Cincinnati Streetcar Development Map
The map below shows the development that has taken place along the streetcar line since 2005 (blue), the development that is currently under construction (orange), and planned development (yellow). The Cincinnati Streetcar will help the revitalization of our urban core by:
- Creating New Development Along the Line. Streetcars are a powerful tool of economic development. Around the country, where ever tracks are laid development follows. Because it is a permanent investment, the streetcar can cut down parking ratios for residences and new businesses, allowing greater density and fewer surface lots. The parts of Over-the-Rhine and Mount Auburn along the line that are too away from the employment centers of Uptown and Downtown (which contain 54% of all jobs in the City) will be a short streetcar ride away, helping reduce blight by repopulating the vacant buildings in those neighborhoods.
- Connecting Activity Centers in the Urban Core. The map below shows that most of the development has clustered in a few areas (Gateway, University, Riverfront) with large gaps in between. The streetcar can help create a continuous corridor of development along the line and connect the major activity centers on the route. Visitors and residents will be able to easily go from Short Vine to Fountain Square, the Banks to the Casino, and Findlay Market to the University. These connections will increase the vibrancy of our city and make it safer by having more eyes on the street.
- Supporting the Investments We Have Already Made. The streetcar will act as an insurance policy on the investments that we have already made in our urban core. By increasing mobility options for those already living in the central city and carrying over a million potential customers a year, the streetcar will help retain the new residents and business that have moved into Downtown and Uptown in the past few years, ensuring a stable base for future development.
Support the Revitalization of Cincinnati—Build the Streetcar.
January 25, 2010 at 9:16 am
doesn’t the track continue to West McMicken?
January 25, 2010 at 9:22 pm
i wonder if this will really happen. we’re already seeing development in the Gateway Quarter of OTR and i can’t help but think if there’s a proper streetcar line it’ll continue to improve the area.
January 25, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Looks great!
However, I think it’s a mistake and short-sighted not to cross the bridge and include at least one stop in Covington.
I know there’s probably a dozen reasons for this not being planned, but including a KY stop would increase ridership dramatically in both directions. It would also go a long way toward knitting the region together in a way that is really lacking right now.
-Jerome
January 26, 2010 at 1:52 am
Is there any consideration for making this a single streetcar route?
If the streetcar turned right at Findlay and went directly up Vine to Corryville, the ride would be much easier. Rather than forcing people to get off of one streetcar and hop on another, it would be one continuous loop.
January 26, 2010 at 8:35 am
Yes, this would be a single streetcar route. You would not have to switch cars.
January 26, 2010 at 2:49 am
As a student of Cincinnati’s numerous public transit fiasco’s (i.e. the abandoned subway, the dismantled streetscar systems, the repeated failure of ballot measures that support any form of transport besides cars) this proposal is the closest to becoming reality; second of course to the subway that was substantially completed only to be abandoned before ever running a single train.
I think observations such as those made by Jerome are probably accurate. NKY was ready to help fund a regional light rail system way back in the late nineties. But alas if this first phase of this get’s something built AND operating, then a powerful history will be turned on its head.
Continued expansion might be more costly than if built all-at-once. However waiting another decade or more to build anything at all would be far more costly to everyone in greater Cincinnati.
The current proposal is clever. It brings together major institutions, businesses, and the region’s economic engines as key supporters. It’s in their vested interest and they are likely to fight for it. However, proposing a far-flung system with a 20 year implementation is a hard sell without even being able to see it in action (I hate to say it, but its true).
That said, if only one streetcar line is built, it will eventually sow envy and distrust throughout the rest of the City. It will become another example of powerful interests taking care of downtown while neglecting the neighborhoods. I don’t believe or hope that this would happen, but Cincinnati has proven many optimists wrong before.
And for that reason most; I’ll remain firmly anchored in Boston, which opened it’s first subway over a hundred years ago, and has since built out hundreds of miles of heavy rail, light rail, and commuter rail.
January 26, 2010 at 9:32 am
urbanmechanic,
I believe that when downtown has proven how successful the streetcar is, rather than sow anger, the other neighborhoods will clammer to have lines trunked out them connecting everyone.
January 26, 2010 at 10:13 am
There is an issue of whether to build a full blown system from the get-go, or whether you should build something you can make happen and expand from there.
The Metro Moves plan in 2002 was a regional plan that included light rail, streetcar lines and a completely revamped regional bus system. Hamilton County voters voted it down and since that time leaders have had to examine how they can move rail forward in this region.
Obviously a streetcar line across the river into the Nky river cities of Newport and Covington makes a lot of sense, but that would have made this proposal immensely more difficult politically and financially. Both Covington and Newport have already publicly voted and given their support to the Cincinnati Streetcar which makes me think that once this beginning line is complete that they will be ready and waiting for an extension their way.
There are lots of additional lines that could and should be built, but at this point I think it’s about making something happen, and I think this is probably Cincinnati’s best chance at doing just that.
January 30, 2010 at 4:51 am
Cincinnati needs to continue to build/add to it’s infrastrucure. This is a great way to begin something new, and no it won’t serve everyone. It will however be the begining in what is long over due to leap into a metropolis that delivers all the amentities that other large cities boast today! MASS TRANSIT!!! We just need to start somewhere…
January 30, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Where did this map come from? I’m afraid it may not be accurate. Some of us here in Corryville have been advocating for the line to run up through the Short Vine business district via a reconnected road to Vine (as shown). However, the site developers for the new Kroger at University Plaza (Anchor Properties) scraped possible plans to reconnect through the property, last I heard. Is this reconnect definitive? Would love it if it was true!
January 30, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Union Terminal:
In light of the establishment of high-speed rail running to Union Terminal on the 3-C corridor, serious consideration should be given to running the line from there to downtown. As much as I might like it going up to my nieghborhood in Uptown asap, it might make more sense to begin creating a real interconnected transit system by going to Union Terminal.
November 22, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Oh my, FINALLY the Cincinnati city started turning into something that could be called ” cosmopolitan- metropolitan” place to live. all Europe and many developed cities across the Globe use public transportation ( subways, trams, trolleys,light and heavy rail etc); it is time to get out of your box and start working on progress. I ‘m aware that a lot of provincial Cincinatians are against such a project. to such people I would like to say: travel the world, expand your view beyond your tri-state region, don’t object but be proud that we are making such a fantastic progress. Once that rail system is in place you will be proud of your city. Promise!
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