John Schneider

Use a Walnut/Main or Main/Sycamore pair through downtown to Central Parkway which could be extended east through Broadway Commons to Gilbert -- providing a more direct auto connection to I-71 (the Gilbert on-ramp lines up with Central Parkway exactly). Run the rail on this eastern extension of Central Parkway, finally connecting BC seamlessly to downtown so that it can be developed better than the potential that exists there today. Start building a new street grid in BC north and south of the extended Central Parkway and begin taking down these new blocks for development over a period of ten to twenty years. Imagine eight new block faces on the new section of Central Parkway, together with real neighborhoods behind them.

Excellent, Jake. I've recently been looking at the possibility of using Gilbert between downtown and the existing SORTA alignment west of Victory Parkway instead of using the old rail ROW or Reading Road. And building a streetcar west from Gilbert and MLK connecting to UC and Clifton Heights or Ludlow or both. Lots of room on Gilbert. Lots of building sides.

Think the trucks on Eastern Avenue are bad now? Just wait until this bridge gets built. The Eastern Corridor project will have a negative effect on property values in eastern Cincinnati and suburbs inside I-275.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I hope we get a new Brent Spence Bridge, and I hope it is paid for with tolls. But the news out yesterday is emblematic of the fact that higway investments are well into the curve of diminishing marginal returns. The only sustainable solution is rail, both for commuters and for freight. It's no longer a question of "whether" -- only "when."

Write your Congressman.

Actually, the city of Cincinnati and state of Ohio are taking great pains to reserve ROW for LRT in the I-75 rebuild. And you're right about the ultimate destination -- Union Center Boulevard has always been where planners thought it should terminate, though Larry Schumacher was surprised when I told him this.

Just-made ice cream at the Graeters's factory store on Cincinnati's Reading Road right out of the French pots when it still has a creamy-soft consistency before it goes to the walk-in freezer. Something very few people have ever experienced. Nothing comparable.

The thinking is that the I-75 line would follow the SORTA-owned alignment to Xavier, then branch north and west to Elmwood Place and from there, pretty much run parallel to I-75. It's a tight squeeze in some places.

How exactly would this work? Would every college student get a car? I mean, most are "poor" by national income standards -- most with negative net worths -- but they're not exactly poor in prospects. And if you did this, wouldn't it mean even more cars on the road, more parking spaces needed, and dirtier air? Who would pay the operating costs of these free cars, which today are growing much faster than the capital costs. Who would decide who "can't drive?" At say, $10 for an average cab trip and, say, four trips a day, what would be the mechanism for awarding each person who "can't drive" nearly $15,000 worth of cab fares each year? This is the problem when mobility solutions automatically default to the lens of highway economy. It seems so simple because we sort of understand it -- until you start to think it through.

Mine is now through a comprehensive business package @ Cincinnati Insurance Co. But I've had this kind of coverage on a stand-alone basis for many years prior to now. Start with the company that has your homeowners' insurance. If you have your own business, you can probably get it that way. If you have any kind of professional liability insurance, try that carrier too.

Ifyou have a good driving record, you can buy a "hired and non-owned" auto policy for less than $200 per year. Pays off pretty quickly.

I've lived car-free since 1973, most of it in downtown Cincinnati. I sold my beautiful Olds Cutlass convertible to finance a trip to Europe after graduate school. There, I spent some time in the center of Paris and realized how great it was to walk everywhere and buy everything you need in your own neighborhood. I returned home after a couple of months and never got around to buying another car. It has been no problem at all. I have never looked back. Almost anyone without children could do it. My wife and I occasionally rent cars on weekends. You wouldn't believe how cheap it is to rent a brand-new car for the weekend. Sometimes we might want a convertible or maybe something larger for road trips. Need a pickup truck every now and then? They're available too. Mechanical problem? No problem; just call Hertz and ask them to bring you another one. Sometimes I have to rent a car for several weeks, and I'll just return one whenever it gets dirty and exchange it for another one. Once you make the break with car ownership, you become pretty unsentimental about them. They become mere tools, like hammers. We ride the bus a lot. For $0.45 and my Metro bus pass, I can get to our international airport on a Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky bus faster than I can by driving there and parking. And returning from a long trip there's nothing better than just walking out of the terminal and hailing a cab rather than bailing your car out of long-term parking. Once people know you are car-less, many will offer to pick you up or give you a ride home. Friends often see me at bus stops and pull over to offer me a ride. But the best thing is ... rediscovering the joys of walking. I now walk home every night through historic neighborhoods being reborn. I take quiet streets and often stop to smell the roses along the way. The dogs know me and don't bark anymore. Even the cats seem to understand that I'm a trusted traveler and sometime come off the porches to greet me. A block from my home, I can pick up a bottle of wine. Or dinner. It's just a great way to finish the day. More people should try it. There is so much time and money wasted in the highway economy. Imagine what I've saved over 33 years. And what I've gained in the process of being carless. It seems counterintuitive, but with me and cars, less is more. Don't get me wrong - I love to drive. On the Italian Autostrade, sure! California Route 1 through Big Sur, any day. The Going-to-the-Sun Highway in Glacier National Park -- I'd leave tomorrow if I could. But I-75 through northern Cincinnati, no thanks. More and more people are going carless including children of the suburbs moving to cities with great public transportation systems and there figuring out what they've been missing. In the future, people may be known less by what they drive, but rather why they don't. Food for thought.

Ditto on Findlay Market. Make it a regular Saturday or Sunday thing. Also, Avril's on the south side of Court Street between Vine and Walnut - some think it's the best butcher in town. plus they have seafood now and once in a blue moon, a bushel of just-picked fresh veggies. They'r open six days a week. The open-air green-grocer who operates Tuesday through Friday at Court and Vine is a good standby. Cianciolo on Main between Seventh and Eighth has lots of staples. Silverglades at Eighth and Sycamore has a wide variety of take-home meals. Best newcomer to downtown: City Cellars, just north of Ninth on Race - a really great wine and beer shop. Check out their wine tastings every Tuesday at 5:30p. It's nice not to have to go to Kroger anymore. Nothing against Kroger; we've just found better alternatives.

Notice all the rail lines?

Celestial Street, Mt. Adams

Don, please post one.

Sedamsville, from Bold Face Park, where Pete Rose learned to play baseball.

Have no photos. Don owes us a 452__ shot.

Jillian's

She was misinformed. But I thought it was interesting that public transportation in Cincinnati had finally become important enough to attract at least one picket, however misguided. In a way, that's progress.

Washington Park School

John; I don't think I need to go (as I am totally convinced already). However, can I donate money to help fund this trip for a councilmember or some other public official? Once councilmember is going so far, and I'll keep your offer in mind. It's a kind offer. In addition, someone who is active in the OTR community whom I invited to go on this trip (and just about every other trip for the last couple of years) wrote back to ask if we had scholarships for people who couldn't affort to go. We don't, though we once did when Delta was healthy. If you want to assist this person, please write back to me = [email protected], and I'll try to get you two together. I think Jim Tarbell told me that you used to live in Portland; is that correct?

Union Terminal. Too few trains in Cincinnati, sorry.

If you haven't had lunch in the Cafe at the Art Museum, which overlooks this courtyard, you really should. There's outdoor seating too. On a day like today (they're closed on Mondays), it would be hard to beat. Make a reservation because it can be really busy if there's a new exhibition. Take 10% off your check if you're a member of the Museum. Truly one of those great Cincinnati places. I have no photos. Of Cincinnati.