osogato

There certainly are some haters on the cincinnati.com streetcar blog. If anyone would care to try to persuade them, the link follows (though, that site is so ploarized, it's probably not worth the effort): http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/2008/03/two-more-weeks-before-streetcar-vote.asp#links

I live in Pleasant Ridge and whole-heartedly support the streetcar. I think that anyone that lives in the inner-ring suburbs would be likely to support the streetcar because it will still benefit them now when going downtown or to OTR (where I work), in addition to the fact that getting a successful rail system started will be more likely to spur larger rail options in the future that could reach to all of Cincinnati's neighborhoods. PR was originally a streetcar suburb, and I hope to see it return to that status eventually.

Also want to thank those of you who spoke at the meeting yesterday. I was fortunate enough to catch a replay of the meeting on public access last night. You all made very good points. It was very convenient how Cranley almost "forgot" to allow public comments. Is that the format for all meetings, where the public speaks after the discussion has already happened among council members? Seems to me that it would be fruitful to have public comments earlier, so they could be addressed by the council.

Also, I think you're right that if Tarbell was still on council this project would be a reality much sooner. It's too bad that OTR's greatest advocate was replaced by a true politician like Qualls.

CincyDad, that is a very good letter. It is well-written, to the point, and clearly asks for a response as to what Qualls intentions truly are, rather than simply slamming her for stalling the project. I will be sending a similar letter soon. Please post Ms. Qualls response when and if you recieve one.

The basin seems to me to be the logical point to begin the project. The CBD is the dominant area of the city, so why shouldn't it be the dominant portion of the streetcar route? Obviously it shouldn't (and won't) be contained solely to the basin area, but this is where the majority of the jobs are, and it could do a lot to bring back more of the entertainment aspect that has been lacking (although is slowly returning). Anyway, the basin is only the 1st phase and once the uptown loop is completed, and the project moves on to additional phases (hopefully), who's to say which segment would really dominate the line anyway?

Agreed Rando. I'm drafting a letter to Qualls as we speak, although I should probably wait until I am less angry to proof it and send. It is just incredibly frustrating to have a project that could be so beneficial to the city continually pushed back. I'm beginning to regret my vote for Qualls in the last election. It seems to me that the majority of the citizens of Cincinnati want this project to proceed. It should be our representatives' job to do the will of the people. Apparently Qualls and Cranley missed that memo. :wtf:

Or a decade later (the Banks). Unfortunately that's how politics in this city work.

By the way, thanks for the update McMicken! (though I wish it was better news)...

If she's so pro-streetcar, why has she voted against every proposal to date? She's sure making a pretty good case that she is anti-streetcar.

Ugh. I have the horrible feeling that this project is never going to happen. Cranley and Qualls are doing a hell of a job throwing up roadblocks. Why do we need a connector up the hill in the first phase, when it could easily be added in the second? Let's just get some tracks in the ground downtown and the rest will fall into place, especially with federal matching. Do you think Council is just afraid to deal with this project, especially if we are heading into a recession?

Thanks for the responses. Here's hoping the streetcar system will be able to snowball into a larger county-wide light rail system. If anyone could post updates about the council meeting today it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I understand that streetcars are primarily used as "people-circulators" that work best at fairly short distances. I'm just curious as to what the furthest distance would be that would still keep the streetcar effective. Could a interconnected streetcar line operate effectively within all the neighborhoods inside the City of Cincinnati, or would light rail be more effective for the furthest extremeties? Would a streetcar line from Pleasant Ridge to the CBD be an effective mode of transportation for commuters, or would light rail be better?

Yeah, I don't see how the streetcar relates to IKEA at all. A streetcar isn't meant to take people long distances. We'd need light rail to move people all the way out to West Chester (which as was mentioned would have been possible had the light rail proposal been approved in 2002). And you would think that supporters packing council chambers to show support for the plan would be a good thing. Isn't the streetcar thinking outside-the-box to begin with? I don't get it...

I don't know what you want to call DC's rail system, all I know is that it works! I lived there for about a year and didn't own a car. The rail system was absolutely fabulous! No need for a car. While it's true the "subway" does travel above ground quite a bit, it is perfectly functional doing so, and the system is the easiest to get around out of any that I have been on.

I saw that article about a further streetcar study. That's all well and good, and I know that Bortz sees it as the next step in the process, but how many times have Cincinnati politics killed projects in this way? I can easily see the streetcar becoming the next Banks, where it will get bogged down in studies and committees, and nothing will ever come of it. Maybe I've just lived in Cincy too long and am too pesimistic about Council politics. I hope I'm wrong. I don't see why we can't get this thing started downtown RIGHT NOW, and then use the federal matching grants for the uptown connection, as was the original plan. It wouldn't need to be a stand-alone project downtown, because as soon as that leg is completed, federal matching would kick in and they could begin the uptown line.

I saw that Cincinnati was recently named the 10th best walking city in the country. Think about how much this could improve with the addition of the streetcar system! I'm not sure how many of the top 9 have rail transit: Cambridge, Mass; NYC; Ann Arbor, Mich; Chicago; D.C; San Fran; Honolulu; Trenton, NJ; Boston. I know at least 5 do (NYC; Chicago; San Fran; DC; Boston). http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS01/803040351/1056/COL02

Also, I also noticed that the Enquirer decided not to endorse the School levy on the ballot tomorrow, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were anti-streetcar anyway. It's times like these when I really miss the Cincinnati Post...

I wouldn't give the Enquirer that much credit. It is a notoriously bad newspaper, and is pretty much the laughingstock of the newspaper world. Have they printed any pro-streetcar letters yet? Isn't the point of letters to the editor to get the views of a VARIETY of citizens in the community? And, they should just flat out refuse to post letters like this written from people that do not even live in Hamilton County.

There's definitely room in OTR, no question about that. The problem with retaining the residents currently living there, is what happens when all this development takes off? Most likely, property values will soar, given the amenities in the area, and gentrification will occur. Current residents won't be able to afford increased rents, and new lower income residents will be priced out of the area. This is one of the hardest questions to deal with in historic preservation. There needs to be a conscious effort to keep the area mixed-income, and that is often difficult to maintain.

Sounds about right...

Yeah, right. Is there anything about Cranley that's not negative? He's been trying to sabatoge this project from the beginning, simply because it doesn't agree with his preferred uptown alignment YET. Wasn't the argument for using the riverbank TIFF financing that the Banks wasn't using it? Thus leaving the OTR TIFF for more redevelopment within the district? This sounds perfectly reasonable to me, if it is the case. Sounds like Cranley is just being a stubborn jackass as usual.

Good to know Laketa is so concerned about the goings-on of her city. She's probably texting about which of her boyfriend's ex-girlfriends to fight next. (Too mean?) Qualls sounds like your proto-typical politician. And it's also nice to know that Leslie Ghiz found the meeting important enough to show up for various parts of it. Hopefully Bortz and company will find the support to push this through. Any conclusions yet?

Yeah, I ended up getting stuck at work today too. Thanks for the updates cramer, keep 'em coming. I'm interested in hearing about the public comments. Hopefully enough supporters were able to make it to outnumber the critics, although I find that critics usually mobilize better than supporters on issues like this. Really sorry I couldn't make it. Stupid job.

Nice video of what the proposed route would look like from the streetcar: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080224/VIDEO/80221012/