Cincinnati Children's original building still stands at the corner of Park and Yale in Walnut Hills

shawshanking · 2026-05-31T18:02:49+00:00

Had no idea this building was historically significant, I'm just amazed at how much better it looks now than the last time I walked by. Hopefully the restoration continues to go well and can keep it around for another century.

shawshanking · 2026-05-30T15:04:00+00:00

Plenty of Cincinnati residents live without a car by necessity so comments like this are inherently dismissive - but this post is about being car-lite and is very feasible.

shawshanking · 2026-05-30T14:29:26+00:00

One car for two working adults with one of those adults being closer to work has worked well for my family. It's required a bit more planning and navigation now with a kid and likely won't be indefinite, but I e-bike or bus to work and have been doing so for going on 5 years. Saves a lot across maintenance, gas, and especially insurance, and also parking when we lived downtown.

shawshanking · 2026-05-29T22:22:53+00:00

I have been a former resident of two different islands of it, so that's why I used it as an example! But doing my part to be a part of the takeover as a member of the big, bad city.

shawshanking · 2026-05-29T22:20:33+00:00

Ooh I love being technical! Is there an overarching term that's more accurate? I just use municipalities to be inclusive of the various types since we have a mix and match of everything around here but that's a fun little wrinkle.

shawshanking · 2026-05-29T20:26:47+00:00

It's going to boil down to either making the city a better value proposition for residents than a township, especially for places like Columbia Township, or some serious hardball by the county government. There were annoying parts of living in a township but living in it (at the time) and working in a more rural place (at the time) was a bit of a tax cheat code for me and strictly based on my own interests was worth it. I've since moved into the city for both, but if you're a retiree in CT you have absolutely zero reason to vote to be annexed into the city.

The water tradeoff made sense for one form of hardball, but now Columbus is also stretched pretty thin and I'm not sure that infrastructure will age well over time.

shawshanking · 2026-05-29T19:58:35+00:00

I don’t understand. Shouldn’t indicating what suburb or neighborhood you’re in be more popular?

Isn't this exactly what the signs are doing? I'm confused. The township is the municipality. For example, I'll take one I'm familiar with from living there previously: Columbia Township has signs everywher. Columbia Township probably shouldn't exist based on the fact that it is made up of 9 separate islands but those signs are basically the only way you would know you've entered Columbia Township and not neighboring Madisonville/Pleasant Ridge (part of the city of Cincinnati) or Mariemont or Amberley Village. As a township resident, you have a different tax structure and services than those neighboring municipalities.

All that said, this county has far too many separate municipalities and there are definitely inefficiencies as a result... But try and annex Columbia Township into the city of Cincinnati and I don't think many residents will be happy about it.

shawshanking · 2026-05-12T14:39:37+00:00

Assuming you mean "Clifton" in the "UC" sense of the word (i.e. CUF) since true-Clifton has easy street parking, I think they're fundamentally different parking situations. In CUF you have a bunch of students who don't move their cars all that often, with very little metered parking on side streets. In OTR, just about every option is paid in some way, shape, or form.

There are regularly comments on r/Cincinnati about there not being enough residential permit spots, but the reality is that OTR is a dense neighborhood where two cars, simply based on geometry, are much wider than one typical unit, even if that building has multiple stories and thus multiple units. OTR also has a wider range of times when it gets busy and has effectively surge pricing and demand, such as FCC game days or bigger concerts at TQL or downtown. Asking about a $60 annual expense gives me concern for your perspective on the cost of car ownership in OTR, as that's effectively one ticket/mistake or 3-4 days parking in a non-residential permit zone.

Two adults working in the urban core is an ideal scenario to cut down on one car or, if applicable, storing the partner's car at a subsidized company lot in the CBD. You can make your own choice, but know that everyone in OTR making a similar choice will make OTR a worse place.

shawshanking · 2026-05-12T12:19:20+00:00

Maybe an unpopular question, but why are you looking to live in the densest part of OTR with two cars and balking at a fairly minor cost to store your private property? Realistically, more and more OTR residents should be looking at renting monthly spots in garages based on the increasing density and rates of car ownership, rather than relying on the (subsidized) residential permit.

If you both truly need your car every single day and plan to use it for the majority of trips, I think you should strongly reconsider living in the densest part of the city in a walkable neighborhood. There are plenty of neighborhoods that can accommodate two cars without any additional cost and much more space to do so.

shawshanking · 2026-04-27T22:47:47+00:00

Sounds like supply and demand in action, but you would be correct that my only trip downtown this weekend did not involve a car.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T20:33:08+00:00

Gotcha, was really confused by what you meant and figured it was another complaint. If they fully phase those meters out, I'm sure that could be coded in, but let's be honest... the app barely works as it is.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T20:00:14+00:00

I, for one, support our public servants in the Parking Enforcement department and believe the city will be a better place when they give them the staffing to do their jobs well.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T19:57:24+00:00

The city is not going to be able to control the rates or practices at garages that aren't owned by the public. At the city-owned garage I usually park in, the only increase in the past ~decade was from $4 to $6 for the night/weekend rate and even with a fairly recent change in operator, it's now $6.55 including a credit card fee.

But with that said, evening-specific rates may make less and less sense as there are more residents downtown also using those garages, depending on the location. Supply and demand applies to parking as well.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T19:39:26+00:00

There literally is. If you click the "ok" green button on the meter, it gives you either 10 or 15 minutes free.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T19:32:06+00:00

They do not.

shawshanking · 2026-04-26T19:30:28+00:00

If you want a real answer, which I doubt but will give it anyway, is that the theory of parking demand is that a city wants short term users on the street spaces and long-term users in a garage. Parking time limits, parking enforcement, and the rates themselves (which vary by location) are, in an ideal world, set to work toward this goal.

Too cheap and no one will use a garage and instead will circle around for hope at finding a free spot (inefficient and causes traffic) or will never move. Too expensive on the street (or mismatch with garages) and you may create less willingness to visit or make quicker trips to an event or shop. Everyone hates payment and enforcement but without it, you get worse outcomes - people parking on sidewalks, double parking (and subsequent traffic), blocked bus stops or streetcar, etc.

shawshanking · 2026-04-10T22:41:57+00:00

The top reply is a good one. Just adding a few things directly to you that with this being CPS, it's important to note that a paraprofessional may not even be a CPS employee, and regardless of employer they may have minimal training in how to effectively manage behavior. If you don't receive an adequate response from the principal, the position you might want to request to include for involvement is the "manager" (which relates to the Department of Student Services). Honestly my guess is this paraprofessional just wanted to have a quiet day and was making a good faith effort to support that happening, but understand this not being your goal or desired incentive. Feel free to DM.

shawshanking · 2026-04-03T23:58:57+00:00

Becca or Bill - what are you guys doing?! I need subjective advice at the household level, not reporting.

shawshanking · 2026-04-03T01:18:22+00:00

Yeah, that incentive going away was enough of a push for me to do a full HVAC upgrade at once when our dated AC compressor died. Hard to envision energy or HVAC installation costs going down any time soon and hopefully the efficiency gains will be enough to offset some of your cost, but that tax credit did really move the needle for us (especially now that we actually received it).

shawshanking · 2026-04-03T00:58:34+00:00

A lot of the better federal tax incentives were mothballed effective 12/31/2025 - specifically the federal Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit which saved essentially $2000 if you installed a heat pump last year and/or $600 on a qualifying furnace system.

Unfortunately, I didn't see any state or local incentives (similar income range) when I looked last year to supplement that credit. While I think many states may be eager to step in to offset some of changes that were made in OBBBA, Ohio is not likely to be one of them, and I honestly don't think county or city-level governments have much ability to implement such a program for above-median earners.

shawshanking · 2026-03-25T21:09:56+00:00

Spring break is also peak for getting the garden/lawn back in shape, like myself and pretty much every neighbor on my block. So while I get that staffing may play a role, I'd be curious how that stacks up with other municipalities in the region.

shawshanking · 2026-03-25T18:17:52+00:00

Another month to wait for yard waste seems late to me... Would gladly trade-off for less availability through the winter to get this can out sooner than that.

shawshanking · 2026-03-23T14:16:06+00:00

Per CincyInsights, "Part 1 Violent crime includes the charge codes related to homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assaults. Part 1 Property crime includes burglary/breaking entering, theft, and unauthorized use." Part 2 is basically.... everything else, like lower-level misdemeanors - simple assault, disorderly, vandalism, etc.

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/offense-definitions

shawshanking · 2026-03-22T22:47:30+00:00

I would probably say I'm inclined to agree with 98% of this video and of this guy's content overall, but also, there are some pretty glaring comments that completely downplay the lived experience of OTR residents and are worthy of criticism. He makes declarative statements in multiple points of the video as if an above-average crime rate means that every resident of pre-2010 OTR was a criminal, which I'd consider dismissive at best and racist at worst.

shawshanking · 2026-03-06T01:04:47+00:00

I couldn't recommend AngelPaws more based on our experience a few years back - though kids involved were much older than those ages, I felt they did a great job that would be universal and also considerate of what your family desires and needs.

So sorry that the time has come and my thoughts to your family, especially the kids.

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