COAST is affirming the accuracy of the report claiming that OTR is the most dangerous neighborhood in the country.  Clearly they care about the city.  :roll:

 

Safety vs. Streetcar

http://coast-usa.blogspot.com/2009/06/safety-vs-streetcar.html

 

A study released Sunday shows that the northern region of the proposed streetcar route (blue line above) runs through "the most dangerous neighborhood" in America. Several local apologists have already bashed the study as being intellectually dishonest, outdated, "crap."

 

There's no indication the study group had any animosity toward OTR, or that their methods were somehow faulty. They simply sought to identify the worst crime pockets in the country by dividing the number of violent crimes by population for each sub-neighborhood in the nation. For crime data, they used stats routinely gathered by law enforcement; no indication of bias there. For population data, they used figures generated by the Census Bureau; no reason to suspect them of subversion either. The highlighted area above is Cincinnati's census tract #16, which when they did the math, happened to have the highest ratio of violent crimes per head count in the USA.

 

[Continue reading at original URL.]

"There's no indication the study group had any animosity toward OTR, or that their methods were somehow faulty. " 

 

There is a very strong indication their methods were faulty.  they are predicting 457 violent crimes per year in 1/4th of OTR when the entire neighborhood averaged 470 violent crimes per year. 

^ Not to mention that the stat of "violent crimes per head count" is pretty useless when there is such a high vacancy rate, and most of the offenders/victims are not residents of that particular census tract.  Also, the claim that 1/4 of the residents will be victims is completely misguided. 

Isn't that advertisement for the "blast", blatantly misleading the point of the petition?

Needing 6,150 signatures of local registered voters by a deadline in early August, petition circulators already are closing in on that mark -- and may have passed it, some believe, after gaining hundreds of signatures at last weekend's Civil Rights Game events at Great American Ball Park and throughout Downtown.

 

Is there any way that we can get a copy of this petition as soon as it is turned in? If they were collecting signatures at the Civil Rights Game, there is a strong possibility that many of those signatures were from people who don't even live in the region. I'm assuming that all 6,500 signatures need to be Cincinnati residents, so if they come in just barely over the mark, it might be worth checking residency/legitimacy of signatures.

It would be a good idea to get a copy of the petition signatures and go over them with a fine tooth comb. COAST has done this in the past & successfully blocked ballot initiatives.

BTW Anybody notice that posting on the COAST blog puts you on their mailing list ?

COAST = SPAM

I used my rental property address as my residence when I signed.

I used my rental property address as my residence when I signed.

 

Congratulations on committing a fifth degree felony

Coming Soon to a Store Near You

^

or a biergarten

Coming Soon to a Store Near You

 

When and where can these be purchased? Absolutely awesome.

Cincinnati Streetcar.......what about it?

 

Is this like a band t-shirt, where it'll just say what it is to show you're a fan, or is there a statement on the shirt we're not seeing?

June 28, 2009

 

Streetcar opposition threatens high-speed rail

 

Imagine this: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland joins U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood later this year to announce Ohio will get $400 million in federal dollars for a Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati passenger rail line. Cincinnati will become a hub for the nation's new high-speed rail system.

 

Cleveland and Columbus quickly begin acquiring land for rail lines, crossings, stations or parking lots.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090628/EDIT02/906280363

Cincinnati Streetcar.......what about it?

 

Is this like a band t-shirt, where it'll just say what it is to show you're a fan, or is there a statement on the shirt we're not seeing?

 

Just to show you're a fan.  There's another design that's been available at Park + Vine for awhile now.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog03&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=b0f34581-34e4-4b11-9a69-1df5eb81e786&plckPostId=Blog%3ab0f34581-34e4-4b11-9a69-1df5eb81e786Post%3abc4df1e4-d2bc-4549-844e-c4c64a6adb04&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

 

That has me fired up.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog03&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=b0f34581-34e4-4b11-9a69-1df5eb81e786&plckPostId=Blog%3ab0f34581-34e4-4b11-9a69-1df5eb81e786Post%3abc4df1e4-d2bc-4549-844e-c4c64a6adb04&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

 

"The $400 million plan would be covered by federal stimulus spending -- meaning taxpayers like us."

 

Guess what? We all let the federal stimulus happen, like it or not, by either voting for, or not convincing enough people to vote against Obama.  The way I see it, it's a sunk cost.  Our money is going to be spent somewhere, why not make it on something for Ohio, rather than some big coastal or southern city that are already stealing jobs and popoulation from our state?

 

"Upgrading the 450 miles of Ohio tracks in the FRAplan to run trains at 110 mph would cost taxpayers close to $1.6 billion, or nearly $140 for every Ohio resident. Subsidizing passenger trains over those routes will cost more than $30 million per year. Yet the average Ohioan will take a round trip on such trains only once every 17 years."

 

What is the figure for the amount of initial investment in our highways? How much are the subsidized each year in terms of maintanence and repair?  That figure will surprise most everyone. 

The word "moronic" comes to mind.  This guy has obviously done zero research and if he has to rely on noted misinformation-master Randall O'Toole, his credibility sinks even further.  Does the Cincy paper have no standards for at least somewhat having some basis in fact for bloggers?

Oh, how cute. A failure of a columnist for a failure of a newspaper in a failing industry is citing failed arguments in favor of a failed ideology. And Bronson thinks rail proponents are living in a nostalgic, delusional fantasy world.

 

Just another day at the Sharonville Enquirer.

Just got a call from a reporter. They have enough signatures.

Does the Cincy paper have no standards for at least somewhat having some basis in fact for bloggers?

 

Nope.

Just got a call from a reporter. They have enough signatures.

 

Weren't they only halfway to their goal just a short time ago? I remember the big press conference at Ollie's Trolley with a whopping twelve people in attendance. If true, though, I guess they found enough drunk people and Alzheimer's patients to sucker into signing it.

 

Assuming this thing doesn't get shot down by the courts (a distinct possibility, given the amount of ballot fraud that's taken place), it will be up to the people of Cincinnati to resoundingly reject this thing on election day, and it will be up to people like us to spread the word about the implications of this odious charter amendment.

 

If anybody hasn't already done so, join Cincinnatians for Progress and show them some love.

They have a new issue out now but Trains magazine had a great article in their July issue call "The Truth About Trains." It did a great job of shooting down some of the myths about rail/transit. There was also a little article about how Salt Lake City's LRT ridership has skyrocketed in the past couple of years and has exceeded expectations. Salt Lake City, of all places, can have Light Rail and Cincinnati is still fighting over streetcars? There's a problem here.

 

Here's a link to a web-version of the myths article. http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=5060

Just got a call from a reporter. They have enough signatures.

 

Is there any way to stop a petition like this, based on the fact that it's totally irresponsible?  If they want to try to block the Streetcar or any specific rail based project with a vote, I'm fine with that, conceptually anyway.  But requiring ALL rail-based transit projects to be subject to a vote is just ridiculous.  It totally undermines the ability of elected officials to make decisions about this city's future.  Why have a city council at all at that point?  Why not just vote on absolutely everything?  Crazy.

Assuming this thing doesn't get shot down by the courts (a distinct possibility, given the amount of ballot fraud that's taken place),

 

Speaking of which, I was a witness to their ballot fraud this weekend. A COAST petitioner told me two distinct lies while attempting to get me to sign his petition.

 

Is there anyone I can call about this? Their signature tactics are obviously illegal, but I have no idea to whom to report it.

^

 

Send me a private email.

Please respond to his entry at his blog post.

Assuming this thing doesn't get shot down by the courts (a distinct possibility, given the amount of ballot fraud that's taken place),

 

Speaking of which, I was a witness to their ballot fraud this weekend. A COAST petitioner told me two distinct lies while attempting to get me to sign his petition.

 

Is there anyone I can call about this? Their signature tactics are obviously illegal, but I have no idea to whom to report it.

 

Try the Hamilton County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State.  The SoS has authority over all of this.  You could also contact Cleveland State University's Center for Election Integrity.

Peter Bronson and the rail issue

Authored by Sherman Cahal on June 30, 2009 at UrbanUp

 

You know that the Cincinnati Enquirer will present a logically-sound, factually-based editorial when it begins with an antiquated image of a train derailing by the alluring Peter Bronson. In his latest tirade against rail transport and transit, Bronson makes a bold statement that the City of Cincinnati has been attempting to move forward on a fully-taxpayer supported $200 million "trolley."

 

Bronson, before pounding away on your latest editorial, did you bother doing any fact checking? Phase One of the Cincinnati Streetcar project is estimated to cost $102 million, leaving a deficit of $98 million on your account. Both phases would only cost $185 million, still $15 million short of your estimate. All but $30 million remains unfunded.

 

Did you know that for each dollar invested, the city would stand to gain $14 in new economic activity? That is to say, with a streetcar, higher densities in residential development can be achieved further from the downtown core towards Liberty Street and McMicken Avenue without wholesale reliance on costly developer-funded parking garages and surface lots that reduce the amount of buildable space and increase the cost of development. With residential components in place, commercial and retail storefronts would soon follow -- a classic supply-and-demand equation. Thus, economic activity is generated and sustained.

 

Click on the link above for the remainder of the article.

While stranded for 26 hours at CVG this past weekend (which wouldn't have happened if I had the option of taking a fast train, by the way), I stopped at Starbucks and paid $2.45 for a cup of coffee and $0.75 for a print copy of the Enquirer. The newspaper purchase was the bigger rip-off.

This just landed in my email inbox:

 

CINCINNATIANS FOR PROGRESS

 

Tonight at midnight is our first financial reporting deadline.  We need to raise $1,000 TODAY to be able to report over $35,000!  We need your help to push us over the top! Click here to donate and please forward this email to your friends!

 

For a new organization to raise $35,000 in just over 3 months is unheard of in Cincinnati politics.  What's even more impressive is that over 92% of donors to Cincinnatians for Progress are small donors who have given in amounts of $100 or less.  We need your support today so we can reach $35,000 in contributions before our June 30th fundraising deadline!

 

The higher amount we report, the more Cincinnati voters will see the massive city-wide support behind Cincinnatians for Progress.  This helps establish our campaign and will allow us to amplify our message to reach even more Cincinnati voters.

 

In addition, the impressive amount we will report will prove to potential donors that our campaign is legitimate and worthy of their support.  Your donation today will lead to even more support in the weeks and months ahead.

 

We cannot do this without you.  As Cincinnatians, we need to work together to defeat this dangerous Anti-Progress Charter Amendment that will cost our city jobs and put up roadblocks to our future economic development.  Your support will allow our campaign to stop these naysayers in their tracks.

 

Please donate today so we can raise $1,000 and report over $35,000 raised since March!

 

Thank you for your commitment and dedication to Cincinnati.

 

Cincinnatians for Progress

 

If you're outraged about Bronson's hit piece in the Enquirer, then now is the time to put your money where your mouth is. I just did.

And done.

Please respond to his entry at his blog post.

 

Has this idiot never been anywhere on the east coast? The Accela Express is definitely not 1930's technology. Metrorail is definitely not 1930's technology. Calling the streetcar 1930's technology is like calling cars 1930's technology. It's simply not true. This idiot needs to move to a city with rail to learn to appreciate its benefit. Or, he could just be a dumbass and drive everyday to work in those cities. I'm sure he'd enjoy the commutes into DC, that's for sure.

 

I hope they miss their mark on this ballot measure. It's horribly, horribly misguided. If it passes, I encourage you all to create your own petition that requires voter approval for major road projects. See how that goes. I bet you'll find your compatriots are horribly, horribly hypocritical when it comes to modes of transportation they oppose.

Yes, his latest comment was off-the-wall.

 

"Total newspaper circulation 2008: 49 million. Total Amtrak ridership: 26 million. Trains are the best technology of the 1930s. And as far as I know, I've never heard of hundreds of people being killed or maimed in a newspaper derailment. The Enquirer -- in some form -- will be around long after both of us are gone."

 

My reply:

 

That is complete nonsense.

 

Newspapers date back to the first moveable type in 1638. The first iron railroad dates to 1790. Your analogy has already been busted and salted.

 

Do we even need to comment on how far newspaper circulation, including the Enquirer, has fallen in recent years? How many cutbacks have been made in the various departments at the Enquirer? Or how the paper size is being reduced to that of a tabloid format? You aren't the only insider, Bronson.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/business/media/28circ.html

 

In addition, readership for the Enquirer is down to a weekday average of only 203,000 for 2008 (and 206,000 for 2007). Looking at your Sunday readership -- since the Enquirer has recalculated how it determines weekday readership -- one can see that the Enquirer is down over 20,000 in four years.

 

http://cincinnati.com/mediaguide/Attachments/Enquirer_Audit08.pdf

http://www.burrellesluce.com/top100/2007_Top_100List.pdf

 

Mr. Bronson, have you had time to read the article I linked to that goes in-depth, the background and history of Cincinnati's streetcar and light-rail proposals?

 

http://urbanup.net/index.php?catid=543

 

Given that many of the sources point to the Enquirer, I suspect you won't have any issues with the facts.

There's no point in trying to argue with people like Bronson. He'll go to his grave convinced that the earth is flat, and no amount of reason or empirical evidence will ever change his mind. What we can do, however, is demonstrate to the wider audience that his views are completely outside the mainstream and have no grounding in reality.

 

Bronson accuses rail proponents of being backward-looking nostalgia freaks. That's pretty rich, coming from a columnist in an industry that is rapidly going the way of the telegraph and typewriter. People will still be riding trains for a long time after the Enquirer is pushing up daisies.

 

I'm encouraged by the number of pro-rail comments on his blog, though. As of right now, there are 28 comments in response to his diatribe:

 

21 of those comments refute Bronson in some manner or another, and would be considered pro-rail.

4 comments support Bronson, and that includes two comments written by Bronson himself.

3 comments would be categorized as neutral or off-topic.

 

Granted, several users (including myself) have posted more than one comment, but it's still pretty lopsided. Not bad, considering that newspaper comment sections usually attract the knuckle-draggers.

 

6.5 hours left to help Cincinnatians for Progress reach their $35,000 goal by midnight...

Bronson is a transit-denier.

I've written and submitted an op-ed/guest column. I hope they publish it.

Good luck... If they don't publish it, maybe submit it to the Cincy Streetcar Blog. The days when newspapers served as the only gatekeepers of public opinion are long gone.

I know. I worked for a newspaper as a staff writer for 15 years. I still freelance, though.

Gotcha... I didn't know your professional background.

I've written and submitted an op-ed/guest column. I hope they publish it.

Dunno if the Business Courier takes unsolicited op-eds:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/

I just got into a frustrating email exchange with Roxanne Qualls regarding her spamming me for campaign contributions.  I told her to remove me from her list essentially since I did not appreciate her work against the original streetcar proposal.  When she vehemently denied being against the streetcar I linked the the following article snippets.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a big reason we're still waiting to start this project is the greatly increased cost of adding the Uptown connector to the first phase of the project?

 

 

February 21st, 2008

Qualls circulated a motion among council offices that, if approved, would prohibit council from using money from the city's capital projects budget to build the system if it jeopardizes other previously approved projects. It would also prohibit using money from the city's general fund budget to subsidize its operation once built.

Some council members said the motion’s wording requires that a streetcar loop be built that connects downtown to the uptown area near the University of Cincinnati and local hospitals at the same time that a previously discussed loop is built that travels from Over-the-Rhine to the riverfront. Such an extension would add at least $80 million to the project’s $102 million cost.

Later Wednesday, however, some supporters reconsidered after discussions about the motion’s impact. A few members began expressing doubts, stating the funding restrictions could delay or kill the project.

http://blogs.citybeat.com/porkopolis/2008/02/council-tweaks.html

 

February 21, 2008

Some city council members -- chiefly John Cranley and Roxanne Qualls -- have worried that a proposed $102 million streetcar system in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine would jeopardize funding for other big projects around town and began having second thoughts.

City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. appeared before city council's Finance Committee Feb. 25 and tried to reassure the duo. There's enough money available for streetcars and other projects, Dohoney said. But he threw water on the latest complaint du jour, stating unequivocally that it isn't feasible to consider building a route to the Uptown area at the same time the Downtown loop is constructed.

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-3908-city-manager-backs-streetcar-plan.html

 

March 18th, 2008

Cincinnati City Council has voted to spend $800,000 for environmental studies and "alternatives analysis" that could make it easier to secure federal funding for a streetcar system linking downtown to the Uptown neighborhoods surrounding the University of Cincinnati.

Council debate focused on whether the streetcar line should begin with a link between downtown and Uptown, the city's two major job centers, and whether voters should be asked to approve or reject the streetcar proposal.

The vote for additional study passed 6 to 3, with council members Roxanne Qualls, Chris Monzel and John Cranley voting no.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/03/10/daily35.html

 

April 24th, 2008

And the plan that council approved added a connector line between Over-the-Rhine and Uptown, including the University of Cincinnati and Pill Hill's hospitals. The line adds another $35 million for which the city currently has no source of funding.City Manager Milton Dohoney told council members the original plan to raise $31 million from private sources was "a tall order." With Wednesday's motion, he said, '"The order just got considerably taller."

Council member Roxanne Qualls has been seeking a guarantee that the city will build the second phase, a loop linking UC and the neighboring hospitals.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS01/804240355

Bortz is on McConnel right now talking about the ballot initiative

^^Qualls wanted to ensure a larger initial scope of the project.  She felt that would be more beneficial for the community.  He actions were not done with the same intentions as John Cranley who would have found any reason to slow the process and keep it from happening.  It was just Qualls being Qualls.

^^Qualls wanted to ensure a larger initial scope of the project.  She felt that would be more beneficial for the community.  He actions were not done with the same intentions as John Cranley who would have found any reason to slow the process and keep it from happening.  It was just Qualls being Qualls.

 

This is true. Her concerns were quite different than Cranley's "why NOT in my backyard" approach.

 

Qualls is a prius-driving, Lytle Park living urbanist as well as a complete streets fanatic who would love to see a streetcar in the city.  I think her "concerns," if we can characterize them as such, were as Randy noted. I also think that those concerns derive in part from the belief that expanding the scope of the project, at least to Clifton, makes it more politically palatable (while also increasing the price tag).  There is a delicate balance in all this, and I don't necessarily see one way or the other as right or wrong.  I will tell you that adding the uptown connector makes the project much easier to support for the uninitiated and or uninformed who may be on the fence.

My real frustration is that it appears as though we have enough money to do the original first phase now.  Instead of spending time and money to fight a ballot initiative we could be donating money to actually building the streetcar.  Qualls ignored the best advice of the Dohoney, Mallory and others on council and allied herself with those who obviously opposed streetcars.

^

 

If the streetcar doesn't get built here, it will be because of Council's insistence that it go to Uptown in the first build. The 3.9 mile Downtown/OTR loop is already the second longest starter segment for any electric streetcar built in the US since the 1920's.

 

 

Perhaps council can make another vote to undo what was done before November?

^ By the same logic, we'd also have enough money to build the streetcar right now, if only Streetcar supporters (like myself) were able to make a few compromises.

 

For example, inferior "historic" streetcar rolling stock can be $80,000 per car, instead of $800,000 per car.

 

Additionally, parts of the route could be built as a single-track, bi-directional route with short passing lanes. Other cities have built such systems for as low as $15 million per lane-mile, whereas the Cincinnati plan is really $50 million per "loop" mile.

 

Such cheaper alternatives have been dismissed because - quite frankly - they aren't quite as nice. However, with COAST knocking at the door and threatening to kill the entire projects - I think streetcar supporters need to seriously consider these cheaper alternatives. Groundbreaking could be tomorrow if only people had been more open to compromise.

 

After all, if Cincinnati builds a partially single-tracked line with historic rolling stock, it would still be a success. And there would be nothing preventing the addition of modern streetcars or a parallel track "loop" at a later date.

The Lakeshore Electric association's Cleveland streetcar collection is for sale...  :-P

 

Additionally, parts of the route could be built as a single-track, bi-directional route with short passing lanes.

 

 

Not sure how you'd do this in an urban environment. You'd have to build the sidings in the street. I don't know of any modern streetcar lines that do this. Light rail sometimes does, especially at the end of the lines.