Tag: Cincinnati

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News

This Week In Soapbox 6/16

This Week In Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about the team selected to make Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system happen, the transformations that have occurred along Walnut Street downtown, this weekend’s Summer Gateway Celebration, the new generation of city leaders taking a stand on an important issue, an eastern Cincinnati suburb making trails a transportation priority and the Hamilton County Climate Initiative that is encouraging Blue Ash to go green.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with some of the latest development news in Cincinnati please check out this week’s stories and sign up for the weekly E-Zine sent out by Soapbox Cincinnati.

TWIS 6/16:

  • Cincinnati takes major step towards building modern streetcar system – full article
  • Transformation along Walnut Street downtown nearly complete – full article
  • Summer Gateway Celebration takes place this weekend – full article
  • Next generation of leaders rallies at historic Verdin Bell Center – full article
  • Anderson Township embracing trails throughout suburban community – full article
  • Hamilton County Climate Initiative encouraging Blue Ash to go green – full article
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News

Where we live and work is important

Planners, policy makers and community activists often discuss ways to make our communities more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This results in discussions about building materials, personal behaviors and organizational structure. What is also discussed at times, but not nearly enough, is the way in which we distribute our people and jobs.

It is no secret at this point that the suburban sprawl days of the United States are hurting our communities socially, economically, but also environmentally. Suburban communities require higher rates and amounts of driving, and consume far greater amounts of environmentally important land for economically low producing land uses.

Andres Duany often speaks about how he finds it silly that urban dwellers in Manhattan are doing all these extraneous things to reduce their carbon footprint. They’re collecting and reusing rainwater, they’re composting their waste, they’re recycling and so on and so forth. Duany asserts that it is the people living in suburbia that should be doing this as it is their chosen lifestyle that is having a major impact on our environment in a negative way.

People who live in dense, walkable cities drive less and require a smaller piece of land to live and conduct their day-to-day lives. This is most evident in a recent mapping project by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) which compares greenhouse gas emissions of city and suburban households.

CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the United States. Their research showed that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be almost 70% less than those living in suburbs and areas where amenities are more dispersed.

The maps below are for the Cincinnati-Hamilton Metropolitan area. They compare the per-acre (left) analysis of greenhouse gas emissions due to vehicle travel with a per-household (right) view. The results are evident. The areas with higher density and transportation alternatives are the most sustainable areas according to this analysis. “Cities are a central part of the climate change solution (source).”

Click to view larger version
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Arts & Entertainment News

CAC Summer Film Series

Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center will once again kick off their popular Summer Film Series.

Tonight at 6 pm, the CAC will be showing the 1991 film My Own Private Idaho starring Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. The film, a cult classic, follows two friends on a journey of self-discovery as they travel across the Western United States.

Later this summer, the 1965 French postmodern film Pierrot Le Fou will be shown. It’s described as a biting social commentary, yet is one of director Jean-Luc Godard’s more accessible films.

Admission to each film is free for CAC members, $7.50 for the general pubic, or $5.50 for students with a school ID. Stay tuned to the CAC’s calendar for a full list of movies to be shown this summer.

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News

Ohio and Greece

A special thanks goes out to Strange Maps for putting this particularly interesting map together. It’s pretty simple, it overlays a flag of another country over a US state with a comparable population. In this case our beloved Ohio (11,485,910) compares to Greece (11,216,708).

Some other Greek connections include Cincinnati’s strong Greek community that will celebrate the 35th Annual Panegyri Greek Festival the weekend of June 26. The Cincinnati Greek community also brought us Cincinnati’s famous Skyline Chili.

It’s also worth noting a couple of my favorite Gyro places around town – Chicago Gyro and Sebastian’s Gyros. They are both fantastic, but Chicago Gyro is more centrally located and has slightly better tzatziki sauce. Sebastian’s will lure you over to the westside and treat you with its cozy feel.

Courtesy of Strange Maps – click image for larger version
Categories
Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati selects streetcar development team

Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney announced that the City has selected the Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners as the team that will help finance, plan, design, construct, operate and maintain Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system.

The announcement was made at the new Rookwood Pottery headquarters in historic Over-the-Rhine. The location is at what will be the northern end of the Downtown/OTR circulator which will then head Uptown from there. Rookwood Pottery is an “enthusiastic” supporter of the Cincinnati Streetcar project and was more than happy to welcome the couple hundred people that showed up to hear the news.

City Manager Dohoney with some of the crowd on hand

The crowd (see crowd pictures here) was not only robust, but diverse as well. Representatives from the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, various City of Cincinnati departments, Model Group, Cincinnati Beer Company, Metro, Cincy Energy Alliance, Mercantile Library, Hodges Law Group, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and a slew of local business owners and investors.

The excitement was notable as Mayor Mallory and City Manager Dohoney arrived. The crowd was buzzing in anticipation of what was to be announced. This excitement continued as a large group of attendees walked over to Market Wines at Findlay Market to continue the conversation.

Development Team:
Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners is made up of 12 companies that each specialize in a different aspect that will help lead to the successful implementation of the streetcar system. The team is made up of local and non-local companies that have been involved with roughly 80% of all recent streetcar and light rail projects in the United States, including projects in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Portland, Seattle and Cleveland.

Members of the team have also been involved with local projects like Great American Ballpark, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the restructuring of Fort Washington Way that came in on time and under budget.

Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners

One of the companies is Stacy and Witbeck Inc. (SWI) who is considered to be the “premier streetcar and passenger transit rail construction company in the United States.” Their involvement in the Cincinnati Streetcar project will be their first in the Midwest. As a result, SWI will be opening a new office downtown and will be relocating their executives to Cincinnati specifically for this project.

The team will also consist of local companies like Jostin Concrete Construction, DNK Architects, Megan Construction Company, Property Advisors, Wordsworth Communications and G.J. Berding Inc. The Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners will be led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. (PB) who will also serve as the project manager. PB has led several local transit projects in the past and has a sterling record.

Funding:
The City currently has $78 million in requests to the federal government, who City Manager Dohoney says will be absolutely necessary in the implementation of the Cincinnati Streetcar system.

Explore Cincinnati reported in April that millions of private dollars have been raised thus far. According to the City’s Budget Director, Explore Cincinnati also found out that several organizations have been raising private funds that have not yet been deposited into the City’s account for the project.

This revised funding strategy is a response to the national economic downturn say City officials. The City has also established a new and more comprehensive website for the Cincinnati Streetcar that also includes an online location where streetcar supporters can make private contributions to the project.

What’s Next:
The selection of the team that will design, build and operate the Cincinnati Streetcar system is a major step forward for the project.

“The leaders of this city are taking this city’s future seriously,” says program manager Fred Craig who continues, “we are seeing a new generation working to make Cincinnati a better place.”

Craig went on to say that he and the development team welcome community input and emphasized that this is a project that should be driven by the community. Craig went as far as to say that if you have any suggestions regarding the project that you should call him personally and let him know (513-639-2100 – still trying to track down direct phone line).

Mayor Mallory addressing the crowd