5th Annual OTR 5K This Saturday

The 5th Annual OTR 5K runs this Saturday, May 21st at 10:00 am. You have until midnight tonight (May 17th) to register online. Winners in a number of categories will receive a medal designed by Rookwood Pottery. Unfortunately since they have no Clydesdale, or Super-Clydesdale class there is no hope for me to score a medal. Who am I kidding, even with those classifications I would likely be out of luck.

The fun starts at 12th and Vine and includes runs down parts of Main, Liberty, Central Parkway and other OTR streets. You can check the map on Runkeeper.

I'm not sure where music will be set up, but they promise:

• Cincy Brass
• The Hiders
• Faux Frenchmen
• Comet Bluegrass Allstars
• The Cliftones

There will also be more than 30 vendors and artists including the following food vendors:

• Dojo Gelato – Gelato!!
• Sweet Peace Bakery – Vegan Baked Goods
• Cafe de Wheels – Burgers, Fries, & Cubans
• Joe’s Diner on Sycamore – Smoothies, White Chicken Chili, Burgers
• Enzo’s OTR – Panini Sandwiches, tea, lemonade, baked goods
• Chili Rocks Spicy Delights – Geotta Coneys, BMT Coneys, Coneys and Chilies
• Mr. Gene’s Dog House – Hotdogs, fries, onion rings, wings, hot met
• Taco Azul - Tacos from a truck! Authentic Mexican street food
• Christian Moerlein Beer

Should be a blast. I am "running" (my running nickname would be Molasses... I run slow all the time, and not at all when it is cold) and look forward to the event.

Be sure to check out the details on the GoOTR.org site.

Neighborly Hyde Parkers

Click any pic for a larger view.

Everybody needs a neighbor who has a chainsaw; and the go-getter attitude to go with it. Special thanks to Shawn next door for getting the neighborhood off to work today. And to the many others who stepped in to follow Shawn's lead.

Last night's storm split a roadside tree, dropping it onto two cars. Minimal damage, but the street was completely blocked. Help appeared from everywhere, and the street became passable in less than a half hour. "Many hands make for light work." Thanks neighbors.

10 Years Gone Twice

I was reading Visualingual's post about her anniversary of arriving in Cincinnati, and I found it touching, perhaps because if you know Maya, you know it is a bit out of character. Also I was reflecting on how lame some of my posts have been lately, partially because of time. Despite the terrible economy for those of us in the construction business, I have been lucky to be very busy and with little time for a thoughtful blog post. I really appreciate those bloggers who actually write coherent thoughts instead of just posting links or cell phone photos like I have been doing lately.

Anyway, Maya's post reminded me that I first moved to OTR 20 years ago this month. I was a Mt Auburn resident, hopefully about to graduate from UC, when I got into a discussion with a buddy of mine about "which coast to move to". There were things like Paolo Soleri building a city in the desert or Mike Reynolds building earthships out of tires. Those were the kinds of things I was tentatively interested in. But I wanted to live in the city, not a desert. I told my friend that I wanted to get involved in "community building". My friend suggested I go see buddy gray. So I did that, and moved to 14th Street the next month. It ended up that I had to continue with more coursework in the fall to complete my degree anyway, so I stayed. I met some amazing people. There were young guys like myself, and we had a blast working together and hanging out on the rooftops and doing crazy stuff like smelting aluminum and knocking down chimneys.

But also there were lots of older men who were really wonderful gentle souls, carpenters and bricklayers. Many of them came to the Drop Inn Center down and out. Someday, if I learn how to put some emotions into written word, I will say more about all those men, many who have now died.

The community building that was the objective never seemed to work, at least not in the ways I had hoped. But somehow many years later I find that I live only a few blocks from that first landing spot, and community is everywhere if you open your door to it.

I remember that when I first came here, that it seemed so loud. People yelling up at each other from the street, and buses rumbling by etc.. I remember the first time I saw one of those cars with the thumping speakers in the trunk. But now for example, after midnight with the windows open it seems so peaceful and quiet. I'm really not sure if the neighborhood has changed or I have.

I also remember that my roommate got beat up real bad that first summer. He was standing at the corner waiting for a bus, when a group of guys just came up and started slugging him. Luckily nothing like that has ever happened to me, but I have lost a few bikes and hundreds of tools to thieves. I've also seen lots of sickness and depravity. In 1992, I saw a man shot in the middle of Republic Street. And one morning my wife found a dead man who had just escaped from the Justice Center. He died on our doorstep of a heart attack. I had to move him to open the gate.

And I used to feel that it was a certainty that anyone that voluntarily moved to OTR, generally left demoralized after a few years. That's not so true anymore.

Sometimes I wonder if people are meant to stay here. I saw a woman I knew from years ago recently, and she said something to the effect of, maybe you and I should just move on, seems like the new people are getting more done than we did. She was someone that used to fight demolitions with us. And fighting demolition in Cincinnati is a demoralizing fight if there ever was one. Even if you win the battle, the vacant building just sits there and continues to rot and get more dangerous.
 

At one point maybe in 1993, I felt responsible for all these vacant buildings. And every time it rained I would get panicked, picturing the damage being inflicted on these buildings by the minute. And it happened that one time I got a call on New Years day, early in the morning. A building, soaked with water, had frozen and then as it thawed, collapsed into the street and onto the sidewalk. Luckily no one was on that sidewalk, but that was just once. Then it happened to another bigger building down the street. And there were partial collapses and fires. Then I decided I couldn't take this anymore, and I could not be responsible for trying to save or maintain vacant buildings. It was mostly a mental excision on my part, but I changed jobs too.
 

But I had met my wife here, and we decided to make our home here. And I have had jobs in which I have had to commute out of downtown, though sometimes I've worked close-by and all of my wife's jobs have been in the neighborhood. And everything else is here, from the pool to the baker to church. And we are thinking maybe the kids will go to the new school being built nearby, and I maybe I'll change to a job down the street.

But then again, I may end up in another country. You never know. An old classmate of mine recently sent out an email saying he was hiring in Vietnam...

I'm not anti-Suburb, I'm pro-City

I thought of this topic looking at the latest "I'm a Mac" commercial. I've always found them somewhat entertaining (John Hodgman is brilliant) but was curious about the tenor of the campaign. What I mean by this is that (in my opinion) the Mac character reinforces the negative stereotypes that I would think Apple would want to leave behind. Am I the only one that wants to smack the Mac-guy upside the head? I imagine he plays well to the Mac faithful, but isn't the purpose of advertising to expand the audience, rather than pander to the converted?

This made me wonder about city-fans. Do we come off as smarmy as the Mac guy? In all honesty, I think we do. We can go on pandering to the faithful, or we can step out and try to communicate why anyone in their right mind would want to live and raise a family in the city. Comparisons are important, but my goal on this blog will be to give the positive reasons for the city, not the negative for the 'burbs.

For me, the three advantages to city-life are the three L's of Real Estate: location, location, location. I love living in the urban center of the area. It helps that my wife works downtown, and while I work from home, most of my client meetings occur downtown. But even when I have projects that take me out of the core, I get the advantage of going against traffic.

OK, so we learned I am lazy. How is this a family benefit? Our son's childcare is downtown (a couple blocks from my wife's work). He is a 5 minute commute from home (kid + lots of stuff makes the 20-minute walk less tenable). I know folks from the 'burbs that drop their kids off, then have a 45-minute to 1 hour commute. That gives us a minimum of an extra hour and twenty a day with our son. That is pretty priceless for us.

Since we are at the center of things, it also makes most places convenient. Besides all the great opportunities here, we are positioned to easily go to Montoya's on Buttermilk, Vincenzo's on Chester or back to Ruthai's in Mount Lookout if we want to. And it is really convenient to a number of kid-friendly venues like the Zoo, Museum Center, and Newport Aquarium.

Now it certainly depends on the family. We have good friends who live out in Loveland. Now to us that seems the ends of the earth. But since work for them is in Mason, as much as we would like to lure them down here, they are where it is most convenient for them. So I know the location thing won't work for everyone, but it works great for us.

What about you? Why do you live in the city, if you do?

Choosing the City

I signed up to contribute to this blog. I thought I might start with a little background. I am a father of a 17-month old. We have lived in the city for a long time. Before moving to Mt. Auburn, we lived for about a decade in Mt. Lookout. When we moved here a little over three years ago I think everyone closed the "will they ever have a kid" book on us. I joke that I waited until we moved here so that our announcement would be a total surprise, but that is actually not true. We moved here with no intention of raising kids in the city. But it really wasn't until we moved here that we felt ready. There are more factors than just location, but I won't bore you with that. What I want to focus on is our mindset on deciding to raise our family in the city.

I appreciated finding this blog. A nearby friend with a kid (now two kids) sent me the link. I like hearing about other folks bucking the trend to head to the suburbs. We have had a few friends and family ask us if we planned on moving when my son gets to school age, but most folks already knew the answer. We are huge fans of our neighborhood, and well, let's just say my personal mantra is "everyone's entitled to an opinion... specifically mine." So, assuming Mike does not realize what a terrible, terrible mistake he made giving me access, I think that will tend to be the theme of my posts... what is good about raising your family in the city.

To be clear, I don't feel especially "brave" or "cutting edge" in my choice. I'm not really sure what a "hipster" parent is, but I'm pretty certain I am not one. We're just a regular family of three, who have found our dream home to raise a family. It's a 130-year old Italianate on a small parcel in the city, rather than a 2-story home on a large lot in the suburbs. There are definitely challenges in our choice, but there are challenges in all choices.

We have never regretted our choice, and I look forward to sharing what little I can about the city. Who knows, maybe it will help someone come to the right decision. And to be clear, that may not be the city for them, but it is for us.

VottaQuest

Dungeons and Dragons and Gaming Storefront in Mt Healthy:

 

Join this Blog

If anyone would like to have privleges to post on this blog, send an email to Mike@citykin.com and I will send you an invite. The only requirement would be that you be a parent and live in the city limits. Subject of posts should be somewhat relevant, but as you can see by my posts, almost everything is relevant.

Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill KY

Pleasant Hill, KY is less than a 2 hour drive from Cincinnati, and is an exquisitely preserved collection of Shaker buildings and artifacts. If you have never been, I highly recommend a visit. Fall and winter are especially beautiful there, and it is worth paying to spend a night so you can see it at night when the crowds are gone, it is quiet and the stars are out. They also have many special events such as Civil War re-enactors and seasonal events which are fun.

A visit always gets us pondering different aspects of intentional communities, how people live in harmony, how that is reflected in their homes etc...

Stair hall of Central Family Dwelling with dining room beyond

Water tank building. Flag at top indicates tank is full


Meeting Room (sanctuary):

Minister's quarter's above the meeting room:



This is our favorite room, intimate with lots of natural light. This was the minister's dining room:



There is a restaurant on site, which serves salsify casserole with all evening meals:

Kentucky River Gorge, High RR bridge:

Enright Ridge Ecovillage Tour Sunday

I have heard about Imago for years, and I think finally I will visit this weekend:


Enright Ecovillage Google map

Thick Skin Required in City

I posted a poem yesterday about the anonymous people we pass on the street each day, not because it was a great poem, but because it expressed an important sentiment about city life. Namely that we may not know each other, but we are important to each other.

Now depending on what neighborhood we are in and how well known we are in that neighborhood the dynamics of walking down the street can vary dramatically.

Having lived in my neighborhood for many years, it is hard for me to step out of the door without having to commence some small talk with a neighbor. Sometimes that is a joy, sometimes if I'm running late, it is annoying. I think one attribute of a great neighbor is their ability to show genuine friendliness without talking for a long time. Sometimes, just a wave is nice.

But the great majority of passersby on the street are complete strangers and of course this is more true the further away from home we are or the bigger the city. I think one thing that turns suburbanites off to the city life, is their inability to deal with strangers.

You don't need to be nice to every stranger. God knows they won't all be nice to you. Some people will even give you an evil eye or curse you. My advice is to have a thick skin. If someone is rude to you, do NOT take it personally, and do not respond in kind. Rude people are like other kinds of pollution, an irritant that you shouldn't let ruin your day.

One local blogger recently wrote about how many people he meets on the street who are friendly:

...I would nod my head and say "Hey, hows it goin?" If they acknowledge me with a response, a nod, anything but a cold stare, they went down on the "friendly" side of my counter. If they just walked by or ignored me, I clicked em in on the "unfriendly" side of the counter ... by the time I had hit Liberty, I had encountered 126 people, and had 71 positive responses. I had 5 conversations for a few minutes, and shook a few hands as well.

Spontaneous Community and Crowds

A question from a reader:
" ..I guess that spontaneous sense of community that happens in suburbia – or lack thereof – is one of the biggest fears of moving downtown. Does that make any sense? In other words- is there a large enough group downtown to just bump into each other and hang out, or does it need to be more proactively planned?"

For adults, this is an easy question. The city offers tons more opportunity to just bump into people. We can hardly walk a block without bumping into someone we know at least as aquaintances. This often results in coffee or at least a short conversation. The need for planning get-togethers is more a function of everyone being so busy all the time with their work family juggle, and this is a nationwide problem, not just one that downtowners have.

However, for kids, and their unstructured vs structured playtime, the question revolves around the child's "roam space". See a previous post on how kids Roam Space is shrinking. First of all, yes there are lots of kids around. The question is, are they appropriate playmates for your kid without supervision?

Kids do spontaneously get together and play sometimes. We will hang out at the playground for example and meet new kids. My son keeps running into some kid named Anthony, and they immediately get into wrestling and chasing. His grandparents own a store on Walnut and he attends the same school as my son, and they can play anywhere we bump into them, whether the sidewalk or the library. The other chance for spur of the moment play is if other kids of similar ages live in the same building. Fortunately, we do have that situation for my daughter and a neighbor boy.

I think the advantage of the suburb that the reader is thinking about essentially has to do with the safety and relative homogeneity of a neighborhood, which would allow a parent to let the kids roam, and find their own play in the cul-de-sac or amongst the backyards. I think that the cul-de-sac and the yard are less essential in this equation than is the guarantee that the neighbors are child friendly and if the kids they meet are up to your standards.

For example; if on your quiet residential street, the kids all play together after school and the parents do not have to watch their every move, you have a relaxed and peaceful spontaneous play time community. But if you have that same street but one house has drug dealers (as is the case with some suburban friends of mine) then a responsible parent will not allow the kids to go out playing spontaneously.

In the city, we cannot get a homogeneous sidewalk or park, nor do we want it. We do not know who just moved in up the block. However, in a successful city, there is an inherent safety that occurs with the varied number of people out and about.

I would like to make a point here: Safety is found in numbers. Many contemporary Americans are uncomfortable with this idea and prefer safety in isolation, as in a private backyard. However, safety is indeed found in numbers for the simple reason that a great majority of people are trustworthy and responsible citizens. Empty city streets are inherently more dangerous than crowded ones for this sole reason.

I am very confident that if my child was in danger, many neighbors would rush to the rescue. In fact I have seen this in evidence many times. A few weeks ago, for example, my son crashed his bike in the park when I was maybe 30 yards away. Two somewhat ragged men stopped and asked my son if he was alright and helped him with his bike before I could get there. This kind of thing happens all the time, even in the poorest neighborhoods. It takes a faith in mankind to live in a city, but you must remember that a crowd of good Samaritans keeps the bad eggs in check. The problem in many American cities is finding any kind of crowd at all.

There will come a time, and I am not sure what the age will be, when my son will go to the pool or the corner store on his own. What age do parents in the suburbs allow this to occur now? In the 70's I left the sight of my parents for hours on end at age 10. Do parents still allow that? Is it even allowed by law? I really don't know.

Obviously kid's lives are much more structured than they were when we were growing up. This is true if you live in the suburbs or the city. Between work, school, homework, sports, scouts, music lessons, etc etc, when do kids get to just play anymore?

 

Quest for Community in America - Quote

... the nostalgia for the small town need not be construed as directed toward the town itself: it is rather a "quest for community" - a nostalgia for a compassable and integral living unit. The critical question is not whether the small town can be rehabilitated in the image of its earlier strength and growth - for clearly it cannot - but whether American life will be able to evolve any other integral community to replace it. This is what I call the problem of place in America, and unless it is somehow resolved, American life will become more jangled and fragmented than it is, and American personality will continue to be unquiet and unfulfilled.

Max Lerner, America as a Civilization, 1953

The Third Place

As good a definition as any for the so-called "third Place".:

"A community life exists when one can go daily to a given location at a given time and see many of the people one knows."

-Philip Slater

Children "roam" space shrinking

 

Article in a UK newspaper

"I was able to go out quite freely - I'd ride my bike around the estate, play with friends in the park and walk to the swimming pool and to school," said Mrs Grant, 36.

"There was a lot less traffic then - and families had only one car. People didn't make all these short journeys."

Today, her son Edward spends little time on his own outside his garden in their quiet suburban street. She takes him by car to school to ensure she gets to her part-time job as a medical librarian on time.

While he enjoys piano lessons, cubs, skiing lessons, regular holidays and the trampoline, slide and climbing frame in the garden, his mother is concerned he may be missing out.

She said: "He can go out in the crescent but he doesn't tend to go out because the other children don't. We put a bike in the car and go off to the country where we can all cycle together.

"It's not just about time. Traffic is an important consideration, as is the fear of abduction, but I'm not sure whether that's real or perceived."

She added: "Over four generations our family is poles apart in terms of affluence. But I'm not sure our lives are any richer."