Tag: over-the-rhine

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

‘Cincinnati Drive-By’ creatively tours the Queen City’s urban core

In an attempt to capture the many changes taking place in Cincinnati’s urban core, Zachary Herche decided to do what it is he is passionate about and make a video of the city.

“Production and editing is my passion,” said Herche. I think Cincinnati is a beautiful city and I wanted to show as much as I could of it by driving around.”

Herche lives in Mt. Adams and is attending the University of Cincinnati’s acclaimed College Conservatory of Music (CCM) where he is studying Electronic Media. He currently works for Prime Productions and says that he wanted to capture some of the city’s historic architecture and collection of bridges over the Ohio River.

“It is interesting to see some of the transformations happening around the city recently,” Herche continued. “It seems like there is so much in the works here, and I’m excited to see it all come together.”

Cincinnati Drive-By features the song “Grace Kelly” by Mika in the video.

Categories
News Opinion Transportation

The time is ripe for a central intercity bus terminal in Cincinnati

Megabus is experiencing tremendous ridership growth throughout the Midwest, and is working to expand their intercity bus service to and from places like Cincinnati. In 2010 the company experienced amazing growth of 65 percent and now records $100 million in business annually on 135 buses to 50 different U.S. cities daily.

The growth has been so profound that the company has spawned the “Megabus effect” which is driving up ridership for providers such as Greyhound and BoltBus. And cities all across the U.S. are scrambling to offer prime locations for Megabus to utilize.


Megabus picks up passengers at 4th & Race Street in downtown Cincinnati – Photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

The European-based company prides itself on its low fares, and does so in part through its low overhead. The intercity bus service accomplishes this by picking up and dropping off passengers along the street. Thus no facility or overhead costs are needed for their operations, but passengers must deal with inclement weather and lack of waiting area typically provided at other transport facilities.

Greyhound historically located its facilities on the edges of downtowns in otherwise rundown areas. This model is changing though as Greyhound attempts to attract new choice riders to its operations. The new Greyhound Express services include buses similarly equipped to Megabus and BoltBus.

Fortunately for Cincinnati, city leaders have an underutilized piece of infrastructure built beneath 2nd Street. The $18 million Riverfront Transit Center (RTC) was completed in 2002 as part of the reconfiguration of Fort Washington Way (FWW), and has sat there rarely used ever since. Its presence presents the opportunity for Cincinnati to create a consolidated bus terminal in the heart of its urban core without negatively impacting the quality of life of those around it.


Riverfront Transit Center interior photographs by Ronny Salerno.

The opportunity of both bus service providers being able to locate within a consolidated, covered and modern facility in the heart of Cincinnati’s downtown would seem to be attractive. Passengers could wait inside and out of the elements; hotels, shops and restaurants would greet arriving passengers above at The Banks; easy access to local bus and streetcar service would be available, and the providers would have a protected area to park their buses.

Meanwhile, the city would be able to finally utilize one of its most unique pieces of infrastructure. Future bus service providers could also tap into the RTC until capacity is reached. This would allow the Queen City to have a centrally located, consolidated intercity bus terminal convenient to travelers and beneficial to service providers.

Financing of maintenance costs would have to be determined, but a deal on Greyhound’s land and some sort of a license fee agreement with Megabus and others could be reached to help offset costs.

Building the RTC today would most likely prove to be cost prohibitive. Fortunately, city leaders had the foresight to build this piece of infrastructure beneath 2nd Street. City leaders should move to free the already congested 4th Street of Megabus operations, open up land adjacent to the city’s new casino for future economic development, and establish a center that will facilitate the addition of other intercity bus service providers.

Categories
Development News

Date to offer intimate dining experience on Main Street

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier print edition on July 8, 2011. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on Over-the-Rhine’s newest homegrown restaurant – Jenny.]

Shayla Miles and Steven Shockley are inviting Main Street on a date. Their new restaurant, slated to open in September, is seeking to create a welcoming atmosphere for diners to more fully understand and appreciate good food at a good price in the quickly developing neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine.

The two envision a “transparent chef’s-table experience” with 25 seats at eye level with the open kitchen and a rotating, playful menu that capitalizes on pocketbook friendly, healthful food.

“I’m never again going to cook in a restaurant that my friends can’t afford to try,” says head chef Shockley, who has worked in kitchens in upscale restaurants in Chicago, locally was the sous chef at Chalk Food and Wine, and most recently head chef at Maribelle’s Tavern. This is his first restaurant ownership experience.

With 750 square feet, 25 seats and four employees, Date promises to connect customers to their food, their servers, and to each other.

“We’re striving for a pan-cultural, pan-economic experience, where you can get a great meal for under twenty dollars,” says Shayla. “It will be like the dinner version of Tucker’s [diner], where the owners are cooking your food and serving it to you themselves, and everything is open. Anybody can feel comfortable and have a positive, guilt-free dining experience.”

Shockley and Miles brought a “First Date” sample menu for patrons at Neon’s Unplugged to try over July 4th weekend, which was well received. The day’s food included a cannelloni bean dip with sumac and Bourbon Barrel maple syrup, dirty rice with Kroeger and Sons duck sausage, and a curried couscous, crab and cucumber pilaf. The Date Nights will continue until the restaurant is ready to open its doors.

The restaurant itself will feature a nine item, weekly rotating menu with a limited selection of high quality craft beers, wines and upscale non-alcoholic drinks that will pair well with the food offerings. Hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, from 11am to 2:30pm for lunch, 5pm to 11pm for dinner. The owners say that there will also be late night offerings Thursday through Saturday until 2:30am, and a Sunday brunch menu.

“With a small business, you have to be passionate enough to put in the long hours and make it work. I’ve been around Steven a long time – this guy gets passionate about Brussels sprouts. If he can get that way about Brussels sprouts, think of what he can do with the all the other ingredients out there in his own restaurant,” explains Michael Maxwell, owner of Market Wines at Findlay Market. Both Miles and Shockley work at Market Wines, and Maxwell has been a friend and mentor as they have embarked on this endeavor.

While the two have chosen a location in the 1300-1500 block of Main Street, the exact address is still undisclosed, due to the challenges they are facing with negotiating a building lease that will fit to their needs.

“There are historic preservation guidelines that are a challenge when restoring an old space,” says head chef Shockley. “We want to be around for a while, and we want to make sure we do the space right. These [historic spaces] can be cost prohibitive for small business owners – between the countless inspections, preservation guidelines, and even tension between building owners, we have to pick and choose our battles in order to not blow our budget.”

The duo is excited to create a place that they and others have been longing for in Over-the-Rhine. “Main Street is this haven for all sorts of new energy and entrepreneurial spirit” says Miles. “It’s a community anchored and supported by its small businesses. Businesses are thriving, having fun, creating community – it thrives off itself. Something is going on in Over-the-Rhine that is very different, and we’re trying to do that with food.”

Photograph of Shayla Miles and Steven Shockley by Brent Schwass for UrbanCincy

Categories
Development News

Most socially networked city in the world poised to win $25k

Happy Social Media Day! To celebrate, Mashable named Cincinnati the most socially connected city in the world. The honor was given to the Queen City due to people who love to love the city together. “Social Media is one way we connect,” according to Cincinnati’s #SMDay event organizer, Anne Castleberry. Over 100 people are meeting up today at the Pub in Rookwood Pavilion at 7pm.

One powerful way we’ve watched Cincinnati come together in the name of social connectedness is through the grassroots organizing and voting for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s This Place Matters contest. Rising from 84th to 2nd place in a number of weeks, the city has truly rallied behind this contest in an effort to show the rest of the country how significant the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is, especially in terms of preserving historic architecture.

It’s been an arduous process, but if you have a chance to share with friends and colleagues, please help by voting with unique email addresses. The contest ends at 5pm today. Vote now, and show the world how a socially connected city can truly make a difference.

Categories
Development News

Over-the-Rhine needs your help.

The Over-the-Rhine Foundation has been selected – one out of one hundred projects in the country deemed worthy enough – to potentially receive 25,000 dollars through The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s This Place Matters 2011 Community Challenge.

The contest kicked off June 1 at 8am and will end at 11:59pm, June 30. First, second and third places will win $25,000, $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is one of the most architecturally significant in the country, with the largest collection of Italianate architecture, rivaling similar but much smaller areas in Charleston, South Carolina; the French Quarter in New Orleans, Savannah, Georgia, and even Greenwich Village in New York City.

Votes are counted by email registration – a quick 30 seconds registers an address and enables you to vote one time. The small contest has quickly become a grassroots effort to rally votes and energize the neighborhood. Vote now!

Sean Rhiney, Vice President of the Foundation, described the contest as “a significant opportunity not just for Over-the-Rhine, our oldest and most beloved urban neighborhood, but for the entire City of Cincinnati.” He sees the contest as a chance for the city to shine nationally.

“We’re already proving OTR can be a national model for how older cities can recognize their significant architectural and community assets and let them guide and enhance preservation and development,” Rhiney explained. “The National Trust recognized this when they placed us on their endangered list in 2006 – that wasn’t a death sentence, that was a national organization shining a light on the beauty of what we have, and the limitless potential in saving and celebrating it.”

$25,000 could do a lot of good – the Foundation will enhance several programs already in place. The Over-the-Rhine Legal Defense Fund provides money for lawyers as preservationists battle the city, corporations, and private owners who wish to demolish historic structures.

Another program is the Green Historic Study – demonstrating the marraige between sustainable building and historic property. “Of course, saving structures on the city’s most endangered list in OTR remains a top priority as well identifying proactive ways to deal with infill and greenspace,” said Rhiney.

On June 9, OTR was in 84th place. The effort to win began in earnest the next day and has catapulted OTR into 2nd place. The standings as of 5:00AM, June 20 are as follows (votes alone determine which organization wins the challenge but Facebook “likes” are another, unofficial barometer):

  1. Wellington Ritz Theatre, Inc.: 2,939 votes and 690 facebook “likes”
  2. Over-the-Rhine: 2,761 votes and 1,733 facebook “likes”
  3. Enterprise Hometown Improvement: 2,706 votes and 250 facebook “likes”
  4. The Preservation Society of Newport: 2,388 votes and 354 facebook “likes”
  5. Embankment Preservation Coalition: 1,981 votes and 271 facebook “likes”
  6. (had been 5th) Cleveland Urban Design Urban Collaborative & Kent State University: 1,630 votes and 1,008 facebook “likes”
As one can see from the current standings, Over-the-Rhine is within striking distance of 1st place but cannot win without the support of all of us. This neighborhood is significant and this is a chance to show the country that we are all behind it.
  • To vote, click here.
  • To attend the facebook event, click here.
  • To monitor the voting results, click here

    Please share all of this information with your friends and remember that you’re allowed to vote once for every email address you have. Vote at http://bit.ly/voteotr

    Seth Schott of OTR Matters contributed to this article.
    Photo credit: Chuck Eilerman.