Gordon Bombay

Throwback! Oh, and, 8th and State if you're still with us, I hope you're not a betting man. Looks like the chances weren't as good as you thought. 30 days!

Down at Rhinehaus the other night, a bunch of us from Die Innenstadt (an FC Cincinnati supporters group) got together to watch the away games as is tradition now. I got down there early and snagged some video of the streetcar running by. I love the way the vehicles fit into the environment. Can't wait till it's just normal to have them running in the background. Here's the video: People in local bars, drinking local beer, supporting soccer, and soon to be using rail transit. 700 WLW hosts must be dying inside.

As much as I hate the whole festivals/Oktoberfest issue, I think it's best to wait until after. The crowd at Oktoberfest isn't going to be the one we want to introduce the streetcar to anyways. Although it'd be great to connect the festival with the city, not many will be familiar with how it works nor will most be able to stumble aboard and figure it out. Throw a party the weekend after when there's other cool stuff going on instead of a big festival that trashes the streets.

The MLS talk really picked up after the first two home games. I think at first it was largely ignored, because what new team wouldn't say things like "we want to be the best." However, the attendance really got people thinking about the idea and to be fair - FCC's attendance so far is incredible for the USL. Even with 11,000 or so in the rain, they were still at the top of the league. I'll admit, I'm very intrigued by the idea of an MLS team in Cincinnati. It makes for a good story. NHL and NBA aren't coming, but MLS could. Should it? Will they let it? There's tons of angles and it'll be interesting to follow as it develops. Having said that, I loved what was happening in Louisville in 2015/how fans connect with soccer teams in general. I'll support this club whether it makes the MLS jump or stays in the USL. Also, every time I've been to a bar to watch an away game or attend any Die Innenstadt events, MLS discussion rarely comes up. It's always about the team, how they're developing, the players, coach Harkes, Etc. In short: there's an allure of MLS, but that's not the only thing getting people excited. It's just what the media bites at.

Eighth and State, still living in blissful ignorance after all these years. If the city wanted to run the streetcar during the events, they could've. Instead, we got this. I pray the event planners will see the significance of having the streetcar open and how many more people it will bring it.

So this may be a bit random. The girlfriend and I are going out exploring and will be passing through Dayton. I remember seeing this one area of town a few years back and can't remember what it was called. Would like to go check it out. So here's the story: A friend passed away in 2012. He was from Kettering and after the funeral I was riding in a friend's car to a little get together we had. We passed through a neighborhood with a bunch of new development. I seem to remember that the area was on one of the trolley bus lines. The street we rode on went right through, both sides of the street featuring overhead bus wires. The development (a few restaurants I think) around this area seemed newer. For some reason I seem to remember blue roofs/overhangs on the buildings and a lot of stone decoration. Does this ring a bell to anyone? I may just be remembering things wrong and it's been awhile. Seemed like an interesting area though centered around the trolley busses. If anyone has any idea, it'd be much appreciated. No amount of googling seems to work.

I like John Cranley about as much as I like stubbing my toe, but I was wondering about the operating hours as well. I think 6 AM is a great start time - that allows people to monthly park wherever and use the streetcar to get where they need to go. Imagine if you work in OTR or the North End of the CBD and want to park monthly at the Banks garage. Even in bad weather, the streetcar is now you're commuting vehicle and opens up the options for where to park, get coffee, run errands etc before work. The midnight close time perplexes me. Wouldn't it make sense to have the streetcar rolling late for those out enjoying the town? One of the things I love about the streetcar is I can go down to a Reds game (usually over around 10 PM) and then hop on it to anywhere I want in downtown/OTR without a ridiculous walk or trying to find a place for my car. I'd love if the streetcar was still rolling when the bars let out, rather than having to curtail my night early to fetch my vehicle. Even without the Reds game thing - lots of my friends love going to OTR on the weekends and it's a great time usually, but parking is a nightmare on the weekends. However, those with more experience on the issue - maybe that's not the best operating venture and the proposed hours make sense based on what has been seen in other cities?

Haha, whatever happened to that? That seemed to die down really quickly.

Lol! That reporters use of "quotes" was ridiculous. And of course, there's no accompanying picture of what these substations may look like. I was wondering the same thing - what will these substations look like? Are there examples of them on any other modern lines?

It's not here yet. Not trying to be pessimistic, but like the villain at the end of the credits… COAST is already hinting at another ballot initiative. Today the battle was won, but the war goes on folks.

Maybe the update and care of that website is funded by the same money? Maybe with a new administration they haven't made that a priority? How does that mean they don't have the "guts" or why do you feel the need to imply some sort of cowardice?

I think it's time to take a step back and stop panicking. Last night, I kept telling myself: "This is it, Cincinnati shot itself in the foot. There's no way they'll cancel this though... but then again I've walked through two miles of abandoned subway tunnel." I was pretty upset about the results and today I woke up disappointed, but there's no use - what's done is done. This morning I walked down to Music Hall, stood at the construction fence and watched the workers continue. As I was snapping photos a man walked up to me carrying a bag form Holtman's Donuts. He quipped: "This is why I voted for Cranley and those other people, this streetcar goes nowhere but through a slum." The slum he was referring to is the same "slum" that he was walking through with food bought at a local shop set up in that same "slum." I wanted to lash out with every bit of rhetoric I had, but I just politely said "I think it'll get finished and end up being a good thing." I smiled, he walked away. My point is: This council and this new mayor just finished campaigning. Soon they'll have to sit in the chairs and realize the full weight of that decision. In the meantime, those workers are still out there installing the progress we fought so hard for. There's going to be council meetings and the citizens who support this thing need to be there in force just like they always have. Yesterday the opponents won a battle, but the war goes on. Keep your heads up folks.

^You're the man Ryan, thanks so much! Hopefully I'm seeing good news and Amy Murray at the bottom of the list.

Anywhere online that election results can be viewed in real time? I have to work tomorrow night till 9 and it'd be great to see results on my phone periodically. I guess there's Twitter, but I'd rather just see data than opinions until it's all over.

Just to get an idea of what construction will look like during and after when the rails go in next month, I had a guy on Twitter send me some updated photos of Atlanta's construction: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2013/09/some-updated-streetcar-info-from-atlanta.html

But not due to technical issues, but rather, Duke's politicking.

Again, convenient for the election and making a big deal out of highlighting that their "trollies" reach Mt. Adams.

Thanks for providing some background to the proposal. I can see where the commenters were coming from though and I still remain suspicious of the "HOP ON" plan. Mainly because of things like this: I'm curious as to why the "HOP ON" group doesn't just advocate for better bus transit service, because when it comes down to it - that's all this really is. Even in that Enquirer article, Fusaro still points out that he believes his proposal does "more." quote: Even before a good chunk of this thread was lost, we've gone over and over why "trackless trollies" are a distraction and not a viable substitute. I find it strangely convenient that this Hop On plan is being brought up so close to election time. I really see it as nothing more than a political tool. Why advocate for an entire new bus system? Why not just work towards more federal dollars for expanded, late night bus service or marketing/creating better METRO/TANK destination routes. Why? Because no serious people in Cincinnati transit planning take this or Winburn's power point seriously, because they're simply political tools. I see this as nothing more than a tool for certain candidates to say "Hey look we found a way for the streetcar to be cheaper and still have something cool." Meaning they're just targeting on the fence supporters and appealing to the COAST ilk base. In the end when they win and this never happens, their supporters won't care. The only thing they're trying to get people to "hop on" to are the Cranley/Murray/Smitherman campaigns.

Here's a way zoomed in and cropped version of the raw photo: Not cracked, just hasn't had the rest of the concrete poured around it yet. You're right, there's not many human beings in those particular photos from that particular time, but you have to keep in mind that they were taken at 2 PM on a Saturday afternoon. The building to the left of the second photo is a massive office building that probably didn't have many people working in it on a saturday afternoon. The third photo shows a side street that the route goes down, the entrance to both hotels is on the other sides of that block. Also, their streetcar will have a stop at Centennial Park, where about 20 minutes later plenty of people could be found: And that photo doesn't even show the other people gathered around the two event stages or the nearby ferris wheel.

From Atlanta over the weekend: - If you look down the middle of the rails there's a *GASP* manhole in the middle of the tracks! How will the utilities go on? - Down this stretch of road there seemed to be a few established businesses and it was a nice area, but plenty of first floor retail spots that could be filled along the line. A few blocks over is a real happening area of downtown ATL. - They were welding a few pieces here on Saturday morning. I didn't notice until we were leaving, but further East they had already finished sections and repaved the roads. The tracks looked great, but there weren't any overhead wires in place yet. Some other observations: While I didn't have my bicycle with me on this trip I saw several cyclists cross the rails safely. Somehow, someway I think we're going to survive the streetcar.

Just got home from Atlanta, where they're already laying track and have completed some segments on their streetcar. Was really cool to see. Photos soon.

^John, any idea when we'll start seeing track laid? I can't wait to get the photos. :clap:

For me, last night going into this morning started out absolutely awful. I didn't have a chance to be on the internet all morning and catch this news. I just got to a computer and was finally able to read up on it. I can't express enough how proud and happy I was after hearing the news. While it is my sincere hope to see the streetcar running by the 2015 All Star Game, even if it doesn't happen at least that's speeding things up a bit. I can't wait to see the b-roll shots in-between innings of the game showing the streetcar gliding through beautiful downtown Cincinnati. And more importantly - thing how great of a tool the streetcar will be for the influx of visitors into the city during that time. Like John said, this weekend is a celebration, but the opposition will never stop. Today though, they were dealt a great blow.

Dense student housing - Clifton and the areas surrounding UC after the streetcar goes up the hill. A University - The University of Cincinnati in phase 2 A functioning downtown - First phase circulates all over Cincinnati's downtown, which has made a huge comeback and is active on both weekends and weeknights, especially when the weather is good. A regional shopping venue - Macy's downtown, Tiffany's, Findlay Market, numerous speciality shops in OTR (ever been to OTR on Final Friday? It's packed!), several other downtown shopping destinations. A hospital - University Hospital area near UC Other large attractors - Zoo, Great American Ballpark, Fountain Square, US Bank Arena, Paul Brown Stadium, Riverfront Park Population around 100,000 - Cincinnati has a population over 300,000 and a metro area of over 2 million. Seems like your posted criteria suits Cincinnati just fine.

MJA, thanks for the information! I hope to make another trip up there when the museum reopens, seems like a great place. Just for clarification, did you mean the sister cars of the snow pusher frame or the sister cars of the two complete cars on the side are in the barn?