JYP

These are excellent photographs ColDayMan!

The vacant lot will be the home to the Cincinnati Streetcar construction trailer HQ.

I have heard that litigation could be pursued from every contractor and sub-contractor related to the project if the city decides not to pay their profit costs. That's a lot of lawyers! Also because of the litigation the funds for the streetcar would be held in escrow for years (like the $15 million in escrow pending the resolution of the Duke lawsuit).

And you can be sure he will do whatever he can to not fund its operations. That means reduced service, long wait times, etc.

Thats disappointing. I thought 3CDC has plans for that building a few years ago.

I think the debate is more specific to Diner en Blanc as it being held at Washington Park in OTR. If the debate veers away from relevance to the OTR event, then the topic should go somewhere else.

The CDCGCA brought in someone from San Diego to speak on these types of district last year. It's pretty exciting to see what can be achieved.

Agreed. I don't see a diminishing demand for parking until some time after the second phase of the streetcar opens. Part of this is also financing. Banks literally require parking for new/rehab developments for projects this size and many times its way above what even the zoning code allows! Also I've heard that the Gateway Garage no longer offers monthly parking passes for residents. Can anyone confirm or deny?

In the past, Cranley has trumpeted his position in defeating the 2002 Metro Moves ballot as a major career accomplishment.

Jordan Crossing is a defunct mall.

Agreed. It baffles me that the suburban mall concept is still going strong here in the Cincinnati region. This development is shiny and new but still an island in a sea of parking lots, on top of a parking garage, etc.

Unlike other cities, the ground beneath downtown Cincinnati is filled with dragons and buried treasures! Also, strangely enough there is an Applebee's.

If Vehicle Miles driven has steadily been declining since 2002 nationally, why is OKI forecasting an increase for the Cincinnati MSA?

Yep. And this is why streetcar supporters should be outraged.

I've been told construction will start early next year.

The Southbank Shuttle does technically go to Bellevue as it stops at both the Bellevue Medical Arts Building on Landmark Drive and Joe's Crab Shack which is on the very edge of the city. We were pushing to have the shuttle go into the historic district further down but TANK does not have the funding to extend the route. The shuttle has seen high ridership recently but that was after they converted to the tourist trolly buses to allow the bus to cross the suspension bridge. I am not aware of any single development that has located along the shuttle route because of the shuttle. Its pretty obvious that these gimmicky trolleys do not generate any economic development revenue along their routes, much like any other typical bus. And the ride is another thing. I used the shuttle on Friday to get back to work from Fountain Square and the handicap off-loading took over five minutes as the driver has to get off and operate the rear door to lower the handicap lift to the sidewalk. After departing I could feel every single bump as if it was amplified a million times. The wooden seats do not help. The ride was one of the most uncomfortable rides on public transportation I can remember. I disclosed to one of my friends who is familiar with bus technology. Turns out these types of shuttles are built on truck chassis, which allow them to be light-weight. The trade-off of course is the comfort of the ride. I'm sure the typical person would much rather prefer the smoothness of a streetcar ride over the bumpy grind of one of these boondoogles.

An update with some new pictures of the project taken last week: PHOTOS: Mercer Commons Beginning to Reshape Central Over-the-Rhine Mercer Commons has long been considered a critically important site in Over-the-Rhine due to its size and central location. In 2005, Cincinnati Public Schools purchased the land and existing buildings on the 2.2-acre site with the plan to rebuild the shuttered Washington Park Elementary School there. As plans changed over the years, the school district decided to abandon the school plans for the site and instead sell it to the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) to pursue a $63 million mixed-use development.

They were also used in the old configuration. Can't say I've seen them anywhere else in the city though. The round-a-bout in Eden Park has them.

Both Prus and Messer donated to Cranley campaign. I guess they don't care if they lose millions of dollars in construction work on the streetcar!

^Have any of the above people also donated to Qualls?

This discussion is not an either/or argument. Urban environments have been successful because they offer a variety of choices in the style of shopping. If you want to shop at a one-stop shop, that's fine. I remember going to the very suburban styled PathMark in Gowanas Canal for groceries via the bus, but I also went to the open air farmers markets in New York. People in OTR do the same thing however the option of a quality grocer is lacking. I also patronize the Vine Street Kroger. It serves its purpose as a type of glorified convenience store. The produce I get there I know I have to use the day of. I know it won't carry the brand of cereal I prefer. I also go to Findlay Market as well. A friend of mine that lives at Parvis goes to the Vine Street store regularly. There are better stores and worse stores in other urban environments. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be fighting for the upscale Whole Foods type stores, and it doesn't mean we should just be accepting of the status quo ante. We should be working to improve the things we have and also working on getting the things we want. There are tons of downtown residents that crave the urban store experience but maybe they're thinking of it more along the lines of a Whole Foods not a Vine Street Kroger. That's worth working towards. p.s. Keep it civil.

Agreed. There should be a notable preference between a replacing a bridge with a ranking that basically says, "immediate danger of collapse" to the other which is merely an inconvenience to drivers.

Fox 19 is running an "expose" of how the streetcar unfairly benefits the properties along the route. In-depth investigation airs tomorrow night at 10pm.

Keep the discussion on-topic. If you start feeling compelled to talk about the Mayor's race, we've got a thread for that. Thanks.

If the streetcar opens on April 29 2016, that would be exactly 65 years since the old streetcar system was discontinued in April 29, 1951!