JYP

^7 months of painting!!!

^ It's up and running: http://queencitysquare.com/construction.htm

Finally after all these years! http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20091112/NEWS01/911130333/ I-74 ramp meters start Tuesday Chances are, if you drive on Interstate 74 through the western portion of Hamilton County, you've noticed those traffic lights on the side of the highway. Beginning Tuesday, they will be uncovered and in service, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

It's my Alma Mater!! Creno's is supposedly the best pizza there. But we always got Plus 1 because it was cheap. Good times!

The WTC was leased to Silverstein Properties three months before the 9/11 attacks. I think Silverstein has a 99 year lease on the property. Yet the Port Authority still owns the site. Hence the frequent delays in construction. Anyway back on topic... Core is at 33, floors are at 27ish. I think it's taller than Chemed and the Atriums, but don't know about Scripps tower. They should be raising the crane any day now... Oh yea and when is the web cam on the moon going to come back!!? :-p

^ They raised it this morning!

A better view of Broadway Commons. Don't know when this was taken though.

Another negative streetcar story (with survey so you should vote!) from WLWT. They too are making it seem like the streetcar is on the ballot instead of everything passenger rail related: Mallory Forges Ahead With Streetcar Plan Mayor Examines Portland System; Polls Shows Most Against Project Eric Flack Reporter http://www.wlwt.com/money/20136532/detail.html# POSTED: 9:15 pm EDT July 21, 2009 UPDATED: 2:17 pm EDT July 22, 2009 CINCINNATI -- Mayor Mark Mallory is set to embark on a trip to Oregon in his ongoing effort to bring a streetcar system to the Queen City. Mallory will be in Portland on Wednesday to get a firsthand look at their streetcar system and the development that took place because of it.

^Unfortunately COAST can call it anything they like. It's our local media that lets the label stick. That's why we have to keep writing them to get them to set the record straight.

Are you talking about this house: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090603/NEWS01/906040315/1168/NEWS0101/Architectural+gem+may+be++nuisance+ Architectural gem may soon be 'nuisance' By Barry M. Horstman • [email protected] • June 3, 2009 NORTH AVONDALE - She's 125 years old and a national treasure - with a certificate to prove it - though like most centenarians, she's beginning to show her age. Now Cincinnati City Hall wants to declare the rambling, 24-room house at 3725 Reading Road a nuisance. But rather than bringing the house closer to the end, that step, city officials insist, is a positive thing - one that could help restore youthful good looks.

Here is a FEMA floodmap of the area of the Banks: http://map1.msc.fema.gov/idms/IntraView.cgi?ROT=0&O_X=5765&O_Y=7008&O_ZM=0.078048&O_SX=878&O_SY=506&O_DPI=400&O_TH=47648890&O_EN=47656741&O_PG=1&O_MP=1&CT=0&DI=0&WD=14197&HT=10250&JX=1016&JY=566&MPT=0&MPS=0&ACT=1&KEY=47648507&ITEM=1&PICK_VIEW_CENTER.x=683&PICK_VIEW_CENTER.y=389&R1=VIN Zone AE is the 100 year flood zone. As you already know that means that it has a chance of flooding once every 100 years. Unfortunately that number is a ratio and flood levels are not guaranteed to stop at the Base Flood Elevation which is 498 feet above sea level. I am sure engineers on site have taken into account measures to adequately handle and clean up a 100 year flood. What is unfortunate is possible damage and erosion to the park in the even of a flood. Hope this information helps answer these questions!

This blog post may help out: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/revitalizing_overtherhine_part.html

They appear around 2am on the weekends at Mt. Lookout Square and Oakley Square to try and get the bar crowds to sign it.

^ Right and that is my line of reasoning. They are claiming only "trolley or streetcar" but in reality, Passenger rail includes a wide breadth of rail options. Amtrak, Light Rail, High Speed Rail, Subway, 3-C and Eastern Corridor are all threatened by this ballot initiative. Also what is this about the Buckeye Institute suing the City? With all the obfuscation COAST, NAACP and WeDemandAVote.com have been using to mislead people into signing this, shouldn't someone be suing them?

Gotcha. So if Amtrak uses freight lines then they would not have to be put on the ballot if they wanted to improve or expand that as well?

Does anyone know if this ballot amendment will affect adding freight rail lines as well as public rail? I am thinking Queensgate Terminal, or if a freight operator (like CSX) would want to add tracks in existing ROW. Would this affect those projects?

A Hamilton County Commissioner has concerns about streetcar petition language By Jay Hanselman 5/20/2009 1:25:48 PM Opponents of a plan to build a streetcar system in Cincinnati formally launch a petition drive Thursday to stop the proposal. The WeDemandAVote.com coalition will be holding a press conference to announce the effort. The proposed charter amendment would prevent the city from spending any money on passenger rail transportation within the city without first taking the issue to voters. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune says the language could cause problems for other transportation initiatives besides streetcars. He says the city would have to take any issue involving rail to voters before spending a penny of city money. Portune says if the measure makes the ballot and is approved it could prevent the city from participating in the Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati high speed passenger rail service. He says the opponents should re-draft the petition language to deal specifically with streetcars. Opponents say the plan has widespread public opposition, the proposed route avoids vast sections of the city’s urban core and will serve a small population even though all city residents will pay for it. http://www.wvxu.org/news/wvxunews_article.asp?ID=6438

At least can we know if it's not a shoe store or Chinese food place?

Not that I disagree, but to be fair to NKY, a lot of those projects (like the Ascent and SouthShore) are now completed, and the one I can think of that stalled (Newport Pavillion), is currently stalled because of Bear Creek's financial woes, just as Bear Creek's project in Kenwood in stalled. It doesn't have much to do with Cincy being more "progressive" than NKY or vice versa. Not sure if that's where you were heading with that or not... Speaking of NKY, I'd love to hear Newport and/or Covington pipe up a little more about their hopes to be part of the proposed Streetcar network. The first phases have been completed but the second phases have been put on hold. The problem in NKY is too much saturation in the condo market. I was getting at the theory that when Cincinnati does not have its act together, NKY benefits because developers are likely to go there to develop. Now Cincy seems like its getting it together and coming back with a vengeance. Covington and Newport both passed resolutions supporting the streetcar. There has been some talk at Southbank Partners about supporting the streetcar for a Northern Kentucky loop. For now, they are more focused on bringing Riverfront Commons to fruition.

The streetcar is not the be all end all solution to all of OTR's problems. But it is part of the solution. What 3CDC is doing, what the sheriff patrols are doing, the streetcar and other residents are doing is creating an multi-pronged solution to turn around one of the most historically run down neighborhoods in the country. Establishing a historic district is a recognition that the neighborhood adds a unique character to the community. It is this preservation coupled with these urban renewal efforts that can turn OTR into one of the most unique and exciting places in the country. Think, nowhere else in the US is there a larger collection of German Italianate architecture. It takes time, effort, commitment (monetarily & personnel) to change the course of a neighborhood for the better and the streetcar is part of that equation. Part of the problem, honestly is perception. For a long time OTR had that stigma, and it was hard to shake. Whatever progress that was made before the race riots was set back a few years and it took 3CDC to reignite that drive and sustain it. Building a jail in OTR is not the answer. We need to decentralize social services, not concentrate them. Look at OTR today and see why this does not work. Concentrating the poor only creates an unmanageable situation. John Kozol's Amazing Grace is a good book that lays this out from a NYC perspective. For a long time Cincinnati has been known as a conservative city, and everyone knows the Mark Twain saying... For the past few years the City has been a progressive City, it has been finally moving forward. I work in Northern Kentucky for one of the Cities. A few years ago, all the tower cranes were in Bellevue, Newport and Covington. Now we in Kentucky have stalled projects and no cranes while the Cincy side has four in downtown. A lot of people share in this cognitive dissonance where they emphasize these crime, poverty or abandon property numbers without looking at/or ignoring the positive developments in the urban core. It's easy for opponents to shoot the streetcar down if they segregate it from the vision and obfuscate its placement in the solution. I just hope people can see the bigger picture.

I ran into a COAST petitioner at Mt. Lookout Square last night around 2:30. They seem like they are trying to get people to sign after a few drinks late at night. Very underhanded tactics! The guy asked my friends and I if I wanted to sign a petition about the "Trolley" I told them not to sign it and told him to take a hike. It worries me that this is their strategy.

Didn't Duke pledge about $8 million to the streetcar in a recent rate negotiation? Didn't a recently married couple ask that their wedding gifts be donations to help fund the streetcar? Isn't that private funding? Distortions such as what COAST, NAACP, Haap, and their ilk prey on the small minded and uninformed voters out there. It's sad that they are bent out of shape over something that is so obviously good for the City.

I know that the Great American Streetcar Scandal disabled many cities streetcar networks, but I never found Cincinnati on the NCL list. I wonder if Cincy was going with the trend of getting rid of streetcars or what? It's a shame what Standard Oil, GM and Firestone did to ruin mass transit and force our reliance on automobiles.

^ It's a wlwt article but I concur with the comment, they are not the most supportive news station.

There was a wonderful "Points in Favor" there just about an hour ago. They must have deleted it. :x