oneglove

I was told at one time by someone official that a marina wouldn't happen. I forget if it was because of the location of shipping lanes or the logistics of where the city sits on the bend of the river. Either way, don't hold your breath.

There's a lot of talk about Metro's increased cost because of the program. Could someone explain to me what those would be beyond swipe cards?

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.asp?id=9704 UC and Metro Extend Bus Contract Through This Summer The contract between Metro and the University of Cincinnati has been extended through the summer, with changes for university bus riders. Date: 2/25/2009 By: Greg Hand Phone: (513) 556-1822 UC ingot The UC*Metro agreement that has subsidized bus rides for University of Cincinnati students, faculty and staff has been extended through September 2009. While UC riders will continue to enjoy subsidized fares, the extended contract will require riders to contribute to the cost of the contract. <b>For spring quarter, students will pay $10 for a UC*Metro card. Faculty and staff will pay $50. For summer quarter, students will pay $15 for a UC*Metro card. Faculty and staff will pay $60.</b> For information about the new cards required for spring quarter at the UC*Metro Web page http://www.uc.edu/af/facilities/go_METRO.html “The UC*Metro program has been extremely successful,” said Rick Wiggins, UC director of facilities management. “The user fees included in this contract extension recognize the additional costs accepted by Metro. While the university will continue to subsidize riders, the additional costs should be paid by the riders who make use of the service.” Approximately 10,000 of the 47,000 faculty, staff and students at UC make use of the UC*Metro program. Winter quarter UC*Metro cards will remain valid through April 30. The last day to register for a winter quarter Fare Card is Saturday, April 11. Registration for spring quarter UC*Metro cards will begin Friday, March 27. Spring quarter cards will be valid through June 29. Summer Quarter 2009 UC*Metro cards, available in late June, will be valid through September 30, 2009. The UC*Metro contract initially took effect in May 2007. Financed equally by UC Student Government and by the University of Cincinnati, the contract has allowed students, faculty and staff to ride Metro buses at no cost to riders who displayed a UC identification card. Negotiation for a contract extension began in July 2008. A contract modification in autumn quarter required riders to apply for a UC*Metro card. Use of this card, Wiggins said, provided solid data to evaluate how much of the UC community was using the service, and to accurately measure the additional costs absorbed by Metro. Negotiations continue to extend the UC*Metro contract beyond Sept. 30.

seriously, if you build a transit center, it should be a center for your transit.

sounds like something worth visiting, very unique ideas!

There are many in Clifton as well

Anyone been to Washington Platform? I've been past it a lot but never gone in

It's too bad the city didn't pass an ordinance to do the exact opposite: Obstruct the views of the building, so us poor citizens wouldn't have to be reminded of the complete lack of concern of urban design.

welcome to cincinnati

So what does everyone think would save tower place? Can it survive as a mall? What stores would it need? If not a mall, then what?

ditto

my church!

There are 2 in Hamilton, I'm not sure if there are any others in the metro

They're nice in the winter to cut through from place to place but I agree that I wouldn't miss them. Is the interior space leased from the buildings? In some instances it probably takes up what would be leasable space, but then it also is a traffic generator. And who is responsible for maintaining them, building owners, the city? I need answers!

Honestly, I think a lot of people would be more than happy to take the painted line system the way you just described it. I still think that fixed rail, logically, will spur more business investment, but I wouldn't mind the system you described. Actually, I enjoyed taking the trolley in the summer to go get lunch. And DanB I never said it was guaranteed, but it seems to me that city hall is pushing this plan because they have seen it have a positive return in other cities and think it could help revive OTR, which is in their interest.

Yes DanB, the city has an interest in seeing a massive section of it's urban core redeveloped and instead of being a drain on resources actually contributing to the city. Diabolical, I know.

No one on here is talking about the streetcar and light rail like they are the same thing. I'm not sure where you're getting that. They are both public transit options which many people have said.

The environmental debate is interesting but I would think that streetcars would have a clear advantage over air quality in the city, which is certainly a concern. Ohio definitely has a problem with burning coal but I find it hard to get real excited about burning diesel as a true better solution. Also, I'm not educated enough about the issue to reply to your incentive argument (though hopefully someone else will), I'd imagine the argument could be made that they work together. There have been subsidies and investment into OTR, perhaps the streetcar coupled with those investments could really turn it around.

Understandable, there's been a lot of talk on here about different possibilities about funding mechanisms (though you might have to dig back a ways to find them) but I don't think there has been any official possibilities from the people that matter.

Jeffrey, Do you have the information about the occupancy rates? Obviously Dayton has declined, so I'm sure your information points to the truth, number of occupants just isn't an appropriate statistic to prove what you're trying to prove. Proctor and Gamble fills 2 whole buildings in Cincinnati, is it a problem that there is only 1 tenant? That said I really appreciate the effort to sort through the information and really liked the visuals.

dean, how do you respond to the development impacts of a fixed rail system over a rubber tire system? thanks for coming here to provide an opposing view. though i wish both sides would avoid potshots.

I'm asking about Cincinnati. I hope you are wrong that they havn't figured out how to fund the operation because proposing to build a system and not having some sort of revenue in place, or even a plan to have a revenue stream in place (beyond fares) to subsidize operations is ...well...incredible, really. I've asked this question repeatedly now and neither the proponents nor opponents can answer it. What gives? It's like jdm said. They just aren't there in the process yet. The RFQs were to design, build, and operate the streetcar, so those costs and how to pay for them are not finalized.

Pretty interesting look, but I wonder why you chose to use occupants. If 1 occupant takes up the entire building, then I wouldn't call that a decline.

Shouldn't this be NoBro? I guess it would probably be misleading given Columbus's demographics, and might even be considered discriminatory. Oh and nice theater.

that guy looks like a blogger