Cincinnati Transit Problems: Is This City Crazy???? (Columbus, Canton: real estate, house)

[neilworms2]

I agree with everything you state except for waiting until these reforms are put fully into place to complete the streetcar everything you listed should be done in concert with building it as both will reinforce each other allowing for the city to be more livable and attract more residents and tourists.

OTR has crumbling streets , sidewalks, alleys and buildings. You need to invest in improvements in those areas first. You need to haev OTR Lit up at night like a christmas tree. At the same time, you need to eliminate the roadblocks that keep people from buying and developing these buildings which have often sat for 20-30 years empty and require between 1/2 to a million dollars, or more, to restore and get up to code. The city permit process is unduly complicated, cost more than other cities its size, and when you call you may get one answer on the phone and another when you show up.

I agree with this assessment 100%, however, streetscape improvements have been happening in OTR over the last couple years. Its slow, too slow, but Vine street up to about 14th is well lit now and has improved streetscapes, it didn't used to be, it would be nice if they continue to focus on other key streets like 12th or further up vine for instance. Main was already improved about 10-15 years ago or so, and is in pretty good shape.

Second: Eliminate all parking meters N of Liberty for 5 years. Do what other cities are doing and lease the operation of all other city meters and parking lots to a private company for an upfront initial payment and annual fee and use that for infrastructure improvements. That will save the city millions of operational and maintenance costs and we wont be paying meter maids 32,000 a year plus benefits/Pensions to service meters that are NEVER USED!

I would expand this to include for parking off of Vine and Main Streets. There doesn't need to be meters getting rid of spaces on Elm, Race Street or Liberty and yet they're in areas no one would ever want to park for commercial business. The current situation hurts OTRs growth as residents don't have enough places to park on street, yet there are meters taking up empty space. When the population gets big enough implement put in permit parking to help manage residential versus tourist out-of-town visitors.

Sixth: Concentrated Police Enforcement and patrols and a security camera system that will help shut down criminal activity.

One of the reasons for the modest growth in OTR that we've seen is due to the city asking the Sheriff's office to fill in where the Cincinnati police were unable to provide assistence. (The reasons why they didn't btw were due to political reasons stemming from fallout due to the riots, luckily Cincy's police is headed by a new chief and hopefully we won't have to deal with that ridiculous mess which cost the city a good chunk of its residents between 2001-2010.) Cameras would be a good idea to help out as well, but nothing is better than cops on the beat.

I DO NOT understand why common sense is so hard for people in Cincinnati?

I didn't either, its one of the reasons why I left, I wanted to see how the real world thinks and does things, and was kind of fed up with the lack of action to make such a beautiful city actually work without dragging its feet or getting into petty squabbles about things most other places wouldn't even argue about. :P As I've stated before the only reason why I'm here discussing Cincy is that I see good signs [remember my standards are low from living in Cincy for 5 years] that things are slowly coming together and want to cheer them on as much as possible. The myopia of Cincinnati is insane, and you have to wonder why the real world beyond west chester is such a hard thing for so many people to grasp down there...

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by progmac

I live in the ridge and as a city resident, I am happy to support downtown development, even though I won't be using the streetcar regularly. I think neighborhoods need to be a little less clannish and open themselves up to working together for the benefit of the city as a whole. Maybe someday they'll restore some of the old lines up Montgomery road. Who knows? It just isn't feasible for every project to immediate benefit everyone equally. Sure, I have my ideas about how to use the money differently, but ultimately it is this or nothing. So I'll take this.

Post of the week ^

Unfortunately, the clannish, provincial mindset is almost cast in stone around here, and it's certainly one of the primary factors holding this city back.

- The east side doesn't care about the west side, much less ever visits;

- The west side loathes the east side and mocks its lifestyle;

- There are entire cities within cities (St. Bernard, Norwood) that don't want any part of what surrounds them;

- The suburbs have no use for the city and love to bask in its failures;

- The city distrusts the suburbs and thinks they should all disappear;

- The city rarely cooperates with the county, and vice versa

- Municipalities poach corporations from their neighbors with little regard to any regional impact;

- And good luck getting anyone in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana to give two hoots about what's going on across their borders.

Throw in decades of segregation, above average nepotism, incompetent leadership and disconnected national representation more interested in advancing their own careers than fighting for their constituents and Greater Cincinnati is the very definition of regional dysfunction. Hence, here we are today, actually considering slapping a decade-long transit ban on ourselves.

Other cities who would love to have our Fortune 500 companies, attract our conventions, recruit our brightest professionals and lure our young residents must be salivating right now in hopes that Cincinnati shoots itself in the knees next Tuesday. Why try to beat Cincinnati when the city is so damn determined to just beat itself?

[Wilson513]

What is tragic is that elected Councilpersons do not have the common sense and self control to focus on safe streets, clean streets, and trash collection. They couldn't even keep control of an embezzeling union leader who had not done a lick of work for 5 years but was drawing full salary. Its not sexy to see that the potholes are getting filled and people are showing up for work. But, flying up to Portland to look at a streetcar and getting big contributions from developers who have bought up slum property on speculation, is a much better bet for a person with no ethics, no skill set and who will be gone in a couple of years anyway.

Take for example that boob Bob Bedinghaus, who got appointed to the Hamilton County Commission in time to earn himself a life time salary with Mike Brown by selling the County down the river for the Stadium deal. The current Council is just a smaller version of last decade's crooked pols.

[$honey]

I don't like the idea of lumping the streetcar project and any future rail project together in the same issue. I am against spending millions on the streetcar at this time when Cincinnati's budget is a mess. If there were another rail project in the planning stage it might make a difference in the way I will vote. How long has it been since the streetcar was first proposed? (At least 2 years.) The issue will delay rail 8 more years. (This is almost 2012, 8 more years will be 2020.) I figure it would take at least as long to plan any other rail project as it did the streetcar. Besides, if a really good project servicing a greater area were planned, I think it could find its way on a future ballot.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by $honey

I don't like the idea of lumping the streetcar project and any future rail project together in the same issue. I am against spending millions on the streetcar at this time when Cincinnati's budget is a mess. If there were another rail project in the planning stage it might make a difference in the way I will vote. How long has it been since the streetcar was first proposed? (At least 2 years.) The issue will delay rail 8 more years. (This is almost 2012, 8 more years will be 2020.) I figure it would take at least as long to plan any other rail project as it did the streetcar. Besides, if a really good project servicing a greater area were planned, I think it could find its way on a future ballot.

Someone has to control the children occupying City Hall.

[CinciFan]

Originally Posted by $honey

I don't like the idea of lumping the streetcar project and any future rail project together in the same issue. I am against spending millions on the streetcar at this time when Cincinnati's budget is a mess. If there were another rail project in the planning stage it might make a difference in the way I will vote. How long has it been since the streetcar was first proposed? (At least 2 years.) The issue will delay rail 8 more years. (This is almost 2012, 8 more years will be 2020.) I figure it would take at least as long to plan any other rail project as it did the streetcar. Besides, if a really good project servicing a greater area were planned, I think it could find its way on a future ballot.

I see your point, but the ballot issue makes it illegal to even PLAN an issue for the next ten years, so there wouldn't be a plan to have a special vote on.

That means that we would have to wait until 2020, plus the time it takes to plan a project, plus however long it takes to construct. So it's possible we may not have any form of rail transportation until 2030. I don't think that's a risk Cincy can afford to take, when almost every other city in the country is planning rail improvements.

Also, the Eastern Corridor project is apparently still in the planning stages. That project would also be cancelled as a result of issue 48.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by $honey

I don't like the idea of lumping the streetcar project and any future rail project together in the same issue. I am against spending millions on the streetcar at this time when Cincinnati's budget is a mess. If there were another rail project in the planning stage it might make a difference in the way I will vote. How long has it been since the streetcar was first proposed? (At least 2 years.) The issue will delay rail 8 more years. (This is almost 2012, 8 more years will be 2020.) I figure it would take at least as long to plan any other rail project as it did the streetcar. Besides, if a really good project servicing a greater area were planned, I think it could find its way on a future ballot.

Dangerous thinking, this is. Forget the streetcar - that's small potatoes. If you support Cincinnati even exploring a light rail system to connect to the suburbs, you absolutely should vote No on Issue 48. Passing this dangerous, decade-long rail ban isn't playing with fire, it's playing with armed nuclear missiles. It's that dangerous for Cincinnati's future.

No other city in this country would even consider tying its own hands behind its back. It's sheer lunacy to even think about.

Let's put it this way: Cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville and Indianapolis are on their hands and knees praying that Cincinnati self-imposes a 10-year rail ban. It'll make it that much easier for them to sell their cities against a stagnant Cincinnati.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

What is tragic is that elected Councilpersons do not have the common sense and self control to focus on safe streets, clean streets, and trash collection. They couldn't even keep control of an embezzeling union leader who had not done a lick of work for 5 years but was drawing full salary. Its not sexy to see that the potholes are getting filled and people are showing up for work. But, flying up to Portland to look at a streetcar and getting big contributions from developers who have bought up slum property on speculation, is a much better bet for a person with no ethics, no skill set and who will be gone in a couple of years anyway.

Take for example that boob Bob Bedinghaus, who got appointed to the Hamilton County Commission in time to earn himself a life time salary with Mike Brown by selling the County down the river for the Stadium deal. The current Council is just a smaller version of last decade's crooked pols.

Then quit electing incompetent fools like Leslie Ghiz, Chris Bortz, Chris Monzel and Bob Bedinghaus who have little to no clue what it takes to run an urban municipality. When you elect that type of representation, you deserve the results.

[abr7rmj]

Add the Cincinnati Herald to those that oppose Issue 48. Really, it's a who's who at this point of media publications, businesses and corporations, community leaders and private organizations that oppose this destructive, anti-Cincinnati/anti-rail initiative.

The Cincinnati Herald's Ballot | www.thecincinnatiherald.com | Cincinnati Herald

[Wilson513]

Embedding rails in our streets is just an act of religiousity. The religion of the "hip." There is no logical or scientific argument that supports embedded rails other than the argument that once the rails are installed, they can't be moved and so development is assured along the rails. Note that that does not say that development is increased. No. It just says that it is fixed along a particular route.

I'd like to hear from those of you who have used public or motorized transportation for a trip starting and finishing among these destinations:

• Government Square
• Fountain Square
• Contemporary Arts Center
• Public Library
• Aronoff Center
• Horseshoe Casino
• Gateway Quarter
• School for the Creative and Performing Arts
• Music Hall
• Washington Park

Since it can be walked in 10 minutes, I doubt there is one person who has done this. I mean, why would a person need to.

And, how many unionized public sector workers do we get to add to the bloated City payroll to staff this white elephant again? Who will be the Director of Streetcar, the Maintenance Supervisor, and the Coordinator and Liaison Officer with Metro. And, since every trip will cost about $50 per person per trip, it will serve as a a very expensive express shuttle for the panhandling bums to get from Ghettoville (Findlay Market Area) to the center of downtown without wearing out their shoes.