OCtoCincy

This "eric deters is a lifelong democrat" rumor is really damaging to democrats. Eric Deters was the Chairman of the local GOP- he was a strong republican for years until he lost a primary in 2002 and changed to the democratic party to beat his former primary opponent- yet now because of rumors spread on here and also written on national blogs like DailyKos people think this is some lifelong racist kentucky democrat. ERIC DETERS IS A REALLY A REPUBLICAN. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/06/15/loc_former_gop_leader.html http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/07/04/loc_crowley_all-american.html http://news.lawreader.com/?p=1470

Ya, but you always seem to forget the massive federal subsidy that megabus relies on- AKA the interstates. There is no comparable federal subsidy to rail lines- most of the cardinals rail lines are over 100 years old- and have for this extended period of time needed almost no maintenance- by the same token, they are privately owned and passenger rail is given low priority. Amtrak's most profitable lines exist where tracks where the government owns the track (just like megabus is profitable where the government owns the interstate). I have nothing against megabus! it's a great option, at the same time- it's impossible to do a direct comparison.

It upsets me that this project is happening. The design is horrendous- It promotes cars entirely- people will drive from one end to the other. Very disappointing.

That's the same thing that Ghiz and Monzel say all the time. Does anyone really believe that they are pro-streetcar? If so, I've got a some magic beans to sell you. Great point-- Lippert says he's NOT against the streetcar, just that we need to wait and can't do it now. Hell- SMITHERMAN says he's not against the streetcar (I truly heard him say that), but that we can't afford it right now.

Why can't that come from PG? It's always from his friends, or his campaign staff. He himself has never publicly said anything pro-streetcar.

Overall I agree with Jake- While the buildings look crappy when you look up close-- The overall feeling is fun, neat and interesting- Once the storefronts fill up I'm sure it will feel very lively. If the 15 story office tower, the hotel or the condos are done at a higher architectural value, the rest will feel nicer as well. Already, the Moerlein Lager House looks like it will be a beauty and that should definitely help that side of the development. I'm hoping in future phases they increase the quality- All of this was financed and built during a major recession and was a huge gamble (nothing had been on the riverfront in decades). Now that it's obviously successful, I'm hopeful for more risk taking and higher investments from the developers

Great shot! Love it- I think in the long run, the biggest disappointment of Current at the Banks will be the shared semi-public spaces. They have an entire parking structure roof that could have been an area for residents to grill out, meet up, hang out etc, but instead, the accessible space is a very small portion of that with very little potential for use. In the second building, the public area is that tiny little pool and some small walking space around it. The 4th and plum pool isn't that much larger, but the shared area for residents seems much better.

Catherine Smith Mills is also against the streetcar. Cincinnati Blog has an article about PG. http://cincinnati.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-does-p-g-sittenfeld-stand-on.html LivingInGin- I heard rumors he responded (possibly to you) on FB saying I don't support it right now, and then deleted the tweet- Is this true?

This, as a standalone announcement, is a snoozer-- This as a trend of many companies moving downtown, leaving suburbs or perhaps NKY and moving downtown it's exciting.

If Sittenfeld doesn't support the streetcar, I won't support him. I misread your intention- apologies.

PG is by far the front runner right now for any non-incumbant. He has dozens of college age volunteers at every event- has by FAR the most money ever in the cities history for a first time candidate (will probably be posting above $200,000 at the end of the month- for reference, Qualls had 80,000 at election last year, Bortz had $170,000 at election, 100,000 at the end of June) and is AGAINSt the streetcar and is now getting support from COAST on their twitter page!!! Sadly, pro-streetcar people need to be ANTI-PG. We can't add anymore anti-streetcar votes to council. It's not to late for the streetcar to be stopped- we need a pro-streetcar majority on council. Yvette, Seelbach, Riveiro & Hollan are all good, pro-streetcar candidates, but sadly, none of them can compete with PG on both ground game and money. Seelbach will probably have the most of the four, but it's almost certain that it will be far less than half of what PG posts.

Nice pretty quotes on politicians pages mean nothing- THEIR quotes are all that matter. PG has yet to say the sentence, "I support the Cincinnati Streetcar" no matter who asks him.

More people on FB are saying that PG is against the streetcar. Richest candidate, and he doesn't support the streetcar- that's too bad.

^ He's often the most well funded candidate. If you don't like him, take the opportunity today to donate to a streetcar supporter, or a PAC that supports the streetcar.

Oh cool- I know the plan was June, but I didn't know it had opened at the beginning of the month- Is the pool open? Can anyone shoot a picture of it? It had looked incredibly small in the original drawings.

Smitherman & Co. took a huge blow this week. The Sec. of State has issued a directive forcing Hamilton County to stop pre-checking petition signatures. You now have once chance to turn in what you hope is the right number, and if you're short, you don't get a second chance. Forever, you've been allowed to pre-check, turn in 5,000, get told only 3,000 are valid, go back and get 4,000 get told 2,000 are valid, etc. Now, when you turn it in, that's it! and if you're short, you're screwed. This makes it significantly more difficult for anti-streetcar people to get the ~7500 needed signatures. They were able to have 2,000 verified before the directive went through.

I meant the building-- the second block of apartments which are still unoccupied. South of Freedom Way

Anyone know the official opening date for Block #2? I remember hearing June-ish.

I meant Acela & Northeast Regional- Silly me! But KJP! I'm sure you'll be happy to know you're wrong... by about $200,000,000 dollars! FY10 ticket revenue for Acela Express was $440,119,294 and Northeast Regional revenue was $458,105,798. And your total ticket revenue is off by $500,000,000. Total system wide ticket revenue was $1.74 billion in FY10. I'm always happy to correct you when it's for such good news. I think if they expanded service on routes where they already have limited service (cough, cough -- OHIO!), Amtrak could start to enjoy some economies of scale. The stations are already there. Servicing and support facilities already exist. But the east-west routes through Ohio have just one daily round trip on them, which puts a big financial burden on those lone trains. The Lake Shore Limited is seeing the fastest growth in ridership and revenue among any of Amtrak's 15 long-distance train routes. And consider that the one daily round trip of the Lake Shore is generating more ticket revenue ($19 million so far in FY2011) than the 32 weekday/16 weekend day trains in the Bay Area-Sacramento Capitol Corridor ($16.7 million) although the Capitol Corridor (not to be confused with the Chicago-Washington DC Capitol Limited) carried 1,122,377 riders so far in FY2011 vs. 253,517 riders on the Lake Shore. Definitely-- And while some lines will never ever come close to being profitable (Sunset Limited lost an average of $400 per rider in FY09) others that only lose a $20-30 per rider might finally be breaking even. My ideal Amtrak situation would be where the government no longer subsidizes operating costs, and is then able to increase federally funded capital projects (thereby making the lines better overall, and increasing operating revenue further, etc.) Amtrak would never be expected to be so profitable that it could continue to expand it's lines and buy new equipment, etc. without state support, but it's within reason that they can balance their operating budget soon.

I highly doubt they will post a profit- but their farebox recovery is getting better and better every year. The only two lines that traditionally make a profit are the NEC and Acela- most other lines however are losing less money than they usually do. Every month they post major revenue gains- As long as expenses aren't rising by the same amount, this could be a GREAT year for the efficiency of Amtrak.

VERY interesting. They have been collecting signatures since late Feburary. 3 and a half months and only have 2,000 valid signatures. They have 4 months left to get the other 5,000. I don't think it's a given that they will get it. Of course summer helps, we had a wet spring, etc. but they will need to <i>more</i> than <i>double</i> their valid signatures in basically the same amount of time.

A Tavola opened on Tuesday- Been packed both Monday and Tuesday nights. Looks like we have a new restaurant Row-- Lavo, Senate, Abigail Street, Bakersfield Taco place & A Tavola all on one block of Vine in OTR!

The discussion came about because no one could provide a line item from the budget for moving sewer or water- is that paid for by this project orMSD and CWW

And- just as a reminder-- If you don't like these buildings, you're sure to hate U Square (formerly uptown commons) same design firm (CR Architects) and the most recent designs look almost the exact same.

I'm guessing the banners are at their appropriate locations... Wine Bar has a cut away- looked like they were framing out the inside. Shot from across Mehring Way