VISION

A-to-Z Guide to Greater Cincinnati:
"Best Place to Live in North America"

One artist's conception of baseball,
football stadiums on riverfront

Two new stadiums and much more

BY RICK GREEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

On a cold, drizzly January morning, Cincinnati's first settlers laid anchor at what is now Public Landing and ambled up the Ohio River shoreline. Gazing north, the group of men launched the first vision for the settlement that later would become the heart of the Tristate.

A plat for streets was created. So was a map showing future home sites. Plans for a protective stockade were made, as well as potential sites for commerce.

''This could be one of the finest cities in the new American west,'' said John Filson, a Kentucky land speculator, writer and pioneer - and the man who gave Cincinnati its first name, Losantiville.

Flash forward to 1996.

On the cusp of a new century, modern day speculators, settlers and dreamers are conjuring up a new vision for the city that became the heart of an eight-county, three-state region.

Looking ahead to the next 20 years, Cincinnati-area leaders are envisioning:

  • A two-stadium sports complex that more than likely will grace the riverfront. When they open - expected to be 2001 at the latest - Cincinnati will have an intimate, yet state-of-the-art ballpark for the Reds and a large, 75,000-seat ''Jungle'' for the Bengals. Combined, taxpayers, corporations and the teams will pay more than half-billion dollars for the right to keep the teams in Cincinnati. There is some community support for putting the Reds stadium uptown at Broadway Commons, at the base of Mount Adams. But the Reds have resisted.

  • A $40 million aquarium along the Ohio River shoreline, most likely in Newport. A team of Cincinnati businessmen and Aquarium Holdings LLC - which is working on aquariums in Toronto, Las Vegas, New York and Paris - has agreed to build a privately financed, 100,000-square-foot, two-story aquarium on Newport's riverfront. It's expected to bring crowds year-round and spawn even more development, such as hotels and restaurants, on both sides of the river.

  • The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. For many slaves in the pre-Civil War South, freedom meant the other side of the Ohio River, and Cincinnati was a crucial stop on the Underground Railroad. This complex - envisioned for the river - could be open by 2002 and would be marketed as an international must-see.

  • The Quest Report, a recently drafted blueprint outlining Northern Kentucky's development through 2020, calls for an upscale shopping center that could be easily reached by Interstates 275 and 471.

  • A 600-foot tall Freedom Tower that would span the east and west banks of the Licking River in Covington and Newport.

  • A bustling retail and office complex on the block immediately west of Fountain Square. It is to be home to a three-level Lazarus department store and possibly a Barnes & Noble.

  • A new on-campus arena/convocation center for Xavier University in Evanston. The $39 million complex will house a 10,000-seat arena and a banquet hall and student dining facilities.

  • A rapid-transit commuter system that could link the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport with Paramount's Kings Island and all places in-between.

  • A continued renaissance in Over-the-Rhine, a decaying urban enclave less than 15 years ago. Bars, pubs, clubs and nightspots would continue to flourish, while other new projects - restaurants, apartment buildings and even specialty shops - would appear.

  • Continued growth in the downtown Aronoff Entertainment District. The collection of restaurants, shops, apartments and pubs - all centered around the new Aronoff Performing Arts Center - has been dubbed downtown's Backstage.

  • Regional schools to offer ambitious programs and plenty of computers and other high-tech learning tools. Cincinnati Public Schools is expected to remain a national innovator in cutting administrative costs and reforming how it pays for the costs of education - everything from lunch preparation and teacher contracts to reduced energy bills in school buildings.

    Regional leaders say this vision for Cincinnati is critical.

    ''It's been said without vision, a city dies,'' said John Williams, president of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

    ''We know that cities and the regions around them are living, breathing things that must change and adapt. For us to be a strong metropolitan area in the next century - in terms of employment, entertainment and education - we have to be visionary.''