News Record: OTR a Great Asset to City

From the News Record:

OTR is also uniquely positioned to become a model of urban sustainable living. Its designation as one of the largest urban sights on the National Registry of Historic places means its materials can be readily recycled.

Other plans like the revival of Washington Park, the presence of Findlay Market and numerous locally owned shops like Park + Vine nestled in the heart of the neighborhood, are factors that should green up and clean up the area.

Dan Korman, a UC graduate and owner of Park + Vine, the defacto headquarters of Cincinnati’s green movement, said the strength of OTR lies in the arts. Home to the Art Academy, Music Hall, the Ensemble Theater, SCPA, the Know Theater, a scattering of galleries, the Fringe Festival and the soon-to-be remodeled Emery Theater the expanding arts will be vital in attracting the younger crowd the neighborhood needs to thrive.

Other city initiatives look promising. The streetcar is expected to bring $1.9 billion in new investments to the area, the construction of a casino at Broadway Commons will increase foot traffic and the completion of the Banks project and new Riverfront Park will provide constant draws to bring people downtown. It’s up to us to make sure OTR is put to good use.

Read the rest here.

 

Designing Communities for the Elderly

From Wannanetwork, a Real Estate blog:

I too walk to the same grocery store as my elderly neighbor and I too have been subject to waiting and waiting and waiting while at the same crosswalk. Once, when standing next to her, I mentioned how annoying it was having to dodge traffic just to get a loaf of bread.

“I wish they’d bring back the streetcars,” was what she told me, herself obviously annoyed too at what used to be a very walkable neighborhood. Luckily, more and more cities are looking into bringing streetcars back, including Cincinnati.

And I hope it happens.

Read the rest here.

 

Vote for the Cincinnati Streetcar for City Beat’s “Best of Cincinnati”

The Cincinnati Streetcar, winner of City Beat’s “Best Use of Public Funds” in 2009, has once again been nominated for Best Use of Public Funds.

Click here to vote for the Streetcar. (Best Use of Public Funds is the 8th category from the bottom of the form in the “Urban Life” section).

 

Mayor Mallory on the Streetcar, 3C Rail

From the News Record:

A $400-million award to fund construction of a passenger rail system will help start the connection of Cincinnatians to Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland.

The project, dubbed the 3C “Quick Start” Passenger Rail Plan, is slated to begin construction in 2012. It will link the cities for the first time since 1971 and provide daily service.

Mayor Mark Mallory says the announcement supports his proposed streetcar project for the city, which is expected to connect downtown Cincinnati to the University of Cincinnati’s campus.

“This announcement is a validation for rail projects in general, including the important streetcar initiative and proves that Cincinnati, along with the president and the governor, is on the right track in thinking that rail is the future of this country,” Mallory said.

Read the rest here.

 

Save American Lives, Build Transit

Not only does transit reduce congestion and is better for the environment, it is safer as well.  Each year automobiles cause a tremendous amount of injury to Americans.  In 2007* there were 2,491,000 Americans injured by automobiles.

The number of fatalities is staggering as well.  In 2007 41,059 Americans lost their lives on our roadways.  In that same year saw only 245 deaths on our transit systems.

Transit is also safer per mile traveled as well.  This chart shows the fatality rates for automobiles and transit:

Transit is 66% safer per mile traveled than automobiles. And because transit encourages denser settlement patterns, it will result in fewer miles traveled which further reduces accidents.

We should continue to do everything we can to improve the saftey of automobiles, cut down on drunk driving, and reduce accidents. But one way to improve our public saftey is to provide transit options that allow safer ways of getting to your destination and hopefully discourage people from driving while alcohol impaired.  Save American Lives–Build Transit.

*2007 is the most recent year that had data for all categories compared.

 

Now’s the Time to Build the Cincinnati Streetcar

When the Cincinnati Streetcar was first proposed in 2007, our urban core and its prospects for the future looked very different from how they look.  In 2007 construction had still not begun on the Banks, Fountain Square had only been recently been renovated, the Carew Tower was our tallest building, the Gateway Quarter was in its first phase, rail service consisted of one train per night departing for Chicago at 3am, and the only nearby casinos were floating on a river in Indiana.

Times have changed.

Vertical construction has begun on the Banks and hundreds of new residents will be living there when the streetcar opens in 2012.

Fountain Square and the Backstage District have new restaurants and business.  Virtually every day of the year you can find people on the Square, the city’s living room, at an event, ice skating, or just enjoying the day.

Queen City Square II has been topped off and is the largest LEED certified building in the region.

The Gateway Quarter is in its fourth phase, bringing new small business and hundreds of residents to vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine and helping preserve the irreplaceable architecture of the neighborhood.

Passenger rail service will commence in 2012 connecting Cincinnati to Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati.  If the trains roll into Union Terminal, a short extension of the streetcar will allow travelers to access Uptown and Downtown without ever needing a car.

And a new casino will be built on Broadway Commons, just two blocks away from the line.

There has been tremendous progress in our urban core over the past three years and more will continue in the future.  Building the streetcar will connect all of these investment, create new development along the line, and attract new residents for our urban core.

The streetcar will improve Cincinnati not just for our generation, but for the generations of Cincinnatians who will follow us.  In the 19^th century, we built the Cincinnati Southern Railway which to this day contributes around $20 million per year to our city’s budget.

The past few years have seen a confluence of positive developments that have set Cincinnati on the right track.  After years of stagnation we are moving forward, and the Cincinnati Streetcar is another step in the right direction.

Now’s the time to build the streetcar.

Now’s the time to tie together all of the new development in Uptown and Downtown.

Now’s the time to make Cincinnati a better place to live.

Support Cincinnati—Build the Streetcar.

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When the Cincinnati Streetcar was first proposed in 2007, our urban core and its prospects for the future looked very different from how they look.  In 2007 construction had still not begun on the Banks, Fountain Square had only been recently been renovated, the Carew Tower was our tallest building, the Gateway Quarter was in its first phase, rail service consisted of one train per night departing for Chicago at 3am, and the only nearby casinos were floating on a river in Indiana.

Things have changed.

Vertical construction has begun on the Banks and hundreds of new residents will be living there when the streetcar opens in 2012.

[the banks]

Fountain Square and the Backstage District have new restaurants and business.  Virtually every day of the year you can find people on the Square, the city’s living room, at an event, or ice skating, or just enjoying the day.

[ft sq]

Queen City Square II has been topped off and is the largest LEED certified building in the region.

[qsc ii]

The Gateway Quarter is in its fourth phase, bringing new small business and hundreds of residents to vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine and helping preserve the irreplaceable architecture of the neighborhood.

[gateway]

Passenger rail service will commence in 2012 connecting Cincinnati to Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati.  When the trains roll into Union Terminal, a short extension of the streetcar will allow travelers to access Uptown and Downtown without ever needing a car.

[trains]

And a new casino will be built on Broadway Commons, just two blocks away from the line.

[casino]

There has been tremendous progress in our urban core over the past three years and more will continue in the future.  Building the streetcar will connect all of these investment, create new development along the line, and attract new residents for our urban core.

The streetcar will improve Cincinnati not just for our generation, but for the generations of Cincinnatians who will follow us.  In the 19^th century, we built the Cincinnati Southern Railway which to this day contributes around $20 million per year to our city’s budget.

The past few years have seen a confluence of positive developments that have set Cincinnati on the right track.  After years of stagnation we are moving forward, and the Cincinnati Streetcar is another step in the right direction.

Now’s the time to build the streetcar.

Now’s the time to tie together all of the new development in Uptown and Downtown.  Now’s the time to make Cincinnati a better place to live.

Support Cincinnati—Build the Streetcar.

 

Cincinnati and Portland- Building Heights

This blog has previously pointed out many similarities between Cincinnati and Portland.  Another similarity is the size of the buildings in their downtown.  This chart compares each city’s the twenty tallest buildings:

For those who have never been to Portland, it isn’t a massive metropolis.  It is a city about the same size as Cincinnati, and it is able to support a great public transportation system.  Support Public Transportation–Build the Streetcar.

 

The Cincinnati Streetcar Will Be Great for: Metro Riders

The Cincinnati Streetcar will be great for people who already ride the bus because it will improve mobility and connectivity and add another transportation option to the urban core.

Metro operates a hub and spoke system where virtually every route runs downtown to Government Square.  There are, however, three cross-town routes, the Rts. 31, 41 and 51 and two functional cross-town routes, the Rts. 1 and 28/50 (not labeled as cross-town routes, but they provide east to west service without a transfer).

The Cincinnati Streetcar will connect with 80% of the cross-town routes in the Metro system as well as circulators like the Rt. 85 Parking Meeter and the Southbank Shuttle.  The map below shows the connections between the Cincinnati Streetcar and Metro’s cross-town bus routes.

The Streetcar can also help people have a shorter wait for their connections to a cross-town bus.  If someone was at Findlay Market and wanted to transfer to an eastbound Rt. 31 bus at Vine and McMillan, without the streetcar the average wait time throughout the day will be 9 minutes.  With the streetcar, the average wait time drops to 6 minutes.  Similar time savings would be expected with transfers to the Rt. 51 cross-town and other routes in the system.

The easier it is for people to use public transportation, the more people will use it—reducing pollution and congestion for everyone, even people who have never stepped foot on a bus or a streetcar.  The Cincinnati Streetcar will provide more connections for Metro riders, encourage more people to use public transportation and improve the efficiency of our existing transit system.  Support Metro—Build the Streetcar.

Notes: Vine and McMillan was selected as the transfer point as Rts. 31, 46, and 78 all have the same time point at that location.  Simultaneous connections were presumed to be missed on both bus and streetcar. Streetcar frequency was taken from the Streetcar Feasibility Study. Average wait times were rounded to the nearest minute.