Category: Politics

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Lee Fisher to Discuss the Future of Cities at UC’s School of Planning

The University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning will host Ohio’s former Lieutenant Governor and current CEOs for Cities President, Lee Fisher, next Thursday.

The event will start at 4pm with Fisher explaining what CEOs for Cities does and what they stand for. Organizers also say that those who attend will also hear about civic activists can work with professional architects, planners, designers and artists in a collaborative way to change their communities.

While serving as Lieutenant Governor, Fisher was perhaps most well-known for his economic development work and the implementation of the Ohio Hubs of Innovation & Opportunity to foster urban-based collaborations between businesses, colleges and universities, and research institutions.

Cincinnati was named an Ohio Hub of Innovation & Opportunity for Consumer Marketing in July 2010.

Fisher’s interest in these collaborative approaches to building up cities aligned him perfectly with CEOs for Cities which helps lead these types of discussions and has becoming a prominent voice on these topics over recent years. Specifically though, leadership at CEOs for Cities believe that great cities are not simply places that are born, but are rather made and improved over time.

“A living place is someone’s success,” Paul Grogan, who founded CEOs for Cities in 2001 with Richard M. Daley. “These are matters of choice and skill, not laws of physics.”

This work of enhancing cities has spread throughout North America to more than 60 cities, and CEOs for Cities currently has offices in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington D.C.

Following the speech, organizers say that the audience will get an opportunity to meet and discuss their ideas with Fisher during a reception to be held at 5:10pm.

The main event will kick off at 4pm on Thursday, April 4 inside the Kaplan Auditorium (Room 5401) at UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

The University of Cincinnati is well-served by Metro bus service (plan your trip), but those taking personal automobiles should be able to find cash parking in the nearby Clifton Court Garage.

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News Politics Transportation

Ohio Fails to Show Improvement in Latest Infrastructure Report Card

We take for granted that bridges, roads, highways, water treatment facilities and dams will function as expected and take us to where we need to go. But our nation’s aging infrastructure has long been in decline as money is diverted from maintenance to construction of new projects, many times for politicians eager for the photo op of a ribbon cutting event.

Recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its latest report on the current state of the nation’s infrastructure. The last such report, issued in 2009, had given the country a rating of D. This year’s report showed the nation’s rating had improved to a D+ grade.

“Our country’s association of civil engineers continues to do the yeoman’s work of sounding the alarm on our country’s infrastructure — the roads, rails and waterways that we depend on to move our goods from place to place and get us where we need to go each day,” James Corless, Director of Transportation For America (T4A), stated in a prepared release.

I-75 Reconstruction
Work on the multi-billion dollar repair and widening of I-75 through Cincinnati proceeds, but the project still has yet to receive the full funding it needs to be completed. Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

As the nation sifts through a backlog of infrastructure replacement projects, national policy has shifted away from funding such critical infrastructure needs as budgetary concerns linger.

The current transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), offers no new funding for investments in transportation alternatives to relieve congested corridors or encourage smart solutions to these complex problems.

“It’s a sad reality that little has changed since the last report card in 2009,” Corless continued. “Has anything in Washington changed to drastically improve the condition of our roads, bridges and transit systems in the four years since?”

Without new revenue sources, Corless says, the funding problem is only poised to get worse as revenues continue to decline from the federal gas tax, which has not been raised since 1993. Such a lack of necessary revenues may soon leave the federal government unable to perform basic infrastructure maintenance.

Local Implications?
In both 2009 and 2013, the ASCE gave Ohio a C- grade in their infrastructure report card. While the grade places Ohio ahead of the national average, it still translates to 2,462 structurally deficient bridges and approximately 42% of its roadways in “poor” or “mediocre” quality.

While the State of Ohio raised its gas tax in 2006, the extra revenues have not been enough to keep pace with the demand for larger transportation projects like the expansion of I-75 through Cincinnati, the  Brent Spence Bridge project, and the long-planned MLK Interchange project, which all currently stand unfunded or only partially funded.

“Some other states aren’t waiting for billions that are unlikely to come and are thinking about ways to make their dollars do more. Like Massachusetts, where the DOT director issued a goal of tripling the number of trips taken by foot, bike and public transportation — reducing the load on roads and bridges that are among the oldest in the country,” explained Stephen Lee Davis, T4A’s Deputy Communications Director.

Ohio Infrastructure

The City of Cincinnati has been working towards improving some of its worst-rated infrastructure since the last report card was issued in 2009. Since that time, Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) has performed a $22 million rehabilitation of the W. Eighth Street Viaduct and is in the midst of a $55 million replacement of the Waldvogel Viaduct which connects the west side with the center city via the Sixth Street Expressway.

Additionally, Cincinnati’s 3,500-foot-long Western Hills Viaduct also is considered structurally deficient. Replacing a span that is nearly twice as long as the longest Ohio River span, and crosses the Midwest’s second busiest rail yard, will be one that is both difficult and costly.

Cincinnati officials say that they are currently studying whether a rehabilitation of the existing 82-year-old, double-decker viaduct or a replacement will be more appropriate.

“That is one of those kind of icons in the Mill Creek Valley that you like to look at,” noted Michael Moore, Cincinnati’s DOTE Director, on The UrbanCincy Podcast. “But we will need to be very cognizant of how we spend the public’s money in making sure we have a good safe mode to get across that area.”

Moore says that the department hopes to wrap up the study on how to fix the Western Hills Viaduct early this spring. Once that is complete, he says that there will be a good idea on how to accomplish that. Where the funding might come for such a large project, however, is still up in the air.

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Development News Politics Transportation

OKI Survey Results Show Preference for Compact, Walkable Communities

The OKI Regional Council of Governments has released the findings from its 2012 How Do We Grow From Here survey, and is reporting a record response.

According to OKI officials, the survey received 2,474 responses and more than 1,200 comments. In the past, the organization had received around 100 responses for similar surveys, but was hoping for higher numbers this time around due to a larger outreach effort.

The survey is intended to take the pulse of the Cincinnati region with regards to regional vitality, sustainability, and competitiveness with a special focus on land use and transportation policy. The results of the survey are then intended to be used when updating the metropolitan planning organization’s Strategic Regional Policy Plan (SRPP), which was last updated in 2005.

OKI 2012 Survey Results

“While much has been accomplished since the plan’s adoption in 2005, much remains to be done to reach its goals,” state OKI officials. “The SRPP needs to be updated to reflect the impacts of subsequent events such as the Great Recession and significant changes in our demographics, particularly as the baby-boom generation ages.”

Of the survey’s 21 total questions, seven offered particularly revealing insights into the psyche of those from around the region concerning transportation options, economic development strategies, and land use policy.

The survey results indicate a clear preference for sustainable and urban communities. Approximately 60% of respondents said that they felt urban revitalization and neighborhood redevelopment efforts are paying off, and a whopping 88.5% said that it is important to have safe pedestrian and bicycling options in their community.

While the 2,474 respondents stated that they wanted to see existing infrastructure maintained and their communities built in a way to support walking and bicycling, it does not appear that they feel the region is heading in that direction.

“Bicycle infrastructure can play a big role in enhancing public health, providing additional options for transportation, and reducing pollution,” commented one responder. “I also would support a comprehensive transportation plan that includes the extended streetcar line and light rail. This could reduce traffic congestion and pollution and enhance economic growth for our neighborhoods.”

More than a third of those responding said that they feel the region is growing in an unsustainable manner, and more than two-thirds expressed concern about how the region’s housing, transportation, healthcare, and recreation options will support aging individuals and younger generations that desire walkable urban communities.

A 2011 report from Transportation For America found that more than 64% of Cincinnati’s population between the ages of 65 and 79 will have poor transit access by 2015 – ranking the region as the 17th worst out of 48 regions with 1-3 million people.

When asked about energy and the climate, approximately 74% said that rising energy costs have impacted their lifestyle choices surrounding transportation and utilities. With nearly 85% of those same respondents feeling confident about knowing where to go to get more information or help to achieve greater energy efficiency, it appears that organizations like the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance are making a positive impact.

“OKI needs to develop renewable energy sources for our area and eliminate all fossil fuel usage in the next 10 years,” responded one individual on the survey. “OKI needs to actively promote the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance that has enough funding to upgrade close to 70,000 homes and business in the Hamilton County and northern Kentucky.”

OKI officials state that while they currently have no authority, and seek no authority, over local land use decisions, they hope that the results of their updated SRPP will bring about more consistency between local land use planning and regional transportation planning.

On episode two of The UrbanCincy Podcast we discussed the issue of transportation poverty facing Cincinnati’s aging population, and how unsustainable development patterns are hurting the region’s environment and economy. You can stream our bi-weekly podcasts online for free, or download the podcasts on iTunes.

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Business News Politics Transportation

President Obama Shifts Attention Toward Economy, Cities in 2013 State of the Union Address

President Barack Obama (D) delivered the annual State of the Union address last evening. The hour-long speech covered a wide range of topics including gun control, military policy, immigration reform, voting rights, domestic economic programs, education reform, and energy policy.

One of the most-discussed topics of the evening was when the President announced his aspirations to see the national minimum wage raised to $9 an hour. The current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour results in an annual income of $14,500 – a number the President says keeps families with two minimum wage earners below the poverty line.

In 2006, Ohioans voted to raise the state’s minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.85 an hour, with an annual cost-of-living escalator.

“This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families,” President Obama stated. “It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets.”

Brent Spence Bridge Alternative 1

Brent Spence Bridge Alternative 2
The President called for a “Fix-It-First” program during his State of the Union address, but will it make a difference for Cincinnati’s Brent Spence Bridge Rehabilitation/Replacement project? Brent Spence Bridge replacement Alternative 1 (TOP) and Alternative 2 (BOTTOM) renderings provided.

Since the last time Congress voted to increase the federal minimum wage, which is effective for all states that have a minimum wage lower than the federal level, 19 different states have voted to raise their respective rates. The President’s $9 an hour proposal with an annual cost-of-living escalator would place it above every state in the union with the exception of Washington which pays its lowest earning workers $9.19 an hour.

In addition to raising the pay for the nation’s lowest earners, the President also pushed for new programs meant to spur job growth in a new economy. He called for the reform of high school education to more effectively train graduates to be able to fill high-tech jobs.

He also asked Congress to create a network of 15 manufacturing innovation hubs, modeled after the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) established in Youngstown, OH in August 2012. Those cities selected, the President says, would work to partner businesses with the Department of Defense and Energy.

The President stated that the goal is to transform “regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs” in an effort to jumpstart the next revolution in manufacturing.

The advanced manufacturing policy proposal is one that should certainly catch the attention of local policy leaders as they work to transform Cincinnati’s Mill Creek Valley into a productive economic engine for the 21st century, as laid out in the Growth & Opportunities Cincinnati Plan published in 2008.

Another point of emphasis during the President’s first State of the Union address of his second term revolved around repairing the nation’s existing built environment.

To that end, he discussed retrofitting buildings to become more energy efficient, and announced a goal to cut energy wasted by homes and businesses in half over the next 20 years. President Obama continued by calling for a program that would prioritize infrastructure spending on existing assets in need of repair, like Ohio and Kentucky’s combined 4,054 deficient bridges.

“I propose a ‘Fix-It-First’ program to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs,” said President Obama. “And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children.”

Perhaps the biggest bi-partisan applause of the night went to the President’s condemnation of gun violence and call for action to prevent further atrocities like those at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and those that occur on the streets of America’s cities every day.

“Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. Indeed, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I’ve outlined tonight,” President Obama clarified. “But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, and uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government.”

Categories
Business Development News Politics

Inner-City Neighborhoods Center of Population, Economic Power in Cincinnati Region

The Cincinnati region has been one of the nation’s best economic performers over the past several years, and that has resulted in a 6.4% unemployment rate that is more than a point better the national average.

According to the U.S. Census, more than 968,000 jobs are scattered all over the region, but it is the City of Cincinnati that stands out as the dominant force for the 2.1 million person region.

As the numbers in the City of Cincinnati’s 2013/2014 Biennial Budget Report show, the financial standing of the central business district is critically important to the overall financial health of the entire city and county. According to the report, income taxes brought in $234 million last year – nearly 71% of the City’s total revenue in 2012.

Cincinnati Employment Density Cincinnati Employment/Population Share
While outlying suburban communities have seen an influx of jobs over the past 30 years, Downtown and Uptown remain the region’s preeminent job centers. Employment Density Map and Employment/Population Share Map by Nate Wessel for UrbanCincy.

In the Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), center city neighborhoods account for the highest concentration of jobs, with more than 22,000 jobs per square mile in Downtown’s 45202 zip code, and anywhere from 3,000 to 9,000 jobs per square mile in Uptown neighborhoods.

“Downtown and Uptown are the City’s largest employment centers and therefore they are very important to the City’s financial health,” said Lea Ericksen, Cincinnati’s Budget Director. “We want all our neighborhoods to improve tax earnings by increasing residents, jobs and overall economic vitality, but we are focused on the six GO Cincinnati strategy areas for redevelopment.”

Cincinnati’s 2.1% income tax largely goes to support the General Fund which pays for operating expenses like police officers and fire fighters. Smaller percentages also go to pay for public transit operated by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and capital investments in City buildings and infrastructure.

Ericksen projects that while income taxes will remain the same, they will grow in value by approximately 2.6% annually over the next six years.

Income & Property Tax Earnings (2004-2016)
The City of Cincinnati has experienced steady growth in income tax revenues since 2004, but it has struggled to recover from the previous decade’s housing crash. Chart produced by UrbanCincy.

Property taxes are the next largest revenue generator for City Hall – accounting for $23.9 million in 2012. City officials expect this number remain stable over the next four years following an initial $7.8 million annual bump should the current property tax rollback be eliminated and set at 6.1 mils.

Like the clustering of jobs in the city’s urban core, the most heavily populated neighborhoods are also located within the center of the region.

“People are very interested in center cities, and we have an exceptionally attractive center city,” David Ginsburg, President/CEO of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. told UrbanCincy. “The architecture here and the geography that we have being in the valley. We just have a compact, spectacular downtown, and I think we have barely touched the surface of what the market can bear.”

Some of the most valuable residences are located along the central riverfront and eastside neighborhoods, with recent growth in northern communities in Butler and Warren Counties.

Cincinnati Population Density
Several neighborhoods boast densities of 7,000 or more people per square mile, and those neighborhoods are all centrally located. Population Density Map by Nate Wessel for UrbanCincy.

Uptown neighborhoods surrounding the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, Downtown/Over-the-Rhine, and close-in neighborhoods on the westside and along the Northern Kentucky riverfront are the most densely populated in the region.

“We’ve seen quite a bit of where we rehab a home, the neighbor decides to rehab their home,” Ken Smith, Executive Director of Price Hill Will, said about the development corporation’s Buy-Improve-Sell program which has rehabilitated 52 thus far in 30,000-person neighborhood, on episode 14 of The UrbanCincy Podcast. “People are very impressed with the housing stock in the neighborhood, and they are often quite impressed.”

Not all is well, though, for city leaders as they attempt to recover from the housing crash that took place between 2006 and 2010. Neighborhoods like East and West Price Hill are aggressively working to improve their residential housing stock by getting rid of vacant units even by taking advantage of hundreds of demolitions planned throughout the city.

“We are working with the Hamilton County Land Bank to get these empty lots into hands of those next door, but there are going to be a few houses that I wish we could save, and in better times maybe we would have the money to save it, but in better times they may not have gotten to that point,” explained Price Hill Will’s Matt Strauss, Director of Marketing & Neighborhood Promotion at Price Hill Will. “The goal is not only to bolster owner occupancy, but to increase property values in the neighborhood.”

Listen to episode 14 of The UrbanCincy Podcast with the leaders at Price Hill Will to hear more about the work being done on the westside to recover from the housing crash, and episode 15 with David Ginsburg to get the latest insight on the region’s economic engine. You can stream our podcasts online or subscribe to our bi-weekly podcast on iTunes for free.