Month: June 2010

Categories
Business News Politics

Cincinnati City Council approves new mobile food vendor program

Cincinnati’s City Council this afternoon approved the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program, as proposed by Councilmember Laure Quinlivan, by a 7-1 margin. Councilmember Leslie Ghiz (R) was the lone dissenting vote, while Councilmember Bortz (C) was not present.  The vote comes a day after City Council’s Quality of Life Committee voted to pass the measure after a long discussion that included public comment.

Members from the Cincinnati Food Truck Alliance including Senor Roy’s Taco Patrol and Cafe de Wheels, as well as relative newcomer, New Orleans To Go, came in support of mobile food vendors as an indicator of a healthy, vibrant city. Senor Roy himself gave three points as a reason to support the mobile food movement:

  1. Food trucks open in lots during late hours support the downtown community and their presence makes the area safer by populating an otherwise empty space with people, which is seen as a great safety measure.
  2. Cincinnati joining the national mobile food movement  creates attention for the area and attracts press.
  3. Venture capital is hard to come by, and mobile vendors allow brick and mortar companies to expand at a fraction of the cost.

The one concern brought up at the Quality of Life Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 22nd involved possible noise concerns from downtown residents. However, as Tom Acito of Cafe de Wheels put it, “It’s impossible to know if there would be a problem or not if we don’t try. We’ve got to move ahead.” After some debate, the 6th & Race location has now been moved from 6th Street to the other end of the parking lot to 5th Street to accommodate those concerns.

Starting Monday, June 28th, there will be three locations at which mobile food vendors – carts or trucks selling non-alcoholic beverages and ready-to-eat foods – will be able to use in the Downtown Business District on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Permits for the public locations will cost between $400-800 depending upon location and size of the truck, and vendors will be able to operate from 6am to 3:30am seven days a week.  The three public locations included in the Mobile Food Vendor Pilot Program include:

  • Sawyer Point – 1-2 spaces east of the Purple People Bridge
  • Court Street Market – 6 spaces on the south side of Court Street at Vine Street heading east. This is the only zone with electric service, 110 volt/20 amps. No heat lamp or grills supported.
  • 5th & Race Parking Lot – 12 spaces on southeast end of lot, along Race Street. Vendors must enter and exit using the 6th Street gate.

The first 20 vendors to sign up beginning the morning of Thursday, June 24th at 9am will receive Revocable Street Privileges that grants them access to any of the three locations. Policy makers say that this permit will keep vendors accountable, and will ensure that the locations are not overbooked.

“The pricing is very fair compared with what is being charged at private lots, and we still have the right to go to any private lot of our choice,” stated Gary Sims, owner, Taco Azul. “We will learn as we go, but as long as City Council is willing to adjust it will be good, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a good pilot program.”

The City appears to be setting the stage to do just that as they have planned to review the pilot program in October 2010 to examine progress and make any necessary adjustments.  While the program provides these additional public locations for mobile food vendors to locate, it does not remove the ability for mobile food vendors to locate on private property as they do presently.

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati to Vote on Massive Bicycle Policy Reforms

In a bold effort to make Cincinnati more bicycle friendly and inviting for anyone to ride, the City’s Department of Transportation & Engineering has partnered with Queen City Bike and community members over the last 10 months to develop a Bicycle Transportation Plan that, in part, calls for 330 miles of new dedicated street lanes and 83 miles of off-street bike paths in addition to the 33-mile collection of bike paths that exist presently.

Cincinnati City Council’s Livable Communities Committee will hear these recommendations at their meeting today where a large number of bicycle advocates are expected to appear in support of the plan.  The meeting will be held at City Hall (map) at 6pm.

Recent efforts have included the addition of new dedicated bike lanes, sharrows, bicycle racks, on-street bike parking, and a new regulation requiring the inclusion of bicycle parking inside parking garages.  Progress also continues to be made on the Ohio River Trail which will eventually tap into the Little Miami Scenic Trail and provide a continuous bicycle route from Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs to downtown Cincinnati where it will terminate at the new Bicycle Commuter Station currently under construction at the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.

In cities like Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Washington D.C., New York City, and San Francisco even more is being done to accommodate bicyclists as the number of those utilizing the carbon-neutral form of transportation continues to rise at a rapid pace.

Such efforts being made in these cities include separated on-street bike lanes, enhanced signage, signal timing, and bike boxes which are all intended to make bicycling safer and more accommodating.  As a result, Vancouver has seen a ten fold increase in the number of bicyclists using the Dunsmuir Viaduct since its bicycle improvements were made.  Bicycling there also represents the fastest growing form of transportation in Vancouver with more than 60,000 bicycle trips each day.

In May 2010, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls highlighted Portland, OR’s use of bike boxes as a best practice citing that the new bike boxes at intersections throughout Portland help to eliminate dangerous “right hook” collisions.  The bike boxes in Portland are colored green boxes on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside that offers a visual clue to motorists to expect bicyclists at the intersection while also positioning bicyclists in front of motorists so that they are not in the motorist’s blind spot.

Those interested in speaking at the Livable Communities Committee meeting tonight are asked to arrive by 5:50pm to fill out a comment card.  Free bicycle parking is available at City Hall which can also be accessed by Metro bus service (plan your trip).

Categories
Business News Politics

City Council Committee to consider new food truck policy – 6/22

Cincinnati City Councilmember Laure Quinlivan will be putting forth her policy proposal for food trucks up for consideration during the Quality of Life meeting today at 12pm.

Quinlivan’s proposal includes allowing three permanent, public-owned parking spots for food trucks to use in the Central Business District. The locations include spots in the lot at 6th & Race streets, a half-block of Court Street east of Vine Street, and a spot at the foot of the Purple People Bridge, next to the Sawyer Point lot.

The trucks will be able to sell food and beverages from 6am to 2:30am, and would be required to attain a permit that would cost between $400-800 depending on the size of the truck and the location.

Micah Paldino, member of the Cincinnati Food Truck Alliance and owner of PB&J PR on Main Street, encourages any and all purveyors and supporters of the food truck movement to come out to the meeting this afternoon and show Council how important food trucks are to the city.

“The committee meeting marks a pivotal moment in the program’s implementation. If the mobile food ordinance does not pass through the committee vote on Tuesday, it will not be forwarded to Council for final approval on Wednesday, June 23rd,” Paldino explained.  “Please support infusing some energy on the streets of Cincinnati as our Queen City moves into an amazing new time of growth and progress.”

The meeting takes place at 12pm TODAY, at City Hall (map) in Committee Room B (Room 312).  Those attending can find free bicycle parking, on- and off-street automobile parking available nearby, or access City Hall by Metro bus service (plan your trip).

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Bicycling and walking trips up 25% since 2001 according to new study

According to a 15-year status report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), both bicycling and walking trips have increased 25 percent since 2001 across America. Walking trips have more than doubled from 18 billion in 1990 to 42.5 billion in 2009, and bicycling trips have increased from 1.7 billion to 4 billion during the same time period.

The National Bicycling & Walking Study was commissioned to gain an understanding of how USDOT would increase bicycling and walking trips while also improving safety. The original legislation funding the study in 1991 specified five tasks to be accomplished by the $1 million study.

  1. Determine current levels of bicycling and walking and identify reasons why they are not better used as a means of transportation;
  2. Develop a plan for increased use and enhanced safety of these modes and identify the resources necessary to implement and achieve this plan;
  3. Determine the full costs and benefits of promoting bicycling and walking in urban and suburban areas;
  4. Review and evaluate the success of promotion programs around the world to determine their applicability to the role required of the USDOT to implement a successful program; and
  5. Develop an action plan, including timetable and budget, for implementation of such Federal transportation policy.

The original goals established by the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 1994 set out to double the percentage of total trips made by bicycling and walking from 7.9 percent to 15.8 percent of all travel trips while also reducing the number of bicyclists and pedestrians killed or injured in traffic crashed by 10 percent. While the total trips goal has not yet been achieved, the goal of reducing fatalities and injuries has as they have reduced by 22.3 percent and 14.7 percent respectively for bicyclists and 12 percent and 17.8 percent respectively for pedestrians.

“This report demonstrates what we’ve been saying here at the Department,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Americans want and need safe alternatives to driving. And by making biking and walking safer and more accessible, we’ll be able to provide Americans with more choices and help foster more active, livable communities.”

Since the study began in 1994 a wide variety of policy efforts have been made at local, state and federal levels to make communities more livable and encourage more people to utilize bicycling and walking as a means for travel trips. In Cincinnati this has been seen through the recent efforts to bolster the city’s bicycling population, and initiative by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls to introduce a Complete Streets policy.

According to the study, since 1971 through 2009, there have been 121 Complete Streets policies adopted by various agencies. In 2009 alone it is estimated that 45 jurisdictions across the country adopted their own policies, with another ten jurisdictions doing so thus far in 2010.

In addition to the groundswell of policy changes taking place at local jurisdictions, Secretary LaHood has announced a policy change to promot bicycle and pedestrian opportunities that encourage transportation agencies, like Cincinnati’s OKI Regional Council of Governments, to go beyond minimum standards and provide safe and convenient facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists through the Surface Transportation Program (STP), Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program, the National Highway System fund, and Federal Lands Highway Program.

“We are proud of the work we’ve done to integrate walking and bicycling into people’s transportation options,” said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. “But we won’t stop working until we find ways to prevent fatalities and create more livable communities across the country.”

Categories
Development News

Urban basketball courts offer tremendous opportunity within cities

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) is currently in the process of working out details for a redeveloped Washington Park. The refurbished and expanded park will prove to be a major anchor for redevelopment efforts taking place nearby, but some existing residents have expressed concern over what elements are included in the final design.

Quite simply, not all desires will be able to be met for both logistical and financial reasons. But much of the concern has been over the removal of the existing swimming pool and basketball court. The swimming pool is to be replaced by a splash ground that does not bear the sky-high insurance rates that are making municipally-owned swimming pools cost prohibitive. The basketball court is just not returning at all.

Personally I love the game of basketball and played pickup games through much of high school in addition to organized ball. The problem is that basketball courts do bring a certain element to a park – one that does not mesh with the new design and focus of Washington Park.

It is natural for egos to be bruised in basketball, and nearly par for the course for a few shoving matches or fights to take place. No big deal, it is part of youth and how the game works on the street. The new park will include children’s play areas, an open lawn for lounging and passive recreation, a plaza for theatre-goers to congregate, a bandstand, and a dog park to name some of the more prominent features. These lend the redeveloped Washington Park to an atmosphere that is not conducive for basketball courts, and I do not blame park designers or 3CDC for choosing not to include them in its redesign.

With that said, basketball courts do offer a great means of recreation and exercise. They are also ideally set up for an urban environment where their small footprint lends itself well to the high demand for space in urban settings.

Located just a couple hundred feet away, along the western side of Race Street, are three vacant lots (map) owned by OTR Holdings Inc. which is a wholly owned subsidiary of 3CDC. These vacant lots are almost certainly poised for residential infill development, or parking to satisfy the needs of future residents, but they could be transformed into two basketball courts.

This would go a long way in easing tensions amongst existing neighborhood residents, but also provide the neighborhood with a beautiful asset. The courts could be fenced in and secured during non-hours of operation. They could be well lit and offer the complete amenities of basketball courts in New York City and elsewhere. The beauty is that basketball courts do not need to be set within the confines of a park to be successful, and in fact, they actually offer a tremendous experience when tucked within surrounding structures.

There is a real opportunity to do this right and 3CDC should make sure the western part of Over-the-Rhine holds on to the public recreation facilities that satisfy the needs of both the current and future residents.  If you have questions, comments or concerns about the new Washington Park you can share them on a new website dedicated to making sure the transition goes off without a hitch, and with as much community support as possible.