Take Back The Street On Main

In the 1990’s, the block of Main St., between Central Parkway and Liberty was a hot bed of vibrant night life, bring all walks of life together. I was in college then and Have A Nice Day Café, Bar Cincinnati and Cincinnati’s own Jefferson Hall were all places where you could find me knee deep in libration on weekend nights.

Then there were the Riots of 2001.

The aftermath of the week long unrest placed Cincinnati with a black eye and hit the city hardest in its pocketbooks. Celebrities such as Bill Cosby and Whoopi Goldberg called for a boycott of the city and Prince even cancelled a show which he was scheduled to have in the city. People did not feel safe spending their hard earned money in Over-the-Rhine any longer and the afore mentioned bars closed up and moved elsewhere, leaving Main Street silent on Friday and Saturday nights.

Until now.

Over the past few years, Main Street has been in the process of seeing its economic renaissance which has yet to peak. Historically, OTR has thrived on community togetherness has fostered urban unity.

Events like Grapevine, Second Sundays on Main and Final Fridays brings vendors onto the street and people to patron the many shops and galleries which brighten these blocks on Main.

In keeping with the historically holistic appeal of Main Street, eateries such as Iris Book Café (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cincinnati-OH/Iris-Book-Cafe/169729995076) and Shadeau Breads (www.shadeaubreads.com) offer locally made and grown options. Great if you want to grab a coffee before your trek into the office or a quiet place to catch up on some work away from the office over a great salmon and avocado sandwich.

Though Main Street is re-incorporating is livable appeal to its day time patrons, its night time appeal has not been forgotten. Last weekend, Jack Pots opened in Jefferson Hall’s old space and Neon’s have been opened for a few weeks. Mixx Ultra Lounge (www.mixxcincy.com) offers upscale entertainment without the big city prices. In addition, with the coming to city’s casino and street car, venues such as Neon’s and Jack Pots have promised to re-open to offer additional entertainment options, not un-similar to the old days of Main Street.

And there is word that The Dinner on Sycamore is under new management and will open soon.

Oh Happy Day!

And The Work Continues

I began writing this blog for a myriad of reasons, but towards the forefront was to get into the habit of creating thought provoking content to elicit feedback to get the juices flowing to complete the books which I have been working to complete.

It has done the trick.

Over the yeas I have published several articles about on a number of different subjects, but most of them have been about living as young gay man here in Cincinnati.

The result is my non-fiction book pertaining to some of the struggles people face for being young, gay, or African American living here in the States.

I am in the process incorporating real-life experience into my book, s if you have any, and would like to see it published, let me know.

Take A Momment and Smell The Flowers

Most of you already know that I live in Cincinnati’s historic Pendleton neighborhood which is sometimes mistaken for Over-the-Rhine.

Not only does it boast some of the most historically intact buildings in the United States, it’s also in the midst of a revitalization composing of the addition of one of the first casinos in the State of Ohio. Not only that, the city just approved to spend money on the incorporation of a light rail system (which is long overdue) with the hopes of making Cincinnati’s downtown valley more livable.

Today, not only was I able to walk to each of my meetings, I had the opportunity to patron some of the great establishments that are helping Cincinnati’s Pendleton and Over-the-Rhine recovery from the city’s civil unrest which took part in 2001.

After a coffee at one of the neighborhood coffee shops Coffee Emporium, where if you sit long enough, you will see city officials, and high schoolers alike obtain a cup of Joe, I was able to walk to a meeting just blocks away to Boost, an upscale meeting space located in a rehabbed historic building overlooking downtown Cincinnati.

It did not help that the day’s weather has been just about perfect, so maybe that’s why I am in a good mood.

Pics Around Town

Sometimes you forget how majestic some of Cincinnati's historic buildings can be. This is one example.

More Fairey 2 See

Now that the weather is gotten a bit warmer, I decided that it was finally time to stop driving my gas eating car the few blocks to the gym or to Coffee Emporium and finally purchase the bicycle which I have been vowing to do for years.

In doing so, I have so much more time to take in parts of the city which I would normally miss because my eyes were always on the road.

I found two more Shepard Fairey murals.

Alley next to Arnold's Bar

The corner of Walnut St. and 6th St.