Home of Cincinnati's 16-inch astronomic telescope and Ault and Alms parks, Mt. Lookout boasts locally-owned, one-of-a-kind specialty shops, as well as upscale restaurants and neighborhood watering holes. The neighborhood is inviting with a bright mix of traditional and modern elements scattered around the easily walkable Mt. Lookout Square.Featuring a well-maintained stock of stately older homes, a new wave of young families and singles have recently taken to moving up to the hill in search of housing deals conveniently located to a vibrant nightlife and strong community involvement.
Whether it’s shopping for gifts, updating your wardrobe or choosing a great spot to dine, Cincinnati offers an ever-increasing choice of independent businesses that help citizens reengage with the social fabric of their community.
Over 100 members and guests were in attendance as the Cincinnati Preservation Association presented its 2008 Preservation Awards at its annual meeting on November 9.Chuck Lohre and Janet Groeber of Clifton were honored with the CPA Education Award for sharing their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian home, the Boulter House, and for raising awareness of preserving Cincinnati's Modern architecture legacy.Lohre is also a co-founder and co-chair of Cincinnati Form Follows Function (cf3), a non-profit Modern design forum.Winners of the Rehabilitation Awards included: Bishop's Place, Clifton: A Chateauesque-style house completely restored. Ken Hughes of Decorative Restorations, Steve Lichtenberg of Lichtenberg Landscaping, Jason Reinhold of Land & Stone, and Kimball Derrick.Cincinnati Observatory Center, Mount Lookout: The completion of an eight-year restoration of the National Historic Landmark. Craig Niemi of the Cincinnati Observatory Center and Gus Thierry of ICS Construction.Dillon House, Madeira: A mid-century Modern house that was saved from the teardown trend and restored. Vernon's Corner, Over-the-Rhine: A five-year renovation project that has resulted in new apartments and an art gallery. Vernon Rader and Mark Bernhardt, Don Beck of Beck Architecture, and Mark Brunner.Verona Historic Residences, Walnut Hills: Renovation of historic apartment house into 76 luxury condominiums. Ed Horgan of Campus Management and Denis L. Back of Denis L. Back & Associaties. At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, a special Design Excellence Award was presented to architect Natalie de Blois.As the lead designer of the Terrace Plaza Hotel, widely considered Cincinnati's greatest mid-century Modern building, de Blois was recognized for her significant contribution to design during a time of blatant discrimination against women architects.De Blois was involved in approximately 48 projects at the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, designing such notable structures as New York City's Union Carbide and Pepsi Cola buildings, the Connecticut General Life Insurance Building in Bloomfield Hills, CT, and a Hilton Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.Writer: Kevin LeMasterSource: Margo Warminski, preservation director, Cincinnati Preservation Association
Duke Energy sponsored a forum yesterday at the Queen City Club that was an opportunity for consultants and governmental leaders to network and to learn the latest strategies in economic development in Ohio and Kentucky.J.R. Wilhite, commissioner in the Department of New Business Development for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, says that regardless of all of the innovations and new technologies on the horizon, it still comes down to "blocking and tackling"."Economic development is changing," he says. "But just like football has changed with its many rule changes, so must we."Wilhite says that one of his state's strategies has been a greater focus on Europe, where the Kentucky has contracted with ROI to research the continent's firms and to make initial contact.Steve Schoeny, director of the strategic business investment division of the Ohio Department of Development, says that Ohio not only needs to do a better job of telling its story, but of developing its workforce as well."Our services are of a national caliber," he says. "However, the system for delivering those services is not."Schoeny says that Ohio economic development will improve by attracting and retaining young talent through initiatives such as Ohio Means Home and the Ohio Young Talent Network, properly training state staff to focus on clients rather than individuals, and setting up a culture of customer service.Marti Bremer, senior manager of state and local tax for KPMG, LLP, gave an overview of some of the domestic trends in economic development, including the targeting of industries, benchmarking, giving monetary incentives, public/private partnerships, entrepreneurship programs, development of shovel-ready sites, and workforce development.Managing director Greg Burkart, of the Novi, Michigan office of Duff & Phelps, provided some insights on economic development websites from the client point of view."You may be ruled in or ruled out long before you know it just based upon what information is publicly available," he says.The final speaker, vice president and director of Austin Consulting Don Schjeldahl, says that alternative energies such as photovoltaic, concentrated solar, and wind power are poised to make significant gains in the next 10 to 15 years, and the geographical pattern for how those industries will be defined has not yet been set."If you don't have your act together, you're going to miss the window," he says.Schjeldahl says that there are still opportunities for Ohio, if they can create market demand for the new technologies and can create awareness of and preparedness for sustainability in the state's communities.Writer: Kevin LeMasterSources: J.R. Wilhite, commissioner in Department for New Business Development, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development; Steve Schoeny, director of Economic Development Division, Ohio Department of Development; Marti Brenner, senior manager of state and local tax, KPMG, LLC; Greg Burkart, managing director, Duff & Phelps, LLC; Don Schjeldahl, vice president and director, Austin Consulting
Cincinnati and Hamilton County have reached an agreement on a new regional transit agency that could give more say to suburban governments - if they are willing to pay.The Greater Cincinnati Regional Transit Authority would consist of a 13-member board, with seven being appointed by the City of Cincinnati and six from Hamilton County.Butler, Clermont and Warren counties would be able to directly appoint board members if they formally join the new agency, and could gain a majority of the board seats if they contribute more than 50 percent of the agency's budget.Both the City of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Commission are likely to consider resolutions on the matter this month.Read the full article here.
For the third year in a row, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCHC) has ranked in the top 10 nationally.Cincinnati placed 10th among 79 library systems in the "Over 500,000 population" category in Hennen's American Public Library Ratings.The ratings are based on statistics such as circulation, customer visits per hour, and number of volumes owned per capita.While PLCHC executive director Kim Fender is pleased with the ranking, she tells WLWT.com that "our Library is much more than the number of items on the shelves".Read the full article here.
Cincinnati USA's branding efforts deliver a consistent and persuasive message, according to the Branding Strategy Insider.Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, writes that it is his belief that place branding is an effective strategy for accelerating the economic growth of a location, either through direct foreign investment or through the expansion of already established companies.In his opinion, the Cincinnati region does a great job across seven different place branding strategies, making the area even more competitive for capital investment.But Burghard warns that other cities and states are also in the game, so both the state and the region must continue to push their brand promises while continuing to improve their business climates.Read the full article here.
This weekend, the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati chapter of the Urban Land Institute will convene the Building Valued Neighborhood Conference, a two-day open exploration of how form based codes can attract talent and develop "places that matter".
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