June 24, 201014 yr Any idea when this announcement is happening? I think John said this week - well its Thursday and i'm anxious! Any day now...and yeah, John...my shirt is getting a bit rank.
June 24, 201014 yr It's not like this everywhere. I know because I've lived a half dozen other places. In the South it's the total opposite -- everything about the South and about whatever city you're in is the best. My off the wall guess is that civic failure is like a cancer. If a city government surrenders too many projects to failure, in the name of pragmatism or conservatism, it evolves into a chronic case of pessimism and fear. I value the leadership style of Mallory for this reason. I feel like he won't take no for an answer, even if he has to spend a lot of political capital to do so. I would do the same thing, hoping that something would break the pessimism disease.
June 25, 201014 yr I have not been following this blog recently (sorry)...does anyone know when Cincy will learn if they will receive money from the govt to support the streetcar? ^ This week. It's Friiiiiiiday. Wonder if we will hear anything. I'm feeling antsy now! :lol:
June 25, 201014 yr I've got my "Cincinnati Streetcar" t-shirt on this beautiful business casual Friday here in the office. Here's hoping we get some good news soon. "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett
June 25, 201014 yr Well, its 14:25 Friday afternoon, I'm guessing the feds decided to wait until next week for any news as to who's receiving funding? Darn, I'm getting anxious!
June 25, 201014 yr >If a city government surrenders too many projects to failure, in the name of pragmatism or conservatism, it evolves into a chronic case of pessimism and fear. New York City was able to borrow more money in the early 1990's than any other city and scraped its debt ceiling building the infrastructure that allowed it to become the world's dominant city. Bill Cunningham just said after talking to Laure Quinliven that Cincinnati is more dangerous than Baghdad.
June 25, 201014 yr Didn't Cunningham almost just end up in Chicago, where 52 people were shot in a single weekend?
June 25, 201014 yr Cunningham keeps saying that the "Chief Surgeon at UC Hospital" told him that there were "400 shootings last year", insinuating that those shootings all happened in Over-the-Rhine.
June 25, 201014 yr So I take it the interview was yet another Anti-city rant from the host? How did Quinlivan hold up?
June 25, 201014 yr Author Well, its 14:25 Friday afternoon, I'm guessing the feds decided to wait until next week for any news as to who's receiving funding? Darn, I'm getting anxious! Government generally doesn't announce good news on friday, its "take out the trash day" because fewer people watch the friday night news and read the saturday paper.
June 26, 201014 yr It's on the 2pm podcast. I happened to hear it live, which is rare. Laure Quinlivan did fine and agreed to Cuningham's standard hot fudge sundae bet that the streetcar would be failure/success. BTW, you can hear through the lines that Cunningham's been paying relatively close attention to this project, much closer than he leads on. He always does this subtle "wavering" voice (as though he's collecting his thoughts out loud) that signals to people that he doesn't agree with what he's saying, and he does it a lot when talking about the city. Cunningham successfully defended several murder suspects who walked as free men out of court rooms thanks to his work, then committed other violent crimes. I sense that although he is upset that these guys went on to ruin more lives, he likes winning arguments more than that stuff bothers him, and that's why he doesn't mind getting paid $700K a year to trash the city, even though he knows it's all B.S.
June 27, 201014 yr I just got back from riding the Amtrak train from Salem, OR to Seattle and back again. There was a forty minute or so stop in Portland. I have been many times, but never around the train station. It is, you guessed it, surrounded by kick ass development, a light rail station and a lot of buses. I hope it is a future of what we will see in Cincy!
June 28, 201014 yr Hearing that Jeffre & Haap are at today's Budget & Finance Committee meeting, I decided to check-up on The Beacon... A Different Streetcar Route: Avoiding the Slide on Vine Posted by Michael Earl Patton Is there another way to run a streetcar out of the Basin to Uptown other than Vine Street? After all, Vine Street is quite steep: 7 - 9% according to the HDR Streetcar Feasibility Study (see last paragraph of Appendix C). Although I’m not in favor of using streetcars unless most of the route runs in their own right-of-way (otherwise I prefer electric trolley busses), I decided to see if I could find a way. I think I did. First, I did a rough check myself of the slope on Vine. Most places checked 7 to 8%, and a couple places a little less, but just South of Mulberry I got a little over 10%. So, allowing for the fact that I was checking it on the sidewalk and not in the traffic lane itself, 7 - 9% is probably an accurate number. And that means Vine Street is out of the running for conventional streetcars. The adjacent streets are just as steep if not more so. A less steep way is to go use Gilbert Avenue (straighter, less steep, and broader) as the path out of the Basin. But this takes one far out of the way and would add a lot of time to the route. If a rail system is a must, then I think we need both 1) a different route and 2) a combination “rack-and-adhesion” system. This is sometimes used in Germany, Switzerland, and maybe elsewhere, but to my knowledge has never been used in North America for public transport. cont. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
June 28, 201014 yr Great, more expensive heroic efforts to fix something that isn't really that big of a problem to begin with. Electromagnetic track brakes are a prudent solution to concerns about descending cars, but ultimately it seems Skoda (or whoever) should be challenged to build some lighter weight equipment.
June 28, 201014 yr ^ Doubt that a cog railway is necessary to get the job done, but the McMicken/McMillan route is interesting. It has far-greater development potential than Vine or Clifton. It's longer, but again, this should not be an issue for a circulator-type project. Not quite as steep as Clifton or Vine, but it has what the engineers are calling a "sustained climb" of 3,000 feet, which they seem to think is a bit of a problem. Dunno how you deal with the curves on McMillan. Lots of great real estate all along McMicken.
June 28, 201014 yr I have a casual week at work, so I'm going to be wearing my "Cincinnati Streetcar" collection of t-shirts until we hear something. I sure hope they announce something before I need to do a load of all streetcar Ts. "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett
June 28, 201014 yr Doubt that a cog railway is necessary to get the job done, but the McMicken/McMillan route is interesting. It has far-greater development potential than Vine or Clifton. It's longer, but again, this should not be an issue for a circulator-type project. Not quite as steep as Clifton or Vine, but it has what the engineers are calling a "sustained climb" of 3,000 feet, which they seem to think is a bit of a problem. Dunno how you deal with the curves on McMillan. Lots of great real estate all along McMicken. The idea that you wouldn't build a circulator between the two employment centers using the perfectly workable most direct route is clearly absurd. Anyone who has concerns about Vine Street can't be taken seriously when they suggest using McMillan as an alternative route for the streetcar. Even if you wanted to take that extradinarily indirect route, you'd be better off plowing through the Central Parkway Frisch's parking lot to Terrace Avenue to get up to Clifton Avenue.
June 28, 201014 yr I have a casual week at work, so I'm going to be wearing my "Cincinnati Streetcar" collection of t-shirts until we hear something. I sure hope they announce something before I need to do a load of all streetcar Ts. lol, jealous. I really wish they'd print some more as I've found no where that carries a Men's Large... "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
June 28, 201014 yr City got a letter Friday saying it was going to be a while before grants were awarded, due to the large number of applications.
July 1, 201014 yr New Enquirer blog. First subject - The Cincinnati Streetcar http://cincinnati.com/blogs/opinionati/2010/06/30/116/
July 1, 201014 yr Looks like Mark Miller's still out of work. He's posting dozens upon dozens of times each day on The Enquirer's website. All they have to do is limit each IP address to one post per 24 hours, but that would make too much sense.
July 1, 201014 yr I'm not really sure who manufactures, distributes and sells the streetcar t-shirts anymore, but I thought I'd post this here in case it's helpful and finds the right people. I was in Tazza Mia this morning wearing one of my Cincinnati Streetcar shirts and the owner was interested in where I got it and if they were still being sold. When I told him I got where I got mine (one shirt at Park+Vine and another at Second Sunday) he mentioned he would like to sell some at his store (seemed to be a big supporter of the project). So if anyone out there is looking for businesses to sell shirts there you go. "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." - Warren Buffett
July 1, 201014 yr Looks like Mark Miller's still out of work. He's posting dozens upon dozens of times each day on The Enquirer's website. All they have to do is limit each IP address to one post per 24 hours, but that would make too much sense. I have noticed this too
July 1, 201014 yr I don't post much but I was wondering if something like this http://seattletransitblog.com/ this is an animation of the First hill streetcar route in Seattle, not to be confused with the lake union line. Maybe something like this video will give streetcar doubters a better idea what the city is proposing.
July 8, 201014 yr Author This takes away most of the fun http://www.fta.dot.gov/news/news_events_11820.html Project: Cincinnati Streetcar Project (Urban Circulator) Sponsor: City of Cincinnati Amount: $24,990,000
July 8, 201014 yr Excellent!! "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
July 8, 201014 yr So, where does this put us in terms of total funding for the project today? It is realistic that the downtown loop will be started before we have the full $185 million for the downtown loop + uptown connector?
July 8, 201014 yr Author $102 is downtown/otr/banks loop $28 is uptown connector $55 is uptown circulator
July 8, 201014 yr So, where does this put us in terms of total funding for the project today? It is realistic that the downtown loop will be started before we have the full $185 million for the downtown loop + uptown connector? John Schneider said in a previous post that your question is a definite possibility
July 8, 201014 yr Author $290 million for mass transit improvement across the US. part of obama's livability intiative. links commercial development, housing and transit
July 8, 201014 yr Author "this is a big deal. in 53 communities this will create jobs, support local business and give people more choices"
July 8, 201014 yr Author Highlight creating connections and choices, reduce dependence on oil, reduce congetion. most importantly will create jobs now.
July 8, 201014 yr Author This was an intense competition, for $130 million in streetcars over $1 billion in applications for $160 in bus, over $2 billion in applications.
July 8, 201014 yr Author creates E-W transit spine. stimulates development. connects people to major destinations and employers.
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