Category: Up To Speed

Links to keep you up to speed on what’s happening in Cincinnati and what we can learn from other cities.

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Up To Speed

Census accuracy report shakes up municipal challenges

Census accuracy report shakes up municipal challenges.

Mayor Mark Mallory (D) has been consistent in his questioning of Census counts of Cincinnati. After winning challenges leading up to the 2010 decennial Census, city officials had reason to believe the numbers would come back better. They did not. And according to a new audit, it appears that it may have been a good move to not file a challenge of the 2010 results. More from The Atlantic:

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released the results of a post-Census analysis showing that its decennial count of the country was nearly as accurate as intended, with only a slight overcount that is not statistically significant…The agency also notes that there was no statistically significant undercount or overcount of the populations in any counties or cities of 100,000 or more people.

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Amtrak to use iPhones as ticket scanners

Amtrak to use iPhones as ticket scanners

Amtrak is upgrading its ticketing system to utilize iPhones. The system is not only designed to make ticketing easier for train riders but also designed to give train operators better information on passenger counts between stations. The iPhone also contains a special app that alerts the train engineers about repair services or to handle passengers needing handicap assistance. More at the New York Times:

Amtrak joins a growing number of businesses that are using mobile devices to improve operations. Some pilots are using iPads to replace flight manuals in the cockpit, a few police departments are experimenting with using iPhones to identify suspects, and doctors are using iPads to access patient records and X-ray charts.

A digitized check-in process for trains seems long overdue in a world of online concert tickets and flight reservations. But the industry faces a particular challenge in that passengers hop on and off at different platforms at different times, unlike at an airport, where people check in at one gateway to board a flight, and then stay there until the flight arrives.

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Mac’s Pizza Pub to provide free electric vehicle recharging station

Mac’s Pizza Pub to provide free electric vehicle recharging station.

Mac’s Pizza Pub in Clifton Heights will become the region’s first restaurant to offer customers a free charging station for their electric vehicles. The move comes as owner Mac Ryan attempts to make the popular uptown restaurant as environmentally friendly as possible. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

There’s a parking space next to the patio where you can pull in your electric car and plug in to his dedicated circuit while you go in an have a Macover or a pizza…Owner Mac Ryan uses a Chevrolet Volt for all the restaurant’s delivery and catering business. That’s one of several electric cars that have come to the market recently: the Nissan Leaf is another, and local company AMP has retrofitted jeeps into electric vehicles.

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Taft High School in West End achieves LEED Platinum certification

Taft High School in West End achieves LEED Platinum certification

The Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School is the first Ohio high school to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The certification results from the building’s many environmentally-friendly features and its location in a dense urban neighborhood. More from Building Cincinnati:

Green features include one of the region’s largest green roofs, funded in partnership with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati. The building also boasts exterior sunshades, a high-efficiency “active chilled beam” HVAC system, and water-saving appliances and fixtures.

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New York City attracting more tech startups

New York City attracting more tech startups

More tech startups are choosing to locate in New York City rather than Silicon Valley. The abundance of available software engineers, many formerly employed by the finance industry, combined with smart urban planning and proximity to other tech companies make New York a desirable place to form a startup. More from Mashable:

[Brad Hargreaves, founding partner of startup co-working space General Assembly] believes that intelligent urban planning is key. One of the reasons that New York has succeeded, Hargreaves told Mashable, is that its density and public transport systems make it easy for entrepreneurs to get from meeting to meeting.

“A technology community won’t ferment if it is spread evenly over one hundred square miles of metropolitan area, especially if mass transit options are limited,” wrote Hargreaves.