CincyStreetcar Blog

Brad Thomas discusses how the Cincinnati Streetcar will create jobs, expand Cincinnati’s tax base, and make our city a better place to live.

Even before construction has begun, the Cincinnati Streetcar is spurring development and job creation along the line. From this week’s Soapbox:

Jean-Francois Flechet has spent the last four years growing his business, A Taste of Belgium; The Authentic Waffle, from a single waffle iron in a produce stand at Findlay Market to four locations and 30 employees in two cities.

In May, the native of Belgium will move his headquarters from Findlay Market to 12th and Vine Streets in Over-the-Rhine, establishing his fifth location. From there, he plans to branch out and begin licensing the business he built on a recipe that has become a fixture at markets and events around Cincinnati…

“Once the streetcar stops at the Freedom Center you can get a waffle there, you can stop at 12th and Vine and get a waffle, and you can go to Findlay Market and get a waffle,” he said. “So whenever it gets the funds to go to Clifton, we’ll put another one at the stop there.”

[Editor's Note: upon being informed the Cincinnati Streetcar already has the funding to go to Clifton in the first phase, Mr. Flechet responded "I better get ready to open a another location. The waffles are coming to UC!"]

Read the rest here.

Image: Scott Bessler of Soapbox

Today’s guest blog post is from the City of Cincinnati:

The Cincinnati Streetcar project is anticipated to stimulate the local economy by attracting more businesses, new jobs and advanced revenue into the urban core and Greater Cincinnati economy. For every $1 spent, the City is projected to see $3 in return to the local economy.

In addition, 1,800 jobs are predicted to result from the construction of the Cincinnati Streetcar alone, and an estimated 9,000 jobs could be created over the next 20 years.

Studies indicate that development along the streetcar’s route will result in approximately $1.4 billion in economic impact. Residents could see impact in more than 1,100 new housing units, and businesses are estimated to benefit from 92 acres of land likely to be converted into 7.4 million square feet of new office and retail space.

All city neighborhoods will benefit from new jobs and residents paying general earnings.

For more information, please visit click here.

Below is a letter from the Mt. Auburn Chamber of Commerce to City Council:

Dear City of Cincinnati Council Members,

Thank you for your continued commitment to the Cincinnati Streetcar Project, despite recent criticism. Your ability to think and plan for the future of our city and its mass transit needs—while those with a vested interest in changing these plans try to wear you down—is commendable. Future Cincinnatians will be grateful for your foresight and unwillingness to back down against a vociferous minority.

As President of the Mt. Auburn Chamber of Commerce, I represent the views of over 50 community businesses and their leaders — businesses as diverse as The Christ Hospital, God’s Bible School & College, TV Channels 5 & 12, the National Park Service, and Taft Elementary School. Our businesses have been active participants in the committee meetings leading up to the passage of decisions about the Streetcar Project. Our members are unified in their support of the streetcar. We believe that Cincinnati is a great city, but by the same token, we do not believe there are many great cities in the world that have not invested in mass transit (subway, streetcars, light rail) to accommodate the masses of people who come to work, live and travel there.

Several members of our Mt. Auburn Chamber have visited other cities like Portland, Oregon, that have already developed streetcars and are reaping the economic gains derived from the streetcars. It is impressive to see entire neighborhoods where residential, retail and other commercial businesses are springing to life as a result of the streetcar line.

Because we all have to balance our own institutions’ budgets, Mt. Auburn business leaders can discern the difference between “capital” funds and “operating” funds. The fact that the public doesn’t understand this difference is unfortunate. The fact that people who do understand the difference in these funds, but confuse the public to gamer more support for their position, is lamentable. As we have recently seen, based on our new governor’s position on the 3C rapid transit line, the $600 million that would have come to Ohio to bring jobs and businesses to our people and state will now be split up and given to three other states. Please don’t let that happen in Cincinnati!

The Cincinnati Streetcar Project will provide jobs and an economic boost to the neighborhoods it serves. It will infuse the downtown and uptown areas with new life, new jobs, and new sources of revenue. It will help Cincinnati attain a well-deserved reputation as a great city in which to live, work and vacation.

Thank you for maintaining your support for the Streetcar Project.

Sincerely,

Holly D. Dorna

President, Mt. Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

Today at 1:11pm Queen City Square, Cincinnati’s new tallest building, will formally open, making it the tallest office building in the country to open this year.  One block away from the Cincinnati Streetcar, the new tallest building will be a icon in our cityscape for decades to come.

Downtown offices, the region’s largest employment center, will be well served by the Cincinnati Streetcar. With the opening of this new tower, 16 of 18 of downtown’s Class A office buildings will be within three blocks of the streetcar line.  The proposed office tower at the Banks, 100 Walnut, will be located directly on the line as well.

The large number of office workers downtown will ensure the streetcar will remain busy throughout the day. Workers can take the streetcar to appointments and meetings, go to lunch, or save on parking by riding the streetcar from a more remote lot. And with the increasing number of residents and events downtown, the streetcar will remain busy well into the night.

Despite the economic downturn, our city is moving forward. New investments like the Banks, the Cincinnati Streetcar, a revitalized Washington Park, Queen City Square will create jobs and help our city come out of the recovery strong.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has released the GoOhio Report. ODOT describes the report as “a new way to prioritize investments that will bring Ohio the greatest return on transportation investment. ODOT is the first state transportation department in the U.S. to develop this type of economy-focused, data-driven approach to multi-modal transportation investment in targeted industries.”

The Cincinnati Streetcar is listed as one of the transportation investments:

A 4.9-mile loop will connect University of Cincinnati students and neighborhoods with Downtown, creating 1,800 short-term and 9,000 permanent jobs, and an estimated $1.4 billion in new development. The streetcar is part of a larger strategy to make Cincinnati more walkable, vibrant –and easier to get around.

Read the rest here.

This is a guest post by Daniel Baisden:

Growing up in Cincinnati, my grandfather who owned several Pizza restaurants would take me to the Cincinnati Reds home games every chance he would get. And walking down the steep hillside of Mount Adams hand in hand with my grandpa we would talk about the most amazing city in the world.

I was born and raised majority of my childhood on Celestial, what a great place at the foot of Immaculata and all of its glory, the city seemed to glisten, like twinkling Christmas lights every night from my small bedroom window. Its that view that I remember seeing every night that would make me dream and think of all the amazing things that Cincinnati was and could be.

Then we moved north, into the heart of Amish Country. A place that seemed so separated from the world, a place that was so peaceful, but it would never be Cincinnati. I graduated from high school and began working in the radio business moving all over the mid-west.

I still dream of what Cincinnati could and will become in the future. Its my wish that Cincinnati could eventually come to replace Columbus as the largest city in the state…a vibrant economy that beckons visionaries. Think of what our families settled upon. What Losantisville became as the days grew.

I look at neighborhoods that will tremendously benefit off a Streetcar system, such as OTR and even the desolate and abandoned village behind Christ Hospital, a thru connection to one of America’s most established and well regarded zoological societies, a college that is only growing year after year and what I consider the most amazing downtown in the world.

I look at the kind of revenue this will garner to unique businesses and boutique shops as well as the local chains that are along the same route. The city will collect fare money and it will potentially bring new growing companies to a city that desperately needs them.

Of all cities in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana – Cincinnati is the only city that is putting plans in place at a rapid pace to build a streetcar network. While other cities desire to have one, they aren’t nearly as advances as the citizens of Cincinnati. Recent Site Selection magazine named Cincinnati one of the best cities in America to start a new business. Home and Family ranked Cincinnati one of the best cities to raise a young family.

These are all great attributes to a city that we all LOVE AND ADORE. We all need to rally behind CINCINNATI STREETCAR and tell those who don’t believe it will be better for the city where they have gone off track (pun intended).