not fully developed a plan for reducing their energy demand. To address that component the Energy, Economics, Environment (3Es) Summit will “provide area business and community leaders industry-specific insight on sustainability efforts, particularly those with a positive impact on the bottom line.”
The summit will take place on Friday, October 2 from 7:30am to 1pm at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati where national and local leaders will discuss strategies that are able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs. Event organizers say that the 3E’s Summit will allow attendees to learn about and discuss sustainability solutions relevant to their respective organizations.
The half-day event is structured to have three concurrent educational sessions, exhibitors and keynote speaker John Stowell who is vice president of environmental, health and safety policy for Duke Energy. Stowell has also recently returned from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Summit in Copenhagen and will speak on climate change in terms of both the domestic and international agenda. Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher will also be giving a keynote address during the summit.
Registration is $50 in advance and $60 at the door. You can register now online at the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce’s website or by calling (513) 579-3111. The Duke Energy Convention Center is well-served by Queen City Metro routes 1, 21, 27, 50, 64, and 77X. To see which route is most convenient for you, and to plan your trip now, use Metro’s Trip Planner.
Fox 19 will be broadcasting their morning show live on Fountain Square tomorrow morning from 7am to 8am. The broadcast will be quite similar to the Today Show which is outdoors on Rockefeller Center in New York.
There will also be a band from next week’s MidPoint Music Festival performing live on the Square. If you’re already going to be Downtown you might want to swing by for this fun event. If you’re not already Downtown, then you might want to make it a fun Friday morning by swinging by.
Oktoberfest Kommt
Of course, you can’t expect UrbanCincy to skip over one of the biggest parties of the year can you? Oktoberfest is upon us as six blocks of downtown Cincinnati will be transformed into the largest German party this side of Munich on Saturday & Sunday. Reminding our readers to find their way down would be very simple, but hopefully you’ve come to expect a little more than that from us here.
First off, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, as it officially called, has received large amounts of critical acclaim through the years. In the past both USA Today and AskMen.com have ranked our version of this German party as one of the best festivals in the country, and this year DigitalCity says we are number one! While DigitalCity may not be the most mainstream outlet out there, isn’t awfully nice to know that yet again Cincinnati is garnering the respect and attention it deserves?
Think Oktoberfest is just a time to come down and wander through the streets while sipping a cold one? Think again! There are all kinds of activities planned for the weekend including a few lead up events on Fountain Square both Thursday and Friday over the lunch hour. Additionally this year there is the HYPE Haus Party, which does cost a bit of money for entry but looks to be a great time as it includes both a beer sampling, and a light buffet among other things.
So now you know the critical acclaim, as well as all the other activities that go along with Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, but what is probably most important is that this weekend 500,000 people will descend on what we know is an urban city center that is supremely different than it was even a year or two ago. For all of the positive press that Cincinnati has received, and all the work that has been done, this should really be a time to show off and have a great time with half a million of our closest friends! Those of us that are strong and vocal advocates for all that has been happening should make sure that we get the story out and help everyone else see all the great things going on around outside the mini-Munich on Fifth Street that will be there for two days.
What else do you need to know? Well, make sure you bring an appetite as tons of food will be served and more than a few beers will be poured so don’t forget to come thirsty too. And oh yeah, keep an eye out for native son Jim Koch of Sam Adams fame, TV’s biggest beer man, from Cheers it’s George Wendt, and some guy named Homer will be around too. Prost!
Oktoberfest photo by Jayson Gomes of Cincy Images.