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You know exactly what I mean because you do it intentionally. I don't disagree that public transit needs to improve. I ride buses (both regular and BRT), rail and bike share just about every day, so I get the benefits of what is it so have a working system. My problem with you, as it has always been and always will be, is that you don't live in a perfect city. There is no such thing. It might have a few things going for it that are better off than the 3-Cs, and certainly bike infrastructure is one of them. But you never acknowledge even a hint that there are any issues within your own city, so you're constantly throwing stones at others. You lack humility, honesty and most importantly, facts. MSP, for all its positives, is still 2nd rate. I know 1st rate because I live in a 1st rate city. You do not.
For the record, Columbus had the 15th largest increase in bike commuting nationally 2006-2011. Its car use dropped almost 6% in the same period and mass transit use increased. It's not #1, but it's improving.
I never said I live in a perfect city. Cincinnati, Portland, and NYC are not perfect. The difference between the latter two is that they actually took action to get things done and keep making big improvements. Cities in Ohio not only aren't perfect, but they do the bare minimum and think that's "progress" or it's an improvement, so that's good enough. Well, is it really worth being content and brag about how much has improved when you've merely taken a baby step while other cities took a leap? If cities in Ohio want any respect instead of being brushed off as a step above average (which they are in just about any category you care to name) then they need to take that leap.
For the record, Columbus' "15th largest increase in bike commuting nationally 2006-2011" means very little since only a handful of cities made serious leaps in bike infrastructure in the past decade or so: Minneapolis, Portland, Denver and San Francisco are larger ones while smaller ones include Madison, Boulder, and Berkeley. I already saw that laughable graph on CU with a 0.3% increase in cyclists from 2000-2011: oh boy, maybe another 0.3% from 2011-2022? You guys pat yourselves on the back for that and expect praise like you don't deserve to be mocked for this? Just about any improvement moves your average American city (read very bike-unfriendly) to a high *sounding* ranking. Once you go past the top ten or so the amount of bike-friendliness drops exponentially: how's that for honesty?
Cities like Portland, Seattle, etc, don't say, "oh hey we made an improvement, so we're done". Cincinnati was forging ahead instead of saying Northside came back so our work is done, they pursued improvements in OTR which is a huge task and got past talking about how nice it would be to have rail transit and got to building it. Now it's gone back to a city that expects residents to be happy with what little they've got and pretend it's just as good as living in any other city when it most certainly is not and we both know that. Even if the streetcar had gone forward they'd still be playing catch up with other progressive cities that continue to grow thanks to smart urban policies (not annexation of sprawl), but at least it would have had a chance to be in the running at some point in our lifetime.
I didnt choose Cincinnati because of its 'walk score', how many trendy coffee shops or bars it has, The streetcar had ZERO decision on my choice and I chose to ignore the long history Cincinnati has of corrupt self interest government.
I chose it for its architecture, the fact I know this city is improving and I know its neighborhoods will get better. Cincinnati does things at their own pace not at the whim of what someone else is doing.
I am glad to see people finally talking about the looming pension plan mess, and I am glad someone is talking about trying to understand what a budget is and how its supposed to balance.
If we can get away from 'projects for the sake of projects', reduce the size of city government, stop the nepotism in hiring, then 'maybe', this city will be OK, and not be the next Detroit.
The election is over, time for everyone to stop whining and lets move on to issues about how to improve ALL our neighborhoods .
Walkscores, trendy coffee shops, and rail transit combined, I hate to break it to you, have a very high correlation with healthy neighborhoods. So if you want more of those you that's what you're gonna have to aim for like it or not. Look at the population free fall of cities in Ohio which lack in most measures while cities elsewhere which did value such things have been growing since the 90s. Cincinnati can move at the same pace and lose more residents or take the plunge and get this streetcar done and have a foundation for other lines including light-rail to connect to other neighborhoods to further improvements there and make some no-brainer connections like to the airport for visitors nationwide and abroad.
All neighborhoods benefit from this streetcar line because that means some are just one phase away from seeing direct benefits. If this is put off they have to wait again for starter line before a 2nd line can even be talked about sometime in the 2020s.
Those who live in MSP and Mexico City do absolutely NOTHING constructively with your commentary about Cincinnnati or Ohio. Just because you once lived in Ohio you seem to feel that gives you a right to tell Ohioans what to do. Guess What, you left Ohio and with that abdicated any right you had to tell Ohioans what to do. We will manage to stumble along on our own, good or bad, but what we don't need are those who left telling us what we are doing wrong.
Please confine your comments to the forums where you currently live, though they may already be fed up with your pontificating positions. Yes I am an advocate of Cincinnati and will continue to be so. I have differences with some adocates of urban life, since that is not my bag. But when it comes to Cincinnati or Ohio as a whole, I an 100% behind it. Please withdraw your comments to the area where you currently live, as the comments concerning Cincinnati or Ohio have about 0% constructive impact on any of our citizens.
Those who live in MSP and Mexico City do absolutely NOTHING constructively with your commentary about Cincinnnati or Ohio. Just because you once lived in Ohio you seem to feel that gives you a right to tell Ohioans what to do. Guess What, you left Ohio and with that abdicated any right you had to tell Ohioans what to do. We will manage to stumble along on our own, good or bad, but what we don't need are those who left telling us what we are doing wrong.
Please confine your comments to the forums where you currently live, though they may already be fed up with your pontificating positions. Yes I am an advocate of Cincinnati and will continue to be so. I have differences with some adocates of urban life, since that is not my bag. But when it comes to Cincinnati or Ohio as a whole, I an 100% behind it. Please withdraw your comments to the area where you currently live, as the comments concerning Cincinnati or Ohio have about 0% constructive impact on any of our citizens.
How exactly am I telling you what to do? There was a public vote. The residents, or 28% of the voting population, voted. Nothing I can do or say will change that outcome. Why does not living there mean I'm not allowed to have an opinion on an issue? That makes no sense. As much as Keith and I constantly go back and forth and disagree, I've never told him he is not allowed to have an opinion on Ohio or its cities, as wrong as I usually think they are. I also don't remember signing some contractual agreement to abdicate jack, let alone my opinion on a state I care about. It is and always will be home.
This just seems like more provincial nonsense. As in, "We don't need any outsiders and their opinions here in Cincinnati!" Guess what, pal, I am also an advocate of Cincinnati. That's why this whole deal upsets me. It's bad for Cincinnati's future and I *want* the place to succeed, contrary to what some people think I want. I don't come on here and pontificate on how awesome it was to leave Ohio and how much Ohio sucks. I love Ohio and will move back one day, so frankly, I couldn't give a rat's butt about how you feel about me posting here. Put me on ignore if it bothers you so much.
I never said I live in a perfect city. Cincinnati, Portland, and NYC are not perfect. The difference between the latter two is that they actually took action to get things done and keep making big improvements. Cities in Ohio not only aren't perfect, but they do the bare minimum and think that's "progress" or it's an improvement, so that's good enough. Well, is it really worth being content and brag about how much has improved when you've merely taken a baby step while other cities took a leap? If cities in Ohio want any respect instead of being brushed off as a step above average (which they are in just about any category you care to name) then they need to take that leap.
For the record, Columbus' "15th largest increase in bike commuting nationally 2006-2011" means very little since only a handful of cities made serious leaps in bike infrastructure in the past decade or so: Minneapolis, Portland, Denver and San Francisco are larger ones while smaller ones include Madison, Boulder, and Berkeley. I already saw that laughable graph on CU with a 0.3% increase in cyclists from 2000-2011: oh boy, maybe another 0.3% from 2011-2022? You guys pat yourselves on the back for that and expect praise like you don't deserve to be mocked for this? Just about any improvement moves your average American city (read very bike-unfriendly) to a high *sounding* ranking. Once you go past the top ten or so the amount of bike-friendliness drops exponentially: how's that for honesty?
Cities like Portland, Seattle, etc, don't say, "oh hey we made an improvement, so we're done". Cincinnati was forging ahead instead of saying Northside came back so our work is done, they pursued improvements in OTR which is a huge task and got past talking about how nice it would be to have rail transit and got to building it. Now it's gone back to a city that expects residents to be happy with what little they've got and pretend it's just as good as living in any other city when it most certainly is not and we both know that. Even if the streetcar had gone forward they'd still be playing catch up with other progressive cities that continue to grow thanks to smart urban policies (not annexation of sprawl), but at least it would have had a chance to be in the running at some point in our lifetime.
Columbus' increase was relative to the national picture. The highest improvement was only 1.7%, and only a handful of cities even reached over 0.5%. So if Columbus and other Ohio cities are not doing enough, neither is anywhere else. This also doesn't take into account the new bike-share, as it just opened this year.
Anyway, this thread is not about any of this. If you want to talk about mass transit policy in Cincinnati, go for it.
Walkscores, trendy coffee shops, and rail transit combined, I hate to break it to you, have a very high correlation with healthy neighborhoods. So if you want more of those you that's what you're gonna have to aim for like it or not. Look at the population free fall of cities in Ohio which lack in most measures while cities elsewhere which did value such things have been growing since the 90s. Cincinnati can move at the same pace and lose more residents or take the plunge and get this streetcar done and have a foundation for other lines including light-rail to connect to other neighborhoods to further improvements there and make some no-brainer connections like to the airport for visitors nationwide and abroad.
Hate to break it to you, but when you ask most people what they are concerned about in a city?
A good Police Force, A good Fire Department (that doesn't have to shut down equipment one day week to deal with budget shortfalls), decent schools and clean neighborhoods where the trash is picked up.
Rail transit (outside of the east coast) is the LAST thing most Buyers in Cincinnati care about. Cincinnati isn't new York and it isn't Portland, it's Cincinnati. If you knew much about Cincinnati (outside of OTR), you might understand that. I don't need a train or trolly to get me to Findlay Market, I can DRIVE one of my 4 vehicles to get there. People don't Bike in my neighborhood because the hills are too step, (except the mountain bikers who love our Hills. Most of the people moving, and restoring in my neighborhood have real jobs and real places to go. That is why they have CARS!
I'm not carrying groceries or building materials on a bike, and I'm certainly not carrying them. People who do not understand the "real world" should not make generalizations. Not all cities fit the same urban planning model...thank god!
i welcome people from all over to offer their comments on Cincinnati
Thanks - this is a national story with import for cities all over the US that has landed Cincinnati on the front pages (and not in a good way).
On the plus side, it's a good lesson to remind us all that when the US Federal Government makes a commitment to you to the tune of 50 Million dollars, they expect that you will do what you said you will do or there will be serious repercussions.
Here's hoping 2 council members are persuadable to come to their common sense. I'm afraid Cranley is a lost cause and strongly suspect he has an agenda far beyond this one project - he seems hell bent on destroying transit in Cincinnati for good.
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