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.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Is new funding structure needed as Metro braces for cutbacks?

The Cincinnati region’s primary transit operator, Metro, is citing that due to the ongoing recession and a drop in city tax revenue that less service is in the cards. Metro says that they are “bracing for extremely difficult decisions in the coming months,” and that they are working with several different entities analyzing options to remedy the situation.

This funding problem is one not unique to Cincinnati’s Metro as many major transit agencies across the nation are currently considering service reductions, fare increases or both to help address their budget deficits.


View United States of Transit Cutbacks in a larger map

Loss of funding:
Nearly half of Metro’s $94.6 million operating budget comes from the allocated 3/10 of 1 percent of the city of Cincinnati’s earnings tax. This earnings tax is projected to be some $2 million to $3 million less than originally anticipated. “The exact decrease is not yet known, but Metro is working with the City on alternatives,” says Metro who anticipates a $2 million to $3 million funding reduction by 2010.

Another problem is that fare revenues are projected to be some $3 million to $5 million less than anticipated. These losses are attributed to the nearly 10 percent unemployment rate (fewer workers = fewer commutes) and recent actions by Cincinnati City Council that limited revenue growth by $600,000.

On top of all this, Metro has been notified that it will see a $137,000 funding reduction from the State of Ohio for elderly and disabled fare subsidies, and a $233,000 funding reduction from Hamilton County that would help provide service for people with disabilities.

What to do:
So far Metro has already done a number of things to help reduce costs including the restriction of non-essential travel; shortened call center hours; reduced printing transfers, system maps, bus schedules, brochures and newsletters; increased fares and pass prices; and even reduced service 3 percent in March and May.

But what else can be done that would preserve the service of essentially the sole transit system in a metropolitan region of 2 million plus people?

One of Metro’s diesel-electric hybrid buses – image from Metro

It is already being seen that the vast majority of stimulus money going towards transportation projects is going towards roadway projects and not transit. It has also been seen that many view mass transit as a luxury item rather than a necessary component of a metropolitan area’s transportation network.

Metro is additionally challenged as the vast majority of its funding comes from one entity even though they serve a much larger area. A new regional transit authority was pitched by former councilman John Cranley as he was leaving office, and approved last October, but not much has happened since.

A regional funding structure would not only diversify Metro’s funding sources, but it would also create a shared funding responsibility amongst the communities served by Metro. At the same time a regional transit board should be created that would operate one single transit authority (including Nky). This would reduce overhead costs and make for a more streamlined authority that could experience economies of scale within the workplace. This structure would also result in a comprehensive system that could be managed at a regional level instead of pieced together at a more micro level.

Categories
News

Summer Streets are back in NYC

The Summer Streets program in NYC temporarily closes down streets to automobiles. The program will be expanded this year to 14 locations across all five boroughs and will look to expand upon the estimated 50,000 people that enjoyed the program last year.

Check out this great video from Streetfilms.

Categories
News

Government by referendum in Cincinnati

Is this the future of Cincinnati and the way we run our government here? It certainly seems that way after a string of items that have changed the City’s Charter and began this form of governance. Those items include:

  • Photo-enforced red light cameras (Charter amendment)
  • 2007 Jail/Public Safety sales tax issue
  • Proportional representation election system
  • Passenger rail investment (November election, Charter amendment)
  • Sale of City’s Water Works Department (November election)

I’m all for the democratic process, but the trend that is forming here is not that. The way our government is supposed to work is by electing individuals to represent us. Those elected officials then make the calls on these specific and important issues. If you like the way they handle those issues, you reelect them, if you don’t, you elect someone else. This is the American way, this is democracy.

We have seen this “direct democracy” or “government by referendum” before in California and the results are in. What has happened is hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of issues are put on the ballot for the voters of California to decide. Often times these are items that trained policymakers should be examining, but are instead being politicized on the most minute level.

As Cincinnatians For Progress points out, this has resulted in a $27 billion budget gap, crumbling schools, the need for dramatic tax increases and the need for the state of California to start issuing I.O.U.’s because it can’t pay its own bills.

Image courtesy of California Society of Tax Consultants, San Diego Chapter

And contrary to what you might originally think, this style of governance is not benefiting ordinary citizens and empowering grassroots movements. The Economist reports that:

“It is not ordinary citizens but rich tycoons from Hollywood or Silicon Valley, or special interests such as unions for prison guards, teachers or nurses, that bankroll most initiatives onto the ballots.”

“Many others, however, now believe that California needs to start from scratch, with a fully-fledged constitutional convention. California’s current constitution rivals India’s and Alabama’s for being the longest and most convoluted in the world, and is several times longer than America’s. It has been amended or revised more than 500 times and now, with the cumulative dross of past voter initiatives incorporated, is a document that assures chaos.”

Surely this is not the form of governance that we want in Cincinnati. It would seem to me that what we actually want is a government with elected officials that are held accountable for their actions. A government that works efficiently and is responsive to the interests of the community and constituents that empowers and employs them.

I for one know I do not want a City Charter that “assures chaos,” or a local government that is constantly in gridlock unable to get anything done. If you feel the same way I would like to challenge you to take action…here’s what you can do:

  • Write to the Enquirer or Business Courier and share your thoughts.
  • Donate to Cincinnatians For Progress who are fighting this style of government in Cincinnati.
  • Tell your friends and family not to be fooled by the people at COAST and the WeDemandAVote campaign. Tell them that what these groups are doing is not simply trying to promote democracy, but rather, destroy it at its core level.
  • If you have a blog or participate in social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc then please share this link with them and encourage them to do the same.
Categories
News

New urban farming project launches at Findlay Market

On Tuesday, July 7 Cincinnati will take its urban gardening/farm program to the next level when Findlay Market plays host to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Cultivating Healthy Environments for Farmers (CHEF) project.

This Findlay Market pilot program aims to “recruit and train new urban growers.” According to Findlay Market, there are four families participating in the program, which began in April of this year, who will also be on hand for the event.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will start at 12:30pm and celebrate the establishment of these new urban farm plots located just south of the Market (1611-13 & 1626-28 Pleasant Street, between Green and Liberty streets) in historic Over-the-Rhine.

The CHEF project compliments the recently established Urban Gardening Pilot Program by the City of Cincinnati to establish community garden/farm plots throughout the city. Vice Mayor David Crowley will be on hand at this ceremony to speak about this particular project and the future of urban farming in Cincinnati.

Photo from Scott Beseler

Categories
News

Good times in the 513

On Saturday, June 20 thousands of people converged onto Over-the-Rhine to participate in the GoOTR 5k and enjoy the festivities at the first annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration afterwards.

I can honestly say that the 5k was exhausting in that heat. I averaged an 11 minute mile which is not much better than a brisk walk, but I raised money for the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and got to hang out with lots of fun people in OTR all day.

Click images to open larger version in new window

The Summer Celebration was a great addition this year as in past years people seemed to hang around looking for something to do after the 5k. In addition to the awards ceremony from Rookwood Pottery and drinks from Christian Moerlein, this year had tons of local vendors selling food, crafts and other items.

On the other side of Vine Street some neighborhood children set up a lemonade stand to take advantage of the perfect business opportunity. There was even a stage for music and dance performances that kept the crowd entertained at 12th & Vine all day long.

A couple of drinks, a mett and a wood-fired pizza later I was ready to head south towards Fountain Square to check out the Civil Rights Game Youth Summit festivities that were ongoing.

Click images to open larger version in new window

There were lots of out-of-towners and lots of people enjoying the interactive areas for the kids (pitching area, batting cage, etc). Earlier some Reds players spoke to the youth baseball players and fans at Fountain Square.

The day was truly special and will hopefully be just as good, if not better next year with the second annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration and the second consecutive year of the Civil Rights Game being held in Cincinnati.