Author: 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.

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Ohio’s 3C rail corridor could reach 110mph speeds

Ohio’s plans for the 3C “Quick Start” passenger rail project can include speeds of up to 110mph without the need for new track construction according to a release from Linking Ohio – a citizen advocacy group started by All Aboard Ohio.

Recent news reports have indicated that top speeds of only 79mph would be possible due to current regulations, but the advocacy group cites Section 24308 of Title 49 of the United States Code that has a process that would allow systems operated by or for Amtrak to operate on freight corridors at these accelerated speeds. The appeals process would be heard by the Surface Transportation Board who would then determine whether the accelerated speeds would be safe for the proposed corridors.

Those behind Ohio’s 3C “Quick Start” Project say that while the higher speeds are possible, they are not necessarily desirable for the initial start.

“Experience with other new start passenger rail services show that improved reliability, frequent service, convenience and service amenities are important factors in attracting riders,” said the advocacy group in the release. “The 3C “Quick Start” Project has consistently been communicated as a first step to bringing high-speed passenger rail to our state, and in order to quickly offer this travel option to 6.8-million Ohioans living along the 3C corridor, Ohio can implement speeds at 79mph by making some initial upgrades to the existing tracks now being used solely for freight transportation.”

The plan currently on the table calls for upgrades to existing freight bottleneck areas and a variety of other improvements that will make passenger rail to safely operate on the same tracks as existing freight rail. Other improvement costs cover the construction of passenger rail stations, parking and “last-mile transportation options.”

“Once the initial service is up and running at 79mph, the State will begin implementing additional corridor upgrades to achieve 110mph service using the existing track infrastructure,” Linking Ohio stated. “However, there are steps and negotiations with freight railroads that will need to be navigated in order to increase speeds.”

Following this initial quick start process, officials hope to upgrade the system to even higher speeds reaching 125mph – the optimal speed for rail service between cities 100 to 500 miles apart. Any service reaching these speeds will require its own separate right-of-way and tracking. With 79mph passenger rail service not scheduled to start until 2012, 125mph service or above is something that appears to be a decade in the making.

All Aboard Ohio testimony in Washington D.C. photo provided by All Aboard Ohio.

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LGBT Arts Festival postponed until October 2011

The LGBT Arts Festival originally planned to take place at the Know Theatre from Saturday, April 23 through Saturday, May 8 has been postponed due to a lack of resources. This is the second postponement of the festival which was first planned to take place in October 2009.

“We are dedicated to the idea and the realization of the LGBT Arts Festival,” said Eric Vosmeier, Managing Director at the Know Theatre. “However, this Festival was conceived over 18 months ago, when the Know Theatre was in a very different position and frankly had a staff that was larger by five.”

The second conception to take place in the coming weeks was planned to coincide with the production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The two-part play will take place as originally planned and run through May 8th.

“I’ve been looking at Know Theatre’s available resources, and while financial consideration is certainly one of the concerns, for me the most important thing is the preservation of our staff as a resource,” Vosmeier described. “We need to ensure the success of every single production we present. At this moment, that means that we’ll have to postpone the LGBT Arts Festival to ensure that we’re able to fully realize our production of Angels in America and the 7th Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival.”

Staff at the Know Theatre note that a visual art exhibit of the LGBT Arts Festival will go forward as scheduled and will open at CS13 during Final Friday (map) on April 30, 2010. The exhibit will run through May 15 and feature work of prominent LGBT artists like Jan Wandrag, Gio Black Peter, Matthew Stradling, Zachari Logan, Scooter LaForge, Scott Hug, James Huctwith, Jeremiah Degrandpre, David DeWitt, and Matthew Dayler who is also serving as the curator for the exhibit.

As for the rest of the festival, Vosmeier stated that the plan now is to host the festival in October 2011 to coincide with National Coming Out Day on October 11th.

“I want to see a Festival that truly speaks to the LGBT community,” said Vosmeier. “This community is large and diverse with dramatically different economic, racial, educational, and political backgrounds. I want time to explore options, to collect ideas from the community and to seek out performers, artists, filmmakers who speak to that diversity.”

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Arts & Entertainment News

Grapevine Friday’s progressive wine tasting tonight in OTR

Each month merchants throughout Over-the-Rhine’s Gateway Quarter throw open their doors for a progressive wine tasting called Grapevine Friday. The event takes place on the first Friday of each month, and for April, it will take place from 5pm to 7pm in the historic center city neighborhood.

According to organizers, the wine selection for this month is meant to compliment the Easter season. Those taking part in the progressive wine tasting will work their way to five participating merchants that will each be offering a different wine to taste. Participating merchants include Mica 12/V, OUTSIDE, Joseph Williams Home, Metronation and Segway of Cincinnati.

Event organizers are also encouraging people to check out the neighborhood’s newest businesses like Senate and NEON’s Unplugged which is celebrating its grand opening today. There are also the other variety of businesses located in Over-the-Rhine’s burgeoning Gateway Quarter where you can window shop and take in the historic neighborhood.

Parking is available at the 12th & Vine parking, the Gateway Quarter garage that is accessible from 12th Street and Central Parkway, and NEON’s Unplugged has free parking available off of E. 12th Street behind the venue. Bicycle parking can be found throughout the neighborhood, and several Metro bus routes serve the area.


View Grapevine Friday in a larger map

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News

Complete Your Census Forms Today!

Today is national Census Day in America, and Cincinnatians need to be certain they send their completed Census forms back as required by law. The U.S. Census is conducted once every ten years and helps give policymakers a picture of the nation. Over that ten year period, the Census influences the allocation Congressional seats, billions of public dollars that go to schools, parks, roads, police and more.

In Cincinnati alone it has been estimated that the city was under-counted by some 45,000 people in 2000. Over the ten year period since the last count it is projected that Cincinnati’s under-counted population resulted in the loss of $104 million in public funding.

So far, only 42 percent of the households within the City of Cincinnati have responded. Cincinnati’s urban core is even worse off. Downtown has roughly 35 percent of their forms in, while Over-the-Rhine is around 15 percent. The student heavy areas surrounding the University of Cincinnati have about 25 percent of the households responding so far.

Historically urban areas are the most difficult to count, but it is imperative that a high response rate is achieved to ensure that Cincinnati gets its fair share of funding for critical public assets. In Ohio’s other major cities the story is much the same. Columbus comes in at 39 percent, and Cleveland has only 32 percent of their households reporting.

The ten question form is simple and easy to complete. In most cases it will take you just a few minutes to complete. We won’t have another shot at this until 2020, so make sure you turn those forms in right now.

STUDENTS AT AREA COLLEGES: The Census counts how many people are living at a particular place at a particular time. So regardless of where your permanent address may be you should fill out the Census for where you are living as of April 1, 2010. If your parents still claim you, and your permanent residence is listed as somewhere else that is fine, but you should fill out the form for where you are living now.

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UrbanCincy voted one of best blogs in Cincinnati

CityBeat recently announced the winners of the 2010 Best of Cincinnati awards, and I’m proud to say that UrbanCincy was, once again, voted among the best blogs in Cincinnati. UrbanCincy came in second behind Scott Sloan’s blog for 700 WLW “The Nation’s Station.” Also finishing in the top three was Julie Niesen’s Wine Me, Dine Me food blog.

It really is an honor to be considered to be the best in whatever it is you do, and I personally do feel honored. But, I would not have been able to grow UrbanCincy to where it is today without the help of the dedicated team of writers that help produce content, brainstorm story ideas, shoot photography and conduct research for our stories.

Since its inception in May 2007, UrbanCincy has grown from a random spattering of thoughts shared on a blog every so often, to a website that now publishes almost 100 percent original content 10 to 12 times each week. A group of friends and interested community members has grown into a large collection of tens of thousands of people each month who visit UrbanCincy to stay connected with what is happening in Cincinnati’s urban core.

Work published on UrbanCincy has been featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Reno Gazette-Journal, National Resource & Defense Council, Trust for Public Land, Planetizen, ‘Smart City’ and ‘City Talk’ radio shows, Reconnecting America, Streetsblog, Urbanophile, and discussed by Richard Florida. I feel like since May 2007, UrbanCincy has helped to change the conversation in Cincinnati. More and more people are excited about the transformation of Cincinnati’s urban core, policy decisions are being discussed and debated in a new way, and new ideas are emerging about how we should manage and interact with the city.

On May 8th, UrbanCincy’s 3rd anniversary, the UrbanCincy team will celebrate the launch of a brand new website. There will be expanded coverage, new ongoing features, an updated design, and even more content all based on the input given in the 2010 UrbanCincy Survey. A launch party is currently being planned for that Saturday night so we would like to ask you to reserve that spot on your calendar to come out and meet the team, celebrate the new website and enjoy Cincinnati’s urban core. Please stay tuned for event details.

Thanks again for your ongoing support. We hope to be able to continue to offer high-quality content and better user experiences down the road that are engaging and interesting. In the mean time, if there are any comments you would like to share with me or the team, please do so in the comment section of this post. Cheers.