gateway quarter/OTR revitalization

[YoMikey617]

Originally Posted by HuskerDu

I can't speak for Boston, but in Columbus there was no on-switch that was flipped followed by an immediate 200% price increase on renovated properties. There was a window of at least a decade of opportunity for those who wanted "in" at just the right time for them. The reason for this was because, much like Columbus, Cincinnati is populated with plenty of people who like to tuck themselves into cookie cutter suburban developments and will never take the opportunity, even at a discounted rate. That combined with a lack of any substantial gay community here in Cincinnati is another reason I don't expect any problems with finding a place easily once OTR has more to offer.

As a former Broker, I think that Cincinnati screwed itself 10,000% over the last 2-3 decades by being so anti-gay (or at least not pushing back when the religious wackos tried to control the dialogue on gay issues). If Cincinnati had a gay population comparable to Columbus, then OTR, Walnut Hills, and Northside would all be as renovated and pricey as Clifton Gaslight or Mt Adams now. ...the lawyers and rich college kids would be living in these neighborhoods, and the gays would have cashed out by now, moving on to renovate even more ghetto hoods (or retire to Palm Springs). This is what has happened in Columbus, Indy, Chicago, NYC, DC, Boston, Dallas...

Think about it... Thousands of dilapidated victorians in rough neighborhoods.... ....but no gays to restore the homes and make the neighborhoods trendy. This isn't to say that you have to be gay to renovate a victorian. But you do need a critical mass of people who have no desire whatsoever to live in a suburban neighborhood. In the neighborhoods renovated by gays, I'd say that 70% of the renovators were gay, and maybe 30% were the non-gay but urban types who went along with the renovations. Here in Cincinnati, we just have that 30% crowd struggling to bring back entire neighborhoods and the gays mostly skip town and work their magic somewhere else.

If you look at Columbus, German Village, Short North, Victorian Village, Harrison West... ...the gay community had everything to do with those neighborhoods becoming as expensive as they are now. Now they've moved onto Olde Towne East, Berwyck, Clintonville, and wherever else...

[YoMikey617]

Originally Posted by HuskerDu

The reason for this was because, much like Columbus, Cincinnati is populated with plenty of people who like to tuck themselves into cookie cutter suburban developments and will never take the opportunity, even at a discounted rate.

One thing that strikes me about Cincinnati is how everyone is married and living in a Drees home in Mason no later than age 25. Yes I'm being sarcastic, but seriously... ...it's all about marrying young, having babies, and buying that SFH in the burbs ASAP. If you don't, there must be something wrong with you. And if you do, you get that big promotion when baby #1 arrives (not because of your skills or talents but simply because you're "one of them" now).

Cincinnati is not a town where you have thousands of singles staying single into their early 30's, and those that do are scattered pretty thin.

[eddiecincin1]

There will always be people who want to tuck themselves away. There is nothing you can do about that. I think cincinnati (and ohio) has two choices. One is to get more tech/creative type jobs and people. These people are the type that like urban areas. They get paid salery and have little time to care for a yard and what not. So, they naturally move to an urban area once its revitalized with enough stores/entertainment. This is what most cities outside the midwest have realized. The second option is to stick to car/jet manufacturing. As those jobs leave the city will grow poorer and die. Its heartening that the population is increasing so maybe the first option is happening. If you want to know about the second option look no further than detriot.

[restorationconsultant]

Yo Mickey makes an excellent point about the lack of interest by the gay community in Cincinnati. I am moving from Indianapolis to Cincinnati because I see the potential. Having spent the last 15 years or so turning around neighborhoods downtown here in Indy I realize that Cincinnati has fantastic architecture. The problem is, there needs to be more of a push to restore large brownstones as single family and not divy them up into 3-4 condos. The city needs to shake loose of some of the rowhouses that they are sitting on South of Findlay and create an urban pioneering incentive to get people to come to the area. You need some half million dollar restorations on those brownstones. OTR can turn around a house at a time and a block at a time. It only takes some real signs of progress for people to jump on the bandwagon. Most gay urban pioneers would rather have a nice gay pub downtown than drag bars and cowboy bars and a convenent Lowes or Home Depot would help as well. Personally I can wait to get started this summer with our restoration.