October 6, 201212 yr http://thewalkinggreen.blogspot.com/2012/10/urbanism-sub-urbanism-and-why-im-tiring.html?showComment=1349285128271#c4776200512012105003 A conservative living in OTR's opinion good stuff. what is the streetcar timeline now? when are bids going out? what's the hold up...now? every delay is a coast victory imo
October 6, 201212 yr ^ Without getting into the details, be assured that things are moving quickly for all aspects of the project. The city is just being thorough in getting every detail locked down. Other than the Duke issues, which won't delay the project, there remain no outstanding issues to be resolved, just execution.
October 6, 201212 yr ^ Without getting into the details, be assured that things are moving quickly for all aspects of the project. The city is just being thorough in getting every detail locked down. Other than the Duke issues, which won't delay the project, there remain no outstanding issues to be resolved, just execution. Thank you, John. Once the city has every detail locked down, it would be nice to see a new timeline.
October 6, 201212 yr ^ I think the fundamental difference with Cincinnati is that most of these projects today are Design/Build, which for a first-time city may end up being Build/Design as problems are discovered after construction begins. From everyone I've talked with, Cincinnati has gone to extraordinary lenghts to avoid surprises.
October 8, 201212 yr About that editorial in last Sunday's Enquirer: I'm sure the correction was in invisible ink in size .0001 font in the bottom left hand corner of the advertisement page
October 8, 201212 yr This is entirely the fault of John Cranley. He had been screaming the "banks property tax money" line for weeks. Enquirer bought it hook line & sinker.
October 11, 201212 yr Is COAST this desperate? Even worse, once all the overhead wires are put up for the streetcar boondoggle, nobody downtown will be able to listen to Marty Brennaman on radio. Just static. And they call that "progress." http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121010/BIZ/310100144?fb_comment_id=fbc_127728807375151_192351_127874820693883
October 11, 201212 yr Damn, they've figured out our plot. Streetcars and light rail are really just a conspiracy to block AM radio signals. The gig is up; I guess we'll have to go back to the drawing board.
October 11, 201212 yr Gee, radio and streetcars didn't enjoy their heydays at the same time or anything...
October 11, 201212 yr Is COAST this desperate? Even worse, once all the overhead wires are put up for the streetcar boondoggle, nobody downtown will be able to listen to Marty Brennaman on radio. Just static. And they call that "progress." http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121010/BIZ/310100144?fb_comment_id=fbc_127728807375151_192351_127874820693883 Did they remove that quote from the article?
October 11, 201212 yr Can someone clarify that this is false? right? I've never even heard that before.
October 11, 201212 yr Can someone clarify that this is false? right? I've never even heard that before. Dayton has electric buses with similar catenary wires as the streetcar. In Dayton, they do not affect local radio and rarely cause some static with very weak AM signals. This, like every other sensational objection to the streetcar, is easily refuted by comparison to other cities. It's remarkable how opponents to the streetcar system treat it as if it's the first one ever attempted. It's laughable.
October 12, 201212 yr If they are going to use that argument, we should be tearing down power lines everywhere. One can drive down any street anywhere in the country where power lines are too close to the road, and be affected by the same thing. Using this as an argument against rail is grasping at straws...
October 12, 201212 yr Finney has filed suit to stop the airport deal/streetcar project with Blue Ash. Paid subscriber article: Suit to seek reversal of Blue Ash airport deal Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter- Business Courier Just when you thought the path was clear for the Cincinnati streetcar project, here comes one more speed bump. Attorney Chris Finney, a vocal streetcar critic and founder of Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), said a taxpayer lawsuit will be filed soon that seeks to reverse the August sale of Cincinnati’s airport land to the city of Blue Ash. That could impact the streetcar, because the city has pledged up to $26 million in airport sale proceeds to its $110 million planned urban circulator. Cincinnati officials broke ground on the streetcar in February, but disputes over utility relocation and financing changes caused delays that pushed its scheduled completion date into 2015. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
October 12, 201212 yr Even worse, once all the overhead wires are put up for the streetcar boondoggle, nobody downtown will be able to listen to Marty Brennaman on radio. Just static. And they call that "progress." Yes, because when I'm driving throughout Dayton and I'm listening to WDAO I think "damn, I wish these overhead wires would stop interfering with my Earth, Wind, and FIIYYAA!!!" "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 12, 201212 yr Finney has filed suit to stop the airport deal/streetcar project with Blue Ash. and to think - he lives in neither Blue Ash nor Cincinnati.....
October 12, 201212 yr Finney has filed suit to stop the airport deal/streetcar project with Blue Ash. and to think - he lives in neither Blue Ash nor Cincinnati..... I assume that he will file his suit on behalf of some taxpayer that lives in the City. Finney lives in Anderson and probably wouldn't have standing to file the suit on his own behalf.
October 12, 201212 yr For those of you without a subscription, here are the pertinent details of the article: The basis of the lawsuit is the structure of the deal. It calls for Blue Ash to pay Cincinnati $37.5 million over 30 years. Finney claims the contract violates the Blue Ash city charter, which says “no contract shall be made for a term longer than five years.” The charter lists two exceptions to the rule: “Franchises for public utility services and contracts with other governmental units for services to be received.” Finney outlined that argument in an Aug. 22 letter to Blue Ash officials. In the letter, Blue Ash resident Jeffrey Capell asked the city to file an injunction on behalf of taxpayers to stop the deal. Blue Ash responded with a six-page letter explaining that the five-year limit on contracts does not apply to purchases. Even if it did, argued Blue Ash City Solicitor Mark Vander Laan, the sale contract was completed when the deed was transferred. The 30-year payment schedule is a financing arrangement, authorized by another section of the city charter. From what I saw of Blue Ash's solicitor at the August city council meeting where Finney caused all the commotion, he looked extremely annoyed by Finney having shown up creating all this extra work for him, but even more annoyed that the media just plain can't get it right.
October 12, 201212 yr I wonder how much public money has been wasted on ballot initiatives, law suits, extra public meetings?
October 12, 201212 yr Easily over one million dollars since each ballot initiative cost the city over $400,000 apiece. I'm sure someone else here has more complete figures.
October 12, 201212 yr Frivolous Finney has basically painted himself into a corner here. Since COAST chickened out of the ballot petition drive that Finney GUARANTEED!! would happen if the sale moved forward, he looked like a (even bigger) fool and had to file suit after running his mouth that he would do so on talk radio. Finney is trying to save face (and his massive ego as well). Since the Blue Ash City Solicitor seems very confident about the City's legal position, it becomes clear what the shyster is really after; Finney is hoping that Blue Ash will pay him off to go away, as other municipalities have done so often. Finney must need money. Go to the Clerk of Court's website and search for all of the cases that Finney has filed over the past year. Look past the cases he's filed for COAST, and the cases that he has filed for his own company, which are mainly evictions for Three Centurions, the property company that Finney co-owns with Phil Heimlich (read the excellent work that Jason Haap did revealing Three Centurions here: http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com/index.php/magaddiction/comments/heimlich_finney_and_three_centurions_an_open_letter_to_enquirer_editor_tom/ ). Chris Finney has filed relatively few cases for actual paying clients over the past year. It's pretty clear that Finney is simply hoping to make a quick stack of the Taxpayer's money by extorting Blue Ash, and maybe Cincinnati as well. Chris Finney is nothing short of a judicial terrorist; he knows that city and county governments will weight the cost of litigating his frivolous lawsuits against simply paying him to go away. Being cash strapped thanks to the recession and Kasich's cuts, local governments all too often choose the latter action. Finney's behavior has been enabled by both the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, who have paid Finney to go away time and time again. Hopefully Blue Ash will have the balls to stand up to Chris Finney and make him fight it out in court, because paying Finney off to go away simply invites further extortion from that shyster. It's just like paying off any other terrorist; once they know you'll pay up to avoid a fight they'll keep coming back for more. That's why you never pay off terrorists, you just invite more terrorism upon yourself in the end. Here's hoping that no government will ever pay Chris Finney another dime without making him go to the time and expense of fighting through the court system for his (Taxpayer funded) paycheck.
October 15, 201212 yr Maybe this is what groups like COAST talk about behind closed doors? - http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-versus-agenda-21-saving-u-just-050156332.html
October 15, 201212 yr Wow. I'm going to repost that here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26612.0.html
October 15, 201212 yr What these same clowns don't realize is that their own choices to buy SUV's single-handedly kept the US car companies from going bankrupt in the 90s. So if you oppose unions and especially the UAW, either buy a compact car (or other vehicle with a lower profit margin than SUV's) or ride the bus.
October 16, 201212 yr Duke continues to drag its collective feet. "Duke wants operating agreement before beginning streetcar work" http://wvxu.org/post/duke-wants-operating-agreement-beginning-streetcar-work The president of Duke Energy says the company will not provide a construction schedule for moving its wires and pipes for the city’s streetcar project until the two sides reach a deal on an operating agreement. Julie Janson expressed her concerns in an October 10th letter to City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. Janson said the operating agreement must allow the company to have immediate access to equipment during emergencies and enough time to resolve any issues. She also said without an agreement, the company will insist on an 8-foot minimum clearance between the streetcar tracks and Duke’s utilities. The two-sides had earlier agreed to a 3-foot clearance. Reverting back to the 8-foot distance would affect the projects scope and construction schedule.
October 16, 201212 yr ^ Moved our gas service to Ohio Natural Gas today. Got 10,000 SkyMiles for doing it, plus one Skymile for every dollarwe spend on natural gas for the next year.
October 16, 201212 yr Maybe this is what groups like COAST talk about behind closed doors? - http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-versus-agenda-21-saving-u-just-050156332.html Wow. And the GOP is embracing the Tin Foil Hat crowd. Scary times..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 17, 201212 yr ^ Moved our gas service to Ohio Natural Gas today. Got 10,000 SkyMiles for doing it, plus one Skymile for every dollarwe spend on natural gas for the next year. Oh really... ? PM me a link please? Is this Delta SkyMiles?
October 17, 201212 yr ^ Moved our gas service to Ohio Natural Gas today. Got 10,000 SkyMiles for doing it, plus one Skymile for every dollarwe spend on natural gas for the next year. Oh really... ? PM me a link please? Is this Delta SkyMiles? I'm guessing it's this: http://www.onlyong.com/delta/
October 18, 201212 yr Thanks for posting that! I just signed up too! That will save us some cash on flights when we go on vacation in february!
October 18, 201212 yr David Dawson has a terrfic, top-billed letter to editor of Enquirer this morning. In print edition, not online yet. Calls Duke out.
October 18, 201212 yr David Dawson has a terrfic, top-billed letter to editor of Enquirer this morning. In print edition, not online yet. Calls Duke out. & online, Steve Deters has a ridiculous response.....
October 18, 201212 yr Right here: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2012/10/18/duke-delays-project/
October 18, 201212 yr Shocking. Chris smitherman will be on 700wlw at 1. The more he's on, the more people get tired of him. He used to really annoy me, now it's just boring.
October 21, 201212 yr ^ I hope you're right. From where I'm sitting I feel like, while he's completely ineffective and has done almost nothing since joining council, he will probably move up in the next election simply because he's been so praised by the media (mainly conservative) as a watchdog even though he has no plans on how to fix any issues in the city.
October 23, 201212 yr From a conversation about the Seattle streetcar from another forum: What happened to all the slu streetcar and re-zone naysayers who gripped about supporting Paul Allen instead of social services...I recall both conlin and licatta were against slu. I will put myself firmly in the column of people who didn't think the streetcar and related monies going towards infrastructure in SLU was good for the whole city. I felt it was showing a bit of favoritism towards one development company. I didn't believe the vision they had was really possible. I will fully admit I was completely, and utterly, wrong. These were investments that have enriched our city. I'm not happy we lost some of the warehousing/light industrial jobs, but what we've gotten to replace them with more than makes up for it.
October 23, 201212 yr From a conversation about the Seattle streetcar from another forum: What happened to all the slu streetcar and re-zone naysayers who gripped about supporting Paul Allen instead of social services...I recall both conlin and licatta were against slu. I will put myself firmly in the column of people who didn't think the streetcar and related monies going towards infrastructure in SLU was good for the whole city. I felt it was showing a bit of favoritism towards one development company. I didn't believe the vision they had was really possible. I will fully admit I was completely, and utterly, wrong. These were investments that have enriched our city. I'm not happy we lost some of the warehousing/light industrial jobs, but what we've gotten to replace them with more than makes up for it. COAST would never admit that. After all, they were wrong on the stadiums, the Banks project, the Gateway Quarter, and Fountain square redevelopment. They were wrong on George W Bush, the economy, and the Iraq War. They are wrong about Mozzarella cheese sticks from Applebees, Gigli being the greatest movie of all time, and Nic Cage being an incredible actor. Their bizarro world is fascinating.I wouldn't be surprised if they greet each other when they leave and say farewell when they arrive. The other day, the Enquirer gave some local endorsements of candidates. They jabbed at COAST and poked fun at their inability to compromise. COAST's twitter took that as a compliment. Only in COAST/Chris Smitherman land is being irrational a compliment. I recently had the chance to talk to Mark Miller of COAST. He was very defensive and had his arms crossed from the jump. Here is the beginning of the interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqs9DYisSsg
October 23, 201212 yr I never expect COAST to say they were wrong about opposing the streetcar. But I think it will help a lot of people understand that investing in the urban core--adding new population and businesses--does benefit the entire city.
October 23, 201212 yr I'm sick and tired of hearing these dumbbells complaining that the downtown Streetcar isn't prudent because it doesn't address neighborhoods and Joe Voter supports improving city neighborhoods. Is Over the Rhine not a neighborhood? Let's all pretend the City only had money to spend on one neighborhood. Now which area needs economic stimulus, police presence and general cleanliness the most? OTR... Using the "neighborhoods" argument to disapprove of the Streetcar is the flimsiest and most tired of all the single-celled one liners that have yet to be debunked in public forum. I'm gonna be up for murder if I have to hear it one more time.
October 25, 201212 yr Man they are even mentioning the streetcar in issue 4 ads. Not in a good way of course.
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