John Schneider

^ No sense trying to figure out why, either.

^ I suspect that delivery of the vehicles may be the determining factor here.

My experience with big projects like this in Cincinnati -- the Aronoff, Fort Washington Way, Great American Ball Park, Fountain Square, come to mind --- is that we argue like hell about them forever, and the best ones survive the run of the gauntlet and eventually get built Then most people soon forget the bitching and moaning and get with the program. This will happen with the streetcar too.

And tomorrow's Enquirer editorial will say ...

LaHood said some nice things about Mayor Mallory and the City Council's leadership on this. Hope someone got all of that on tape.

City got a letter Friday saying it was going to be a while before grants were awarded, due to the large number of applications.

^ Nobody knows anything.

^ Doubt that a cog railway is necessary to get the job done, but the McMicken/McMillan route is interesting. It has far-greater development potential than Vine or Clifton. It's longer, but again, this should not be an issue for a circulator-type project. Not quite as steep as Clifton or Vine, but it has what the engineers are calling a "sustained climb" of 3,000 feet, which they seem to think is a bit of a problem. Dunno how you deal with the curves on McMillan. Lots of great real estate all along McMicken.

There have been some bad actors along the way. There's a real story there.

More like a considered guess.

^Yes

^ This week.

Did you notice that they have already changed the headline and sub-headline? It's been changed on the Main Page too.

Typical alarmist Enquirer headline.

^ Overdue

Someone noted that the number of Comments on Cincinnati.Com about the Flaming Jesus Story is rapidly approaching what some of the best streetcar stories have done. Kind of explains it all, really.

Did you ever consider that while those 40,000 new residents could be more numerous on OTR streets, congestion will be less on the freeways and arterials they used to travel on? Also, there are pretty good data from Portland that people who live in streetcar neighborhoods there tend to travel (by all means, not just driving) about a third as much as people who live in environments without frequent, car-competitive transit. Many downtown Cincinnati residents drive their cars less than 4,000 miles a year.

With a population of something like 550,000 people, Portland had 19 murders last years. Cincinnati has a population of 350,000, and we had over 80.

^ The former. The Enquirer has fired off its last round.

^ Not yet.

Federal Transit Adminsitrator Peter Rogoff will be addressng the Opening General Session of APTA's Rail Conference in Vancouver BC tommorrow around Noon EST, and there's a possiblility that he may announce the winners of Urban Circulator Grants for streetcars then. Seems unlikely they would do this out of the country, but it's a perfect audience to hear the news. In any case, seems like speculation of who the winners are could start to leak out during the four days of the conference. These people talk a lot.

^ More comfortable for a streetcar too.

Oh, I dunno about that. I think this article totally relates to the Cincinnati Streetcar. And helps to justify it. In fact, the Cincinnati Streetcar is mentioned in it.

^ Except for banning cars (consider the people who live there), this is probably close to what you're going to have to do. Plus, build a fair amount of off-street parking every 800 or so feet between Clifton and McMillan - six or seven lots maybe. Not a lot of flat land to do that.

My response to it, sent to Enquirer this afternoon: Tom Luken's complaint about the "young whippersnappers" behind the Cincinnati Streetcar is a tad off the mark. Introduced to Cincinnatians by three "fifty-somethings" several years ago, the streetcar has now become the vanguard of a multi-generation effort aimed at restoring balance and increasing travel choices in our region. Streetcar supporters range from teenagers to seniors well into their Eighties. Modern streetcars bear no resemblance to the vintage trolleys Mr. Luken remembers, just as a 1940 Packard is fundamentally different from a 2010 Prius. Modern streetcars have six doors; these enable them to load and unload faster, so they hold up traffic less than buses do. The overhead power wire is barely visible and doesn't spark like the ones you see in the movies. Modern streetcars are sleek, quiet, smooth-running and comfortable -- a joy to ride and to have in your neighborhood. Don't believe it? Go to the "PICS" section of http://www.protransit.com/ and watch the brief slide show there. You'll like what you see. John Schneider Downtown