jacksparrow82

I agree with this. Keep it simple and consistent. Not crazy about the bearcat/reds theme, but it would be better than Metro's current theme.

I hope we end up with the ones that have the more rounded fronts. They look cool! These: http://www.caf.es/ingles/productos/proyecto.php?cod=4&id=622&sec=desc

These pics and videos of what our streetcar will look like are really exciting to see! This city has SO much to be excited about with this project underway!! We are really going to be the envy of cities all across the country.

That would kick so much ass!!

Here's an interesting idea....there are people in NYC trying to make use of some underground space originally used as a streetcar terminal. Wouldn't it be amazing if our abandoned subway tunnels got some creative use like this? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/855802805/lowline-an-underground-park-on-nycs-lower-east-sid?ref=discover_pop

About bikes and train tracks. I can testify that tracks can give bikes trouble if you're riding along next to them and try to cross them too slowly or without turning into them sharply enough. However, they're easy to learn how to deal with when you live with them everyday. For instance, I ride down Elm between 12th and 13th all the time (in front of music hall) and the first couple times I rode through there I almost had trouble, but quickly learned how cross them properly. No big deal.

Yes there are still a number of them around town. The ones that I remember seeing are being used as street lamp poles now. They are scattered about town, but some that I'm pretty sure of are located around 7th and Vine. I'm sure there are a lot more though, you just have to know what you're looking for. Just saw that someone posted a link above...

I just saw their new google map feature. That's definitely a big step up for them. I hadn't seen that yet. I don't mean to sound overly negative either. I just hope their service continues to improve for the sake of the project. There's a lot that still needs to change in the way that they run their routes. Especially with how their bus stops are laid out. There's no reason to have a bus stop every freaking block. I'd like to see them have fewer stops while at the same time making their actual stops a lot more visable and user friendly. For instance, they should have a route map for each bus that stops at that route that highlights exactly where each bus will go and stop. The majority of their stops now consist of little more than a 8X11" sign or an orange stripe on the phone poll. People should be able to walk a block or two to get to a real, properly labeled bus stop with a shelter to stand under and maps to look at. These are the basic things that need to be improved if they want to attract new riders and improve their service, especially for those who don't use the system daily. Again, in every other major city I've traveled (most recently Seattle, San Francisco, and NYC) bus stops have all the information you need to figure out where you need to go on that route. As a result, anyone can figure out which bus they need in a matter of seconds and feel confident getting on the bus when it arrives. I'm always so amazed at how easy it is to get around a city via their bus systems when I compare it to what I'm used to in Cincinnati. The first time I went to Seattle I was thrilled to be able to figure out how to get downtown from Bellevue within minutes of stepping out of our hotel and we were able to use the system all week to get pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. I was also amazed that all sorts of people used the bus system, it wasn't just for the poor, indigent population like it seems to be here. I want that sort of bus system here and I want to see it working in harmony with the streetcar system as well. There's no reason we can't have it. Otherwise I really fear the project will be at a major disadvantage compared to other cities with modern streetcar systems.

This brings up the one thing about this project that I'm not very happy about...That is letting metro run the system. Can anyone make any sense of that map of downtown with all the bus routes and streetcar route drawn out? Its impossible to read! You can hardly even see the streetcar line in there. I just think of how easy its been for me in other cities to pick up a transit map (rail or bus) and quickly figure out how to get from point a to b. In Cincinnati, thats next to impossible. Our bus system needs a major overhauling of all the routes, stops, maps, website everything. Its the most user-unfriendly system I've ever seen. Just had to get that off my chest:)

Twice in the last week now I've walked from my place around 12th and Vine all the way down to the new Lager house at the Banks and both times my friends and I commented on how nice its going to be to have the streetcar in place to take us that route. It doesn't seem like that long of a walk, but its actually a decent little trek all the way there and back. Especially if you're hungry or in a hurry. Great article by the way! Congrats to Kevin Osborne for such an informative, factual write up!

"Plus, I don't think that most suburbanites do a whole lot of walking around in their own neighborhoods, not to mention one that they think is dangerous." Excellent point and this is the root of the problem right here IMO. We live in an EXTREMELY auto-centric, suburban based city where the vast majority of people living here have no clue about any other way of life. Its no coincidence that the extreme ignorance and hostility towards public transportation and walking around downtown is coming from the same city where people actually ask about what highschool you went to because the majority of people living here as adults also grew up here. I can testify to this because I grew up in the suburbs here and was just as ignorant and afraid of downtown as any other suburbanite until I spent 8 years of my life away from Cincinnati visiting real cities and going to school. It wasn't until I moved to OTR 4 years ago that my perception of the neighborhood completely changed. Now there's nowhere else I would rather live.

That's hilarious! Don't hit on the streetcar girl or else!

Agreed, that section of Elm is unbelievable. And when the whole street is finished those buildings will be some of the most coveted in the whole city. That blue house with the beige trim is currently for sale if anyone is looking to buy! Right across the street from the new Washington Park!

A few more, it looks like they are planning on re-using the stone blocks from the street

Here's some more pics of the construction going on right now. I decided to walk over there today since its only a block from my place. John, feel free to use these for whatever you like. more to follow...

WLWT http://www.wlwt.com/video/30485604/detail.html Thanks, but darn it, half the audio doesn't work and you miss most of Ray Lahoods comments. I haven't found any other videos of this yet? Anyone else see any?

Has anyone found any links to the actual speeches given today? No one could actually fit in the room where they gave the speeches so we all just waited outside for the pictures basically. I'd love to hear what was actually said. Of course, our local media coverage was pathetic.

Here's the Enquirer's pathetic article about today's ground breaking. The map they showed doesn't even include the correct route (it still shows it ending at fountain square). http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120217/NEWS/302170045/Streetcar-project-breaks-ground-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

This is the funniest thing I've read on here yet!!! LOL!!!

Exactly, lets reiterate that...>State funding pulled from the #1 rated project in the entire state. This was done just completely out of the blue as soon as Kasich too office and started his reign of terror.

No, it's been pretty clear for years now that for some reason Duke as an organization has no intention of accommodating this project. Whether that's because they are against transit in principal or because they are simply maximizing their profits is beyond me. I will say that watching a corporation maximize its profit on the backs of citizen-paid ROW is disgusting. I thought Duke actually gave some money to the project already for some reason? 3.5 million is the number I remember? Am I mistaken on this?

By the way, COAST is having a field day with this too. They sent out an email today stating that they found a new way to kill the project and that everyone needs to show up at friday's meeting and blah blah blah. This won't stop us. The city will need to come up with the money somehow and just get it done.

I think I remember John Schneider saying that Duke was being overly cautious with its requirements for the utilities being moved at least 8 feet from the streetcar lines? I guess they are not listening to the engineers? How have other cities addressed these issues?

So, will the city be announcing this formally and making a big deal out of it, or are they just going to start utility work unannounced?

Boris and Natasha! That's good, thanks for the morning laugh!