Category: Politics

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Arts & Entertainment News Politics Transportation

‘Complete Streets’ discussion at the Mercantile Library

Cincinnati is like many other American cities in the fact that much of our transportation spending goes towards the creation and maintenance of streets. The streets that are built often ignore every kind of transportation option other than an automobile.

Rarely do you find a dedicated bike lane, sidewalks are often hard to come by and it is quite rare that streets are designed with buses, streetcars or light rail in mind.

This not only makes our streets unpalatable for these other modes of transportation, but it makes the streets unsafe for those looking to move about in something other than 1,000 lbs of glass and steel.

On Tuesday, June 9th you can learn about the Complete Streets movement and efforts to implement them in Cincinnati. City Council Member and Urban Planner, Roxanne Qualls and the Principal of Kinzelman Kline Gossman, Clete Benken will help lead the discussion.

The event will take place at Cincinnati’s historic Mercantile Library located at 414 Walnut Street downtown. The doors will open at 5:30pm with the program beginning at 6pm. It is requested that you RSVP by June 5th at (513) 621-0717 or at mercantileinfo@mercantilelibrary.com (reservations are required).

The program is $8 for Mercantile Library and Architectural Foundation members; $10 for others. Reservations required.

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Arts & Entertainment News Politics

‘The New Neighbors’ film premier

The New Neighbors PBS documentary will premier in Cincinnati on Friday, June 5th at the University of Cincinnati’s Kaplan Theater. Cincinnatians are invited to come and celebrate the region’s diverse neighborhoods and discuss ways to maintain and grow them.

The New Neighbors: How One Town Created A Vibrant, Integrated Suburb tells the story of how a suburban town in New Jersey successfully reversed segregation and built a vibrant, integrated community. The award-winning filmmaker and Clifton resident, Andrea Torrice will be at the premier hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Commitment Alliance as part of the Agenda 360’s Transformational Dialog.

Following the screening, those in attendance will be invited to participate in a discussion about the next steps needed to strengthen and promote intentionally-integrated communities in the Cincinnati region. Those in attendance will then be encouraged to “walk the talk” and have dinner at one of the great ethnic restaurants in an Uptown neighborhood surrounding the university.

Agenda 360 has made building a more welcoming community a primary focus for improving the Cincinnati region’s future economic prosperity and quality of life. The Agenda 360 Action Plan calls for attracting 150,000 additional people to the region’s workforce between the ages of 20-34 by 2020.

The event will begin at 6pm at the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP building in room 5401. There is a $10 suggested donation, but the event is free to all UC students, faculty and staff. Proceeds will help fund the Greater Cincinnati Commitment Alliance that works towards the goals of making the Cincinnati region a welcoming and inclusive model for the nation and world.

You can sign up by calling (513) 579-3111 or by visiting this website.

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Business News Politics Transportation

We need Zipcars in Cincinnati

Living car-free anywhere can be a bit of a challenge. It’s even more difficult in Cincinnati where our transit options are limited to bus service.

With that said, living car-free is definitely possible and I know several people that are able to make it work even here in Cincy. One thing that could make living car-free a lot more feasible would be the use of Zipcars.

Zipcar is a carsharing company that allows people to get a membership and use the cars on an as needed basis. Basically what you do is you get a membership (which gets you a Zipcard) and then go and get a car when you absolutely need one. You just walk up to the car, wave your Zipcard over the windshield, get in and start driving (keys, gas card and insurance are all awaiting you).

Presently there is no Zipcar service in any Ohio city (closest locations are Chicago & Pittsburgh), but Cleveland does boast its own carsharing club called Citywheels. The Ohio State University, in Columbus, used to have its own Zipcar service that came to a close in January 2009. It’s about time that Cincinnati get into carsharing and introduce Zipcars to our urban core.

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Business Development News Politics

National Dark Sky Week 2009

Tonight, take a look into the sky. Your view will be very different than that of someone a century ago. You will likely see a lot more light, and a lot fewer stars, than our ancestors would have seen.

An unfortunate side effect of our modern industrial society is light pollution. Unlike the contamination of our air or water, light pollution is one type of contamination people may not think about or take very seriously. But over-illumination causes a variety of issues, such as an annoying nighttime glow, unnecessary energy usage, problems for astronomers, and even human health problems like reduced visual acuity and increased fatigue. Like our air and water, our dark night sky is a natural resource that we must work together to preserve.

Today marks the beginning of National Dark-Sky Week (April 20-26, 2009). This annual event encourages Americans to audit their outdoor light fixtures and reduce their contribution to this problem. To help, you can turn off any unnecessary lights and make sure the rest are aimed toward the ground and are only as bright as necessary. Maybe even consider purchasing a directional shade to prevent your fixtures from spilling light upward.

One emerging technology that may help reduce light pollution is LED lighting. Although LED bulbs last longer and use less energy than incandescent or even CFL bulbs, their highly-directional light is typically seen as a drawback. In the case of outdoor lighting, directionality could be a benefit, as less light leaks up to the sky.

Although it may seem minor in comparison to other pressing issues, it’s easy to make a small step toward reducing light pollution and improving public quality of life. This National Dark-Sky Week, take a moment to think about the simple things you can do to reduce your impact.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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News Politics Transportation

Metro debuts new hybrid buses

Metro will debut the first 6 of their 15 new hybrid buses on Tuesday, April 21st. The ceremony (10:30am) will take place at the Twin Lakes Overlook in Eden Park where Mayor Mallory, ODOT and others will dedicate the new buses that will then be paraded (11:00am) through Eden Park, past Mirror Lake and into downtown via 5th Street to Fountain Square.

The new hybrid buses will have a “unique go*GREEN hybrid design” that will reduce soot and hydrocarbon emissions by at least 90% and use about 30% less fuel that the typical Metro bus. Additional hybrid buses will be purchased next year with some of the $17.5 million that Metro received from stimulus funds in March.

The 6 new hybrid buses will go into service the next day and will be featured in a lunchtime Earth Day event on Fountain Square before officially being launched into service at 1pm. At the Earth Day event, there will be a fashion show of “environmentally-conscience and bike beautiful” fashions. The models will arrive on the new hybrid buses and will use the Flower Carpet, on Fountain Square, as their runway. Visitors will also be able to check out the new hybrid buses and get more information on Metro during the event.

To learn more about Metro’s new hybrid buses check out this interactive diagram.