Gordon Bombay

You might not want to do that again. Some media outlet might pick up on it and publish it as if it were real. I recall an article from The Onion that was picked up by a Chinese news agency and published. Really? I think he'll be just fine. How does the media of this country survive on April Fool's day?

Hahaha, wow. At least I'm more familiar with the place and not the show.

As long as you aren't standing directly on the streetcar tracks, it won't hit you. The same cannot be said for automobiles. Let's say I'm within 8 ft. of the edge of the tracks, will I be ok then? No... you see, streetcars have these swinging arms that come out of no where and can extend up to 8 feet from the rails. Pretty scary stuff. Dear God. That's more frightening than the time Mark Miller attempted to photoshopped Xenia Warrior Princess on top of a Portland Streetcar.

As long as you aren't standing directly on the streetcar tracks, it won't hit you. The same cannot be said for automobiles. Let's say I'm within 8 ft. of the edge of the tracks, will I be ok then?

So are we looking at a 5 story building here with potential to build on top of that base?

So I noticed some construction going on around downtown last night. It was about 11 PM, my friend and I were out shooting photos. Someone mentioned earlier that they had removed trees along E 5th St. on Fountain Square (right where the streetcar display was). I gotta say it looks barren and I imagined this is where a stop would go IF the route still turned here, but since it's going to 2nd Street now, is this tree removal streetcar related? Also, I can't remember which, but while crossing one of the FWW bridges to 2nd, there was a lot of torn up planters and sidewalks with markings all over the ground. Anyone have any idea if that is streetcar related also? I seem to remember (either on here or in person), someone mentioning to me that construction would start at two different points. Can anyone clarify?

^Were you babysitting one of the kids there? I wonder if all those tenants will really appear and if/when they do - will they last? Arcade Legacy is actually pretty neat and run by some really nice guys.

Yuengling Beer, really? I guess suburbanites do read City Beat.

I'm not sure if you were speaking directly to him or throwing the offer out in general, but if I make it up to Cleveland this summer, I'd gladly take you up on that. I do not care for Cleveland's sports teams :p , but even as a Cincinnatian I do like that city up North. I've been on the Red Line there once and took it from this nice market place through the city center out to an incredibly random no man's land station that seemed like it was out of Mad Max. I had no idea that Shaker Square existed, it looks great and I'd love to try that diner. As for the streetcar, while our system may not be comparable to Cleveland's in terms of infrastructure and hardware, I see the importance of having TOD. I like the idea of the community building up around transit. Lord knows we're all sick of seeing surface lots downtown. With the streetcar going to 2nd Street now, I'm really looking forward to hopefully seeing this.... er, at least something like it: I think the streetcar shelters and waiting area on 2nd really need to be a "showcase" area. GABP brings in a lot of out of towners and suburbanites, we need to really show this thing off. I'm already excited to see people's reactions at Reds games this year when they walk up to the stadium and notice that The Banks is no longer a hole in the ground, but an AWESOME place to be.

Keating was easily their best photographer they had on staff and a very nice guy if you ever met him. And now they're gonna put up a pay wall. I give them six months into the pay wall before they fold.

Uhh, sure it can. The design just has to be more urban and less suburban shopping mall. To clarify why the stop cannot be at the front door, shoppers taking the streetcar will exit the store with their groceries, and stand in front of the front door waiting for the streetcar, blocking the exit for other customers. This is especially important when fire exits are considered. The streetcar should stop some distance from the front door to make room for all the queueing. Really? I don't think he meant it literally right in front of the door more as near the entrance in a situation like John described. He will if he thinks it is in his best interest to do so. Stating that the developer will not spend his own money to accomodate the streetcar is equivalent to saying that the developer doesn't support the streetcar. Even if it's in his best interest, who says he wants to spend his own money? That's not equivalent to saying he doesn't support it, but look at Duke for example. It's in Duke's best interest to support the streetcar and they've been oh so accommodating. If the streetcar route were to follow Jefferson, it should be in a private right-of-way, with rapid running, 35 mph or more, with no more than one stop, and function more like "light rail" or a historic interurban. This is one of the few stretches where it makes sense to increase speed, and might even be faster than driving. In fact, I have been toying with the idea of building a section between the zoo and McMillan street first instead of the Over-the-Rhine loop. Running it like an "interurban" or "light rail" defeats the point of it being a streetcar - on the street interacting with the urban environment. What's that saying about how some rail opponents will never admit to not supporting a project, but instead will always through out some other alternative?

^I give it six months.

So here's the story... About a year and a half ago I'm down in Covington at the "landing." I snap this photo: - Pardon the awful lens flare. Now, I had thought that the Covington Landing was just like a riverfront area and that the pad from the photo was just a viewing area. Back in January, jmecklemborg and I are shooting an event at the NKY Convention Center and go for a walk to grab some food on our lunch break. We start talking about the Covington Landing and he mentions that there used to be a "floating mall" of sorts there with a T.G.I. Fridays and stuff. I remember seeing the TGI Fridays as a kid, but don't remember the Covington Landing at all. So would anyone mind cluing me in to exactly what this place was? I did some research before work this morning and came across a few articles, but not any really good photographs. Apparently they had a water taxi to Reds games and such? Interesting note: One of the original investors was Gary Wach's who was the first GM of Kings Island Amusement Park. Any info anyone wouldn't mind sharing would be great, I'm fascinated by the fact that this thing only lasted a decade.

^You can't forget that we were just coming off of raising taxes to build two stadiums + other things, I don't think asking for a tax raise again sat well with people. In the event that we see another Metro Moves that engages the entire county, I'd have faith in CFP. They ran great campaign for the streetcar, multiply them at the county level and I could see them getting the message out. Originally, I wanted to go catch a Pens game against the Ducks in Pitt and check out that new line and until now I completely forgot I had put that in my calendar. Crap. Did they get new/upgraded rolling stock for the extension? Pittsburgh's T is one of my favorite transit lines.

Please, neither Raging Wolf Bobs nor Son of Beast compared to the beating that was the "Villain," at Geauga Lake. By far, hands down the absolute worst roller coaster I've ever ridden.

^It's amazing how much higher an opinion people have of Rail Transit compared to bus. Myself included before I started using bus service around here. I'm planning a trip to Milwaukee and Chicago with some friends. We're using Amtrak and when we get to each city, I planned to use local transit to travel. In Chicago, they're all about using the subway, but when I mentioned that in Milwaukee we'd be using a bus they said "well we can just rent a car or get a cab if we need to." I think the streetcar will certainly help Metro/Tank ridership. Can't wait till this summer when I'll be taking the bike/Metro to work as part of my daily commute.

Jones Soda was the official beverage of the Seattle Seahawks for a few years; then they switched back to Coke or whatever. Jones produced a cola and lemon-lime specifically for the stadium. That's awesome. As far as beverages go, both the Gardens and USBA offer Hudy. USBA even has it on tap. I'm glad to see some local options available. GABP offers some Moerlin, but I wish these venues had more local flavor. Every other city I've been to, their baseball stadiums are all about the local beers. I know I brought up that point the other day, but I had to run out to my parent's house this evening and went through that stretch of I-75. It's actually quite a huge span to gap, but I could still see it happening.

^Oh, without a doubt. I don't mean to sound overly negative or to knock Metro around, but in recent years they've gotten so much better. I've noticed the drivers are incredibly friendly and good about helping with questions. I do wish they had an easier transit map.

This brings up the one thing about this project that I'm not very happy about...That is letting metro run the system. Can anyone make any sense of that map of downtown with all the bus routes and streetcar route drawn out? Its impossible to read! You can hardly even see the streetcar line in there. I just think of how easy its been for me in other cities to pick up a transit map (rail or bus) and quickly figure out how to get from point a to b. In Cincinnati, thats next to impossible. Our bus system needs a major overhauling of all the routes, stops, maps, website everything. Its the most user-unfriendly system I've ever seen. Just had to get that off my chest:) I could not agree more. It's intimidating for those who have never used transit to try and figure it out. Ideally, I wish Metro and Tank would combine into one.

I think the "Red Line" would be perfect. Chicago's "Red Line" is known as one of the easiest and most useful transit lines for out-of-town visitors in Chicago to take and use. To top it off the "Red Line" in Boston was designed similarly to the Cincinnati Subway. And the streetcar serves the Reds stadium.

^I agree and while I don't want to deviate from the topic at hand too much, I never understood why they don't do all of their preseason games in Cincy and Cleveland. Play the pre-season in these cities, make tickets cheap and make it a good time while promoting the hell out of the team. Encourage people in these cities that they need to get to Columbus to see it. As far as arena's go: what soda should a new arena carry? US Bank Arena carries RC Cola. The RC Logo on advertisements goes well with the water stains in the ceiling.

^In my opinion, that's exactly what they should've done with an NHL team. Granted, JHM fought to have the Blue Jackets in Columbus and I'm a fan and think that's great. However, I think if you had this modern arena in that suburban area of West Chester and called the team the "Ohio Blue Jackets" or Ohio anything - you'd be able to pull from Dayton, Columbus, Cincy and all stops in between. The access would feel more regional. That being said... I'm a big Blue Jackets fan, love Nationwide and I love Columbus. I grew up near West Chester. It sucks.

Beautiful shots, love the little details you've found.

Water Taxis. We need water taxis. Bellvue to Newport to Banks water taxis. Water taxis as far as the eye can see. Ask jmecklemborg, he totally agrees!

NorthAndre, great shots. Awesome quality for a camera phone. Really makes me want to go back to Detroit.