Downtown Hamilton! Revitalization Thread (Jackson, Ross: home, living in, low cost)

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

A few other recent announcements.

Full-service diabetes center to open in Hamilton | www.journal-news.com

New store brings healthy groceries to downtown Hamilton | www.journal-news.com

InsideOut Studio to expand retail offerings downtown | www.journal-news.com

Hamilton water named best tasting in the world | www.journal-news.com

Mason art gallery plans second location in downtown Hamilton | www.journal-news.com

Great catch, thanks for posting this rrtechno! A lot is happening in Hamilton.

To the naysayers, you do have history on your side. But looking into the past is not enough to predict the future. Ask Kodak and Blackberry for validation there.

Anyways, below is a great article about movements like what is happening in Hamilton, portrayed in the article through a context that places these demands in stark opposition to the continuing desire of homebuilders to continue practicing "traditional" development (i.e. suburbia) we all know.

Hamilton in particular stands out as a notable crossroad to me for this article because of its proximity to the bulk of Cincinnati sprawl in Colerain, West Chester, Fairfield, Liberty Twp., and Monroe.


Why Are Developers Still Building Sprawl? - The Atlantic

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by Rangerred

As someone who grew up just outside Hamilton and still has family in the area, I've been closely following the revitalization efforts. There is incredible potential in Hamilton and I feel the city has suffered form poor leadership (and the poor decisions that accompany that) for a very long time. Sometimes I feel like what it will take to really get things moving full-speed is convincing the residents of Hamilton to buy into their city's plans. There seems to be a lot of negativity and cynicism among the older residents especially.

One thing I've never really seen discussed is using the city's large Hispanic population as a benefit. I believe Hamilton has one of the largest per-capita Hispanic populations in the state but yet the city lacks even a small latino festival. There really exists the potential to have a true ethnic enclave in part of the city with hispanic stores, restaurants, grocery, etc. I might be dreaming but something like this would contribute to a sense of place and create better harmony within the community.

Great perspective Rangerred! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I definitely agree with you on the Hispanic population. Why not celebrate it, especially considering it is one of the few communities in southwest Ohio that has any significant Hispanic population?


Again, from my bird's eye view in Oxford over the past few years, in that time alone I've seen an amazing transformation. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

[alohamonkey]

This is all great news for my hometown. I was born and raised in Hamilton. Spent many an afternoon relaxing on top of the old Hamilton! lettering on the side of Hillside (now Veteran's) park. I'm currently writing this post while in Hamilton visiting family while house hunting for locations to move back to the Cincy area from the East Coast. Every time I've returned home to Hamilton over the last decade, I've been impressed with the growth and revitalization of downtown. The one thing that kept nagging at me though, was that so much of the revitalization of the city was from public funds. Artspace, amphitheater on the river, etc. I'm really excited to hear about the call center setting up shop in downtown. It might seem like a trivial "win" for other towns but I think it's a major victory for the city. 600+ people working in downtown could be a huge boon for local businesses. Hamilton needs more private companies providing jobs to maintain this revitalization. From what I've heard, the current city manager is just awesome and doing a great job at bringing business to town and leveraging public funding to create a drive for people to go downtown. Hopefully it continues and hopefully more businesses utilize this area and the downtown.

[Rangerred]

The one thing that kept nagging at me though, was that so much of the revitalization of the city was from public funds.

Often it takes public investment to get the ball rolling before any private investment takes place. Companies want to see that the community believes in itself before taking the plunge. While I doubt this call center is going to pay super high wages and will probably employ mostly part-time workers, the increased presence of people downtown will drive development.

The city I'm living in now is a couple years into its downtown revitalization plan and it all started by the city making significant investments in the form of new parks, flood mitigation, farmers market pavilion, streetscapes, and general sprucing up. This is already beginning to pay off as new restaurants, stores and lofts have opened up with more on the way. I can definitely see this same thing happening in Hamilton.

[SWOH]

^You mention streetscapes. Hamilton is revamping its primary one into the downtown area, St. Rt. 129 from the underpass to the Butler Regional Highway. It started summer of last year:

Facelift for Hamilton's Main Entry Way Beings in June

[rrtechno]

Originally Posted by Rangerred

Often it takes public investment to get the ball rolling before any private investment takes place. Companies want to see that the community believes in itself before taking the plunge. While I doubt this call center is going to pay super high wages and will probably employ mostly part-time workers, the increased presence of people downtown will drive development.

The city I'm living in now is a couple years into its downtown revitalization plan and it all started by the city making significant investments in the form of new parks, flood mitigation, farmers market pavilion, streetscapes, and general sprucing up. This is already beginning to pay off as new restaurants, stores and lofts have opened up with more on the way. I can definitely see this same thing happening in Hamilton.

All of the mentioned projects, other than the ones that are public infrastructure, are either private endeavors or a combination public/private project. In other words, there are private monies in nearly all the projects, including the park development.

We have a family member who was recently speaking with the person heading up the recruiting for the call center. The word from the one involved there was that the jobs would be direct hires, full time positions, with starting pays comparable to starting pay at the majority of small manufacturing companies in the area.

I, personally, am enjoying the looks of the silver lining.

[SWOH]

^That's great news! And also makes sense. I believe someone crunched the numbers and found the average wage to be around $11/hr, assuming everyone makes roughly the same rate.

That's a decent wage. I know a number of people who work for far less than that per hour for forty hours a week. They could use a job like the ones provided here. This call center is absolutely excellent news.

[kjbrill]

I very honestly hope Hamilton does achieve a true revitalization, it has been a long time coming. I have to believe the Liberty Center development should have a positive effect on Hamilton just due to its proximity.

My only reasons for going to Hamilton recently has been either the Social Security office, or driving through on my way to Oxford, or to play golf at the nice city owned course Twin Run.

I would like to see it develop as a destination for people from all of West Chester and Liberty Twp.s plus Mason, Lebanon, Monroe, etc.

The northern suburbs want places to go and dine, attend events, and so forth which do not require a trip into Cincinnati. About the furthest I desire to travel is Union Center Blvd. It is not that I dislike Cincinnati, just am at an age where the hassle of the city I don't need.

Just on the street where I live I see so many people which have been here as long as I have, going on 40 years now. The kids are long grown and gone. So there are a large number of aged people hanging around here. But I see no rush to leave, the longer we can stay in our homes rather than a nursing home the better.

An occasional excursion to a revitalized Hamilton is definitely in the mix, long as they recognize handicap parking up through wheelchair vans is required.

My emphasis is quite simple. Our aging population, limited in their range of venture, is determined to stay in their current domicile long as they can. Hamilton is very close to a big number of these people, so I wish them well in their developments. Just hope they recognize who will be bringing in the money and plan accordingly.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by SWOH

Figured it merited its own thread haha. Maybe it was this news that pushed it over the edge:

Call Center Bringing 682 to Downtown Hamilton

...Looking forward to more news from Hamilton in the future!

Originally Posted by Briolat21

I'm really excited for Hamilton - I hope that these plans come to fruition...

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Without much independent knowledge of my own, I would say that Hamilton has great potential...

May I include even more congratulations for this outstanding business news--virtually 700 new jobs for both downtown Hamilton and the Cincinnati metro!

[Misfit Toy]

I am familiar with the ArtSpace project, seems to me it can only help downtown Hamilton.

As far as whether the city as a whole can be revitalized, I don't have enough info to really say. I know I'd like to someday live in an urban setting again, but maybe not someplace as big as Cincy. If enough people feel the same as me, who knows, maybe Hamilton can turn the corner.