The planned replacement of a parking garage with a $94 million 30-story, mixed-use tower in downtown Cincinnati is a positive sign of the area's comeback. Now about eliminating those parking minimums....

Chris Bentley looks at developer Flaherty & Collins tower project - part of the city’s first wave of high-rise development in decades - and the larger trends that are redefining the city's relationship to parking. "Against the backdrop of downtown Cincinnati’s continual renewal, the symbolism of a luxury apartment tower replacing an aging parking garage is hard to ignore," he says.
“You’re seeing virtually every owner of a class B or C business converting to residential,” said David Ginsburg, president and CEO of Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. “Downtown is the center of the region, but we still need more—more retail, more residential, more workers, more of everything.”
"With a streetcar in development and near-full occupancy rates in the downtown and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods, Cincinnati is negotiating its parking garage footprint," adds Bentley. "Some say public transit goes part and parcel with the kind of downtown resurgence that this project banks on; as a result, business groups are pushing the city to purge the zoning code of parking minimums, as Nashville has done. So far, city officials would like to maintain 'a balanced approach,' [Odis Jones, Cincinnati’s director of economic development] said."
FULL STORY: Moving On Up

National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.

Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.

Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.

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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
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