Gordon Bombay

Very random question, but back in 2022 I wrote an article about a Cincinnati sculptor and the “sculpture park” he installed in the city’s Downtown. In doing that research, I came upon the fact that he installed a first run test piece at Port Columbus International Airport (now John Glenn). I finally came across a photo of it (dated 1984). Does anyone know if it’s still there?

This is such a shame. My evidence is anecdotal from living Downtown and working in OTR/The West End every day, but it's been my general impression that Red Bikes are used WAY MORE often than scooters. Especially since there's so many e-bikes available (which make riding less off a stress) and the scooters are time limited. On the weekends, there's plenty of "tourists" crashing scooters into bar patios—but every single day I see people with groceries and stuff on RedBikes. The station by Kroger is often bare cause all the bikes get grabbed.

You really can. It’s an exciting time. I tend to listen to the same four bands over and over haha, but it’s cool seeing all these names come to town.

This Coney Island news is so interesting. It seems like we went from “this region is in desperate need of a new music venue” to a glutton of projects in such a short time: On top of this (and the recent additions of ICON + Megacorp), there’s proposals for not only a new arena, but a music venue in FCC’s development and a plan to host concerts at a renovated Lindnder Tennis Center. I do hope this addition to Coney is successful, but I am so tired of hearing “we are always passed up by X” when no one can ever say what band/artist X is and how that relates to venue availability (as opposed to geography/schedule, etc). Hopefully this new venue is a MAJOR improvement over Riverbend. I got a notification that one of my favorite bands is coming to town this summer and I was truly disappointed to see it’s at Riverbend. What a fucking abysmal venue. In terms of the park: Coney as an amusement park was dead in 1972, when everything moved up North to Kings Island. TAFT Broadcasting kept the pool going for years and new owners brought in small rides in 1991, but new Coney was never anything on the scale of old Coney. Once the last few small rides left after 2019, the idea of an amusement park there was dead. Surprised to see Sunlite Pool also go, but figured it was always on borrowed time. (Anecdote: when I worked in the amusement industry years ago, there was talk of Coney installing a small, but exciting wooden coaster from a reputable manufacturer. The idea being it’d be the basis for a new vision/push to be a classic/small park and not just a company picnic destination. Sadly, it fell through). In terms of history, if they do keep anything—I really hope it’s Moonlite Gardens as centerpiece of their proposed “campus.” Something still available for receptions, etc., or even open to the public during shows. Maybe keep the parking lot entrance too as a historical nod. Maybe relevant for another thread: I hope this doesn’t incentivize MEMI to hold festivals out there, though. It sucks getting out to Riverbend for shows and I liked when Bunburry brought people to the city’s front door as opposed to Anderson Township’s parking lots. Maybe METRO will finally get some decent transit out there, though, with this new venue. Was always surprised that the Cove food truck park never took off out that way (/s).

Can we get you to apply to Kroger then?

...or you could just let people vote on it. Which they did. And what's being proposed is not what they voted on. Simple. As. That. You're spending a lot of time and energy, per usual, to really defend that the will of the people is being ignored. Whether it's this topic, the abortion topic, or the GOP being election deniers—there's no need to keep subjecting this forum to your trolling. Take the L and move on, or, just go to your local GOP meeting where your "alternative facts" are embraced.

Coincidentally, @ryanlammiand I talked about this last night while having a beer. If you did a theoretical "loop" between Downtown, Newport, and Covington it would have to be bi-directional/double tracked to be most useful. One direction of flow would lead to, like you said, people just opting for other options. Ironically, that's one of the issues the Southbank Shuttle has now. If you're in Newport or Covington, the shuttle is a great connection to Cincy but can't get you to the other NKY city without going to Cincy first. On the note of the shuttle, and funding/planning for a NKY line, though — Obviously, despite the best efforts and intentions of the Newport streetcar group, the state of Kentucky isn't likely to have any political will to help fund such a venture and the likelihood of that mentality changing/adjusting anytime soon is low. However, I do see several good options: Low Hanging Fruit: Simply modify the Southbank Shuttle's operation, route, and marketability. Make it free like the streetcar. Move the Fountain Square stop to Government Square with true visibility, or, create stops that directly serve Northbound/Southbound streetcar stations. Use both systems to highlight the other (signage on the streetcar, etc. pointing to the shuttle and vice versa). Alter the route to better reflect an NKY "loop." Downtown Cincy's stop has quick connection to streetcar service and have it serve a bi-directional loop into NKY. I.E. You can then ride to Covington and after your time there, go back Downtown quickly - or - hop over to Newport. Sync up the operational hours with the streetcar. No more of this "we stop running the shuttle at 7 PM in the winter." Market the hell out of the set up with an information/education campaign. Maybe both are called "Connector" and use similar branding? Frequency: no specific times for boarding, just every 12-15 minutes like the streetcar. More Ambitious Fruit (The idea being that these cities could fund these smaller projects via grants, etc. without their archaic state government being involved): Newport Spur Extend tracks along (Cincy's) 2nd St. in a transit only down to the intersection of 2nd/Pete Rose Way. Take the tracks across the Taylor-Southgate with a quick loop down York, Fifth, and Saratoga before the line links back to the bridge. Hell, you could even just have it come over the bridge, go down 3rd, drop off at the levy, then go back. Essentially you'd have a spur with a dedicated connection to NKY that could always be built out in the future for a bigger system. Covington Spur Similar to the above Newport idea, but come across the Clay Wade Bailey and then down 4th past the new IRS Site development into the heart of Covington and back.

That’s right! Thank you! Boom, there we go, let’s go to the West End/CUT!

Wonderful, wonderful news. Thank you for sharing, @KJP. Now let's just hope the Republicans stay out of the way this time.

Couldn't agree more, especially with the new FCC development coming online and the potential of a new arena in that general area (even though I personally believe the WCET site is a poor choice for an arena). Ultimately, though, I think the route expansion that makes the most sense is the one that was originally planned and kneecapped by Kasich: Uptown. And if you can't get expansion to Uptown, at least consolidate/organize the bus system better to show how easy it can be to get between Downtown and Uptown (i.e. if routes X, Y, Z all go between downtown and uptown before separating into various spurs, flag them as "the green line" to make it easier to understand that they connect both destinations). However, any talk of expansion is moot until the city has representatives that show they clearly are willing to fight for such expansion. I know I keep beating a dead horse with this, but the existing system is now over seven years old and still operated in such a lackluster fashion: no signal timing/prioritization, no estimated arrival times (unless you happen to know how to use the cumbersome app), etc. If the supposedly "pro-streetcar" councils of the past weren't willing to fight for even modest operational changes that were originally designed into the project, I don't see expansion going forth in any meaningful way anytime soon. Also, just a personal gripe: Cincinnati Bell is gone and no one ever called the thing the "Connector" anyways. Strip that terrible name off, call it the streetcar as intended, and bring back that slick logo.

Don't forget, @E Rocc who's here with his greatest hit: "gerrymandering doesn't really matter."

I prefer babies to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, thank you very much. And you don't need all that fancy stuff so long as you have prayer and church. /s

Traitor. 😉

Welcome to my hell.

We get it Jake, nothing’s as cool as when you were young.

I mean, this is true of any sport — you need to have some familiarity with the players, rules, etc. if you want to know what’s going. Tuning into the Reds without any context isn’t going to make sense and as you have reminded us of many times on both your old and new accounts—you don’t care for soccer. So this point is moot. Also, just because your specific employer didn’t show the match, doesn’t speak for the rest of the area. Social media and even physical marquees all over were advertising that they were showing the game.

I get the feeling that all this talk of “new” routes is just theatre. We have council members now limited to two year terms who can’t even get our existing route running the way it was designed/intended when it opened seven years ago. Realistically, uptown should be the route pursued first. Not only is it a great connection/smart connection — so much of it was already studied that even if new studies need to be done, there’s already ground work laid for highlighting its benefits.

Oh yeah, man, and I bet those people also don’t understand how cool MTV was back in the day and how music is just boring now. Hey, wanna tell us about Mariah Carey again?

Switch to four day work weeks and we’ll call it a wash.

@John S. - Just wanted to say that I really appreciate you taking the time to share your personal story and experiences.

All helped along by folks like you still making excuses for their actions.

Well said: @MissinOhio, @YABO713, @Clefan98, and@GISguy . The simple fact here is that although this particular forum topic is about abortion, the fallout of Issue 1 has has ramifications well outside its language (and its implementation is being effected by recent national politics). All that being: Republicans' refusal to carry out the will of the people as if it's somehow negotiable. Whether that's the results of the 2020 Presidential Election (the current Speaker of the House for Christ's sake refused to certify the election) or the populace voting overwhelmingly for Issue 1. This isn't "venting," this is purely and simply a radical party (that has done nothing but allow themselves to become further and further radicalized ever since Obama's first election) attempting to consistently thwart the will of the people. There's no justification for it.

Again with the “muh both sides” bulls**t as if the “two sides” are somehow similar. One literally fomented insurrection and ignores the will of voters, but rubes like you are still trolling here acting as if this is totally normal and acceptable behavior.

Yes you are.

Well said, @ucgradyand @ryanlammi. I’m very surprised it passed, but hope it works out as a positive.