Civvik

I am hereby compelled, as I am from time to time, to post something that rids me of that sinking despondency I feel when I'm not listening to anything European and electronic.

^ What is the Riverside station? I thought there was talk of a Middletown station?

Got a nice reality check yesterday about what huge geeks were are. Sister asks me "What's that big blue thing they're building downtown? Is that condos?" Sister #2: "What big blue thing?" Sister #1: "The big building next to the Reds stadium." Sister #2: "Oh. I didn't notice."

^ I believe it has a maximum height...of perhaps 15 stories?

That sure is some funny math! If you are driving 75mph, that's 3 hours 29 minutes of actual driving time. That means you are taking 2 -45 minute potty breaks! Which is it? You know, a few months ago I wasn't sold on the merits of this plan and certainly didn't have all the information. One problem I saw, and actually continue to see, is that there is very little connection between Cleveland and Cincinnati. But really, the vast majority of people will be using this thing to go back and forth to Columbus, or from Cincinnati to Dayton. Which makes a lot more sense than wondering why anyone would take a train from Cleveland to Cincinnati.

Those sounded like great assertions. It makes me happy that someone in a position of authority had such a competent argument.

LOL'd at my desk. Thanks.

^ I'm pretty sure like most news reply boards that it's the same 2 or 3 people posting under different names. Would not surprise me if they had some connection to roads/cars/oil. The rest are just ignorants posting your typical "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!?" reactions that they probably reply to any spending issue.

I posted on the Dispatch article. "Dear Ohio. Your federal government has devised a transportation system for you. It will only cost you $15 billion dollars. A year. For the fuel." Oops, that's reality. Money is money. You make it sound like just because people choose to do something on the open market that it's somehow intrinsically less expensive than a tax. Yeah, you pay for Ohio's roads, to the tune of $200 a month in gas. As a nation we should be looking for the most efficient mix of transportation. And news flash: We *subsidize* roads in Ohio, as in, a billion tax dollars a year for them above and beyond the gas tax.

Well then just tell yourself this: Portland built their line in 25 months. Cincinnati hired the project team, not the planning team but the design-build team, in 2009 and has a grant from Duke to move the utilities. Its not outside the realm of possibility for them to line up enough funding by the end of 2010. That might mean 2012 operation, or 2013. or 2014. In all honesty, an asteroid could hit Cincinnati and push it back to 2100; anything could happen. But that does not mean the end of 2012 is an impossible or irresponsible prediction.

The facts: The 3C plan was chosen from a list of alternatives. The plan went through a public input process. This is the plan that was left standing. There is a side that has worked on the issue and presents facts, and there is a side that talks past them because they don't like the conversation.

I wonder what the 2010 data will show for Portland?

^ Do you have much professional experience with planning? It sounds like you're coming more from a construction background. I'm not sure how much farther they can go until they pull together more of the funding. A project like this differs from something like LRT in two big ways. It doesn't have one dedicated capital funding source like a tax referendum and it's not as complicated. They've identified a preferred route, it's more or less in public ROW. It's entirely under city control. It's not that long. I don't think we are gonna see a grand plan signed and sealed, just various engineering documents (which the general public might never see) until it's time to build. 2012 is not outside the realm of possibility.

There is no schedule yet. With headways as frequent as a streetcar, a schedule isn't as important as operating hours and frequency. Is there an "official plan?" Let me caveat that question by saying that there is never an "official plan" of anything, only more and more specific iterations of some general idea, even well into engineering. http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/city/downloads/city_pdf16341.pdf http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/noncms/projects/streetcar/ProjectTeamprofile.pdf http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/city/downloads/city_pdf17754.pdf http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/city/downloads/city_pdf17769.pdf

Indeed quite elegant, especially from the narrow side. Will be interesting to see how the crown looks when they start assembling it. That's only a few weeks away.

webcam webcam webcam webcam webcam!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

For some odd reason my Nissan tracks its historic average speed, which last time I checked was 41 miles an hour.

Mode BTU per Passenger Mile Bus 4,235 Train 2,650 http://cta.ornl.gov/data/chapter2.shtml You could start with that.

IF Cincinnati begins to re-densify for various global reasons, I think we'll see much more thought and intensity to infrastructure all around the basin. But for now this is all speculation.

Wow, this guy really grasps something important: "Our dreams and ambitions as a society are still there. Perhaps they are more modest, though, tempered by tough times. We no longer assume that our fortunes and expectations will move in an endless upward cycle. We are saving more, splurging less, thinking on a less grand scale..." From: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100315/COL02/3140376/

I would just like condemn in the STRONGEST SENSE the decision to re-name Main "Joe Nuxhall Way." NOT a fan of honorary street names here. Main is Main.

^ ROFL

At night it's pretty young, but honestly during the day, I have seen a surprising number of older middle aged women and mothers with older children browsing the shops on Vine.

^ I think you're probably right. BUT there are always variables that could change the game. What if oil creeps up steadily? What if the trend towards city living is actually generational and not a life-cycle trend? Who knows. I wonder if Korea is still in the game?