Tag: public policy

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Cincinnati could sue state if governor pulls streetcar funding

Streetcar supporters were outraged when they heard Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) was considering pulling as much as $52 million in state support from the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Such of move would have left the project with a financing gap and would have resulted in reduced scope or delayed construction. But according to some, a move of that nature by the governor may not carry legal merit.

The premise for cutting the funds for Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system is that the State of Ohio is facing an $8 billion budget deficit, and state leaders are examining many ways to cut that figure. But according to Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, those funds awarded to the Cincinnati Streetcar would not actually impact the state budget.

“The funds to be cut are federal transportation dollars. If they are not used on the streetcar, then they would be used on a transportation project with a lower TRAC ranking,” Prendergast explained. “In other words, Kasich is giving Cincinnati a false choice.”

Prendergast is referring to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) which was first established in 1998 to depoliticize the allocation of transportation funding. TRAC awards money based on a merit score, and the Cincinnati Streetcar earned 84 points which placed it as the highest-scoring transportation project in the entire state.

Local officials close to the Cincinnati Streetcar project believe Governor Kasich is attempting to strip the funds from the streetcar and reallocated them to the $2 billion Brent Spence Bridge replacement which scored a paltry 44 points on TRAC’s transportation list. The other reality is that the money could go to the Eastern Corridor plan which had three components scoring 34, 39 and 48 points – all well below the Cincinnati Streetcar’s state-leading 84 points.

“Our governor is making a false argument that pulling back this federal money will save the state money,” said Prendergast. “The streetcar funding has nothing to do with the state’s deficit. If it is not used for the streetcar, it will go to a lower-ranked Ohio road project.”

Two separate studies estimate that the modern streetcar project will stimulate approximately $1.5 billion of new investment in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, or roughly 15 times the cost of the streetcar project. The Cincinnati Streetcar’s second phase Uptown is also expected to make large economic impacts, and has scored a 71.5 points on TRAC’s list.

“Why is our governor against redeveloping Cincinnati’s downtown and Over-the-Rhine areas with the streetcar? Steel rails offer a far superior path to jobs and growth and clean air than yet another asphalt road pitted with potholes,” concluded Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council.

According to Prendergast, the end result may be a another legal battle for the controversial governor. He says that at attempt to move the funds from the streetcar to another, lower-ranking transportation project, that Cincinnati officials would have legal grounds to sue the state for not following its own criteria in awarding federal transportation funds.

Modern Streetcar in Cincinnati photograph by UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala.

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Business Development News Politics

Cincinnati region grows to more than 2.2 million people

Complete 2010 Census counts are to be released later this week for Ohio, but in advance of that new 2010 population estimates were released by the bureau yesterday. The county-level data for the Cincinnati metropolitan statistical area (MSA) shows anemic population growth for the now 2.2 million person region.

Of counties with more than 50,000 people, the fastest growers were Boone County, KY (40%), Warren County, OH (34.7%) and Clermont County, OH (10%). Over the last decade the region’s largest county saw its population increased by just more than 10,000 people giving Hamilton County, OH an estimated population of 855,340 in July 2010.

No county in the 17-county region studied experienced a population loss during the time frame, and over the ten-year period the region grew by an estimated 8.2 percent adding more than 170,000 people.

These estimates come out just days before Ohio’s full 2010 Census count is to be released. Other cities has felt sobering results from those hard counts that came in notably lower than the annual estimates the U.S. Census Bureau had been releasing.

Whether these estimates turn out to be accurate or not, a trend one can note is that the counties adding the most people are those close to the core of the region. While lower percentage increases exist in the region’s largest counties, they continue to add population to their base.

Leading up to the 2010 Census counts, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory had been a prominent spokesperson for cities suggesting undercounts within inner cities and first-ring suburbs. Those efforts led to several population revisions for Cincinnati and area municipalities, but in a matter of days we will find out whether the mayor’s goal of counting 378,259 people in the City of Cincinnati will hold up or not.

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Business Development News

New year brings heightened expectations for 3CDC

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) has helped spark a transformation of Cincinnati’s urban core in less than 10 years. To date, the non-profit development group has largely been defined by the success that has taken place on and around Fountain Square and the Gateway Quarter for which they are responsible.

Since their founding in 2003, 3CDC has invested more than $250 million into the center city. That investment has led to the renovation of scores of new restaurants and bars in the on and around Fountain Square, hundreds of new residential units and dozens of new businesses in Over-the-Rhine, and the renovation and expansion of Washington Park which is now underway. Even with all of that work to date, the development group says that they are only just now getting started.

“2010 was certainly a watershed year for us,” said Stephen Leeper, president and CEO of 3CDC. “Our development agenda has expanded to more complex real estate transactions. The physical assets we own, lease and/or manage continue to grow.”

In 2011 3CDC will get started on the long-anticipated, $51 million Mercer Commons development that will renovate 20 historic structures and infill 26 existing vacant lots in a two-block area of Over-the-Rhine. The group will also renovate a cluster of buildings along 6th Street into entertainment and office space, and a $48 million project will transform the former Metropole Apartments on Walnut Street nearby into a 21c Museum Hotel.

Some neighborhood residents and business owners do hope for additional neighborhood involvement on the part of 3CDC as they continue their efforts.

“I would like to see some sort of movement toward helping those being displaced obtain the skills or education to earn enough to be able to live in the new Over-the-Rhine,” said Original Thought Required owner James Marable. “I fear the area could become overdeveloped and lose the culture that makes OTR, OTR without them.”

With that said Marable welcomes the additional investment and see a bright future for the neighborhood he now calls home and operates his own small business.

“The amount of investment is a very good thing for the area. I’ve been in Cincinnati for ten years and the first five years of that I wouldn’t step foot in OTR,” Marable explained. “Now I am entrenched in the area and feel as much of a part of it as it is a part of me. I believe all the investment and hard work of the small business owners and development companies are paying off 10 fold and not only making OTR better but providing a shining light for the type of change the entire city should be working towards.”

The $48 million renovation and expansion of Washington Park is expected to be complete in 2012. And in addition to all of that, 3CDC is requesting $85 million in federal tax credits to keep the momentum rolling.

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Business News Politics

Mayor Mallory: Welcome to Cincinnati

The City of Cincinnati has put together a new video that welcomes people and businesses to Cincinnati. The video comes during a time at which city leaders are trying to figure out how to brand the city and region.

Within the video, Mayor Mark Mallory talks about Cincinnati’s vibrant and walkable downtown, The Banks development, recent progress in Over-the-Rhine, the arts, the future Horseshoe Casino and Cincinnati Streetcar.

So, the question begs to be asked. How do you think this message brands Cincinnati, and does it do so successfully? The next question is, whether or not this is even the image and brand the city should be promoting?

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News Transportation

Cincinnati to install second on-street bicycle corral in OTR

Cincinnati’s second on-street bicycle parking facility will be installed on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine (OTR) this week. The on-street parking is part of the city’s overall effort to dramatically improve its bicycle infrastructure over the coming years.

The new on-street bicycle corral will be installed just south of Park+Vine (map) and will accommodate 14 bikes. City officials say that the bike corral has been ready since November 2010, but warmer weather was desired for installation.

“Bockfest seemed like the perfect opportunity to showcase the burgeoning use of bicycles in Over-the-Rhine,” explained Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) planner Melissa McVay. “This will also be a great way to demonstrate the City’s support for bicycles as a viable means of transportation.”

The location is currently a no parking zone and will avoid the loss of any on-street automobile parking spaces. Fabrication, of the bike corral, was performed by Cincinnati-based Vulkane Industrial Arts. The first corral installed in Northside last year cost $1,000, while the new OTR corral cost $4,000.