Cincinnati one of America’s Best Cities

Cincinnati came in at the number 9 spot on Outside Magazine's list of the top 10 cities in America based on things like cost of living, unemployment, nightlife, commute time, and access to green spaces. Outside started their list with the 100 most populated cities and then took the top 28 candidates with the highest overall averages and put them through an additional round of critiques that included comparisons of the percentage of the population with college degrees, income level in relation to home prices, and weather. Read full article here.

Cincinnati Children’s wins $8M in stimulus funding

$8 million in stimulus funding for Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center will go towards research work and create over one hundred new jobs. Officials from the hospital and medical center say that there are still outstanding funding requests that could result in even more money and even more jobs for one of Cincinnati's largest employers. Read full article here.

Cincinnati zoo director helps with turnaround

Cincinnati Zoo executive director Thane Maynard has helped turn years of financial hardships into three straight years of operating in the black while also adding more animals and attractions for visitors. Maynard is often seen doing hard physical labor around the zoo, and maintains a mantra of "more animals, more fun." In recent years the zoo has not only become more financially stable, but they have added a black rhino, 10,000-pound Asian bull elephant, a new giraffe exhibit and will be breaking ground on a new Cat Canyon exhibit next year. Read full article here.   

Cincinnati area sees first ‘green’ house deconstruction

The Cincinnati area saw its first 'green' full-house deconstruction in the city of Wyoming at 641 Oak Avenue.  The deconstruction effort is employing 10 to 15 people and will take four to six days. The site of the house will become green space for the community while the deconstruction project is salvaging an estimated 6,400 cubic feet of building material that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Read full article here.

John Legend, Poison latest stars seen at T.J. Maxx

John Legend joined a growing list of celebrities that have been spotted at downtown Cincinnati's T.J. Maxx clothing store.  The six-time Grammy Award winner was in town for the Macy's Music Festival and was staying at a downtown hotel. Legend tweeted that he had stopped into the store and that many people looked shocked to see him there buying gym shorts. Other celebrities who have recently stopped in include Rev. Run, Alice Cooper and members of the rock band Poison. Read full article here.

Second Home for First-Gens

In an attempt to keep many of its first-generation students around after their first year the University of Cincinnati is hoping a new Gen-1 House just off of campus will help ease the transition. The house offers tutoring and study sessions, advising, counseling and mentoring.  Students who agree to live in the house also must accept its rules that are seen by some students as too strict. In addition to the Gen-1 House, the University of Cincinnati also has themed housing options for music, engineering and communications. Read full article here.

Cincinnati and Dayton to continue their merger with pending I-75 growth

Newport’s Monmouth Street continues to make progress

Before the addition of the Newport on the Levee development, Newport itself was often known more for being a somewhat seedy place.  Over the past two decades though, the Northern Kentucky river city has made tremendous progress that extends far beyond the informal boundaries of the Levee. Monmouth Street is the historic main street of the community and provides the business services for much of the surrounding residential neighborhoods.  The commercial part of the street is thriving as it has an estimated 90 percent occupancy rate with the slew of new businesses opening within the coming weeks. Robert Yoder, Main Street Coordinator for the City of Newport, says that while the district is competing with many other nearby districts and niche market has formed there.  “We’ve got a fitness niche going on here with Wiefit, Fusion Studio, Bicycle Outfitters, Leaders and Miles and Galaxy Skate Shop to name a few.” Yoder who also worked in Over-the-Rhine as part of the Digital Rhine efforts in the 90’s has also seen a significant number of small internet companies opening up on the second floors of buildings along Monmouth like Purple Trout and Red Hawk. Yoder’s work with the Main Street Program is focused in the area south of Third Street and up to Eleventh Street bounded by York and Washington streets on either side.  He notes that there are about 80 Main Street programs in Kentucky that Newport’s Monmouth Street is competing against for state grants to help with facade improvements. “We’re always trying to upgrade the facades of buildings.  We’re really focused on the 800 block of Monmouth Street right now and are working with developers and code enforcement officers to clean up the area,” says Yoder.  In the past two years Yoder notes that he has done about 14 or 15 facade grants, some of which still have work ongoing and can result in up to $30,000 for improvement work. Another key area that the Main Street Program is working on is marketing of the district.  One of those efforts has resulted in the Go2Newport weekly e-newsletter, but Yoder emphasizes that the best sale is word of mouth. “It’s no coincidence that we have six new businesses opening soon down here…existing businesses are talking to those looking at spaces and are drawing them into the neighborhood,” says Yoder. Wiefit is an exercise and body building studio at 842 Monmouth where Rick Lohre Photography is also opening.  Fan Mail Marketing is a “direct-to-fan” marketing internet platform for the music industry and is opening at 844 Monmouth.  A new 'green' grocer called Peluso's Produce & Plants will specialize in all local products at 627 Monmouth.  Purple Trout is a search engine optimization company at 336 Monmouth, and Knit On! Is a retailer for knitting supplies at 735 Monmouth Street. “Even though it’s a down economy I’m working with a lot of people who have been downsized and they are looking at new business ideas.  Home-based businesses like Purple Trout have been growing and are looking at permanent spaces.”  All in all Yoder says that the district is doing pretty good given the economy and is planning on a couple more new businesses in the near future. Writer: Randy A. Simes Photography by Scott Beseler

Trendy Mt. Lookout Square may soon get facelift

The Mt. Lookout Community Development Corporation (MLCDC) is looking to transform the trendy Mt. Lookout Square on Cincinnati’s east side.  The efforts are being driven by community activists who feel the neighborhood’s business district has become somewhat worn over the years and is in need of some new attention. The group has been meeting for the past couple of years and developed a multi-phased approach to cleaning up and rejuvenating Mt. Lookout Square.  Within that approach are three main priorities for the redevelopment efforts that focus on Square Appearance, Vehicle Flow and Parking in that order. The neighborhood priorities are detailed into the following high-level objectives: Enhance the appeal of the square to residents, visitors and businesses by addressing many of the dilapidated walkways, parking structures/enclosures, signage and lighting.Incorporate more green-space into the currently very “car centric” appearance of the square.Address many of the pedestrian and traffic safety concerns expressed by businesses and the community at large.Improve the aesthetics of business frontage and provide more business-friendly pedestrian access to window shopping and open air dining.Grow and sustain a diverse business environment.Improve the aesthetics and reliability of public utilities.Address constraints to hosting public Square festivities.Implement a comprehensive parking solution that will allow us to more effectively utilize the center island as green-space. The goal is to address all of these priorities by the completion of all phases of the redevelopment effort.  The final of the efforts would also be the most difficult and include off-street parking that would replace the parking currently located in the middle of the square.  That space would then become an inviting public space with a fountain, seating areas and trees very similar to what is seen in Hyde Park Square. Similarly the same company, Vivian Llambi & Associates, which developed the plans for the Hyde Park Square renovation years ago, is also the same firm that has developed the plans for the Mt. Lookout Square renovation project.  Vivian Llambi & Associates was also responsible for the work at Fountain Square, Government Square and the Aronoff Center for the Arts. In addition to off-street parking and a restored public center piece, the renovation efforts also hope to include wider sidewalks to enable more sidewalk dining and street cafes, minimization of overhead power lines, new streetscaping and traffic calming measures like curb bump-outs. Mt. Lookout Square has long been criticized for being difficult to navigate for motorists, somewhat dangerous for pedestrians and also lacks the necessary amounts of parking for the various merchants on and around the square. Writer: Randy A. Simes Photography by Scott Beseler