Covington poised for a economic boom? (Cincinnati, Kent: how much, transfer, middle school)

[WILWRadio]

According to this article, it is. Hope it happens especially since the timing of this announcement coincides with my impending relocation to Covington.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB...0103/311160068

[Ohiogirl81]

This is something different, anyway (as in, not another bar or restaurant). I hope it works out. Covington is another place that has been going through re-re-re-re-re-development for the past 35 years.

[hensleya1]

Hi WILWRadio--

This is an interesting development and actually probably the best shot in the arm Covington has received in years. I wonder though, given the layout of the streets and current parking capacity, how much more traffic the area could handle? In order to bring a big campus to the area, presumably with hundreds or thousands of commuter students, they'd need to seriously upgrade the offramps at 5th St. and 12th St. (assuming that it would be mostly Kentucky students). Combine that with widening or replacing the 4th St. bridge to Newport (constructing a new bridge on 5th St. would be an impossibility) and there would be plenty of downtown access.

I seriously hope development can get going on 12th St. They spent I don't know how many millions on widening that road after decades of talk, and there's zero development there AFAIK.

If you put a decent grocery store north of 12th, you'd have a heck of a walkable community - Mainstrasse, the office towers on the riverfront, and mixed-use residential clear out to 12th St - you'd have few reasons to leave if you lived and worked there. AFAIK it's not particularly great for bicycles - but given that we're only talking about an area that's ten blocks square... if you can't walk that, you've got a walking problem.

Pipe dream: Is there any way to pick up the Roebling suspension bridge and move it fifty feet to the side? I never understood why they built the bridge in the middle of the city block. Since Cincinnati and Covington were built on the same street grid, building the bridge in the middle of the block denied both cities a great central (and iconic) road.

[Joeytraveler]

As far as the bridge alignment goes since it was a private entity building it the govt's weren't particularly helpful. It was also not looked upon favorably by the riverboats as they didn't want to lose business. Keep in mind the planning was going on during the civil war which adds another level of complexity to the process and the proposed bridge.

[neilworms2]

I think they may be putting all their eggs in one basket - the school alone won't cause things to turn around. More than that needs to be done - though there has been murmurs of a 3CDC style organization for N. Kentucky.

Its kind of a shame though because Covington has some of the most intact historic housing stock in the region - parts of the area have a boston vibe minus all the foot activity.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Hi WILWRadio--

This is an interesting development and actually probably the best shot in the arm Covington has received in years. I wonder though, given the layout of the streets and current parking capacity, how much more traffic the area could handle? In order to bring a big campus to the area, presumably with hundreds or thousands of commuter students, they'd need to seriously upgrade the offramps at 5th St. and 12th St. (assuming that it would be mostly Kentucky students). Combine that with widening or replacing the 4th St. bridge to Newport (constructing a new bridge on 5th St. would be an impossibility) and there would be plenty of downtown access.

I seriously hope development can get going on 12th St. They spent I don't know how many millions on widening that road after decades of talk, and there's zero development there AFAIK.

If you put a decent grocery store north of 12th, you'd have a heck of a walkable community - Mainstrasse, the office towers on the riverfront, and mixed-use residential clear out to 12th St - you'd have few reasons to leave if you lived and worked there. AFAIK it's not particularly great for bicycles - but given that we're only talking about an area that's ten blocks square... if you can't walk that, you've got a walking problem.

Pipe dream: Is there any way to pick up the Roebling suspension bridge and move it fifty feet to the side? I never understood why they built the bridge in the middle of the city block. Since Cincinnati and Covington were built on the same street grid, building the bridge in the middle of the block denied both cities a great central (and iconic) road.

The bridge placement is no accident - it was intentionally built mid-block. It was feared, by the Ohio Legislature I believe, that having a straight-line connection with Kentucky would lead to businesses moving across the river. There were also some water navigation concerns too, and a dispute between the states as to where the large support towers would be located.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

According to this article, it is. Hope it happens especially since the timing of this announcement coincides with my impending relocation to Covington.

Sorry, I just don't see a big economic boom associated. A new community and technical college starting out with its main building being a prior middle school which was obviously abandoned and an assortment of other buildings scattered around. Just where is the campus here? Where is the school identity here? Where is the $85 million coming from?

A nice article with contributions from people posed to profit from the endeavor, but a boom to Covington I hardly think so. Where is the plan for student housing, or is this strictly a commuter school? We have enough of these second rate colleges with useless credentials already spread around Greater Cincinnati.

[WILWRadio]

I can't tell from the article whether or not this is a "day school" or if some of the students will be housed in the area. Never heard of the school. And no indication is made as to how many students will attend classes at this campus.

[siggy_monster]

Good for Covington though, just makes for a stronger riverfront for Cincy and NKY both.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Sorry, I just don't see a big economic boom associated. A new community and technical college starting out with its main building being a prior middle school which was obviously abandoned and an assortment of other buildings scattered around. Just where is the campus here? Where is the school identity here? Where is the $85 million coming from?

A nice article with contributions from people posed to profit from the endeavor, but a boom to Covington I hardly think so. Where is the plan for student housing, or is this strictly a commuter school? We have enough of these second rate colleges with useless credentials already spread around Greater Cincinnati.

Hi kjbrill--

Gateway is more like Cincinnati State or Sinclair and less like Daymar or Kaplan in the sense that it's not for-profit - and thus taken more seriously. Getting your gen ed's at Gateway to take advantage of the lower tuition and then transferring those to NKU (they will all transfer) is a viable way to cut a third off the cost of a four-year college education.

This is less of a brand new campus than more of a move to larger digs. Covington has needed more college, frankly. NKU's Covington campus (just off Dixie Highway, across from the Ft. Mitchell Garage) closed in 2008, and Gateway is outgrowing their location on Amsterdam Road.

No, it won't have the "college identity" on the same scale as say, UC, UD, or Miami. Because it'll largely remain a commuter college. But I'd rather people get educated than the buildings sit empty.