Jeffery

You all realize what a national black eye this is going to be if this streetcar project is defeated. At least for progressives and urbanists (if there is such a thing). And especially since projects like this (including light rail, which is different but similar in that its rail transit) are generally supported elsewhere. Including places considerably more conservative than Cincy (like the Salt Lake area...AKA 'Wasatch Front') and Charlotte. It will again confirm certain negative stereotypes about backward, benighted & conservative Cincinnati (and perhaps about Ohio as well)

I'm trying to think of my favorite Chicago street names. OK, here's one: Canalport Avenue. This is maybe not so much the street itself (wich is rather short and I was on only in the past few years), but what it means to me, the visuals... Canalport Avenue is an exit on the Dan Ryan, the exit after that expressway leaps up out of that long cutting that traverses the South Side, the one that used to be lined with housing projects. As freeway leaps over the Chicago River you can see the grand panorama of the Loop skyline to the right and the inner city urban skyline of church steeples, loft factories, "A Frame' houses, and water towers, not to mention the black heavy metal of the lift bridges over the river. Canalport Avenue; the inner heart of Chicago. And, for me, I usually saw this in that golden hour late afternoon/early evening light, the city postively glowing yet shadowy in the setting sun, as we drove into the city after the long drive across Indiana. So Canalport Avenue. A personal verbal shorthand for complex of images and emotions that "the city" holds for me...the thrill, atmosphere, and energy of urban American, the old parts of the cities of the Midwest. Deepest and most intense Chicago.

^ These ad-hoc partnerships (like JEDDs and I think other forms of revenue sharing) and multijurisdictional special purpose districts are about as close as we come to regionalism. Eventually there is going to be a breaking point for declining core cities where revenues dont match expenditures. So far urban areas in the state have been able to match cuts with reductions. In some places, like Camden NJ, the state actually took over the city for awhile, or took over financial management. But they also ended up subsizing Camden govt, too. I think there was some sort of state recievership thing for East St Louis as well. That would be the end-state. The local government as ward of the state. As for sprawl, ad hoc arrangements can facilititate it. The TIF that funded Austin Road interchange on I-75 was a multijurisdictional effort by the suburban cities and townships around the interchange. A case of regional cooperation to facilitate sprawl.

The west end shot in B/W I really like. The one with the bay window. The Hartke one is nice too. Actually they all are but those jumped out at me. Good eye!

A few favorite Louisville street names since they are sort of evocative of that city for me: Dumesnil (you have to be 'from there' to know how to pronounce it right) Magazine Storey Avenue (reminds me of 'Storeyville', but no connection with that city downriver) Ormsby Gaulbert Garvin Place (just sounds like your in the city for some reason...it is in the heart of town) Barrett Grinstead Shelby and Preston (just sounds "Kentucky" to me) Saint Catherine Poplar Level (used to confuse me...finally found out what this means....a level is like a flatland) ...and the ever popular alleys: Baseball Alley, Billy Goat Strut Alley, etc. ....and the 'street roads'. 7th Street Road and Third Street Road. "Old Shep"...Old Sheperdsville Road, but locally shortned to Old Shep. In the suburbs there are two that I thought funny. Eve and Adam. Only two streets in a subdivision called 'The Garden Of Eden".

America Street ....in Dayton's "Old" North Dayton, the old 'european ethnic' neighborhood. Probably the location of the street makes the name more poignant.

And here I thought White Plains was some suburb of NYC. Its considerably more high-rise-office than I expected. You should do a shoot of Yonkers. Ive been reading about the place and it sounds really schizophrenic...industrial/ethnic (or used to be) mixed with commuter suburb.

I really like those Erie/Washington sets because ..besides capturing that neat light and clouds yr capturing the streetscape, the "feel" of that part of town. Reminds me that I keep on telling myself that Toledo is 'just up the road' and I should do a quick road trip there. Maybe for Labor Day weekend?

Wow..where is this?!?: It looks like it should be in Texas or Oklahoma or someplace out on the praries. Not "urban" Ohio. This is a great shot..... in various ways!

Heres a question to those who are familiar with both places... ...does Columbus seem more 'brick' to y'all than Dayton. It seems that in Dayton they started out building in brick then switched to mostly wood construction sometime in the 1870s or 1880s (except for the more elaborate bourgouis housing). In Columbus it seems they continued to build in brick later. Or is this just my imagination?

Im really liking that King-Lincoln stuff. I remember driving through there and being suprised. These remind me of Louisville-style houses: ...with the way the dormer is pulled to the front so it is flush with the front facade. Thats a common trick you see in Louisville foursquares.

...i figure its like finding a reliable mechanic or good barber. You do develop a relationship, and I would need to have a place to rely on for getting repairs done. Still havn't bought a bike yet, and probably will put off this purchase due to...get this...car repairs (fixing the AC), setting me back on my budget. I think I've visited most of the bike shops in Dayton now...maybe with a few exceptions. I think I probably will need to special order the bike. I've heard its possible to buy bikes online, but Id prefer to go through a shop to get one. I think I will try to get that bike I saw at gay pride...this guy was riding this beautful enligsh racing green bike with lights and ack rack and a basket and fenders...just what I wanted...it was called an Electra. Anyone ever heard of that brand. They supposedly sell them at Kettering Bike Shop (though i didn't see one when I was there).

^ This quote is priceless: ...yet you hear whats left of the corporate leadership in Dayton...the CEOs of Reynolds & Reynolds, Woolpert (engineering & design firm), NewPage (spinoff from MeadWesvaco) and TerraData (spin off from NCR), they preferred locating in suburbia. ....with at least two of the CEOs or corporate leadership of these firms quoted as saying as thats where their staff wants to be. In fact I heard this verbatim from the CEO of TerraData (sp) at a panel discussion, as to why he located out near Lexis/Nexis, then out to Austin Road area. That a suburban location was sort of a retention/recruiting tool. Suburbia as a "better location' desired by staff was also the justification given for the R&R relocation to Research Park (east side of Kettering) Like I have so often said (eleswhere, not here) the business leadership in Dayton have totally, utterly, completely missed the boat when it comes to locating in the city. The only firm that did do this was a relo from Richmond, VA, who built a new mid-rise downtown. Presumably Vigininians aren't as down on downtown as Dayton biz types.

This is starting to sound like the infamous subway.... ...which also shows it is possible to get construction well underway and still abandon the project. So, has there been any polling on this upcoming referendum y'all are having?

This is a bigger deal than sprawl, as this tax break bidding war causes local governments to slit their own throats, revenue-wise, to attract companies. THe report does mention the ED/GE program in the Dayton area as a bright spot, but its a weak program.

Thanks for that link! CNT does some great stuff...just by looking at their other stuff, too, on Chicagoland.

Gas is going up again!

Ragerunner hasnt posted this, so I will. From the BBC: US Job Creation Stalls in June ...For Ohio, June is usually the peak month for employment, when the job creation starting from the winter low starts to peak. So this is actually not good news. The key note is this: "....The poor result was driven by continuing layoffs by the public sector - where 39,000 jobs were lost - and a much weaker-than-expected 57,000 jobs created in the private sector..." The private sector number is whats key for me. We can expect to see more public sector layoffs due to the ongoing and upcoming cuts, but the weak private sector numbers is what one should watch. Also, this is a bit of a lagging indicator, but it indicates the private-sector economy was weakening, as has been reported upthread. Also, similar news as reported by RTE: US Jobs Growth Slows Signifigantly "...Details of the report showed widespread weakness, though factory payrolls rebounded 6,000 after contracting in May for the first time in seven months, with the recovery reflecting a step-up in motor vehicle production. Construction employment fell 9,000 last month after declining 4,000 in May..... .....The report also showed the average workweek fell to 34.3 hours from 34.4 hours... But there is a bright side: "....Average hourly earnings slipped, more evidence that wage-driven inflation is not a risk."

Still riding the bus! Even more so now, since the AC in my car is broke. Even with the infrequent driving that I do things are breaking down. One thing that differs from the RTA of old is that the AC is working on most of the busses I ride. More often than not. This wasnt the case with when I was riding back in 1989 or 1990....in fact the uncomfortable buses turned me off on RTA back then. A "Power Rider"? There used to be things called "power users" in computer world. People who knew all the features of a software or really knew their way around it. Now Im not going to say that Im that way on the bus, but this past weekend, or week or more, I really used the bus for odd hours and errands and stuff. Nearly totally forsaking the car except for a very uncomfortable drive to & from Cincy for Pride. I actually tried to take the bus to The Greene, that disgusting lifestyle center right on the county line. Yes there is a bus stop 'sort-of' across the street from it. But the buses dont go one the property. And MY bus didnt go near it....so I had a bout a 30 minute walk to the shopping center along Dorothy Lane, from the old "Rikes Kettering" shopping center (Dorothy and Woodman). THis was bus 23....which actually DOES go on a store property, it goes into the Meijer lot, and theres a nice stop, with bench, right close to the front of the Meijer store, too. Nice to see that. The stop at Rikes Kettering was nice, too...tree shaded and with a bench and sidwalk to the shopping center lot (didnt half to walk on the grass). Whats nice is that this is ALSO close to Aldi...so I have a single-seat ride to either Meijer or Aldi if I want to go grocery shopping. Incidentally, I went to the Greene because I was told that there was a bike shop there. I was told wrong. There was a bike shop there at one time, but it closed, so said "guest services" info booth. So not much reason to hang out at the Greene so I walked back. Busses and Nightlife Believe it or not I actually am doing this! Mixing bus transit with live music. On weedays I go to Canal Street Taverns' "Muscians Co-Op" open mike night. I want to sort of be a regualr there, and also enjoy hearing the local singer sonwriter stuff. Turns out I can do this pretty easy. Get off my work bus, go to downtown library AND/OR a coffee shop or tavern to kill some time before Canal Street Tavern opens up. Then I take the next -to-last bus home. Or I take the very last one...the "Last Train to Clarksville" as I call it (obscure ref to an old Monkees' song). This is a bit too late, but I hear enough. Thinking this might not work on weekends though, since the music seems to start later on Fridays and Saturdays. But no cover for this open-mike stuff. Turns out I might be able to start going to the Drinking Liberally events at the Trolley Stop in the Oregon again, and mix it in with the trad music jam they host there. I was to maybe two of the DL events, so might want to start going to them again, just to meet a few like-minded souls. Saturday Evening By Bus An on Saturday I mixed art and a short pub crawl...and the bus. This time I took my bus (Bus 17) to the "line-up"...when all the busses arrive at the downtown hub at the same time. I used to thing this was nuts and bad schedulling, but I now see it as the one best time to make a transfer! In this case I transfered to the old Bus 4..the Xenia Avenue/Linden bus. Took it out Xenia to Linden, got off and walked to an art show in the upper floors of an old loft factory off Linden. Cool stuff! Then walked back downtown through the Huffman & fringe of the St Annes Hill area. Sort of did this leisurly, since it was "golden hour", just before sunset. By the time I got downtown, had more time to kill, went to a tavern again, and found a freind quite by accident. We had a few drinks, then it was off to the hub to catch the bus home. The next to last one. Was thinking I could have stayed later, had a few more, and catch the very last one. But glad I didnt Reason why was that when I was at the hub...and it was sparse that time of night....there was this one younger guy..maybe early 20s....playing these bongo drums...the smaller ones not the tall ones. And doing a good job of it. Not asking for money or anything, just playing for the hell of it. A nice grace note to end the day. Something I wouldnt have seen if I had stayed, or if I drove. You get to be among people more when you ride the bus.

Seeing those overhead wires in person allows you to realize how much of a non-issue they really are. Its a non-issue in Dayton, too, since we still have trolleybusses. There are overheads on most of the main streets leading out of downtown, for the busses. So, are there any warm fuzzies yet on how this issue might play out at the polls?

There are some small things that catch my eye, like the hills in the backround with the houses in them. That might be a neat place to live, with good views over the city? Also, note the trees or landscape in those hills...seems to be more scruffy/pines maybe, vs the fuller deciduous trees we have. The place probably has a very different "feel" or "atmosphere' that Ohio, just by nature of the landscape and maybe climate. Otherwise this looks like a VERY pleasant city. Nice street trees, yes, but also the mix of old and new. And all those bikes!!! Ohio has a longway to go with bike culture before it gets to where Portland appears to be at w. bike use.

I think this was the case in Dayton. Too late to the game, and when the regional economy stalled & sank after 2001, the trend to inner city loft/apt conversions and infill stalled, too. This is just now starting to change with two small (but for Dayton large) infill projects underway.

Brookings has this that might be relevant: The Geography of Immigrant Skills ...you can infer by this report that the two cities in the lower Midwest that have been doing well, economically (Columbus and Indy) have also been getting more immigrants of all types.

I think its fun to cogitate on this stuff. Its what Stewart Brand (who is one of those baby boomer types) writes about in his book "The Clock of the Long Now" . The clock is sort of hair-brained in and of itself, but the concept of very long term thinking isn't...fortunatly the book is more about long term thinking not that clock. But in this case im thinking what it would mean for Ohio, for the cities here, as we move into this demographic transition. We're getting early warnings of it with these census stats.

I think there's a lot of denial about this. Yet, if you look at maybe Akron and Dayton, the economic activity that remains and is adding work are professional, scientific, and technical. Then there's "Eds and Meds" but, in Daytons case, Feds, too. In Akrons case I think there is some sort of scientific/chemical engineering specialization around polymers, too? So you see concentrations in this type of emigration, what Graymayre is talking about re science and technology. I think you see this with those stats I posted about Dayton having a relatively high concenration of high-skilled/high-education immigrants. More of this would be necessary if there is indeed an increase in demand for technical professionals. A place that is seeing this issue is Germany. They have the demographic problem with declining birthrates and a shrinking German population, so are now tryingh to recruit engineers and maybe other technical professionals. I can see this becoming the case in Urban Ohio. Where you'd see a lot of what TiBedeon is talking about...the growth of a poorly educated underclass (representing widespread downward intergenerational mobility), but also shortages of people with high quant skills to staff the science/engineering/IT jobs. One can envision a real viscious cycle developing as population declines, meaning even less services work. But there will probably be a big demand for terminal care/palliative care/assisted living as we move into an era of the Great Die-Off. So your going to see much smaller urban areas...population wise. And after the Great Die-Off less demand for medical and nursing home and hospice type facilities and jobs.