DunnhumbyUSA's new building. 15-20 stories or 8-10?

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by det2011sb

Sorry for the ramble.

Well said! Welcome

[motorman]

Originally Posted by det2011sb

...I think Cincinnati has huge potential with a strong economic base, excellent culture amenities, unique geography for the region, a solid local university, and a central location with respect to 3 major metropolitan centers (each with strong universities) and another major college town. In addition, you CAN be someone here. The children's hospital world class. The university of Cincinnati is extremely strong. You have the obvious PG, kroger, and Macy's, but GE, Toyota and numerous other major companies have a strong presence here.

Thus, Cincinnati could easily recruit the brightest people from indy, columbus, lexington, louisville to start with and then nationally. However, if Cincinnati wishes to be complacent and stay resistant to change, its smartest native young people aren't going to try hard to support their home and they will simply move ...

Yes, as you've just explained, Cincinnati is truly a Midwestern contender that's indeed capable of attracting the best and brightest. And dunnhumby's dynamic, youthful presence in the CBD may be just the catalyst needed to lure other such marketing/branding enterprises to the city's revitalized and unique urban core.

(BTW--another "rep point" for you... )

[kjbrill]

DunnhumbyUSA's presence in the CBD is the proper location, especially since their partial owner and largest customer, Kroger, is there. I wonder if they were behind Kroger's latest announcement they are discontinuing double coupon days and lowering prices.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by det2011sb

Regarding this whole hip urban downtown vs suburban lifestyle thing. Here's my two cents.

I went for an interview at Columbia University in NYC, and I had an interesting conversation with one of the professors. She said that the pay sucked, the facilities sucked, and living in NYC is more difficult compared to suburban rhode island (where she was before). However, what compelled her to stay was the fact that she got to interact with the brightest minds in the country and work on cutting edge stuff on a day to day basis.

In fact, that is what attracts people to DC, Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, San Fran, etc. Do you want to work on the latest HIV treatments? Do cutting edge robotics work? Do you want to work for the local paper or travel to afghanistan and interview abused women? Do you want to be an ambassador? etc etc

Larger cities tend to have more of these opportunities, which attract talent, which in turn attracts more talent because the talent is already there (a positive feedback cycle).

Now big cities have their negatives, for one they can be prohibitively expensive, and in the end, that's usually the most important factor. But additionally, in these places it can be easy to lose your initial passion and enter a state of constant competition with other for the sake of competition (the so-called rat race).

Also someone mentioned it earlier, and I agree that there is beginning to be a tipping point. San Francisco is breath taking; walking along the beach and across the golden gate bridge is a wonderful experience not just for the natural beauty but you get the sense that the community is vibrant as well. However, if you can barely afford to buy a crappy house with a mid-six figure salary, then priorities may need to be adjusted. And it seems, more and more people are readjusting their priorities as people are leaving NY for north carolina and leaving california for texas.

Coming back to Cincinnati, high density facilitates ease of access to these people, which is what young people prioritize. Young upwardly mobile people want to interact and socialize with other young upwardly mobile people. The reasons should be self evident: a common outlook, networking opportunities (so that they can create that new start up), stronger dating pool, etc.

A complacent community is dangerous because what may easily happen is that their brightest kids, feeling stifled by the local environment leave and never come back. I grew up in Memphis, and this is precisely what I observed. All of us who left for half decent colleges after high school never came back if we could help it. there have been a number of articles that have commented on this phenomenon. Most recently, I saw this link from reddit: Memphis: Losing Ground in the Race for Talent « Smart City Memphis

I think Cincinnati has huge potential with a strong economic base, excellent culture amenities, unique geography for the region, a solid local university, and a central location with respect to 3 major metropolitan centers (each with strong universities) and another major college town. In addition, you CAN be someone here. The children's hospital world class. The university of Cincinnati is extremely strong. You have the obvious PG, kroger, and Macy's, but GE, Toyota and numerous other major companies have a strong presence here.

Thus, Cincinnati could easily recruit the brightest people from indy, columbus, lexington, louisville to start with and then nationally. However, if Cincinnati wishes to be complacent and stay resistant to change, its smartest native young people aren't going to try hard to support their home and they will simply move .

Sorry for the ramble.

Excellent post. Most points are accurate. I'd say one correction is in order though. People from other areas of the country have already discovered Cincinnati and are either making an investment in developing buildings or are moving there to work or start a business. I'm originally from the Hartford area of Connecticut and I saw the potential that Cincy and NKY had over a decade ago. I tried twice in the early part of the last decade to move there but ran into issues trying to buy a house. Location issues or someone buying one before I could get an offer in was the problem. Gave up. Finally I got lucky this past Summer and I was able to find something that I could at least get by with for a short period of time until something better comes along. I've come to the realization that a driveway is going to be an essential component of any home I am going to own in the Cincy area and since the home I just purchased does not have one, it is likely I will live in it only long enough (after I move in) until I can find one that has at least off street parking from an ally or a driveway. Sorry, got off on a tangent but I used it to make my point...

I fully agree that Cincy must do what is necessary to attract new residents and business and retain its younger people. I recently read a story in the news that two CT companies are involved with construction projects in the area. I suspect there are many others now that have found the Cincy metro area to be an up and coming place and are investing in the region.

Currently I live in the Kansas City area and I want NO part of this place anymore. The backwards attitude of the local people makes this a less than desirable place to live and work or start a business. They seem to welcome only people from the adjacent states or locally and expect you to make wholesale changes to your way of doing business or lifestyle i.e. behavior if they are going to accept you. I have not experienced this attitude in most other places I've lived other than perhaps Omaha but that was nearly twenty years ago. And it was not as bad there as it is in the KC region. So with a little luck I will be launching a small proprietorship in NKY and also plan to live and find employment in the area at the same time with the hope that I can succeed with this venture. It certainly was not welcomed in KC and it seemed as though people scoffed or even laughed at my proposal without knowing all the facts. A perfect recipe to not only deter outside money from moving in but also send it to the competition. I NEVER received this kind of attitude when I spoke to people in Norwood or NKY about it more than a decade ago. As long as I can get my act together I am confident it will work there.

[Scott SW Ohio]

WILW, I am glad that you are moving here to launch your business venture and am wishing you good luck!

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

DunnhumbyUSA's presence in the CBD is the proper location, especially since their partial owner and largest customer, Kroger, is there. I wonder if they were behind Kroger's latest announcement they are discontinuing double coupon days and lowering prices.

The article in Saturday's paper attributed Kroger's move to Dunnhumby's research.

[progmac]

Dunnhumby (3cdc?) acquired the property from the city promising 20+ stories plus residential. Now 8 stories, no residential. Pretty classic bait-and-switch, i'd say. Can't exactly blame dunnhumby (3cdc?). It is like the story of the scropion and the frog.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Please relate just what is tech-savvy about dunnhumby....

A really big part of their business is information tech. My cousin who just got a job there has a B.S. in computer science and an MBA with a focus on tech. He doesn't fit the urban hipster stereotype very well (more of a motorcycle riding fisherman).

The main reason Dunhumby located downtown is because Kroger is their biggest client and a lot of the employees will be working in both buildings. My cousin is a former Kroger employee and he said a lot of Kroger IT is being hired by Dunhumby because of increased partnerships and definition of roles. Maybe attracting aspiring junior yuppies is a secondary goal, but if Kroger's headquarters was suburban, Dunhumby's would be as well.

I don't think a suburban headquarters would be optimal for either company, but the new headquarters is clearly a sign of closer ties between the companies.

[unusualfire]

^ Why didn't they just buy the 580 building? or Take the rest of queen city square?