moving to walnut hills? (Cincinnati, Cambridge: real estate, renters, crime rates)

[progmac]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

I tried to buy a six family in Walnut Hills. It had been a wh***house. It was vacant and I made an offer. They turned it down. I went back with a buddy to re-evaluate it. Someone had stripped out all of the copper and six new water heaters. We lowered the offer. They turned it down. It was eventually torn down. That was in 1967. The same thing happens there today. Lovely houses, convenient location, great bargains, but nothing seems to change there.

A colleague who grew up half-time in walnut hills in the 60s told me that the area east of Gilbert used to be the worst part of Walnut Hills. Now that area is quite nice and fairly high rent. His view, at least, is quite different from yours, accounting for the same time period.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by progmac

A colleague who grew up half-time in walnut hills in the 60s told me that the area east of Gilbert used to be the worst part of Walnut Hills. Now that area is quite nice and fairly high rent. His view, at least, is quite different from yours, accounting for the same time period.

Well, he is wrong. The area east of Gilbert was a bad area then and now its a worse area. There were nice houses on Park, Kemper, and Laredo south of McMillan. Today, you have to go a couple of blocks down Laredo and Park to get away from the grit of the Alms. North of Mcmillan then and now was and is bad.

I spent a lot of time over there. My buddy lived on the top floor of a four or five story apartment on teh south side of McMillan between Kemper and Laredo. And, I wandered around what were then "hillbilly" bars along McMillan and another buddy's family owned the dry cleaners at Kemper and McMillan.

The area east of Victory Parkway has always been a nice area. Ursula, Edgecliff, the Y, etc. was nice then is nice now.

Really its quite depressing how stagnant the area has been for 40 years.

[t45209]

I knew the 40 year old horror stories were going to come out...only a matter of time.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by neilworms2

Do some research and you will be very disappointed. A few buildings are going to be kept and most will be torn down. Such is the Cincinnati way. To quote a song from a friend of mine's band (who lives in Cincy) "Let's tear down the old buildings and forget to put them back!"

I'm happy they at least took an effort to save something, but my gut is saying this is completely wrong. Something has to be done to prevent this from happening completely, as Peebles Corner could be an amazing asset to the city when Cincy catches up to other areas in terms of urban revitalization. The community council states that they are between a rock and a hard place, but as RestorationConsultant has stated far worse places have been saved in other cities. I wonder if its just Cincinnati's lack of appreciation for itself and its defeatist attitude.

Not only that but Casino workers seriously? That's no way to maintain a neighborhood. Though the Casino workers thing seems to be trumped up by a tv report and one individual, according to their side its much more than that. We'll wait and see.

Here is the article - Walnut Hill's leaders reshaping neighborhood's image

No need to wait, the wrecking balls came out today. Several buildings on McMillan west of Gilbert smashed to rubble today. PATHETIC.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by t45209

I knew the 40 year old horror stories were going to come out...only a matter of time.

I'm not an enemy of Walnut Hills, just frustrated as I am sure the locals there are too. I had friends rehabbing houses on Park and Kemper in 1970. I don't see any change, really. Maybe Nassau St. with what Jack Glaser did up there.

[neilworms2]

No need to wait, the wrecking balls came out today. Several buildings on McMillan west of Gilbert smashed to rubble today. PATHETIC.

- I always used to imagine what the area looked like when it was thriving. I guess no more. Here comes the Garbage infill aimed at casino workers with giant parking lots in the front and vinyl siding, yipee.

I wish I was less diplomatic with the Comm Council when I was writing angry letters, and told them straight up, get rid of the garbage in the Alms and preserve the buildings!

[Sarah Perry]

Folks, restoration, rehab, adaptive reuse, etc. all too often aren't economically feasible for private property owners unless there are substantial publically funded incentives involved. And this type of money's getting more and more scarce, especially in places like the Cincinnati area where there's a strong aversion to government spending. I never know whether to be amused or saddened by these kinds of conversations, with the foes of "big governmment" and advocates for letting the private sector run things lamenting the inevitable end result.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by neilworms2

- I always used to imagine what the area looked like when it was thriving. I guess no more. Here comes the Garbage infill aimed at casino workers with giant parking lots in the front and vinyl siding, yipee.

I wish I was less diplomatic with the Comm Council when I was writing angry letters, and told them straight up, get rid of the garbage in the Alms and preserve the buildings!

The community councils basically have zero money and next to zero influence. I view them as kind of a joke to help keep community activists occupied by having meetings, discussing things, and spinning their wheels endlessly over the same problem issues.

This is absolutely not a slam on the people who're involved in the councils. I know they want to help their communities and are willing to invest big amounts of personal time to try to accomplish good things. That's commendable. But I think by and large they're just getting played.

[Wilson513]

The jury is still out on 3CDC's efforts in OTR as far as "public funding" of residential development is concerned. I'm rooting for them, and, they do seem to have a way to resist political pressures which usually ruin these projects, but, for the most part, public funding of residential housing is always a screwed up mess and is ready for teardown in a single generation.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Sarah Perry

The community councils basically have zero money and next to zero influence. I view them as kind of a joke to help keep community activists occupied by having meetings, discussing things, and spinning their wheels endlessly over the same problem issues.

This is absolutely not a slam on the people who're involved in the councils. I know they want to help their communities and are willing to invest big amounts of personal time to try to accomplish good things. That's commendable. But I think by and large they're just getting played.

I have to disagree with you on this. It's true that community councils do not wield any true legislative powers and that their budget allocations have been slashed. However, there are certain actions in a neighborhood where city staff require the input of the community council...zoning changes, variances, project endorsements, etc. If your community council has smart, active people, who exercise good judgement and understand how downtown works, they can get a lot of things done. I have seen this first hand. Several examples in Oakley alone:

Reuse of the old Cambridge Inn Cafeteria as the Oakley Community Center (as you may recall, the building had to physically moved a couple of hundred yards across the Hyde Park Plaza parking lot)

Blocking retail development on the west side of Paxton, paving the way for the Drexel development, which was a linchpin in Oakley's revitalization. The council had considerable influence over the design of this project.

The Oakley streetscape project would not have happened had it not been for a ton of work, and direct fundraising effort on the part of the OCC ( I know there are some wishing this project had never begun, but over the long term it is huge for Oakley).

Those community councils that are the weakest are ones that are fractured, inconsistent, and lack the respect of downtown staff. There is always the possibility of having City Council trump everyone, but a savvy community council can be a tremendous asset for guiding the development of a neighborhood. I'm wondering if Walnut Hills has the local leadership that it needs.