JYP

The theater will probably last as long as the one of Reading and the Norwood Lateral in Bond Hill did. I'm surprised the city is still allowing this unsustainable suburban drivel to infest their best neighborhoods.

I completely disagree. It's a standard that has been adopted that has very little bearing on how cities actually function. LOS is an outdated arbitrary standard the ITE created decades ago because the focus was moving cars in and out. That viewpoint for the most part has changed. Freeways, arterial roads and intersections are part of any fabric, rural, suburban or city and need to be context sensitive, which is something LOS completely disregards. What I am saying is the standard needs to be replaced because there are plenty of better solutions that benefit reducing traffic congestion and also improve and incorporate other modes of transit such as walking, biking, etc. The problem is that most traffic engineers have failed to adapt to that because LOS designations and highway expansion are a sure source of income. Therefore they almost always recommend improvements with the hopes of getting lucrative government contracts to carry out the design and engineering. I've only met 2 traffic engineers that acknowledge LOS is an outdated and outmoded standard for anything having to do with roadway design. So the consensus is changing, albeit slowly.

LOS is crap to planners. It's great for measuring cars cars cars but traffic doesn't exist in a vacuum and neither should the standard of measurement. Engineers make recommendations on highway expansions through studies which are then used by politicians to secure money though earmarks and transportation bills. They are not mutually exclusive. The difference is an engineer that endorses highway plans have a better chance of getting awarded contracts for design than railroad engineers.

Discussion about highway vs rail policy and congestion has been moved to General Transportation. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=25106.0

A few things: 1. LOS is a crap way to determine traffic congestion because it only takes into account automobile traffic. 2. Traffic engineers do their job very well. That is why we are still funding highway expansion and new highways. 3. This thread is in danger of going off topic. We have several other threads for transportation policy.

Sean Rhiney talks about the recent 142 E. McMicken demo among others in this weeks Soapbox "The fact that it probably housed brewery workers and families who attended the school adjacent to their home makes it no less important than say, the Gamble House in Westwood, originally owned by the son of P&G's co-founder and the recipient of a recent victory in an ongoing battle to prevent its owner's calls for demolition."

Council: Concessions will save jobs By Jane Prendergast "Council also passed a motion promising no general fund money would be spent on the streetcar project and another promising to move any capital dollars received for the streetcar to the general fund to pay for police officers and firefighters. Members don't actually think the latter is possible. But they wanted a once-and-for-all vote to try to quell critics who continue to say the city should stop spending on the streetcar and save public safety jobs. Mallory has said if the city did switch money from capital to operating accounts, Dohoney would lose his job."

The money we are getting from TRAC is officially approved in March 2011. I've been concerned that the new governor will do whatever it takes to defund this project. What TRAC does is recommend projects to be funded for the next 4 year budget. They are a 9 person board (6 appointed by gov, 1 by House Speaker and 1 by President of Senate) with overlapping terms. Unfortunately the new Director of ODOT is the chair which gives me the feeling he'll do everything to pull this from the recommended list. If a funding priority is called into question, the TRAC committee will vote on it again in March. The streetcar got the highest score so it doesn't make sense to question it but then again we are dealing with the same person who has already cost the state $400 million, thousands of jobs and economic benefit, etc. etc. http://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/Documents/TRACPoliciesandProcedures-December-9-2010-Web.pdf

Are these funds a sure thing after the committee approval? March 2011 is a long ways away with the way things have gone today.

The office tower, hotel, condo/townhomes and restaurant out parcels in front of the Freedom Center are all part of Phase1 but not under construction. So there is still a lot that needs to be done. That being said, with the pace of the apartment rental going strong and the west garage already being under construction, it would make sense to build those parts of phase 2.

Are the steps on the banner the ones that were over Central Parkway?

It's one to two blocks which is not a big deal. And there are even funkier bus routes (See "the one for fun"). The goal is to connect as many destinations as possible without becoming overly complex. Running the streetcar to Findlay Market is logical because it drops you off at Findlay Markets front door. The current route drops you off in front of the Aronoff, Music Hall, the ballpark, etc. The focus isn't getting to UC as fast as possible and it shouldn't be.

^^ Well said!

The difference in the argument about speed is that 3C was billed as High Speed Rail, thus speed was part of the equation. With the streetcar, speed has never been the focus. The focus is neighborhood revitalization and economic development, not speed.

A Roy Rogers is always an adequate measure of a downtown's vibrancy! :-P

The frustrating thing is that the City HAS been disseminating the facts and has been active in PR. The problem comes from the Enquirer choosing to manipulate and hide those facts against the City or relegate the truth to the bottom paragraph. Supporters have been battling this for over 3 years for the streetcar and even longer for light rail but they (the local media & C0AST) still use the same old fallacious arguments. It's not going to change until the streetcar is built and perceptions change.

New apartments for Columbia Tusculum? By Lisa Wakeland • [email protected] • November 17, 2010 A new apartment complex may be on its way to Columbia Tusculum. Al. Neyer Inc. has proposed constructing an 80-unit building at the northwest corner of the Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue intersection. Arlene Golembiewski, vice president of the Columbia Tusculum Community Council, said it generally supports the project, but want input on the design to ensure the apartments mesh with the look and feel of the neighborhood.

Looks like C0AST is marshaling fire and police officers against the streetcar now. Good grief, first they forget the difference between general and capital expenses, and now they are soliciting for anonymous examples of general fund expenditures on the streetcar. Ugh! Police, fire say their jobs should come before streetcar Posted by jprendergast November 18th, 2010, 8:24 am Streetcar opponents – mainly COAST, police officers and firefighters, in this case – have started CASS, Citizens Against Streetcar Swindle. They’re on Facebook asking people to submit to them anonymously examples of where the city has spent general fund dollars on the streetcar project. Marc Monahan, president of the firefighters union, says those examples will help the groups’ lawyers. Police and fire are trying to protect their jobs. City Manager Milton Dohoney’s proposed budget, which might be out by next week, is expected to suggest layoffs. The police chief has recommended cutting 144 of his people.

The biggest concern wasn't the demolition of the old club but instead the uncertainty of not really knowing what the development looked like.

^^I noticed they were not lit around 9pm last night as well. But there was some fog, so maybe it was lit but not visible, or they were off. ^Ha! Raves @ the Cage!! :drunk:

Moved the Indy discussion to here.

Newest theater opens in Kenwood By Laura Baverman • [email protected] • November 16, 2010 Debuting Friday along with the much-anticipated "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1"is the region's newest movie complex - the Kenwood Theatre. Harry Potter fans can catch the film in any of three state-of-the-art auditoriums on the Sycamore Township venue's opening night. They can recline in plush rocking chairs and munch on the Esquire Theatre's famous fresh popcorn, sushi rolled by the chefs at nearby Embers or home-baked cookies and cakes from Frieda's Desserts in Madeira. A full bar offers up beer, wine and cocktails, and an upscale cappuccino maker pours out a variety of coffee drinks.

What about the State Controlling Boards roll in this matter? Even if Kasich is tied to doing/convinced/whatever this plan would still need the support of the board to fund the construction and improvements to the rail line.

Old Kmart site to be redeveloped By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • November 12, 2010 COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP - An $11.5 million plan that calls for renovating the 10-acre former Kmart site on Ridge Avenue into medical laboratory offices is gaining speed. Known as Ridge Pointe, the project is being led by Evanston-based Neyer Properties. The developer has lured Tri-State Clinical, a firm that handles clinical testing for local hospitals, to lease roughly 72,000 square feet of the 108,000-square-foot renovated building. The remainder of the space likely will be leased to an office or medical lab user, said Dan Neyer, president of Neyer Properties. Included in the project are plans for 170 public parking spaces, new sidewalks and the demolition of one existing building on the site, of which the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is considering financing in partnership with Columbia Township.

Does anyone know when the figures are going to be announced?