Cincinnati became the second city in the region this week to offer benefits to employees’ domestic partners. The measure passed 8-1, with only Charlie Winburn (R) opposing it. Councilman Chris Seelbach (D), the city’s first openly gay council member, promised to introduce the idea as one of his first priorities.

The process, which began in 2004, has a nebulous future ahead of it with uncertainty pertaining to future funding from a new federal transportation bill. Recently, state officials have said that parts of the overall rebuild of I-75 through Cincinnati may be delayed for up to fifteen years. The new funding paradigm has left local leaders on both sides of the river talking about public-private partnerships. Because of this uncertain future, it may be possible to reexamine one of the bridge options not pursued.

More than two dozen new city blocks would be able to generate in excess of $200 million annually in property tax revenue alone, should the new Brent Spence Bridge be shifted west. Rendering from Revive I-75 Study.

In 2010, the City of Cincinnati hired consultants to conduct several workgroups along the Interstate 75 corridor within the city limits. The study, named Revive I-75, addressed ways to mitigate the impact of the expanded highway on the surrounding urban neighborhoods. What also came out of the study was a visualization of the possible configuration of a new bridge for I-75 on the opposite side of Longworth Hall that would have allowed for the expansion of the Central Business District.

At the time there were several alignment configurations under study that would have moved the new bridge west of Longworth Hall, shrinking the amount of land the spaghetti-like on ramps use to connect I-71 to I-75 and the bridge. These alternatives were embodied in Alternatives A & B in the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor study. Yet both alternatives were removed from consideration citing environmental impacts and cost concerns. One of the arguments raised in opposition to the proposal was that that the city would lose valuable tax revenue from the affected industrial businesses in Queensgate.

However; according to urban economists such as Joe Minicozzi and Peter Katz, multi-story mixed use development actually brings in the most tax revenue for local jurisdictions when compared to single use facilities. In their study on Sarasota, Florida, it was found that a local mall generated only $22,000 in tax revenue per acre whereas a 17-story mixed use tower generated $1.01 million in tax revenue per acre. Since the 2010 study, Minicozzi has performed the same study in over fifteen different municipalities with similar results.

In a recent article written by Emily Badger, she summarizes several pertinent studies and surmises that, “We tend to think that broke cities have two options: raise taxes, or cut services. Minicozzi, though, is trying to point to the basic but long-buried math of our tax system that cities should be exploiting instead: Per-acre, our downtowns have the potential to generate so much more public wealth than low-density subdivisions or massive malls by the highway. And for all that revenue they bring in, downtowns cost considerably less to maintain in public services and infrastructure.”

Shifting the new Brent Spence Bridge to the west would allow downtown Cincinnati to be relieved from the existing and proposed entanglement of highway ramps. Rendering from Revive I-75 study.

A land use analysis performed by the UrbanCincy team found that the alternatives presented and illustrated in the Revive-75 documents would increase the amount of new land available in the Central Business District by roughly 33 percent. Approximately 25 new city blocks would be created under the proposal, freeing up land that is currently taken up by the expansive tangle of roadways that connect I-75, I-71 and the Brent Spence Bridge.

This would be accomplished by maintaining the ramps that connect I-71 to the Brent Spence Bridge and extending Fort Washington Way west, becoming the Third Street Expressway. This expressway will later align with the Sixth Street Expressway after connecting to the new bridge alignment west of Longworth Hall. The street grid would then be reestablished and developable real estate could be maximized on the newly reclaimed land. Based on the research provided from Minicozzi and Katz, UrbanCincy estimates that the taxable revenue capture could be more than $200 million from property taxes alone.

Such a move would not only allow for a sizable expansion of the Central Business District, but it would also create available land for a future expansion of the Duke Energy Convention Center. In a time when public agencies are trying to do more with less, this is a perfect opportunity to create more tax-productive property in the heart of the Cincinnati region. Moving the new bridge west is a solution that city, county and local business leaders should all support.

Cincinnati is well known for being an old-growth city that acquired its urban form either during the 1800s or early 20th century. But the central business district that defines the city’s skyline, and thus the region’s national and international image, was largely built during that time frame.

While researching contemporary boom periods in Cincinnati, UrbanCincy dove a little deeper into the data and broke down the construction trends for buildings over 100 feet (8-10 floors) in height. While much growth occurred during the 1800s, only three structures over 100 feet were constructed during that century – Roebling Suspension Bridge, City Hall and the Shillito Building.

There was an initial surge in construction of buildings with this minimum height from 1900 to 1929 which included the construction of 35 such structures. There was then a lull from 1930 to 1959 as global wars took their toll on domestic building projects. Cincinnati then went on a three-decade surge of high-rise construction that included 61 new towers at least 100 feet in height.

Since 1990, the trend has been fairly steady with an average of eight new towers being constructed each decade. While analyzing contemporary patterns, it appeared as if Cincinnati was on a trend to exceed that average set by the past 30 years.

The region is barely into the next decade, but two towers of more than 100 feet have already been completed including the city’s new tallest tower. There are also plans on the books to construct another six towers (TBD Hotel at The Banks, Office Tower at The Banks, dunnhumbyUSA Tower, Christ Hospital Research Tower, Children’s Hospital Research Tower, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites) in the near future.

Additionally, there is a strong likelihood for more tower construction through other lingering development plans (SouthShore 2, Hotel at Horseshoe Casino, Ovation, One River Place).

Tower construction in this decade may indeed surpass recent averages, but the large share of new construction in Cincinnati is actually made up of low- to mid-rise structures. What do you think…has the trend towards skyscrapers begun to wear off in favor of more human-scale development?

As part of that challenge, Mayor Mallory identified a formula for success built on five elements – pride, commitment, investment, partnership and promotion.

“Every neighborhood should celebrate its own history,” Mayor Mallory urged during the roughly 47-minute address. “We need to do more to celebrate our history in order to create more pride in Cincinnati. Pride inspires people to commit to improving our city. Pride also gets people to invest in making this city a better place.”

Mallory then turned his attention towards the region’s urban core and defended why his administration focuses so much on time and energy there saying it is the economic engine for the entire region.

“There is no West Chester without downtown Cincinnati. There is no Mason without downtown,” Mallory exclaimed. “There is no sub without the urban…it all works together. A strong and healthy and vibrant downtown Cincinnati benefits the entire region.”

Mallory drove the point home by categorically identifying downtown Cincinnati as a success story which has landed several new headquarters recently, and has seen dunnhumbyUSA grow from a staff of three employees in 2003 to a projected staff of 1,000 employees in 2014.

The design of Cincinnati’s modern streetcar vehicles (coloring scheme not final).

The mayor continued by saying that the many companies and residents moving to the region’s urban core are doing so because of the investments being made by City Hall. One of the most high-profile of these investments is the Cincinnati Streetcar, which the mayor highlighted and identified a five-phase expansion plan in conjunction with two regional light rail lines.

The future phases of modern streetcar extensions include a route running from Over-the-Rhine to Uptown, a line running from Uptown to Walnut Hills, a center city loop serving Newport and Covington, and a line extending from Over-the-Rhine to Union Terminal. The two regional light rail lines would service the I-71 and I-75 corridors.

Mayor Mallory then took the opportunity to announce that Spanish-based Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) will manufacture Cincinnati’s five initial modern streetcar vehicles at their United States facility in Elmira, New York.

“Before we are even finished with the first phase, we have started work on the second phase,” Mallory revealed. “I have already asked for federal funds to study which route will be used to connect to our assets in the uptown area like UC, the hospitals, the zoo, and the EPA.”

The mayor shifted directions and emphasized the importance of public safety, using recent progress in Over-the-Rhine as success stories.

“It used to be that on Sunday mornings people would come to Over-the-Rhine to buy a week’s worth of drugs,” said Mallory using the Gateway Quarter as his example. “Now, on Sunday mornings, people come to Over-the-Rhine to eat check and waffles at Taste of Belgium.”

Mayor Mallory concluded the speech by highlighting the importance of becoming a more global city to the crowd of more than 350 people.

“In China, they are talking about our emergency preparedness. In Saudi Arabia, people are looking at Cincinnati for potential business investment. In Germany, people are talking about our cutting edge efforts in the area of sustainability. And right now, all over the world, people are talking about the World Choir Games.”

“We have created an international presence, and because of that buzz, we were able to attract the World Choir Games. Make no mistake, this is the greatest opportunity to showcase the city that we have ever had…and we earned it.”

One of the most recent items we came across is Cincinnati From Devou Park by Michael Toffan. The nearly three-minute video slowly pans about the views from one of the region’s most popular vantage points. It is a slow and methodical video set to the song ‘Every Woman’ by Stephan Baird.

The video expectedly captures the views of downtown Cincinnati and Covington, but it also intimately showcases ongoing construction at The Banks (0:33), the aging Brent Spence Bridge (0:53), and barge traffic on the Ohio River (2:05).

At an April 20, 2009 press conference, OKI announced that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Ohio Department of Transportation had agreed on a plan that would see a new bridge built for I-75 immediately west of the Brent Spence Bridge and that the existing bridge would be rehabilitated and carry I-71. This plan was endorsed by politicians such as Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who remarked at the conference that “Conceptually, what they’ve pointed out to me is a very workable plan and it will be something that we all can be proud of.”

Although the local media did report on this “hybrid” plan, it was not covered repeatedly, and so failed to be absorbed by the public. When a great media wave did appear this past summer, outlets repeatedly reported that the Brent Spence Bridge would be “replaced”. Another media surge appeared in September, in anticipation of the September 22 visit by President Barack Obama. Again, it was repeatedly reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer and various television and radio stations that the Brent Spence Bridge will be replaced.

The incredible amount of confusion surrounding the project appears to have been caused by a mix of ghost writing by highway lobbyists, the unfamiliarity of the local media with how Interstate Highway projects are funded and the lingering power of postwar pro-highway propaganda.

On a half-dozen occasions this month, various Cincinnati Enquirer reporters wrote that the bridge would be replaced, in addition to letters to the editor that repeated this myth. On September 14, Enquirer reporter Amanda Van Benshoten reported that the Brent Spence Bridge would be replaced and that it “would remain open” – all in the same article.

Functionally Obsolete vs. Obsolete
The local media and politicians who have associated themselves with this project have made liberal use of the term Functionally Obsolete, engineering jargon that most often describes a bridge with no emergency shoulders, a low overhead clearance, narrow lanes, or ramps with tight curves. The power of this phrase was even invoked by President Obama in his September 22 speech:

“Behind us stands the Brent Spence Bridge. It’s located on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America. It sees about 150,000 vehicles every single day. And it’s in such poor condition that it’s been labeled “functionally obsolete.” Think about that — functionally obsolete. That doesn’t sound good, does it?”

No, it doesn’t sound good, which is why some bureaucrat (or more likely an auto industry public relations wizard) concocted it decades ago. It insinuates structural deficiency – an official term that does denote structural problems — but which does not describe the current condition of the Brent Spence Bridge.

When it is rehabilitated after a new bridge is built, the Brent Spence will have its decks restriped with three wide lanes on each deck instead of its current four narrow lanes, and emergency breakdown lanes will be restored. Its approaches will be reconfigured and it is possible that after 2020 or so the Brent Spence will no longer be classified as Functionally Obsolete.

The Delta Queen passes under the existing Brent Spence Bridge.

The Brent Spence Bridge as Boogeyman
The Brent Spence Bridge (or more accurately, the configuration of its approaches) is the worst traffic bottleneck in the Cincinnati area, but a source of delays and a panorama of rust that would hardly pass notice in New York City or Boston. It nevertheless has been pitted as an enemy by local politicians, and the failure of the local media to do basic public document research, has allowed the bridge project to become whatever any elected official says it is.

Most believe that the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation Project, even after last month’s visit by President Obama, will not receive enough funding in the upcoming Transportation Bill to break ground until the next bill is negotiated sometime around 2017 or 2018. Look for local politicians – especially those with Tea Party affiliations – to blame this delay on government.

The project could in fact break ground in the short-term if Ohio and Kentucky cooperated to toll all area Ohio River bridges. Modest tolls could generate over $1 million per week and enable the neighboring states to sell bonds sufficient to fund this project.

But the fact that this is not happening perhaps best illustrates why Congress has hesitated to allocate money – there are no major structural problems with the Brent Spence Bridge, there are three other interstate highway bridges nearby if any problem should arise, and the project’s huge scale promises a very low rate of return on the investment.

While all of the political debate and media coverage has been ongoing, so has development of final design options for new bridge to be built immediately west of the current Brent Spence Bridge. The six design options presented in February 2010 have now been narrowed to three finalists.

The first option (video) is a contemporary arch design similar to the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge (Big Mac Bridge) to the east. The design is favored by many for its classic look, and the opportunity it presents to create a balanced bookend to the cluster of bridges spanning the Ohio River through the region’s urban core.

Option 1 as seen from the west [LEFT], option 2 as seen from the top deck looking north [MIDDLE], and option 3 as seen from above [RIGHT].

Option two (video) is a standard cable stayed design that includes two prominent towers. The design would be similar to other bridges throughout the United States, and others planned along the Ohio River.

The third option (video) is the boldest, and most expensive, of the three alternatives. The cable stayed bridge would include just one tower structure reaching hundreds of feet into the sky and rivaling some of the city’s tallest office towers for prowess amongst Cincinnati’s famous skyline.

Complete funding and a function funding structure have yet to be identified for the Brent Spence Bridge project. Meanwhile, the designs developed by Parsons Brinkerhoff and Rosales + Partners continue to move forward. What is your preference of the three finalists?

“Production and editing is my passion,” said Herche. I think Cincinnati is a beautiful city and I wanted to show as much as I could of it by driving around.”

Herche lives in Mt. Adams and is attending the University of Cincinnati’s acclaimed College Conservatory of Music (CCM) where he is studying Electronic Media. He currently works for Prime Productions and says that he wanted to capture some of the city’s historic architecture and collection of bridges over the Ohio River.

“It is interesting to see some of the transformations happening around the city recently,” Herche continued. “It seems like there is so much in the works here, and I’m excited to see it all come together.”

Cincinnati Drive-By features the song ”Grace Kelly” by Mika in the video.

An example of our present dilemma is the conversation – or rather lack thereof – surrounding the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation Project, the Cincinnati area’s largest public works project in a generation. After years of inattention by the local media, the $3-plus billion project recently returned to the news after 42 year-old Westwood resident Abdoulaye Yattara, a native of Mali, West Africa, was killed in a fall from the bridge on June 24.

One alternative for an auxillary Brent Spence Bridge.

A flurry of talk radio folderol filled area airwaves during the weekend following the accident. The feature common to all of these conversations was that the public, and even most media figures, were unaware that planning has been underway for the Replacement/Rehabilitation project since 2002, an official website with project plans has been online since around 2005, and that most major decisions concerning the bridge’s design have already been made.

The failure of the local media to inform the public reached new lows on July 6, when the Cincinnati Enquirer’s “Bridging the gap of safety and need” cover story insinuated [PDF] that the existing Brent Spence Bridge will be demolished and replaced when in fact the decision to rehabilitate it after a new bridge is built next to it was made in 2006.

But this omission was not a fluke – on Bill Cunningham’s July 8 radio show, Cincinnati City Councilman Wayne Lippert was asked what the future held for the existing Brent Spence Bridge. The particular way he dodged the question functioned much like the Enquirer’s July 6 report – casual listeners were left to believe that the existing bridge will be replaced.

Politicization of the Bridge Project
Taking advantage of what the public doesn’t know and what the media fails to report, elected officials with no direct involvement with the project, especially Republicans with Tea Party leanings such as Councilman Lippert, have positioned themselves as common sense watchdogs. In a stunning contradiction of Tea Party principals, they have accused “government” of delaying taxpayer spending on a bridge project about which even the most basic details are unknown by the public.

Our local media, rather than working to debunk myths regarding the bridge project, is working in tandem with politicians to advance them. On July 8 the Cincinnati Enquirer ran yet another pro-bridge editorial that cut-and-pasted often-heard bridge talking points. Most absurd is the perpetuation of the idea that the Brent Spence Bridge occupies a special place in the national transportation network, and as such, the Replacement/Rehabilitation Project should be directly funded by the Federal Government.

Cincinnati’s infamous Brent Spence Bridge

The sober fact is that the Brent Spence Bridge, like most urban interstate bridges, primarily serves local commuters and delivery trucks. For fifteen years after its construction it was the region’s only interstate highway crossing. But between 1977 and 1979, three other interstate highway bridges opened nearby, providing numerous alternative routes through the Cincinnati area for long-distance travelers. Mid-1980s modifications to the bridge and the early 1990s reconstruction of the bridge’s hillside approach in Covington were responses to increased commuting from new Northern Kentucky suburbs, not an increase in long-distance travel.

Emergency Shoulders
The circumstances of the death of Mr. Yatarra were caused by the bridge’s lack of emergency shoulders. Certainly, such shoulders are an asset, but according to this article, 12% of deaths on America’s Interstate Highway System occur on emergency shoulders. Full paved shoulders are extremely expensive to build and maintain, which is why they were a rarity in Cincinnati and elsewhere before passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Many of our nation’s famous bridges and tunnels built before its enactment still lack emergency shoulders. Some built since, such as our Brent Spence and I-471 Daniel Carter Beard Bridges have had their emergency shoulders restriped as travel lanes. With the simple act of painting dashed lines instead of a solid white stripe, each of these bridges were automatically classified as “functionally obsolete”. The insinuations of this term have been endlessly exploited by the highway lobby and the politicians they fund.

A desire for failure?
When planning for a new bridge began, the public was led to believe that the end product would unsnarl traffic, become a new symbol for the region, and be free to travel across. Ten years on, it is apparent that the project will likely be none of those things.

What is astonishing is that the same politicians and media figures who have relentlessly attacked Cincinnati’s modern streetcar project by refusing to engage facts are the same ones inventing and perpetuating myths in support of the Brent Spence Bridge Rehabilitation/Reconstruction Project.

Whereas they commonly claim the streetcar project “needs further study”, the Brent Spence Bridge apparently needs less. Whereas the streetcar will be subject to a second ballot issue this fall, they argue that the Brent Spence should receive a Federal award covering its entire cost and construction should be underway by this time next year.

Why have Lippert and other area officials, most of whom have no direct say in the bridge project’s affairs, suddenly concocted a round of free press? The answer, it appears, is that next year when the final bridge design is announced, these same characters will exploit the public’s disappointment in their broad anti-government narrative. The retention of the existing Brent Spence, the ho-hum design of the new bridge, and the specter of tolls will be blamed on a soup of high union wages, the national debt, social welfare programs, ObamaCare, and other government “spending”.

Photo provided by Paul Collett

This weekend marks an annual celebration for one of Cincinnati’s most iconic landmarks, The John A Roebling Suspension Bridge. Roeblingfest, now in it’s seventh year, will take place this Saturday in the area just south of the bridge named Roebling Point. The festival which started as a midday celebration on a Sunday afternoon has now gown into a full day event on Saturday to be closed out by Rozzi Fireworks. As the festival has grown, so has the vision as it now features not only a focus on history, but also a focus on local food and local music among other things. It is a true mix brought forth by a collaborative effort of organizers from the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee (the CCSBC) as well as the businesses in the Roebling Point Entertainment District.

This well known landmark is featured everywhere from the backdrop of local newscasts to the logo of your favorite site that talks about all things in the urban core. The bridge was just painted for the first time in almost thirty-five years and new lights have begun the process of restoring the bridge to its true glory. The CCSBC is dedicated to doing even more to modernize the lighting and maintaining the flags on the bridge, and while memberships are available via the web on an ongoing basis, this festival marks one way for the group to raise money annually.

As the roots of the festival focused on the history of the Roebling Bridge, a prototype for New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, there will be walking tours given of the bridge, the floodwall murals, and other historical Covington landmarks for $5 per tour. The tours are scheduled to go off on an hourly basis from 1p through 4p. It should be noted that there are no tours of the bridge that will allow folks to go to the top, but there will be a silent auction for such a trip which includes dinner for four at Keystone Bar & Grill.

In addition to a historical focus, this year’s event features quite a food selection. Of course all the local establishments that are part of the Roebling Point Entertainment District will be out including Keystone, Blinkers, Sidebar, The Down Under and Molly Malone’s. This year too features a few less traditional vendors including Covington’s Amerasia as well as both the Dojo Gelato cart and (making their inaugural outdoor appearance) Pho Lang Thang from Findlay Market. Add in a Roebling Porter from Rivertown Brewing and a special small batch Moerlein Roebling Fest Lager and there are plenty of special drinks to go around too.

Additionally, this year’s festival also features quite a line-up of music that is scheduled to run from 1pm to 1015pm. With the focus being on local & original music, this is one area that Roeblingfest 2011 has really differentiated itself from years gone by. With the stage located in the heart of the square at Court Street and Park Place, it will be a definite focal point throughout the day featuring bands from all across the region and it will have a true mix of genres too.

1pm to 1:45p - Perfect Sequel
2pm to 2:45pm - The Crick Gypsies
3:15pm to 4:15pm – Supermassive
4:45pm to 6pm - The Spookfloaters
6:30pm to 7:15pm – The Chocolate Horse
7:45pm to 8:45pm - The Dukes
9:15pm to 10:15pm – The Lions Rampant

Add in an art show as well as the finish line for the 2011 Covington Quest and the 2011 Roeblingfest has a little something for everyone. As parking could be challenging, the use of public transportation is most definitely recommended and the TANK Southbank Shuttle will be more than sufficient. Taking the shuttle will allow festival goers to park in downtown Cincinnati, Newport, or other parts of Covington and get to and from the festival for only $1 each way.