kjbrill

This is the problem. People who complain and demean these neighborhoods are basing it on 50 years of preconceived notions. Except they and you haven't stepped foot in them for decades. You, and suburbanites like you, have a preconceived notion of places like Madisonville and Walnut Hills based on conditions that existed 10-20 years ago. Investment in neighborhoods like these is met with derision, because why invest in crappy, crime-ridden neighborhoods. Except it's that very lack of investment that allowed those neighborhoods to decline. It took years of fighting that perception to enlighten people that (A) people - real people with families, not just "drug dealers and prostitutes" - still live in these areas, (B) those real people want to live in a vibrant, safe community just like you, and © they deserve it just as much as people living in any other neighborhood. It only takes a moment of clarity to change that perception. Even up to last year the majority of people who didn't know better were saying "who on earth would want to go to OTR?" despite not having been north of Central Parkway in a decade. Their preconceived notion was that it was crime-ridden, dilapidated, and no where to take your kids. Then LumenoCity happened and it was a massive U-turn in the public consciousness about OTR. Now you almost never hear negative things about OTR except from the least-traveled members of the suburbs (and AM radio stations still trafficking in fear for ratings' sake). So please give us a rundown on all of the great reconstructions in Madisonville, both residential and business. Pardon me if I am dubvious, but I am ready to be enlightened. Rather than just saying we are anti, give us some positives to digest. I just don't think the entire City is in a position to do an OTR, especially without 3CDC.

Like your straightforwardness. But still a long haul to go. The crime part is why I basically wrote Madisonville off. And the schools reflect the population. Until the population of Madisonville turns over and people who want good schools are the majority it will not happen. I just do not see this being compatible in the short term with the high cost of rehabbing the old property. Takes something to get a neighborhood that size to be committed to rehab.

So what is the attraction of moving there? Big old houses at cheap prices? I am aware of some of the older architecture which exists in Madisonville, impressive structures in their day. I am also aware the maintenance costs on some of those big old barns due to their construction can eat you alive. So in your opinion what is the reason this neighborhood will come back to life?

I will admit spent a lot of time as a youth, about 70 years ago now, going to Madisonville when it was a vibrant community. We did a lot of shopping there until one-by-one the stores began closing. I will admit after a period of time watching all of the storefronts boarded up and the increasing blight of the older residential portions, rather gave up on Madisonville - wrote it off so to speak. There was a point in time when I would not stop in Madisonville on a bet. If it has been turned around, needs a PR campaign to announce it. Guess I need to drive down there and see what percentage of boarded up storefronts are now vibrant businesses again.

We have two vehicles, but there are extenuating circumstances. My wife has a 1997 wheelchair conversion minivan. Without the van she is basically unable to venture out, can't go anywhere. Just this week had to put $600 in repairs in the van - ouch. But over a period of time, not so bad. As the mechanic told me, compared to the cost of a new one, he can install a whole new engine and drive train for a fraction of the cost. That is the track I am following. I am driving a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan. It just recently turned 50,000 miles, and is still performing well. Won't win any gas mileage derbys, but at the distance I drive it who gives a shit? The two vehicles combined rarely exceed 5,000 miles a year. This is due to the fact they rarely leave the confines of Mason Ohio. So vehicle ownership is not the issue, it is how you use them. Just thought I would drop this little notee.

Madison and Kenwood? That is rather out in the boonies relative to Madisonville. Maybe they should concentrate on Madison and Whetsel, might make some gains there. Madisonville needs someone with some future thinking as to how it is going to pull itself up by its bootstraps, because nothing else is working.

So are you saying burn the newbies as they don't have enough sense to realize when they are being had?

Please cite your data on the pent up demand for a large system into the suburbs. I just don't see that. On one hand I read about how all of the youth desire to move back into the urban core. Then you say there is this huge pent up demand for rail transport from the suburbs to the City. Somebody has their wires crossed. Please explain.

I am sure you know who the rail zealots are. Those who are constantly advocating rail transportation no matter what. There may be a future for rail, but I frankly don't believe it is here and now. If gasoline prices keep increasing OK, but it will take a national initiative on the scale of the Interstate Highway System to make it happen. That is a huge endeavor and extremely political. All of these local proposals are also extremely political, why do you think they are going nowhere?

My vote was for Other, since thank God I no longer have a daily commute being retired. But I realize the impact of a daily commute. It really came home to me when my company decided to sell their plant in Norwood and build a new facility in Mason in an industrial park about 1-1/2 miles from my house. What a convenience. I finally convinced my brother, who worked for the same company, to sell his house in Blue Ash and move to Mason, about a 1/2 mile from me. We are both retired now, and still living in Mason. Enjoying a great residential area while also being a chip-shot from work, that is the epitome. Not too many people get to experience that, but keep trying.

Perhaps a built and operational successful Streetcar system should be the first target. Then once that is completed the construction of the Uptown phase. Can't see it happening until the downtown Phase I is completed and running. I believe people are less gullible now, they want to see progress built upon results, not just projections. From what I have read concerning the type of rail being installed, the streetcars themselves, the system could easily be extended to as far as Kenwood. That is about as far as I see rail going in Cincinnati for a very long time.

So what Eastern Corridor Project is being discussed now. The one with the realigned route 32 along with the rail project all the way to downtown, along with the bike trails along with whatever else can be dumped in there. Or a scaled down one with a realigned route 32, no rail, and no other frills, which is what I am hearing is more likely to happen. This bends the rail people out of shape but the reality is where is the funding for rail? It all boils down to the funding - where is it? You can complain about how roads get funded all you want, but the simple fact is the majority of people want roads so organizations like ODOT insure they are funded. If they perceived the demand for rail was as high on the list it would get funded also. The zealots demanding rail are the same ones wanting to transform the nature of our cities and lifestyle. May have a good number of converts, but so far they don't seem to be the majority.

Quess you haven't been out to Clermont County recently. Talk about sprawl, it is sprawling about as fast as they can build them. My daughter's company recently moved from the Hebron KY area to the Eastgate Area. She has been looking for a house in that locality. One of her concerns is when she finds something she both likes and can afford, it is so far east of I-275. She says to me Dad, if something goes sour with my job, I will be 30 minutes just to the highway. So she has reconsidered and is currently looking around Mason. She says I have been making the commute to Hebron for years. Other than some nasty weather, it has not been that bad other than the wear and tear on the car. At least in Mason, if near I-71, I can be in Eastgate in 30 min. She is proving that daily. If something goes sour with the job, my options are so much more open. I have all of Mason, West Chester, Blue Ash, etc. to solicit employment, including to downtown. Sprawl has been a unsustainable boondoggle for what, at least 6 decades? And it is not going to stop long as people don't desire to be packed together. That is the attraction of the suburbs, I have my own space and if my neighbors act right I can live a peaceful, SAFE, and tranquil life here. And since me and my neighbors pay the majority of the taxes in this country, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

And what exactly does rail from the airport to the downtown transit center buy you? Are air passengers to be expected to park their car in the downtown garage at horrendous weekly rates, lug their baggage onto a train, and ride out to the airport? Then once there, where is the proposed station? Lug their baggage once again? And how about the return arrival if late at night? Lug your baggage through a parking garage trying to find your car? Some ideas look good on the surface, but upon close inspection need a lot of study, planning, and cost projection. And I believe this is one of them. I also believe it will not affect GE's decision one iota.

It says a lot that, in your post, you implicitly exempt roadwork from the funding question. Yes, simply because there is always funding for roadwork. And the realignment and widening of Route 32 has been in the plans for a long time. But trying to piggy-back rail into the plan is just not going to happen. The communities adjacent to the realigned 32 have enough concerns about how it will be carried out.