Eigth and State

Well, I guess no one is interested, especially on short notice. :-(

My canoe wants to get in the water. Today would be a great day for a trip on the lower Mill Creek as the Ohio is up and the weather is nice. See the Western Hills Viaduct, Barrier Dam, Southern Railroad Bridge, remnants of the old C&O bridge and old Harrison Avenue Viaduct, and maybe a Great Blue Heron or two. Anyone care to come along?

I just thought of another reason. If I'm not mistaken, jet fuel come by barge, so it's good to have the airport next to the river. Yes, they could transfer it to a pipeline or railroad or even a highway, but that adds cost.

I try my best to keep a positive attitude. Yes, things are frustrating, but people are not doing stupid things on purpose. Just look at how controversial some of these projects are. There are differences of opinion about what is best for the city. Some say that missions for the poor are good, some say they are bad. Same with ballparks, highways, and so on. If the ball park had been built at Broadway Commons, I'm sure there would be someone who could find a reason to complain about it. I hope for the best. Ultimately, what Over-the-Rhine needs is more people living there, preferably people with enough money to restore and maintain the buildings. Will this ever happen? I don't know. The fact is that the original owners / tenants have died or moved away, and can anyone really be blamed for that? The real world is complicated. I understand the frustration. Where do we go from here?

The first time I looked at the Mill Creek close was also at Gest Street. It was disgusting, and the top of the water was solid black, like an oil slick. I have since learned that the vicinity of Gest Street is the worst-looking area of the entire Mill Creek. I have a friend that calls it the "trash equalization area." What happens is that, under certain conditions, the wind from the Ohio River blows floating objects upstream against the current. At some point, the current and the wind come to equilibrium, and every floating thing, whether it be natural debris, trash, or oil and grease, gets caught in this nuetral area, which happens to be at Gest Street. Given enough time, it builds up. Coming down the Mill Creek in a canoe, if conditions are right, you paddle through relatively clean water, then come to this mess, pass through it, and you are in relatively clean water again. It's a local thing, and if all you saw was the view from Gest Street, you might think the whole Mill Creek was like that, like I first did. Right now the current probably flushed all of this trash out to the Ohio River, as the Mill Creek is up due to rain. There's also an emergency sewer overflow from the MSD Gest Street Treatment Plant there. Hopefully, you will never get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, like former Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin did on a Canoe Trip! As for the bright green stuff, it may have been antifreeze or some other chemical, but a common thing to see is bright green dye, which is just about harmless. MSD uses green dye for testing of the sewer system. At least I like to think it was just green dye! In no way am I saying that the Mill Creek is pristine. It is not. It is very, very dirty. But, it's not as bad as people say it is. It will not melt the paint off of your boat. There are fish, turtles, birds, and crazy people in canoes in it. "I'm certain that you know a lot more about the ecology of the Mill Creek than I do." Well, I've been on the Mill Creek, but I am no ecologist. Dr. Mike Miller of the University of Cincinnati, or Dr. Stanley Hedeen of X, who wrote the Mill Creek book, would be the ones to ask about ecology. I just like to go along for the ride and look at the bridges and things. :-)

"I find it hard to believe that fish actually live in this section of the Mill Creek." Grasscat, you need to take the Mill Creek tour! The Mill Creek is loaded with life. One time I crosses the Mill Creek on I-74, looked down, and spotted a Great Blue Heron, and of course, those magnificent birds are attracted to fish!

Backwater canoeing, anyone? On the Mill Creek, 43 feet should get us to .... Northside!

Yeah, remember just after 9-11-2001 the price of gasoline dropped to $1.00 a gallon? All of those aircraft were grounded for about 3 days and the extra jet fuel flooded the market. On top of that, people were watching television instead of driving.

^----- What do you make of it, KJP? Also, what price of gasoline corresponds with $70 or $80 a barrel? What can we expect next year?

^---- 11th street near Saratoga in Newport on a brick building painted red with windows covered in aluminum. If I remember correctly there's also a city barn, complete with horse head, on Vine Street near the zoo.

^-----Thanks for the data, guys.

I don't have a photo, but I found a building with a sign reading "City Stables" recently. Quimbob, can you explain in more detail how you made that second picture? I like it!

^---- Trader Jake, I agree with you. I don't see the need for a new bridge, expecially a new larger bridge. Do not mix up structural problems with capacity problems. The Brent Spence is in good condition compared to other bridges it's age. Traffic is normally running smoothly, except at rush hours. And, like we've heard so many times before, can we build our way out of congestion? Widen the bridge to 6 lanes each way and I bet those 6 lanes are still full during rush hour. I don't have updated stats, but the Enquirer reported that traffic on the Brent Spence Bridge declined from 1995 to, I think, 2001. Anybody have traffic stats since then?

Whatever the object was, it is also possible that it wasn't part of the bridge at all but came from another vehicle.

I appreciate your work but I am skeptical. Ultimately, transit requires density. Few places in the United States exist anymore that are dense enough to support a transit system without a subsidy. Paris, London, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, and a few other cities have extraordinary density, with associated transit systems, but no city in Ohio comes close. With our stagnant and soon to be declining population, there is little hope for increased density. So, if I may back up one step, do you think it's possible in today's world to build a neighborhood in Ohio dense enough to support transit without a subsidy?

As I understand it, the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois rivers are the busiest of the inland waterways. The Ohio River traffic at Pittsburgh is just a fraction of what it is at Cincinnati. Some of the western waterways get very little traffic. Recreational boaters, however, can be found anywhere on the system. Maintenance on some of the older locks on the lessor used areas have been delegated to state departments of natural resources. Examples of this include the Muskingum River and Kentucky River locks. There are a lot of recreational boaters on the Tenn-Tom canal who wish to bypass the heavy industrial traffic at New Orleans. The cheapest way to move heavy things, in terms of energy use, is by boat. It's even better if things can be moved downstream. I wouldn't close the book on the navigatable waterways yet.

When I used to ride the bus, the first 5 miles were nearly empty, but it filled up in the last 5 miles. I've seen the 17 so full that the bus doesn't even stop to pick up more people. Sometimes people had to fight like a pig to get off the bus. My initial reaction is that a better use of resources would be to cut off that first 5 miles in the suburbs, and double up on the second 5 miles in the city. I would have been the one to lose my ride, however.

I remember from science class way back in 7th grade that we have 300 years worth of coal, at current rates of consumption. However, it is forecast that the rate of consumption will quadruple in the next 25 years. Thus, we have less than 300 years worth. This is the concept of peak production. It increases year by year, exponentially, until near the halfway point. Then it gradually peaks and then declines year by year, exponentially. It is a function of both economics and geology. There is nothing anyone can do to change it. Fuel efficiency or conservation are not issues. So, how much coal do we really have? The latest estimates are: Petroleum extraction will peak within 5 years ("Peak Oil"). Natural Gas will peak within 25 years. Coal will peak within 100 years. Some place more weight on oil because it is the most versatile and 90% of our transportation system runs on oil. It may be possible to switch some transportation from oil to coal, such as battery-powered electric cars, electric trains, or even a return of coal powered steam locomotives. Ultimately, though, even those will be obsolete as we reach peak coal. And yes, Jake, I agree that our inland waterways are phenominal. I got a chance to the see New York State Canal System, formerly the Erie Canal, and it is a neat work of engineering. They generate enough electricity from hydropower to operate the locks and lift bridges, and then some. In fact, locks are a form of hydropower, as they use falling water to lift barges. In theory, the inland waterways will be able to operate after peak oil, provided that the system is maintained.

Just to clarify about the New York City comment: Being closer to Cleveland is one factor why the northeast side of Columbus is developing faster than the south side. Say you had a business in Cleveland, and you wanted to open a new branch in Columbus. Which is better, the northeast side, or the southeast side, everything else being equal? If you chose the northeast side, you would minimize transportation cost between your sites, while maintaining one site in each city. New York City is the dominant city in eastern North America, so everything tends to develop toward New York City just a little bit, including transportation routes. By no means is this the only factor, but just one factor. All of the points in previous posts are also valid. :-)

The upstream / downstream argument is valid. Development tends to start near water and move uphill. In Columbus, north is slightly uphill. In addition, the northeast side of Columbus is closer to Cleveland, which in turn is closer to New York City. Similarly, Cincinnati more developed on the northeast side. A businessman told me that he located his branch office on the northeast side because it was closer to the home office in Columbus.

So I'm on a roll. Here's another true story. I went to Detroit, the poster boy for urban blight, for work. The first thing I noticed upon entering the city was some one-legged guy in the middle of the street, trying to sell a large bag of green leaves to drivers stopped at red lights. We passed abandoned buildings by the thousands. We worked next to graffiti-covered walls like I've never seen before. We waded through knee-high weeds and could hear rats scurrying about underneath. My crew chief found a live round of ammunition on the ground. Finally, we stopped at a Burger King for lunch, and found that the employees worked behind bullet-proof glass, and even passed the food through a turntable. We later had the same experience at Subway. My crew chief was extremely disturbed. He said, "You must be used to this, since you're from Cincinnati."

I'd take any of you guys for a walking tour, preferably early in the day. True story: I was on a bike ride, exploring some new, unfamiliar areas, when I came across a group of about 30 teenagers crowded onto one corner. "This doesn't look good," I thought, and I turned around and got out of there. I heard on the news that someone was shot at that intersection that afternoon. Another true story: I was harrased by locals for taking photos. Some of them thought I was a developer who would be tearing down their homes. When three or four of them got up close, I turned and got out of there. (The preceeding two true stories did not occur in OTR, but in nearby neighborhoods.) I would recommend not bringing a camera, or at least if you do, be very discreet and quick about it. Also, be aware of your surroundings, keep an escape route, and keep moving. Having said that, walking Over-the-Rhine and surrounding areas is an experience not to be missed. It may be gone someday, for better or for worse. It is relatively safe, if you don't make a target of yourself.

^--- But at least you were landing. A plane taking off makes more noise. Isn't the normal flight pattern always heading south, both to take off and land?

"I have recently thought that the "flying pig" marathon people (or similar minded folks) would have a field day with an event featuring some of these." Serious runners normally don't do steps. You can't pass people easily, a normal running pace does not match the step spacing, etc. The steps are too narrow for any amount of people, and there's always a falling hazard. On the other hand, there used to be a Cincinnati hill climb series: Straight Street, Monastery, Grand, Colerain, etc: all steep uphill races.

"Freeway and Bridge came later, in the 60's I-75 and the Brent Spence..." Yes, and the airport grew in the 60's as well.