Elsewhere

New Bookstore to Open in Downtown Cincinnati: exciting news.

Stepping Up to Restore Cincinnati’s Neglected Pedestrian Stairways: great write-up on Spring in Our Steps.

Best of Eco Chic Design: our Backyard Habitat Seed Bomb Kit gets some love from The Barn Light.

Synergicity: Reinventing the Postindustrial City: currently at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, an exhibit about transformation in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis, and Peoria.

A Miami Neighborhood Begins to Bristle at Its Own Success: frustration in Wynwood.

If Americans Don’t Like Walkable Cities, Why Aren’t They Cheaper?: just that.

Mapping Asmara: all about cartographic representations of Eritrea’s capital city.

Casino Theater by Zettel & Rapp

The old Casino [later Regal] Theater is located at 1201 Linn St. in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood. It was designed by Zettel & Rapp and opened in 1913.

The Rookery by Burnham & Root

Designed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham in 1888, The Rookery is a grand office building located at 209 South LaSalle St. in the Loop in Chicago. Originally 11 stories tall, it is an early icon of the Chicago School of commercial architecture and is considered to be the oldest standing Chicago high-rise.

Elsewhere

Exploring Cincinnati, Mayoral-Style: Mayor Mark Mallory shows off the Queen City in the NY Post.

Nineteenth Century Covington Mansion Demolished: because Walgreens plans to build a store a block away from its current one.

Weekly Farmers Market Coming to Washington Park: Mondays this summer [the one day that Findlay Market is closed].

Seeds of Creativity: 10 Etsy Favorites: Lark Crafts likes our 10 Seed Bombs with Slinger!

Windy City Hoops: the city of Chicago has turned to crowdfunding to expand its teen basketball program.

Why All Your Impressions of Detroit Are Wrong: astute writing from The Urbanophile.

360 Panorama of London: just that.

Elsewhere

Here’s an Inside Look at How Historic Union Terminal Is Falling Apart: yikes.

Losing Avtar Gill Is Like Losing a Skyline Chili Ingredient: on the passing of a true Cincinnati character.

Grant Could Expand CoSign to Other Neighborhoods: fingers crossed for CoSign to grow!

Sunday Zen: just some pretty pictures of Cincinnati’s Bellevue Hill Park.

Museum of Science and Industry’s 2013 Black Creativity Exhibition: Over-the-Rhine’s own Cedric Michael Cox is exhibiting in Chicago through 24 Feb.

A Guide to the Latest Wedding Favor Trends: The Bridal Detective likes our personalized seed bomb favors!

Manhattan, Unchained: Fighting 7-Eleven: get up, stand up!

Imperial Theatre Ghost Sign in Over-the-Rhine

For a while, the old Imperial Theatre at 282 McMicken Ave. in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati was a porn theater and burlesque venue, and then later a neighborhood church and a furniture store. When neighbors suggest that there ought to be an independent movie theater around here, this is the place that comes to mind.

“Hipster” Ghost Sign in Chicago

This little “hipster” ghost sign is located at North Clark St. and West North Ave. in the Old Town/Near North Side section of Chicago, right down the street from the Chicago History Museum. With a mustache and bowler hat, it advertised an unknown bank with the slogan “The old-fashioned neighborhood bank in the Germania Club Building.”

Stately Sandwiches by Kelly Pratt

Happy New Year! Let’s start off 2013 with sandwiches! Chicago-based Kelly Pratt has an ongoing food-and-place-and-photography project called Stately Sandwiches, which entails researching, creating, photographing and eating sandwiches for all 50 US states. So, Kentucky gets the hot brown above, New York gets the reuben, etc.

Top 10 VisuaLingual Posts of 2012

2013 is practically upon us, so let’s check out the blog posts that got the most hits this year. As always, there are repeats from 2009, 2010 and 2011, plus some surprises.

Sam’s Meats & Eats Ghost Sign in Over-the-Rhine

Happy Thanksgiving! This holiday really boils down to meats and eats, don’t you think? The RC Cola-branded ghost sign for Sam’s Meats & Eats is located in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati on West McMicken Ave. near Mohawk Pl.