JYP

This is a big article in the Washington Monthly. Back on Tracks A nineteenth-century technology could be the solution to our twenty-first-century problems. By Phillip Longman http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0901.longman.html

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog02&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aec38bb2b-982e-46ba-819a-da01a547e8eaPost%3a4b7d5d2d-bc3f-4891-834a-ab69b2016d9f&plckCommentSortOrder=TimeStampAscending&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com Cincinnati: More Streetcar Money From Obama? Posted by JanePrendergast at 1/13/2009 10:17 AM EST Cincinnati officials pushing to install a streetcar system hope the Obama administration might free up more federal funds – and faster - for such projects. A new memo from City Manager Milton Dohoney says his staff is working on a report about the viability of a streetcar project and preparing to make a recommendation to City Council in March. A request for qualifications has been issued by the city to determine what possible contractors might be able to design, build, operate and maintain a streetcar line. It also asks potential contractors what financing they can provide.

I believe that is for an access road for the residents. There will be a new flood gate there as well.

I have read some books that touch on street design and New Urbanism. Not sure if you are going that route with it though. They are: Community by Design by Kenneth B. Hall and Gerald A. Porterfield and Suburban Nation by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. Hope this helps!

Dayton's riverfront project is about 1.4 MILES!! long. It's going to be huge. I concur about the trees. :-(

It's fairly tough to build anything particularly engaging below the base flood elevation for a 100 year flood plain. In my experience with Floodplain Ordinances no residential dwelling space can be created below the BSE. That is why Waters Edge's town homes are not entirely street level or why Harbor Greene is built on top of a parking garage. While South Shore could have done things to enhance the ground level exterior they choose to instead build the garages out as close to the street as they can. This has created a weird one sided corridor effect next to Don Pablo's. There's no room for a sidewalk or any pathway of any sorts. I also want to address some comments a few posts back about the types of Developments in Bellevue. Bellevue had a Urban Renewal program in place for the riverfront for over twenty-five years. There were plenty of proposals that floundered (I don't know if anyone remembers Bellevue Harbour?) and Harbor Greene and Waters Edge were the first real big developments for the City in the past 4 decades. Bellevue saw the condo developments as an opportunity to increase revenue and therefore use the increased income to provide more to its community. I think what Jimmy_James said was accurate, small cities take what they can get. But I think that as the population base starts moving closer to the urban core because of high gas prices, cities like Newport, Bellevue and Dayton can become more selective in the types of developments that are done. I think the desirability for the areas close to downtown Cincy will increase. I know at least Bellevue has learned a lot from the developments that it has approved and although they are not perfect in form, the city did the best they could to ensure that they fit in (even if the windows in Waters Edge look too small).

Typorir, as a resident you always have the option to notify the City about the noise. That is something the City can address. As for parking, they are not required to have off-street parking at their location. However; the City did have a plan to paint angeled parking on Ward Avenue and make it one way which would have freed up parking for residents and for those visiting Fairfield Avenue. The City has been working on the off-street parking issue for several decades and has recently created a parking committee to explore options. Some of those options include the possible purchase of private property but as usual with these things it takes time. As for Manhatten Harbour, the City is very concerned with this development because of its impact to Bellevue's downtown. The traffic study they have presented to their Planning Commission calls for removing several blocks of on-street parking from the Bellevue part of Rt. 8. On-street parking is essential for providing a safety buffer between pedestrians and traffic. Eliminating this would reduce parking for businesses and hinder pedestrian activity. Bellevue is working with Dayton and the Transportation Cabinet to find a solution.

There is a pretty good article about the increase in mass transit in the New York Times today. Here is a link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html

They are building Phase II of Waters Edge. One more condo tower and two more townhomes are being constructed there.

Does anyone foresee UC contributing to the uptown phase in a way comparable to OSU's contribution to the C-bus streetcar? Maybe if there is a commitment from UC then there would be more of a guarentee for the uptown phase and a better chance we can move forward sooner.

Adding light rail lines offers alternatives to road based transportation. This could possibly help reduce traffic congestion on highways. As for its effects on encouraging or limiting sprawl is debatable. Light rail is a powerful tool for reducing sprawl type suburban developments but ultimately stopping sprawl rests in the hands of suburban planners decisions on land use regulations, comprehensive planning and zoning. Suburban leaders have a opportunity to reverse the trend and adopt regulations that encourage pedestrian activity, on-street parking and a denser style of development as opposed to big-box driven lifestyle centers and so forth.

Hey, first time post here. It's obvious this is a stall tactic. Is there an alternative way to get the streetcar proposal on the Finance Committee's agenda? Or is the committee chair the only one that can put it on the agenda?