^I've never understood that argument opponents have. There have been countless times where I chose to stay in instead of joining people because of weather. If it's raining out I don't really feel like walking from Washington Park to 6th Street. If there was a streetcar to hop onto a block away that would take me there in comfort I would go for sure.

 

I think the problem is that those same people have had an attached garage for so long they forget that the alternative to hopping on a train in crappy weather like cold and snow is to go out, turn your car on to warm up, scrape snow and ice, and drive through dangerous conditions to your destination which, in terms of the streetcar, is not very far.

Especially if you had real time arrival info on an app.

Especially if you had real time arrival info on an app.

 

You will be able to see the streetcars coming for several minutes depending on which station you're at. 

 

^I've never understood that argument opponents have. There have been countless times where I chose to stay in instead of joining people because of weather. If it's raining out I don't really feel like walking from Washington Park to 6th Street. If there was a streetcar to hop onto a block away that would take me there in comfort I would go for sure.

 

I think the problem is that those same people have had an attached garage for so long they forget that the alternative to hopping on a train in crappy weather like cold and snow is to go out, turn your car on to warm up, scrape snow and ice, and drive through dangerous conditions to your destination which, in terms of the streetcar, is not very far.

 

If you live for awhile without a car, you come to see how rare bad weather is.  What's amazing is how tough guys are the first to declare they're not going out in bad weather. 

 

I knew several people who would skip classes, stay inside, etc. whenever the weather was "bad." In the 7 years of school I can't recall a time where I ever skipped classes because of weather (or really any other reason). A mile walk in most conditions is actually quite nice and I really enjoyed having 15 minutes to myself to separate home from DAAP and vice versa. When the weather did suck like last winter I definitely would have liked to do less walking, but it was fine.

 

I honestly think the only weather that ever deters me from going anywhere is hard rain. Cold and snow don't stop me, nor does heat. But being wet and enjoyment don't go hand in hand. Now if there was a streetcar to use I wouldn't even have to worry about this. A quick two minute walk to the station. Plus I can see all the way up past Liberty Street from the front windows of my building so I can just wait until it's close to the stop before going out.

 

I actually think I'm most excited for the streetcar in exactly these types of situations. It's quick, easy, and convenient and removes the weather from the equation.

Especially if you had real time arrival info on an app.

 

You will be able to see the streetcars coming for several minutes depending on which station you're at. 

 

 

Yes, that's true, but if there's extremely heavy rain or snow, you can look up the arrival time and wait to leave your house 1-2 minutes before the streetcar arrives. But yes, I agree, for people standing at a streetcar stop, you will be able to see it coming from 5+ blocks away.

Especially if you had real time arrival info on an app.

 

You will be able to see the streetcars coming for several minutes depending on which station you're at. 

 

 

Yes, that's true, but if there's extremely heavy rain or snow, you can look up the arrival time and wait to leave your house 1-2 minutes before the streetcar arrives. But yes, I agree, for people standing at a streetcar stop, you will be able to see it coming from 5+ blocks away.

 

The main use for a smartphone app would be to see if a bus (or streetcar) has passed ahead of schedule.  That way you don't waste your time standing around thinking it might be late when in fact it's already two miles away.  If you catch the #78 at Schwartz's Point you can see the bus coming for more than a mile south.  Sometimes the #78 is more than 10 minutes behind schedule by the time it gets to Schwartz's Point due to all of the nonsense that can happen in the basin, such as people in wheelchairs taking 5-block rides.  The streetcars won't have those crazy wheelchair delays. 

The gameplan for the diehard opponents has changed slightly.  Smitherma n said it in jan. Its to delay all scheduled construction or progress to increase the cost so he can bring a 3rd ballot initiative.  He said in January that 'If the project costs rise even by one penny, well bring it to the people again'

 

 

I'm sure Cincinnatians would vote to cancel the $133MM streetcar because it is one penny over budget, don't you. Smitherman has dug himself into such a hole here that it will limit his success in governing forever. He has really overplayed his hand to the extent he ever had one to begin with.

I'm sure Cincinnatians would vote to cancel the $133MM streetcar because it is one penny over budget, don't you. Smitherman has dug himself into such a hole here that it will limit his success in governing forever. He has really overplayed his hand to the extent he ever had one to begin with.

 

Here, they might. this city has some residents that remind me of the town hall scenes on "parks and recreation" on NBC.

 

Smitherman has dug himself into such a hole here that it will limit his success in governing forever. He has really overplayed his hand to the extent he ever had one to begin with.

 

I agree with everything you've said.  Unfortunately, Smitherman's political career has demonstrated over and over again that no matter how outrageous he gets, people still vote for him.  From the syphilis talk to stating the CIA/FBI is following him to comparing himself to malcolm X to lunging at streetcar supporters at city hall to his insane media bridges videos.  His political career just seems to keep moving forward. With 700wlw and 55krc directly behind him along with his connections at the county level, he's got great friends advancing his political career in high places

Cunningham said 8000 to 10000 people a day will have to ride the streetcar in the winter.

 

Smitherma ranted about how it's going to cost 1.50 to ride. Then he chided streetcar supporters again.  Saying they've disappeared now that they have topay the bill and you can't find them with a search warrant.

 

Oh and Chris Smitherman also supports the keystone pipeline. He railed that he's an independent then continued to bash democrats

 

Then Cunningham called the streetcar Cincinnati's keystone pipeline

Then Cunningham called the streetcar Cincinnati's keystone pipeline

 

I can't even begin to comprehend what he means by that...

You all get a cool streetcar and we get the "Opportunity Corridor", geez you all are lucky.  :-(

Then Cunningham called the streetcar Cincinnati's keystone pipeline

 

I can't even begin to comprehend what he means by that...

 

Cunningham is taking lessons from Ted Cruz, I see.

Cunningham said 8000 to 10000 people a day will have to ride the streetcar in the winter.

 

Smitherma ranted about how it's going to cost 1.50 to ride. Then he chided streetcar supporters again.  Saying they've disappeared now that they have topay the bill and you can't find them with a search warrant.

 

Oh and Chris Smitherman also supports the keystone pipeline. He railed that he's an independent then continued to bash democrats

 

Then Cunningham called the streetcar Cincinnati's keystone pipeline

 

^ This is why there should be drug-testing for people on talk radio.

You all get a cool streetcar and we get the "Opportunity Corridor", geez you all are lucky.  :-(

 

It would compare better to the Healthline. And it took more than luck!  :-)

Nov 23 2014...tracks in place on Main St. overpass:

 

I hope no nimbys stumble in here, they would probably say "see, the streetcar only goes across that one bridge and its covered in leaves and boondoggle buckets"

I don't know why your still talking about this trolley.  Trolley Folly Boondoggle to nowhere is gonna fail, just like Mt Adams.

The Banks will never get built. The streetcar doesn't even go anywhere. If I could use it to get to a Reds game or the casino, I might support it. But it doesn't even go in downtown. Are they still planning to spend several million to move the fountain?

The streetcar construction in KC started on an overpass like this :)

 

But I guess that would give ammunition to the NIMBYs and boondogglers (My tax dollars for a trolley over a bridge!!?!! Gahh!!) :)

 

 

The Court St TPSS (substation) went in on Saturday.  Man is that thing ugly.  I'll have to snap a picture later.

^Was it fully finished? I'll have to go by on my way back from work to see it in person.

The Court St TPSS (substation) went in on Saturday.  Man is that thing ugly.  I'll have to snap a picture later.

 

Did they have the etched glass panels up already? Either way, I wasn't really impressed with the initial renderings.

The Court St TPSS (substation) went in on Saturday.  Man is that thing ugly.  I'll have to snap a picture later.

 

Nevermind. Dusty Rhodes is already on it:

 

Looks like the ACTUAL substation is in, but they have not done the surrounding facade that will mask the behemoth.

Speaking of... is this prep work for the southern most substation? Picture was taken from GABP garage and is near the Main & 2nd intersection.

The Court St substation is very large. And very ugly. Hopefully the surrounding facade will improve things.

The Court St TPSS (substation) went in on Saturday.  Man is that thing ugly.  I'll have to snap a picture later.

 

Did they have the etched glass panels up already? Either way, I wasn't really impressed with the initial renderings.

 

Me neither. These things are destined to be eyesores. Dusty's right about this.

Meh.... 1 block of eyesore is a fair exchange for 20 blocks of development.

Meh.... 1 block of eyesore is a fair exchange for 20 blocks of development.

 

Right, it's totally worth it. But I won't deny these will be ugly.

Meh.... 1 block of eyesore is a fair exchange for 20 blocks of development.

 

Right, it's totally worth it. But I won't deny these will be ugly.

 

 

I'd love to see the Tea Party heads pop off if they decorated it like this:

 

I kind of wish they would have turned them into "public art" display spaces. As in, they change out often and are a place for local artists to show off their talents in whatever way they see fit. It would draw positive attention to them. Even if they look decent the way they're currently designed, it's never going to look as good it not being there. Ergo, negative attention. Turning that around would have been nice.

If there wasnt a facade going up this would be a perfect candidate for a wrap around artworks mural.

Put a Cincinnatus on top of them. ;)

Put large winged pig statues over them.

I am working in a suburban office park this week and the area is littered with stuff that looks like this:

 

 

Should we hold urban areas to a higher standard? Yes.

 

Do I wish the city would have purchased land and hid this somewhere other than the Court Street median? Yes.

 

But this is a non-issue.

What ever happen too the ruling about the utilities?

What ever happen too the ruling about the utilities?

 

Still in court.

 

I've been out of town for a while and not looking at the enquirer or the news.  What's the latest on the negotiations between the city and SORTA for the operations agreement?  Last I heard there was a vote scheduled a couple weeks ago but one side or the other backed out.

Union and SORTA are negotiating with a City of Cincinnati observer.

Thanks for the update.  I was about a week at the ASLA (national landscape architects) conference in Denver.  RTD's regional rail system is really impressive.  The locals call the vehicles light rail or "trains", but ya' know in my book "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's probably a duck" (think streetcar!).  The cars leave the private right of way at 14th street and for the entire 2 miles or so of the north end of the light rail system they run streetcar-style thru downtown streets as a distributor loop, or as a line-haul neighborhood streetcar spur up thru the 5 Points neighborhood to 30th, Welton St. is most of the line. 

 

5-Points is an historic African-American community on Denver's near north side with many similarities to OTR (albeit 5 points is newer but not by much). I recall from reliable sources years ago when the system was under construction, Denver AM talk radio moderators and callers were bashing light rail with "why should we invest taxpayer money in building rail in 5-Points...a decaying community...not worth any public investment?" Most callers or moderators for that matter did not bother to study the rail plan and had NO IDEA the 5 Points streetcar was merely an appendage to a far larger regional rail system that was also under construction at the time.  Well, fast forward 20 years, I rode up thru 5 Points Saturday.  If there's any negatives about the 5-Points streetcar it's this (if your point of view chooses to call this a negative): huge investment along the light rail lines and particularly in 5-Points, mostly mid-upper income apartments and condos, so there's the potential to gentrify 5-Points and drive up housing costs.  Not quite the outcome nay-sayers predicted...sound familiar??

 

I would like to see the substation wrapped with a mural depicting a historic scene of the Court st market or maybe recreate a scene (w/ gatling gun) from the 1884  court house riot.

I am digitizing some areas of development within the basin (specifically downtown and OTR) in a GIS project.  I am mapping out areas of current development and future areas as well.  Because the streetcar is such a catalyst for development, I want to map out its route.  I have found different maps, but I was wondering if anyone can find me the most up-to-date map of the streetcar route.

I am digitizing some areas of development within the basin (specifically downtown and OTR) in a GIS project.  I am mapping out areas of current development and future areas as well.  Because the streetcar is such a catalyst for development, I want to map out its route.  I have found different maps, but I was wondering if anyone can find me the most up-to-date map of the streetcar route.

 

Missing, when you complete your project, please let me know. I would be interested in sharing it via All Aboard Ohio's resources.

Chris Wetterich just tweeted that the city lost the case with Duke Energy re: utility relocation

Enquirer: Duke wins fight over streetcar cost

Terrible precedent.

Chris Wetterich just tweeted that the city lost the case with Duke Energy re: utility relocation

 

And Smitherman/Cranley are no doubt upset because they no doubt wanted to shower their cronies with that Blue Ash Airport money. 

 

Enquirer: Duke wins fight over streetcar cost

 

This line:

 

"The city had put the $15 million it tried to squeeze out of Duke in escrow"