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Running up the Stairs at the University of Cincinnati
The next time you’re walking to classes at the University of Cincinnati, bear this in mind:
Walking up steps is good for you. It burns fat, it tones the butt, thighs, and calves, and it’s also good for your abs. And it’s good for your lungs and your cardio vascular system.
Which is why I’ve always viewed the University of Cincinnati as an obstacle course. Outside, there are stairs all around the campus, and on my walks I run up as many steps as possible.
I walk the rest of the time – briskly, but still – but I run up all the stairs. The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned.
And there are enough steps around to get a good workout.
The photos in this blog entry chronicle a walk I took recently, and at first you’ll see some of the progress being made in Burnet Woods. Extending the sidewalk is a great idea – and there you see the first steps I ran up on that day.
While we’re on the subject of physical fitness, were you aware that there’s a frisbee golf course in Burnet Woods? Click this link to find out more.
Running the steps of UC was interesting the other day because the path I’ve traditionally taken was blocked due to – of all things – construction. Whodathunkit!
But I’m used to that by now. I have always seen UC as an obstacle course, and I mean that in a good way. These are some of the steps I ran up when I made my walk a couple days ago.
Use your imagination whenever you’re on campus, and run up as many steps as you can. You’ll be surprised you can run up while going from place to place or just killing time between classes.
You might wonder, when you look at the photo below, whether you would/should really run up those stairs – but they’re actually good exercise. Try it.
You can also run up the stairs at the stadium. And if you run up the stairs at the DAAP building, you step outside and voila!, you’re at ground level again. And the steps for the parking garage near the intersection of W. Clifton Avenue and Calhoun Avenue take you to ground level.
Another nice thing about walking around the University of Cincinnati is that visually it’s so stimulating, with more works by signature architects than any other space of its size. More on that here.
I’ll warn you, though – some of the buildings can seem imposing!
Have You Gone for a Walk Lately?
I’ve been taking some of my friends on a walk that starts in Clifton, runs through Camp Washington, and then returns to Clifton.
This is something people don’t even think to do – and that makes sense. You couldn’t even make this walk a few years ago, but FOUR RECENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS made walking from Clifton to Camp Washington and back a breeze, allowing you to snake through in way you never would have imagined before all the construction.
The walk (or run, or bike ride) begins in the Gaslight District, dumps you off on Central Parkway, and then sends you into Camp Washington. This is a good walk because, along with getting some exercise, you get a nonstop change of scenery.
Our journey begins at the corner of Clifton Avenue and Dixmyth – right by Good Samaritan Hospital. That “multi-use path” is new, and it’s a good way to start your walk.
Dixmyth takes you to Martin Luther King, at which point you take a right – and again you find yourself on a new walkway.
Turn right at Martin Luther King
While walking down Martin Luther King, you have the option of crossing the Hopple Street Viaduct – which you can do, but it is’t safe – or veering right and exploring a new path that involves two U-turns, and Voila!, you’re on Central Parkway.
If you take a right on Central Parkway and then walk until you reach the first light, you’ll be at Monmouth. If you take a left at Monmouth, you can walk over that bridge, which now has sidewalks on both sides due to construction that has taken place within the last few years.
Once you’re in Camp Washington, there’s lots to see and do. There’s Valley Park to your left, and Camp Washington Urban Farm.
If you stay on Monmouth, you’ll run into the Sign Museum, which is very colorful, even from the outside. Those are the current hours the you see on the sign.
Monmouth ends at Spring Grove Avenue, which, if you turn left, runs you past the Rhinegeist warehouse and some old factories, some defunct, some not. I don’t always walk all the way to Spring Grove, though. Often I turn left at Colerain, where there’s more industrial scenery that includes old factories that are still operating as well as some buildings where the windows have been bricked up. I often stop to grab a coffee at Mom ‘n ’em at 3128 Colerain Avenue and continue until I get to the intersection of Colerain Avenue and Hopple Street.
I don’t recommend crossing the Hopple Street viaduct to return to Clifton – it’s a bit dicey, whereas the Monmouth bridge and the intersection crossing Central Parkway are both safe. Once you’re back on Central Parkway, if you turn left and you’ll quickly find yourself at Clifton Hills Avenue, which takes you back to Ludlow Avenue.
It’s a nice, quick, picturesque walk where the scenery keeps changing – there’s plenty of natural beauty, you’ll see old warehouses and factories, houses, stores, a motel that may or may not be on life support, a school that’s undergoing renovation, etc., etc. It sounds like a longer walk than it is, and you fly through the first part because you’re going downhill. The only time you walk uphill is after you turn right on Clifton Hills Avenue to get back to Clifton – but by then you’ll be looking forward to visiting Ludlow Avenue to do some shopping.
Apartments for Rent Near the University of Cincinnati
Are you hoping to rent an apartment near the University of Cincinnati? If so, contact Gaslight Property, a family-owned rental company with deep roots in the Clifton community and an office in the Gaslight District. Gaslight Property has apartment buildings and rental homes all over Clifton, Corryville, and University Heights, which are neighborhoods close to UC.
To get specific information about apartments near the University of Cincinnati, visit Gaslight Company’s user-friendly website, which can tell you all of the apartments available within a specific neighborhood. Three of the neighborhoods listed on the website are located close to the University of Cincinnati:
Clifton-Gaslight District
Clifton-Corryville
University-Clifton Heights
Just click this link to begin your search:
https://www.gaslightproperty.com/find-a-property
You can also specify the size of your apartment, as Gaslight Property rents anything from a studio apartment to six-bedroom apartments. Gaslight Property also rents entire houses, and it’s pet-friendly.
To talk to a leasing specialist today, call 513.861.600. We’ll set you up with someone who focuses on rental units that match your needs, whether you wish to rent an apartment near the University of Cincinnati or in another part of the city.
Gaslight Property Has Homes for Rent
Gaslight Property has homes available for rent, and we’re eager to show them to potential renters. The homes we rent in Clifton vary in size, running anywhere from two bedroom to six bedrooms. Some are right across the street from campus, others are very close to campus, and we also have apartment spread all around Clifton. Pets are allowed in these homes, and some of the homes have parking.
If you wish to rent a home in Clifton (or rent a smaller unit), click this link:
https://www.gaslightproperty.com/find-a-property
Fill in some of the categories, and voila!, you’ll be looking at different options from a rental company that has been in business for almost thirty years. Gaslight Property is a family-owned business with deep roots in the Clifton community, and the company has a brick-and-mortar office in the heart of the Gaslight District.
To talk to a leasing specialist today, call 513.861.600. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll set you up with a leasing specialist who focuses on rental units that match your needs, whether you’re with to rent a home in Clifton or have something else in mind.
Buying Personal Protective Equipment and Cleaning Supplies on Ludlow Avenue
Do most people who live in or around the Gaslight District know how much is available in the way of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies? Probably not. Fortunately three Ludlow Avenue stores stock everything you need to keep your residence and workplace clean and to protect you from the spread of Covid-19 both inside and outside.
The store some people overlook is Ace Hardware. It turns out Ace has gone out of its way to stock the store with everything you need for this period. Among other things, Ace Hardware sells the following products:
Face Masks. Ace Hardware sells both individual masks and ten packs.
Face Shields.
Rubbing Alcohol.
Hydrogen Peroxide.
Cleaning Supplies, including products like Fantastik All Purpose Cleaner Liquid and disinfectant wipes.
Disposable Gloves.
Shoe Covers. Shoe covers are now considered Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to their Covid-resistant qualities.
Safety Glasses.
CVS also sells many of these above-mentioned items, including masks, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, hand sanitizer, cleaning products, and cleaning wipes. Much to their credit, they go out of their to keep everything stocked. This was the image that greeted me when I walked into the store on Monday morning:
And there’s also Clifton Market. An employee told me today that the store stocks as many items as it can for cleaning, including Lysol, hand sanitizers, and cleaning wipes, but they sell out very quickly.
Overall, it sounds like Ace Hardware is the closest thing we have to untapped resource for handling this situation.
The pandemic has been a challenge, but our businesses have done an excellent job of facing that challenge. Their commitment to community is why we’re happy to support these businesses.
Keeping the Gaslight District Safe During the Pandemic
Keeping the Gaslight District Safe During the Pandemic – Part 1: Food
Clifton has been challenged due to the pandemic that threw a curve ball into the year 2020.
The businesses in the heart of the Gaslight District are facing a particularly bumpy road. Our shops and restaurants need to keep employees and customers safe while still earning enough money to keep their doors open, and this is no easy task.
Fortunately small businesses in the neighborhood have done a great job of responding to this challenge. That includes the restaurants and other food-based businesses that have worked hard to ensure safety for their customers as well as their employees.
Clifton Market. Since the lockdown began, Clifton Market has been such a safe place for people to buy groceries that it has pulled in plenty of new shoppers who have witnessed the lack of safety measures in other grocery stores. The employees all wear masks, store social-distancing measure are in place (including Plexiglas windows and clear-cut signs). The Market also provides disposable gloves for those patrons who wish to use them.
The Market has set aside Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8am to 10am as shopping times for customers more vulnerable to the virus. During these periods only seniors or people with underlying health conditions can shop in the Market. On top of that, Clifton Market offers delivery service to at-risk customers.
The majority of the people who shop at Clifton Market wear masks, but yesterday an employee of the Market told me that the store has masks they will offer to customers who walk in without one. The masks won’t be there for you to grab when you walk in, but you will be asked to wear one if you start walking around without one.
Outdoor Seating. The Clifton Community, LLC (a joint venture between Clifton Town Meeting and the Clifton Business & Professional Association) has gone out of its way to provide outdoor seating so people can order carryout on and near Ludlow Avenue and have a nearby place to eat. At Clifton Plaza, seating has been added that allows for social distancing, and CBPA hired Hillary to help keep things clean and cheerful for guests. The benches at Telford Avenue serve a similar purpose, allowing people to eat outdoors (plus you can dine next to William Shakespeare). Another outdoor choice would be the benches surrounding Diggs Fountain at the corner of Clifton and Ludlow.
The Rooftop. When it opened, Clifton Bar and Grill’s rooftop offered a picturesque scenario for drinking and dining, but the fact that it’s outdoors provides an added safety element, as is also the case with the Plexiglas dividers they installed between tables, their mask policy, and their readily available hand sanitizer. We should also mention here that at Ludlow Garage the doors are often open, which is closer to eating outdoors, and a similar scenario exists when the huge windows are opened at Clifton Bar and Grill. Outdoor ventilation means the virus is less likely to spread.
Walk-up Windows. Ludlow Avenue has a couple businesses with walk-up windows, which, along with being convenient, add an extra layer of safety to food service. The Whole Bowl at 364 Ludlow Avenue serves tasty vegetarian food. You can call the new bakery, Ardor Bakeshop, at 272 Ludlow Avenue.
Did you know about Ambar India? Ambar India has seating behind the restaurant.
Don’t Forget About Arlin’s. Arlin’s has always had outdoor seating, and they serve food.
Finally, I should mention that I’ve ordered carryout at pretty much every restaurant on Ludlow Avenue, and the proper protocol has consistently been followed in regard to the virus.
Iggy and the Stooges on Ludlow Avenue
Iggy and the Stooges have come to Clifton—or their mural, that is. The artist who created the mural is C.F. Payne, and the work hangs beside the James Gang mural outside of Habanero’s and across the street from Captain Beefheart.
Talk about keeping good company.
It makes perfect sense that some sort of tribute would appear for Iggy in the Queen City, as one of the defining moments in his career occurred here. In June 23, 1970, at the Cincinnati Pop Festival, Iggy spread peanut butter over his body and then jumped into the crowd, who kept him afloat in an early example of crowd-surfing.
During that same year Iggy and the Stooges played two concerts at the Ludlow Garage, which has reopened, and the mural is two doors away from the historic venue. Like MC5, who also rocked the historic venue, the Stooges were a Michigan-based group who played a lot around the region during that period.
A seminal proto-punk band, Iggy & the Stooges reunited between 2003 and 2009, and Iggy Pop has also had a successful solo career and appeared in a number of movies.
Iggy has been to Cincinnati many other times, by the way. My first Iggy show was at Bogart’s around 1980 or 1981—something like that. The concert was sold out, but an admission specialist offered to let us in if we paid full ticket price in cash, to him.
I doubt we were the only people that evening who were extended that offer, and the room was beyond packed. Concerts used to start really late during that period, and Iggy was still going strong at two o’clock in the morning, and so was the crowd.
Then off went the lights and the sound, at exactly two o’clock in the morning. “The power blew” was the official report, but there were skeptics in the overstuffed crowd that took its sweet time filing out of the club, grouching the entire time.
They wanted more, and Iggy wanted more. No one believed that bit about the power.
But if anyone was going to make the power blow, it was Iggy.
James Gang Mural Now Hanging at Habanero’s
As we’re starting to see, Ludlow Avenue is being transformed into an art gallery devoted to great music.
The mural that went up this week is the second in a series of seven to appear on the street. Seven different artists chose to paint murals of a musician or band who played the Ludlow Garage in either its earliest incarnation or more recently.
The mural that appeared on the side of Gaslight Bar & Grill earlier this year portrays Captain Beefheart, whose bizarre-sounding music stood out even in the late 60s and 70s, when he first started to make records.
The new mural, which appears outside Habanero’s and was painted by John Maggard, depicts the James Gang. If you don’t know the drummer Jim Fox or the bassist Dale Peters from the band, you probably know the group’s vocalist, lead guitarist, and main songwriter, Joe Walsh, who after the James Gang folded embarked on a successful solo career and then joined the Eagles.
By the time the James Gang performed a four-night stint at the Ludlow Garage (December 31, 1969–January 3 1970), the trio was a national act with an album on a major label and good press courtesy of the Who’s Pete Townsend. They were also a popular regional act based in Cleveland.
While many people associate Joe Walsh with his solo career and his work with the Eagles, the music he made with the James Gang should not be overlooked. At times sounding like a power trio and at other times performing warm acoustic ballads, the trio released three memorable studio albums plus a live LP recorded at Carnegie Hall.
Released in July of 1970, the group’s second studio album, Rides Again, belongs in every classic rock collection. Their biggest hits, “Funk 49” and “Walk Away,” are still played on the radio.
And the live LP is loud, crunchy rock and roll at its finest. Listen to this version of “Stop” and imagine this same trio in the more intimate setting of the Ludlow Garage.
The Color-Drenched Paintings of Donna Talerico
Recently Clifton has adapted in order to address the changes brought on by the pandemic. This is true for businesses as well as artists, including musicians, writers, and visual artists. An art gallery located at 3408 Osmond (the old Clifton Post Office), Off Ludlow Art has been hanging art work in the front windows, and because Cliftonites have been walking a lot, we’ve had a chance to see some new paintings by Donna Talerico. A long-term Clifton resident who moved here in 1969, Donna has been a successful artist for decades, and these photos reveal why: combining her vibrant use of color with enticing locations (many of them in France), Donna does a superb job of setting a scene. Her paintings will be showing in the Off Ludlow Art Gallery through June 1, 2020, and everything is for sale.
Donna has also reached out to let people know that they can visit her studio, which is located at Studio 610, Pendleton Art Center, 1310 Pendleton Street in Over the Rhine. She’s usually painting there weekday afternoons from 2pm to 6pm, but she can also make appointments suitable to your schedule. And she’s taking the proper safety precautions. “Management at the art center is taking steps to make the building safe, and halls are far from crowded,” she said. “I will be wearing a mask.” Donna can be reached by phone (home 513-961-4205; cell 513-706-7917) or email (talericofineart@gmail.com). To see new work by Donna, click this link to her Instagram account. She also updates her website on a regular basis.
“My most satisfying work is unrestrained, spontaneous,” Donna has said. “I paint intuitively and do not tiptoe through the painting process. Often, subject matter is my interpretation of the culture and architecture of France. I concentrate on powerful composition and I like pushing the border between representation and abstraction—always shooting for loose edges and a more fluid, expressionistic style.”
