Year: 2010

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News

Political kickbacks land Cleveland major transit dollars

Vice President Joe Biden announced over $600 million in new awards for transit projects across the United States. The funding went to 191 different transit projects in 42 different states and Puerto Rico.

Ohio walked away with more than $24.5 million worth of transit funding, of which the overwhelming majority went to northeast Ohio, where the state’s two Senators are from, with $6 of transit funding going to each of the 2,088,291 people in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Cincinnati meanwhile ranks as Ohio’s most populous MSA with 2,155,137 people who received $0.13 each for transit funding (view full list of recipients).

The $6 per person transit funding for Cleveland equates to roughly half of Ohio’s total funding received and more than $12.5 million. The Cincinnati MSA barely made the list at all as Middletown, on the far northern reaches of Cincinnati’s metropolitan area, received the MSA’s only funding of just under $281,000.

Cleveland MSA received $6/person while Ohio’s most populous metropolitan area received just $0.13/person. Click chart to open large version in new window.

In a press release received from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Vice President Biden stated that, “Investing in these transit upgrades not only puts construction workers on the job at project sites, but supports American manufacturing jobs all the way down the supply chain. At a time when jobs are priority number one, that means twice the employment bang for the Recovery Act buck.”

One could make the argument that the Cleveland metropolitan area received the most money to help create and retain jobs in arguably Ohio’s most devastated market in terms of jobs and foreclosures. The evidence further supports this when you see that Columbus and Cincinnati, the state’s two strongest job markets, received the smallest per-capita funding. That is where the connections stop though, as Dayton, ranking close to Cleveland as one of Ohio’s worst economic performers, received a measly $0.84 per person for transit funding.

“Investing in modern, efficient transit systems will mean safe, reliable travel and clean air in our communities” said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. “These projects are putting thousands of Americans to work right now while improving the lives of millions of Americans for years to come”

Unfortunately while this is true, it seems that at least in Ohio that these funds were distributed based on political ties than anything else. Both Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator George Voinovich hail from northeast Ohio Maybe not shocking, but certainly disappointing especially if you are one of the hundreds of thousands living in Hamilton County that voted for Senator Brown in 2006 and in turn saw $0 of this transit funding.

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News

How Cincinnati could benefit from greater use of new media

A recent article written by Christian Madera in Next American City discussed what role new media plays in local government, and more particularly, in small local governments. Madera’s article examined what a couple of small local governments are doing around the nation to better engage their citizens while doing it on a tight budget.

While Cincinnati does not fit the bill of a “small local government,” the city does have the opportunity to enhance residents’ experience with local government with little to no extra costs. Over this past winter, the City of Cincinnati started operating a Twitter account (@CincinnatiSnow) where anyone interested could follow along and stay informed on the latest snow emergency levels, procedures, status of snow clearing efforts and more. This joins a small group of other City departments/agencies that have joined the Twitter fold to further share their information with the public at-large, but what else could be done?

The City currently has a phone number that people can call to report overflowing City trash cans among other things. This system could be enhanced to allow people to tweet, text or email these reports to the City which would then be handled by an analyst – presumably the same person now answering the phone and handling the calls – so that the City could dispatch crews accordingly. If Cincinnati can not afford the upfront capital expenditure associated with solar-powered trash cans that automatically notify crews when they approach a certain fill level, then this could be the next best option.

Public meetings are currently broadcast on CitiCable, Cincinnati’s local access television station, but why not turn the audio recordings already done into podcasts or broadcast them on UStream? Those interested in Planning Commission or City Council meetings, for example, could subscribe to those podcasts and listen to the meetings at their convenience. Broadcasting the meetings on UStream would create another means in which the public could stay connected with City Hall while adding no additional costs to the City’s budget.

The City already has the ability to record the audio and video for all of its public meetings, so all it would take is the initial effort and maintenance of operating the new media outlets. Young talent already possesses the ability to do this and could be managed on a department by department basis where existing staff takes on the minor work increase, or a singular employee could manage the entire system from the dissemination of information to its collection from those engaged in the process.

The beauty of new media is that it allows for instant exchange of information and ideas. Effectively taking advantage of this at the local government level could improve services, make public information more available, and allow for an interaction between citizen and government that is not currently seen.

Cincinnati City Hall photograph by Thadd Fiala.

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News

Metro service changes take effect on 3/7

In response to customer requests, Metro will start offering earlier service to the University of Cincinnati’s Raymond Walters campus along bus route #4 to Blue Ash, and will be making a variety of changes geared towards improving service to the Central Business District from the city’s west side neighborhoods.

The special service changes will go into effect on Sunday, March 7 along with the routine seasonal service changes all seen below:

Metro officials will be on hand to answer questions and field concerns at the Government Square Transit Hub from 8am to 10am on Friday, March 5. New bus schedules for affected bus routes will also be available.

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News

Langsam to discuss Cincinnati’s early 20th Century high rises

Cincinnati is blessed with one of the most dramatic skylines in America. The majestic hillsides and river help frame the diverse collection of high-rises dating back to the early 20th Century. Cincinnati was fortunate to have the works of such architects like Daniel Burnham, James W. McLaughlin and more presently Daniel Libeskind. This list of course not including the slew of famous architecture firms that produced many more notable high rise beauties in the Queen City.

On Saturday, March 6 at 10:30am, the Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will present part two of “The Skyscraper District” lecture series. Part two will focus on innovation and tradition in Cincinnati’s high rise office buildings from the turn of the last century until the Depression, and will be presented as an illustrated lecture by architectural historian Walter E. Langsam.

The lecture will be held at the historic Gwynne Building located at 6th & Main streets (map) in downtown Cincinnati. Tickets are $7 for CPA members, $12 for non-members, and can be purchased at the door or by calling CPA at (513) 721-4506. Signs and CPA volunteers will instruct you where to go once you arrive at the Gwynne Building lobby.

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Business News

$8.5M Facilities Grant to Bolster UC’s Research Standing

The University of Cincinnati has been awarded nearly $8.5 million by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) for the repair, renovation, and modernization of existing research facilities in uptown Cincinnati.

In 2003, then University of Cincinnati president Dr. Nancy Zimpher championed UC|21 – a comprehensive academic planning process that would help lead UC into the 21st Century. Among UC|21’s six primary goals, Goal 2 was to “grow our research excellence” by building on the university’s greatness as a major research university.

The goal was taken even further by Dr. Zimpher who often said she intended on making the University of Cincinnati the nation’s premier urban research institution.

Click to open larger version in new window. Chart produced by Randy A. Simes.

In 2009, the University of Cincinnati generated $378 million in research funding compared with $194 million in 2000, just before the start of UC|21, representing a 95 percent increase in research funding over a ten year period. Announced by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the nearly $8.5 million grant will be issued tomorrow on March 4, 2010 and remain active for five years after its activation.

“This is great news for the University of Cincinnati,” said U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH). “UC carries out cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, and this investment will help ensure the university can continue its important work.”