John Schneider

Courtyard of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

There's a risk to transit systems that don't move to higher-level transit such as light rail, the risk that they will be totally abandoned by the middle class, much as urban school systems are totally. Rail is car-competitive for longer trips; buses aren't. So the risk is that transit systems that don't upgrade become mere social programs supplying bare bones transit for people without cars. In fact, I think some of rail's opponents would like that -- marginalize transit to the extent that few people who vote use it anymore, then de-fund it. If you look at the 2000 Census, there were only two all-bus cities -- Orlando and Las Vegas, both with fairly unusual economies -- that showed gains in Journey-to-Work market share. All the other cities that gained ridership share were rail cities plus Seattle, which has long been beefing up its bus system in preparation for its first light rail line.

I'm involved in planning a streetcar from The Banks to Findlay Market. There are Uptown interests that want a streetcar that goes from there to Downtown via Findlay Market. So I think there's a shared sense of the possible. As for light rail, the line that makes most sense would run on Main and Sycamore through Broadway Commons to MLK and Reading Road to Xavier to Rookwood to East Hyde Park at Erie Avenue. SORTA already owns some of that alignment, and the rest of it will come on the market within the next couple of years. If you add up all the November 2002 votes in the wards along that alignment, Issue 7 passed, and that was when gas prices were at their lowest in real terms since WWII. Opponents continually try to stoke fears among bus riders that they would be short-changed if LRT were built. I'm a bus rider, and I don't feel threatened by it. But it's a good tactic that is always employed in cities trying to move to higher-level transit, most effectively in Los Angeles over the last ten years.

Seems like this may block river views from The Edge.

Actually, transit throughout all of downtown Portland on both sides of the Willamette River is now fareless. Itwould be like you could go from downtown to Clifton for free. I think they are having second thoughts about it, though.

Ault Park

Credit for this amazing improvement goes to many people, but the guy who deserves the most credit for its execution is Tim Reynolds, METRO's long-time director of strategic planning. Working with great engineers and architects, Tim sweated-out every detail over the last few years. Tim Reynolds is one of many unsung heroes working behind the scenes to improve Cincinnati's public realm. If you haven't seen Government Square at night, take the time to do so. It's a gift to Cincinnati's most important street.

Sorry, hit the wrong key. You can pay for a specified amount of parking at a curbside machine, put the stub on your windshield, and then you can move your car to another meter using the unexpired time you have left. I've rented cars in downtown Portland and left them on the street overnight -- never a problem. It's true that there are no meters right in nine-block heart of the city and there are few on the bus mall , but those are excpetions, not the rule. The city-owned parking garages are better maintained than in most cities I've visited.

This is untrue. You can easily park in downtown Portland. Garages are very user-friendly for visitors, and there are gobs of parking meters where you can pay for a ticket at a curbside machine, park there

Too easy. North side of 13th Street, north of SCPA, except the grass now looks better.

No, you're right. River Terrace is to the west, but taller -- maybe eight or ten stories. Ingleside is to the east, maybe five stories. Assuming the end of the street isn't overgrown, I don't think either would block the views you posted.

Ah, no, but close enough. It's the small turnaround at the end of Salutaris, about 100 feet west of Ingleside. I think the Ingleside Condominiums building would block the view downriver, but then maybe not...but you were awfully, awfully close! Well done! Did you look at a map and reason it out, or recognize the view from having been there? I'll let someone else post the next one, or if nobody steps up, I'll put another up this afternoon... No, April and I once had a friend who lived at River Terrace, the condo on the west side of Ingleside, and I vaguely remember turning around at the end of the street. The prominent landmark for me was the marina in Dayton, KY that showed up in the second photo. The Ingleside is across the street from River Terrace and a little north. If there were a view from the turnaround (not overgrown), I don't think Ingleside would block it.

Could this be the overlook at the end of Ingleside?

Eden Park.

Wouldn't it be nice to have streetcars back on downtown streets? I don't have any photos -- I'll pass to someone else.

Old Provident Bank Building at the SE corner of Seventh and Vine.

A friend of mine who works in economic development in Cincinnati said that inquiries about new plants in our area are almost always today accompanied by questions about the availability of rail. Five years ago, those kind of questions were never asked.

As you may know, a plan for a streetcar connecting The Banks with Findlay Market is circulating among downtown stakeholders. Developed by Michael Moose, Dan Deering and me, a downtown Cincinnati streetcar could be implemented fairly quickly without a general tax increase. Such an improvement could make downtown development easier by lessening dependence on cars, thereby reducing developers' costs for parking while redirecting some of the money we spend on our cars to buy more and better housing. The plan recognizes that downtown Cincinnati is unlikely to have a supermarket anytime soon but that our continuously improving Findlay Market has the potential to fill that void. The streetcar could easily be extended someday to Uptown and to Newport and Covington. In a era of rising highway congestion and fuel prices, being able to position downtown living as an alternative to the highway economy seems to make some sense. Portland, Oregon is the only city in the United States with a modern streetcar, although about forty other U.S. cities, including Columbus, are now planning streetcar lines. Using European equipment, the Portland Streetcar opened in 2001, and its second expansion to Portland's new riverfront project will open this fall. Plans are in the works to extend it another six miles into one of Portland's most affluent suburbs. The Alliance for Regional Transit has been escorting Cincinnatians to Portland over the last five years to see how the streetcar works and how it is reshaping urban living there. Our next trip will be in October, and I'd like you to go. About 245 Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky residents have made the trip already. Ask around -- you undoubtedly know someone who has gone there with us, probably several people. Our tour begins at Noon on Friday, October 13th and ends after a late dinner with a speaker in one of Portland best restaurants. The Alliance will charge $92 for your share of the tour including lunch, dinner and train tickets. I've booked a block of rooms in Portland's best hotel at a rate of $139 per night. If your time is limited, you could leave Cincinnati on Friday morning and be back home early on Saturday afternoon. The Delta nonstops are pretty expensive, but I've seen $259 fares this weekend on Northwest via Minneapolis, pretty cheap for this market. Most people will probably come out Thursday night before the tour, and some will stay through Saturday to explore Oregon's Cascade Mountains or its seashore, or just stay put to enjoy Portland's downtown, arguably the best of any Cincinnati-sized city in North America. The weather is usually pretty good there in mid-October, although there could be snow in The Cascades by then. Anyway, if you'd like to go, write back to me at [email protected] and I'll send you more information. Thanks, John Schneider

Eden Park: Gateway at the entrance to the old Water Works reservoir near the intesection of Martin Drive and Parkside Place, Mt. Adams.

Parking lot to the west of Pat Korb's house, Ninth between Elm and Plum

Taking another group to Portland to look at the streetcar on October 13th. Write to me at [email protected] if you'd like to go.

South side of Eastern Avenue in Columbia Tusculum, looking south toward the abandoned railroad ROW.

"transit is incredibly slow compared to cars: 7 mph average for rail, 4 mph average for buses" This is misleading. Modern light rail averages about 23 mph and buses about 12 mph. It's true that walking and waiting at stops lowers the average speed, but many people do useful errands to and from the bus and the train. If we're going to count "dead time" waiting for transit, then let's add-in the time spent buying and financing a car, fueling it, washing it, getting the dents pounded out of it, changing its oil, writing checks for it and all the other stuff you don't have to worry about it you're a transit user. Besides, walking a little every time isn't the worst thing in the world for most people. Oh, and if 23 mph on light rail seems slow to you, keep a log for a week of the miles you drive and the hours you spend behind the wheel. Unless you're in sales covering a wide range of territory on freeways in the middle of the day, I can pretty much guarantee that you won't average 23 mph in the car. Try it, you'll see.

I take groups of Cincinnatians out to Portland all the time to see the rail system and to understand how it has turned that city around in the last twenty years -- about 250 Cincinnatians so far. Understanding how rail makes development easier by removing the car expense and parking burden is fundamental to making downtown development easier and more affordable. Any discussion of how to bring the city back pretty much begins with making it a more walkable community. Ou next trip is October 13th. Write to me at [email protected] if you'd like to go. Thanks.

I'll pose my question again: Can you imagine that a neighborhood could get better by having fewer bars? I mean, Main Street bars are open and really going for, what? maybe ten hours a week. The rest of time is dead air. Bars drive up rents, litter a lot and crowd-out useful businesses. Having a bar on the first floor of a typical OTR building means that it will be very expensive to ever have housing on the upper floor of the building. And then, who wants to live above a bar? Bars can be a mixed blessing for neighborhoods wanting to improve. I think Main Street has caught a lucky break here. People see bars moving out of OTR, and they wring their hands. For the most part, I think is a natural evolution into a 24/7 neighborhood, with useful businesses backfilling the vacancies left by the bars.