General Rant on Local Irritating Subjects (Cincinnati, Hamilton: real estate, receptions, wedding reception)

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Gotta give credit where credit is due. It was the Hamilton County commissioners that made those wonderful stadium deals.

And all this time I thought it was Cincy City Council.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Gotta give credit where credit is due. It was the Hamilton County commissioners that made those wonderful stadium deals.

Hi Ohiogirl81--

Well, I suppose I could be fair and say that Hamilton County is also losing population, too - some 45,000 in the last Census (of which Cincinnati is responsible for losing ~35,000 of that).

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Gotta give credit where credit is due. It was the Hamilton County commissioners that made those wonderful stadium deals.

Yes, Hamilton County gets the credit. Plus the sales tax increase to pay for them which was also to have a property tax reduction. The theory was people outside of Hamilton County would pay the sales tax so Hamilton County got their money free. Seems to me I saw recently where Hamilton County rescinded the property tax reduction due to the fact the sales tax revenue is not keeping up with the stadium debt. So once again the taxpayers are stuck with the bill.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

And all this time I thought it was Cincy City Council.

Well, no doubt city council had a hand in it! LOL

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Well, no doubt city council had a hand in it! LOL

Conspiracy! I knew it!

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

Conspiracy! I knew it!

The City Council did have a hand in it. After all, the land is within the City and part of the riverfront redevelopment. The City did have to agree on the usage and several items of infrastructure changes. So they are not totally absolved. But the main financial commitment was the County.

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

The City Council did have a hand in it. After all, the land is within the City and part of the riverfront redevelopment. The City did have to agree on the usage and several items of infrastructure changes. So they are not totally absolved. But the main financial commitment was the County.

Of course they did being that the stadiums were built in Cincinnati. But as you correctly stated, the blame rightfully rests on Hamilton County.

[Ohiogirl81]

Or we could just blame Marge Schott.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Hi n8buckeye08--
People that left Cincinnati for the suburbs already had their wallets burned multiple times by City Council - the empty riverfront transit center, the overpriced stadiums, and the Banks which was delayed for more than a decade (but mercifully seems to be going forward now).

You mention these things as reasons other municipalities in Hamilton County would not stand for annexation, but they are all part of the same project which was largely a county initiative. You're going to have to look for a different set of failures of city council. Heck, the county voters voted directly for the awful stadium deal. They also voted against using the transit center (voting down MetroMoves in 2002).

You also fail to mention the successful things to come out of this: the Banks is now partially open and starting a new phase partially predicated on the success of the last one. Fort Washington Way was narrowed to make room for this development, as well as make the riverfront more connected to Downtown, which was successful. The transit center is a forward-looking byproduct of that work on FWW, and maybe isn't in use now, but is planned to be used for the Eastern Corridor project, which is in its final planning stages. When there is light rail coming into the transit center, it will seem like great foresight to have constructed it when the opportunity presented itself. Meanwhile, it is not totally empty as it is used for bus operations during special events.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by hensleya1

Hi n8buckeye08--

People that left Cincinnati for the suburbs already had their wallets burned multiple times by City Council - the empty riverfront transit center, the overpriced stadiums, and the Banks which was delayed for more than a decade (but mercifully seems to be going forward now).

When you say things like this, it puts in full view how little you really know and understand about the things you rant against. The stadiums were strictly a Hamilton County deal, with little to nothing to do with City Council. But hey, if it makes your argument look better to just throw everything you can at the wall and blame it on the city then go for it. Isn't that Rule 1A in the COAST handbook? ... You know, like when they said the streetcar was worse than 9-11.

And the Reds ballpark wasn't overpriced. If you think it was, what would be an acceptable price for a new baseball stadium? GABP brings in an absolute gold mine in annual revenue for Cincinnati and the region and is the driving force behind all the development on the riverfront and at The Banks. Would you prefer the Reds had moved away?

Paul Brown Stadium was overpriced, for what it became. The stadium absolutely should have been built as a dome facility to accommodate year-round events. It was shortsighted to build an open-air stadium for a football team in that location. If it had to be built as open-air, it should have been put in a more industrial area, such as Queensgate.