Support the Streetcar! (Cincinnati, Findlay, Alliance: middle-class, power lines, condo)

[Cincy Rider]

I am for this streetcar. My planned project will be in OTR and looking at the plans would run by the front door. I think it would be a better idea to run the western rail down Elm (as proposed) and then bear west around Dayton, Findlay, or Liberty into the west end, return by Music Hall.

I would like to see the West End included with the OTR line is all.

My home will be in Westwood...how, or if, my neighborhood would ever be linked in to a route doesn't concern me.

I think it can only be an improvement. UNLESS the project gets started and than abandoned, which would be a nightmare.

[PhillytoCincy]

It looks like from the proposed route it will go all the way down into the new Banks Project.

[Hartwell Girl]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

... along with YP's and married couples AND older folks that have moved to OTR to restore their own homes and start families there.

The most foolish comment someone can make in regards to growing their city is to say; "the hell with the younger generation, what do they know anyway?"

How do we fix our city woes? Why not start by investing into making the city a place first time home buyers and young families want to buy into? Generating tax revenue sounds like a good first step to me ... and yes, a lot of home restorers spoke to city hall yesterday - no need to be dishonest and lie on a public forum. I was there.

HWG, as an older, mature woman with kids and obviously passionate about this topic ... I'm assuming you've invested quite a bit of time towards your own research? Care to post a link to a PDF or something we can see?



Again, Cole had city financiers educate the general public for pure pleasure (and a personal education lesson) that these funds CANNOT be used for anything else ... including the Duke utility purchase.

I'm still waiting on you to provide us a way where we can attain a ROI of 14:1 ... throwing opinions around like party favors is nice and all, but usually constructive criticism is followed by a better solution.

So I ask ... what can the city do to invest where it sees returns even close to that of the SC?

As a City of Cincinnati resident who is fed up with wasteful spending, yes I did my own research, not the brainwashed sugar coated web sites you like to recommend. I dont need to post web sites for you to show you WHY I HAVE an opinion on the matter. Your attitude is exactly what I have come to expect from a streetcar supporter, you and the mayor like to refer to us as Naysayers, I like to think of myself as a realist. And just to clarify, I'm not yet 40 and I have one child who is a junior in HS--my comment about age what brought forth ONLY after seeing the rude tweets from those AT the meeting in COuncil chambers yesterday referring to old people not supporting the streetcar idea. I dont throw mud first, but I have no problem being the one who will throw it last.
As far as the ROI 14:1 is an estimate...no way you can take that to the bank--that is the City's hope...just like they "hoped" to collect a certain about of taxes and didnt but spent the money anyway. I can guarantee I know a little bit about this City and not just Hartwell.

[austiNati]

^^^^

Ok, then what should the city be investing in to further transportation options, and bring residents back into the city limits? I understand you have your own opinion and don't support the streetcar, but what are your alternate suggestions?

[Hartwell Girl]

Are you kidding me? The City should be investing in our neighborhoods which they cannot do. Who wants to live in a City that continues to have simple basic services cut at every budget cycle? How about the bus? What the heck is wrong with the bus??
We have recreation centers being threatened to be closed, pools as well, those pools that will stay open have even shorter seasons this year. How about the rec center hours being cut to some less than 8 hours a day, programs cut. Streets that need repaved. Do you know neighborhoods are on a 3 year cycle. So if your street is crap, you're out of luck and when they do get back to you in 3 years, you better pray your street is BAD enough to get done or you get to wait another 3 years and pray again. Hartwell has gotten 1/2 of 1 street in the last cycle. Grass cutting OF CITY PROPERTY...they come to your neighborhood 2 times a summer if you are lucky and they dont even have all the people OR machines to get work done for that week they are there, so you get to look at waste high weeds in your neighborhood unless you get off your rump and cut it yourself. Police & Fire, threaten our safety but as long as we have a trolley to ride, alls good.

Let me tell you something. The Mayor said during his 1st run that the sell of the Blue Ash Airport would be divided up and spent on all our neighborhoods....its earmarked for the trolley. The sale of the Duke utility poles in ALL OUR neighborhoods, goes to the trolley. It's all about downtown and not about ALL our neighborhoods and quite honestly I am sick of the "lets build our core argument" FIX what you already have. People will want to live in the City like I want to live in Hartwell if they know more about it. The one thing I DONT like about this City are the people making all the decisions and listening to people who dont own homes or/and pay taxes much less lift a finger to do one volunteer thing to make their community better unless there is something in it for them. Everyone can have an opinion about something, and disagreeing is okay. But I am beyond disagreeing, I'm just plain fed up.

[austiNati]

^^^

You made some very good points. Of course the neighborhoods need to be taken care of. Streets need to be paved, recreation centers need to operate more consistantly; But if(when) they fix that, that will not be enough to just draw people from West Chester, Cheviot and any other suburb. Many neighborhoods in Cincy have shrunk to the point where the tax base just isn't sufficient enough to support alot. That right there is Cincy's biggest problem.

Yes we should work what with we already have, but we should also add to that. You mentioned inadeuate police and fire force, but the main reason Hamilton County has a problem with that is because there are so many God Damn communities that have their own Police and Fire force and it's really just sucking up resources. Why they hell should Arlington Heights have its own Police Department, I could fit that area in my subdivision

My bad, i got off topic. Anyways, the Street Car/ Light Rail project will connect and rehabiliate many blighted neighborhoods, and people will gain instrest in them when they see the potential to raise property values for buildings and homes along those lines. The people that already live in these neighborhoods will benefit from the influx of new people, jobs etc. That is simply called PROGRESS. You could rehabilate every neighborhood in the city, but that would only bring us back to where we were before, not ahead at all.

And speaking of bettering neighborhoods, OTR is getting the works as we speak, and that is BY FAR the most important neighborhood in the city. You can't just ignore the core. You said you dont agree with all this "invest in the Core" talk, but that is the most important part of the city, thats where the money is made. You think any world city got to where they are by avoiding their core ???? (Besides L.A. , I cant think of any, and they even got on the ball)

There's to much momentum going on in this town for us to block out alternate transportation options. Screw a bus, they wait in traffic and get held up by trains like everyone else. Thats all I have 2 say for now. We can agree to disagree

[Cincy-Rise]

HWG, I think you just made a case for the streetcar without even realizing it.

[Wilson513]

Politicians are addicted to these expensive toys. Stadiums, Slave Center, Bus Depot, now their little choochoo train. Its why less government is better. If this idea had any merit, there would be a private interest in it, which there is not.

[nightrider127]

I know exactly where HartwellGirl is coming from. I don't personally live in the city limits of Cincinnati now but I am in Hartwell a lot because I shop there and also work there. The city has never done much for Hartwell. I have lived in the area for many a year. The streets are a mess down there, full of pot holes. Most of the time, they get no snow removal, the streets stay bad till the sun melts what Mother Nature dumped on them. And so help me, I think they would still have that small, shallow pool if it hadn't been for Krogers. The people of Hartwell have been handed a raw deal, year after year. Luckily, a lot of the people of Hartwell seem to care enough about their community to pick up chores that the city should be taking care of.

Don't get me wrong, I think having a vibrant downtown is important. But it's also important not to neglect your neighborhoods.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

HWG, I think you just made a case for the streetcar without even realizing it.

I guess you read something into it other than what I did. The gist I got was the City needs to take care of the neighborhoods, steets, infrastructure, etc. To say the bus is inadquate, build streetcars, is rediculous. Improve the Bus!