LincolnKennedy

With all due respect, that's bullshit. The Mayor doesn't run the City, the manager does. While one can criticize the Mayor's performance, certainly traveling to have a first hand experience about major new investment can not be a legitimate cause for criticism. One should be applauded for doing that. Also, this "on the City dime" nonsense is absurd. The City lost way more on the Convergys deal that was negotiated when Leslie Ghiz was at the Solicitor's office than from any foreign or out of town travel by the Mayor. I'd post a video clip of from Office Space of the characters sitting in traffic if I cared enough to find it and to learn how to do that sort of thing.

Okay.

I thought I my statement was clear, but I guess it wasn't. What I was saying was: 1) Given the anti-streetcar language is on the ballot, and given the suggestion to get Biden involved, 2) no federal politician will do anything about this. This sinks or swims based on local people. What one can take from Obama/Biden is the successful example that direct voter contact makes. People need to be convinced this is important. People need to be told that this project doesn't effect the operating deficit. People need to realize how this charter amendment hobbles the city in so many ways. So get off Facebook and the blogs, and organize citizens who care to talk to their fellow citizens. Because ultimately this is about making people's lives better, and if they don't think this will improve their lives, and you/we didn't do anything to try and convince them, didn't actively engage them as people, as individuals, as human beings with legitimate concerns, then I guess we never really thought it was as important as we said.

^The best thing anyone on this blog could get from Obama/Biden is the example from their presidential campaign. Volunteer with Cinccinnatians for Progress and target voters, go to their doors, and talk to them about how important this issue is for Cincinnati. A bunch of parties and happy hours aren't going to get this thing passed, voter contact will.

I have to disagree with the last sentence. The issue comes down to this: the city owned waterworks can sell excess service capacity to other municipalities and counties. However, they can't build any capacity to directly tap this market; rather, anything they build has to have some direct benefit for people in the City. So, the city water works can't build a plant in northern Hamilton County in order to directly service the growth occurring in the northern suburbs, but a water district could, provided that Springfield Township or some place like that would elect to join the district. The way this works is that the Cincinnati Water Works would transform itself into the independent Greater Cincinnati Water District; however, in the very beginning, the District would only be contiguous with the borders of Cincinnati. Only after the operating agreements ended between the Water Works (now District) and the other constituencies it serves would those municipalities join the district as communities with equal status as Cincinnati. What's silly about this is that Water is a core city service. Cincinnati, through its size, intelligent past investments, etc. is able to provide this service at a much better level than other municipalities, and at a lower operating cost. This is probably true of other core services, like police and fire and trash removal as well. But of course, state rules prohibit cities that provide core services more efficiently from absorbing those that are less efficient. They say that changing the rules to allow CWW to operate more like a business would be nigh-impossible, and require a change to the state constitution. You know something like this fifth casino-ballot initiative we're on now.

If the City loses this thing (and I don't believe they will) they should just develop a bus system a la Curitiba, Brazil. The only difference between that system and a street car is rubber tires and diesel versus rail and electricity (which is still an argument for the streetcar in my opinion).

^ Too be fair, bidding on public works contracts are a much bigger deal and much more difficult than on private contracts, because, when there is public money involved, there is more regulation. I don't think we should assume altruism or exceptional competence on the part of contractors simply because they get government work. There are ways one can try and spread the wealth around without sacrificing quality. Additionally, it's not as if this type of stuff only happens with government work. A friend of mine told me that the church (+ grade school) he attends has five separate HVAC contracts- all parishioners, of course. That doesn't sound particularly efficient to me.

I thought that Skyline was franchised, so I'm not sure if there is an overarching 'they'.

^It's pronounced "bohwemuth". (Extremely obscure Reservoir Dogs reference).

I was privy to a sneak preview as well, and would first like to thank Michael, Holly and Stacy for inviting me on the tour. I was quite impressed with the developments in Phase III. Gateway is continuing to offer quality loft condo space to those who want that product, which I assume is largely young professionals and empty nesters. It is good that we are focusing a product on these two groups because they, quite frankly, have the disposable income to spend on the restaurants and cultural opportunities in OTR and Downtown. I was pleased to see some condo units that had more traditional floor plans and living arrangements, particularly the new construction development at 14th and Vine, as well as at Mottainai on Republic. I personally prefer a more traditional floor plan and soffits (which I believe is the term for the piece of the ceiling that drops down to hide the cooling ducts) and I was pleased to see those options were being offered as well. In addition, having multiple builders in the Quarter is a plus, at the very least because during the tour one begins to notices similar materials (understandably bought in bulk) at various developments, so if the kind of granite countertops or sinks that one developer uses is a dealbreaker for you, you've got other options. Although we didn't get to enter the City Homes on Pleasant Street, I was very excited about the possibility of the densely-packed single family homes being an option. Children really make a neighborhood a neighborhood, and I think it is imperative that we make sure that we are providing real opportunity for middle class family living in an intensive urban environment, while realizing that it is always going to be less prominent than condos or apartments. It makes a neighborhood a lot healthier when kids are living and growing up there. I agree with Atlas that the amount of surface parking is still depressing, yet that clearly is a necessity to get folks down there right now. I would also like to point out how none of this revitalization could be done without the 3CDC providing the leadership and plan. These individual projects require so much work on their own to do right- it is simply incredible how well they mesh together. This is what we need to be doing- moving people back into an underutilized neighborhood- getting non-performing properties filled with residents and businesses. It's a huge job. So long as we are making outreach to make sure it's not simply a place for the post-college and the post-children sets, and we keep reusing old buildings and making sure that the new construction fits into the neighborhood, OTR will be in great shape.

The thing is, Dusty hates the City. He hates it. He hates anything associated with it. He says he hates taxes, etc., but he really just hates anything that goes to people who live in the City. I say this because that's what he'll tell you when you talk to him. It's a pretty typical conceit, that the City doesn't count as part of the City because... well, no one ever explains why that is. And no one ever has any problems with City revenues paying for things out in the County, like, roads and law enforcement. Also, Dusty is a Yankees fan. I wonder if he has any problems with all the federal money that went to pay for their new billion dollar stadium. Like too many local politicians (and Chabot was the worst at this), they don't do anything about decreasing tax burden for real but they are all over making sure that no investment comes to the area.

^I'm not saying you are wrong, but I honestly thought it was Bedinghaus of the County Commission that pitched Brown on the western site, and threw in the practice fields next door as sweetener.

That statement is a bit melodramatic. At the end of the 90s it was downsize, downsize, downsize. These things ebb and flow. But you are spot on regarding industry. Building things people want is the heart of growth and adding value. But every effort should be made to have public funds go to public goods, not private benefit. That's when people get rightly pissed about government spending.

Sorry- next to two pits in the ground

Someone tell Dusty the Contract with America was back in 1994. It's the stadium deal that is killing the county, and the fact that people aren't buying retail as much as they once were. But I guess the way they would do it in Delhi is build two stadiums with tow pits in the ground and leave it at that.

This is a real concern. Stimulus money should not be used to benefit a single company.

^Dmerkow is right in his analysis. I personally think that everything Ghiz is doing is an attempt to set herself for a run at Pepper's seat on the County Commission. Of course, they could be prepping Wenstrup for that position as well. Either way, suspect one of those two to be running for the commissioner's seat in 2010.

Question that I'm not looking for DanB to answer: Have they decided on the Skoda model for the Cincinnati Streetcar? If so, why? Given the fact that Skoda already serves Portland, should Cincinnati consider going with another manufacturer, like Alstom, that has no American headquarters, in order to lure them here a la Toyota?

Yeah, I mentioned this to a couple of guys from Eagle Realty (the real estate arm of Western Southern) and they rolled their eyes saying that the reporter screwed up that one up big time. It's not being built from top to bottom and ratcheted up.

^If you notice, that bar on the southeast corner of 12th and Race is open at suspiciously odd hours that just happen to coincide with the hours when people leave the Drop Inn Center. They want those folks out of the park, particularly by the time the school opens. The key is creating a sense that the illicit behavior that currently happens in Washington Park is no longer tolerated. You aren't changing the law, just finally enforcing it. This is a way to save the park without forcing those folks to move to a different area and have the people their complain about that. The only thing that will help those people in the long run is consistent counseling from people who know what they are doing and are paid well to execute it.

While I don't think the aesthetics of this proposed project will be as bad as the residents assume, their best point is that since this is a City owned site it should first be considered for a public good, rather than sold or developed for a private company.

^Great point.

One thing that the neighbors certainly have a point about is that this project is invariably hemmed in. There's no room to grow once it is done, at least not in the way that other ports (such as Hong Kong, London or New York, which are admittedly much bigger) have done. These ports simply don't exist in the same space they did 70 years ago. I understand the access to the prexisting railbed is and issue, but of course this is huge bottleneck as well. Shouldn't the Port Authority be weighing in on this issue?

No it doesn't. TIF money used to fund a streetcar in downtown and OTR can never be used to build a jail in Queensgate. This is an extremely childish conversation that I am jumping into for some reason: 1) Money does not all come from the same pot. Even your point is that it all comes from taxes, not all taxes go into a general fund. Someone who pays property taxes and gets an itemized tax bill should understand that. By making such a claim, you are stating that you either don't know what you are talking about, or simply aren't serious in addressing the issue, or both. 2) TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing. The idea is that a city should be able to borrow against future tax receipts that will accrue from the whatever is being purchased for the present day. The only thing is that it is geographically limited, hence the "district" in TIF district. So it works like any other loan or bond: money is collected presently based on the expectation of future income available to pay back the principal plus the agreed upon interest. But think about it: does a jail add to the tax revenue? Nope. Jails don't bring in taxes, they are what we you use taxes to pay for. So they couldn't be used for a TIF, because TIF exist based on increased return after present input. An aside- don't let Sheriff Leis or Leslie Ghiz let you believe that the lack of a jail has anything to do with the City of Cincinnati. The City is just as much a part of Hamilton County as Anderson, Sycamore, or Indian Hill. The County is a state created entity, and has the authority to jail people based on violations of state law (murder, rape, etc.) The City pays the county to jail people who violate City ordinances. The County's lack of money has to do with the mismanagement of County and State affairs over low these many years.

^I'm shocked that a rape could have occured at 2 pm on a Monday in Lytle Park without any witnesses.