Eigth and State

You may remember the "Star of Cincinnati" that docked on the Ohio side. It was Cincinnati's answer to Covington's B&B Riverboats and offered short cruises. Riverboat pilots complained endlessly to the Army Corp of Engineers that it obstructed the waterway, and within a few years it was out of business anyway.

"Four bucks is my breaking point." They said that at $3.00, and $2.00, and a while ago, $1.50.

I agree with you that highway funding is in trouble. I agree that prospects for American highways are grim. O.D.O.T. may be able to pull off one or two more major expansions, but overall, I think the highway construction era is just about over. I disagree that a lot of Americans will bail on the whole system and change their lifestyles so they don't have to drive. Granted, there are some that want to embrace the urban lifestyle, and quite a few of them are on this board, but I think they are a minority. I think most people will want to hold on to their cars as long as possible as the system slowly falls apart around them. If gasoline taxes get suspended, according to McCain and Clinton's wishes, it will only hasten the demise of our highway infrastructure, which in the long term is doomed anyway. I think Americans will change their lives - in fact, they are already changing - but it will be in a completely different way.

^----- I agree with everything you said above, but the fact is that highways have a dedicated source of funding and streetcars do not. Streetcar fans are at a disadvantage as long as this is the case. If we taxed gasoline and funded streetcars, the entire picture would change. Up to a point, efficiency, cost benefit ratios, and all of that doesn't even matter. It's all about the money.

:roll:

That young woman wanted to move to Chicago or New York. Quite frankly, those cities are in another league.

^----"A car is a def. advantage here, where in places like Chicago rail transit has the time and convenience advantage." That's the frustrating thing. Chicago, New York, etc, are simply so big that their core cities themselves are big and dense enough for transit. I'm not sure Cincinnati will ever be a transit city as long as we have cars. We just don't have the density.

^----"stop giving driver's licenses to 16-year-olds and we'll decrease the ever growing population of gasoline gulpers" The number of 16 year old drivers is already going down. More people are waiting until 17, 18, or 19 to start driving, particularly in California.

Congrats! Please send photos. :-)

^----"There is still *a lot* of political work to be done." Agreed.

^-----"Local government and school districts are struggling with increasing fuel costs..." Already happening. In fact, most of the effects of peak oil could be observed beginning around 1970, when the United States peaked. On a personal level, peak oil means practically nothing. Most people don't have the math background to understand it, anyway. If you want to get people's attention, talk about price. However, chances are that the conversation will drift toward our president, big oil, and conspiracies. It's futile to preach to people.

Ohio has more landfill space, so economically, we don't have as much incentive to recycle. Doesn't Ohio import garbage from New York to landfill? Denmark, the Netherlands, and a few other countries in that part of the world recycle almost everything. The reason: no landfill space.

^---- "What does everyone think the odds are that a Streetcar will be built in the next few years?" Count me as one of the skeptics. I think that if City Council can come up with the money, then it will get built. I have been saying all along that it's all about the money. We can discuss routes and technology all we want, but if there is no funding, it doesn't matter. As I see it, council has to: 1. Sell the Blue Ash airport, or at least a portion of it. 2. Enact a TIFF district 3. Divert funds from other projects 4. Receive a "gift" from some private contributor. Count on a year for design, and at least another year for construction. Compared to securing the money, the design and construction is the easy part. By the way, I think streetcars are wonderful. In no way am I opposed to it. It's all about the money.

I love the outlines drawn over the photos. You are on a roll lately. Well done again.

Thanks again for posting. It reminds me of another town that I happened to find. Hardensburg was an early town on the banks of the Great Miami River. Not only did it get absorbed by the nearby City of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and also nearly obliterated by highways, but it is also no longer on the river because the river shifted away. Today a few remnants of streets is all that's left of Hardensburg. In that Beavertown image I see people playing croquet!

Like it or not, we have politicians. A solution that does not work politically is not a solution.

^---- "We can reduce consumption by increasing the cost of driving,..." I will have to respectfully disagree with you. First of all, increasing the cost of driving will be extremely difficult politically. However, if in fact you could pull it off, it will simply shift consumption to an area where the cost of driving has not been increased, whether that be another state or another country.

^---- I was with you until you got to the part about greed and selfishness. "The smart and disciplined person tackles the question which they can answer -- how to reduce consumption." Umm, reduce production? We are literally consuming oil as fast as we can get it out of the ground and transport it to market. I expect this to continue until, well, the oil stops coming out of the ground.

Just for fun.... Assume the high number of 4.3 billion barrels. Ignore the fact that it comes from shale, and pretend that it's conventional oil. The United States consumes 20 million barrels per day. 4.3 billion / 20 million = 215 days, or about 7 months: A drop in the bucket.

I used an 8" diameter reflector telescope with a point-and-shoot digital camera focused through the eyepiece.

Saturn This was my first try at astrophotography. Please be kind. Here is the moon at the same magnification for comparison.

Those things scare me. The position on the ramp is exactly where one would look over his shoulder to merge into traffic. One would not expect a traffic light there at all. I predict rear-end collisions.

The cost estimate actually seemed low to me.

Can you explain again, are these buildings all coming down in one batch?