OCtoCincy

^ Thanks for doing this! It really illustrates why a Streetcar line to Price Hill is kind of tricky... Streetcars traditionally have stops every 800-1000 feet and traditionally work better in high density areas. The nearly mile long stretch across queensgate passes such a low density area the cost would not be worth it. Now-- Perhaps a streetcar that extended from the Glenway crossing area down to Lower price hill and across 8th to downtown could exist. but I just don't think there would be much value in spending the roughly $30-50 per million a mile that a streetcar system would cost to go through such an unbelievably low density area such as Queensgate. In an ideal world... you would have light rail that stopped in most neighborhoods, with streetcars that are within just a few denser neighborhoods.

Has anyone driven by recently?? The Google streetview makes all of these properties look amazing- but it might be 2 years old. Someone could have bought them, kicked the tenants out, and let them deteriorate. The easiest way to stop this is to oppose councils rezoning and hope enough of a voice can stop that. There's no lawsuit, etc. Just a simple grassroots protest of the rezoning shuts down the redevelopment.

What about WCPO, Fox19, WLWT, etc- Anyword if Soapbox of CityBeat will at least write about it?

Cincinnati Streetcar Wikipedia page has been updated to include the 2011 ballot initiative. Pretty funny looking...

The most recent rumor was that a development would be announced early this Spring by 3CDC to build high rise condos at the site. It would involve ripping up 5th street similarly to how it was ripped up during Fountain square renovations- parking would be multi-leveled underground.

^ perhaps with the Banks filling up & the looming announcement of a residential high rise at 5th & Race demand for TP will grow? As much as I absolutely hate the tower place garage, I recently read that it's highly profitable and is the only reason the mall is able to survive. Ideally we could get the mall back up and running on it's own, and then replace that garage with something less offensive.

Before construction started they dug up a bunch of remains and had them moved. The portion that they are digging up for the parking lot is mainly where the school was, and had therefor had major construction occur about 50 years ago. The area where they dug up the remains is the narrow offshoot from the parking area (mainly under the old washington park school) to the 13th street exit. That neighborhood around WP and MH was originally home to an insane asylum, a homeless shelter, and an orphanage. Most of the dead were buried in the ground that the park and MH were built on: http://books.google.com/books?id=tTST7UFzncoC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=music+hall+remains+construction+skeletons+cincinnati&source=bl&ots=ca_QKrz_LG&sig=iaZaVAQ1kOyIO52dITUo2Kk_FjA&hl=en&ei=MVlYTZmFOIP68AbB-qmXBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=music%20hall%20remains%20construction%20skeletons%20cincinnati&f=false

^ OKI

Facts about budget: "Under the budget the city would spend more than $1 billion next year, $340 million of that in the general fund for operating costs. That's the fund that had the nearly $60 million deficit, which was reduced to $54.7 million after more than $4 million in unexpected income tax revenue came in late in the year. (The other $660 million is for capital projects and "restricted" funds like water works and sewers.)" - Cincinnati.com Also!!!! Cincinnati city budget runs WaterWorks. In Indianapolis it's a separate company that privately runs the water treatment system in Indianapolis that does the whole county. That's probably a large chunk of the budget- I'm sure there are countless other differences between the two city budgets.

Well- Indy is always republican, and the county is republican- the city-county government would nearly always be a republican government. I think more so then i fear of "streamlining", is the fear of GOP rule indefinitely on the city.

^ haha- i was so confused at first- I was like... one picture? really? Looks alright! Not my style, but I'm sure plenty of people will love it and it'll be a fun neighborhood.

"- The assistant city manager who was working on the streetcar plan full time and was paid from the city’s 2010 operating fund is now the project manager." Another completely ridiculous point... WHAT>!>! the City staff member who worked on the streetcar was paid for his job!!?!? BLASPHEMY. Do we pay other city employees too??? "- The details of how Cincinnati can get around the issue of Over the Rhine being a historic district has not been resolved and neither has the exact route or configuration of the 90 degree turns. " Considering OTR was built WITH streetcars in the 19th century, I think they can make this work... "- The proposed route is about 3 miles long and the estimated time from the Freedom Center to Vine and McMillan Street is 27 minutes and the plan is to have the streetcar stop running at 11 PM." - I'm sure it takes almost the same length of time to take a bus from the Freedom Way by the Freedom center to McMillan street (since you have to walk almost four blocks to Government square)- And WAY longer to ride a bike or walk (that hill is brutal!). I'm guessing the "green" party would prefer you drive a car instead. And 11PM is a completely guessed number. 12AM is much more likely.. the same time most busses stop- but neither of these times are decided upon.

This project can be easily stopped actually with little financial resources. City Council has to approve a zoning change- If 100 people show up opposed to the zoning change I think it could be stopped. If anyone has a little extra time, try to find out when that vote would be and send out an email!!!

Corryville is getting about $2 million this summer in streetscape renovations already (short vine) Bond Hill was supposed to get that money but it was contingent upon a roughly $2 million grant form the state government to redo that whole development area. Since the state grant fell through, the city felt the money would be better used in other neighborhoods.

"- To keep the persons who are getting on the streetcar from being run down by traffic in the parking lane, curb extensions will be added to stop the parking lanes from being used for rush hour traffic, plus the streetcars will stop in the traffic lane." How is this bad??? Are they advocating for more parking for cars??? That doesn't sound very "green" does it? I moved here from California- where we have *real* green parties that successfully work to ensure tax credits for solar panels, better water treatment systems, etc. The Hamilton County Green Party doesn't know a thing about the word green.

He travels a lot-- the way our city government is designed, the city manager and city council do all the work- the mayor is really a figurehead/cheerleader. His role is primarily to represent the city, glorify the city, and bring people to the city. I have a cousin who is the Executive Producer of JKL- but I had nothing to do with it! haha I agree that he should have said- we have lots of high rises going up, instead of a $400 million building. 90% of people won't know if that's a lot or a little- and I don't know why he said the price of the streetcar either. BUT i love that he passed out a reds cap-- that cap looked great- too bad it was too big for both guys. haha

ya- I'm not a fan of purists, who say all infill must basically replicate the surrounding architecture. I think 14/v is a great blend of new and old... Trinity Flats, not so much- City Home is alright. But I would hate for 3CDC or anyone else to be building replicas that look as though they are from the 1880's... that's just silly. About the Casino- I don't think they should build something that looks old- The only surrounding architecture is the jail and a few properties along Reading. They should do something that doesn't look like a giant Costco building (most casino's outside of Vegas have HORRIBLE exteriors). I actually do hope they do something modernish- metals, glass, etc. Since the typical stucko casino exterior is just disgusting and i doubt they'll use brick. The New Orleans Harrah's is surprisingly ok, while the Council Bluffs Horseshoe is just so ugly... http://wheresrooster.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IA-Horseshoe-2.jpg

^ wow...

^ will be there!

^ Sigh... but great article!

First off- I think we can all agree local firms are better than out of state firms for reasons that go beyond "qualifications" (a term that means everything and nothing at the same time). A local firm is more likely to ensure that it's profits are reinvested in the community. A local firm is more likely to use local employees, who then reinvest their profits at their local Kroger, IGA, etc. A local firm will have to see the product they worked on all the time, will be criticized if it's bad, and praised if it's good. An out of town firm can just leave when they build a hideous ugly project and have no one to answer to (as long as it's not also structurally unsound, etc.). Regarding minority firms, This is very very common practice in the construction industry now- The Banks has a MBE (Minority-owned Business Enterprise) goal of 20 something percent. They've used minority owned firms as sub-contractors throughout the entire process and.... drumroll please... The Banks are under-budget, and have had 0 work-stoppage accidents in two years. Amazing!!! The idea that there is only one qualified option for any one job is silly. I can find 10 great white-owned firms to do a job. I can find as equally easily 5 white firms and 5 minority owned firms to do just as good of a job. The point is, there are times when a community wants it's workforce to be representative of the community. There are dozens and dozens of small local subcontractors used in every major construction project. Setting a 20% minority-owned business goal does not in anyway harm productivity or costs. If the casino decides to set a goal, of a certain percentage of subcontracts etc. going to MBE's that's fine with me- It happens in nearly ever major development now-a-days. BUT If they say-- 20% of our employees will be (insert race here), that's absolutely ridiculous- At the same time, the government is doing nothing to force this one them, so really, if they make that decision.... It was the FREE MARKET. A private business owner agreeing with a private citizen to include 20% of one race in construction. That is still a free market decision...

Actually-- It is a public private partnership... just reverse from what you said. 95% of all rails that Amtrak travels on are private, and Amtrak pays private freight rail lines to use their track. The ONLY Amtrak owned ROW is the Northeast Corridor. Everywhere else in our country, the rails are privately owned. That's why there are speed caps that keep our trains so low, and thats why freight always gets priority on rails ensuring that passenger trains must wait. The only truly successful rail line in America... is the one where it's NOT a private public partnership.

He's just being hopeful- and trying to make it seem like a futile effort to stop the streetcar- it's a media messaging move- smart one too. I'm less confident than John that it's for-sure that they'll get 8700 valid signatures by February 28... but I definitely think it's possible. Either way- It's smart for us to assume the worst, and start spreading the word to EVERYONE about the dangers of passing this charter amendment -

The waitstaff at Lavomatic has changed dramatically in a year- I used to not be a fan, now I enjoy it truly. Senate is always packed, but their expansion next month will relieve that.

Ha- I have the scoop on Senate... They are expanding- The space immediately next to theirs is being divided in half, half will be theres, half will be someone elses. They are opening the arched walkway that they currently have closed to allow for going back and forth between the two areas. They hope to open the addition in March! I don't know a lot about what is going in right next to the expanded senate, however I've heard it will ALSO be food (this is separate from A Tavola which is technically one building over). I've also seen some awesome construction going on in the basement of the southern most Duveneck Building (the other buildings basement is for residents). They've opened the floor, added a staircase, and an employee of Senate said they are getting some small office space (for their manager) in the basement. In the northern Duveneck building, A Tavola has received their Italian made pizza oven and they are well underway with the interior build out. I'm sure they will be opening around late march as well.