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It’s time to make rail transit reality in Cincinnati

With the resounding defeat of the terribly crafted Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment, the City may now move forward with its plans for developing a high quality transit network that includes rail transit in addition to buses, bicycles, pedestrians, and autos.

The Cincinnati Streetcar is one of those items, and within the project’s first phase will connect the two largest employment centers (Downtown & Uptown) for the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with one another and with one of the largest potential housing reservoirs in the region (Over-the-Rhine).

The first phase of the system will start at the northern banks of the Ohio River at the multi-billion dollar development known as The Banks, run through the Central Business District and historic Over-the-Rhine, up the hill into Uptown and connect with the 40,000 student University of Cincinnati and nearby medical block.

By Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.