We could use some bicycle parking love like this in Cincinnati at least in one or two locations. The new Central Riverfront Park might be a great opportunity and is something the park officials have hinted at given the inclusion of the Ohio River Trail into the park design that will potentially bring lots of bicycle commuters into the center city from the eastern neighborhoods.
Norwood might be an unlikely place to sell Vespas and other scooters, but I encourage you to check out Metro Scooter. They sell scooters, gear, and safety equipment. Many of the scooters they sell get upwards of 75 miles per gallon, and some even get 100mpg or better.
Like cars, scooter prices vary depending on the size, style and features, but unlike cars, scooters are far less expensive. They range in price from in the $1,000’s to around $3,000 and up. These vehicles are great for traveling in an urban environment while being light on the wallet, but there are other positive benefits as well.
Parking and maneuvering a scooter downtown is easier than a car. They take up less space than cars, so more people switching to scooters will reduce the need for parking spaces, increasing the room available for economic development. Taking more cars off the road also reduces congestion and emissions. Be sure to check out this great article for more on the scooter scene in Cincinnati.
Two-Wheeler Parking Program Update:
The City’s Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) has been studying the current two-wheeler parking locations throughout downtown over the past couple of months. In addition to the study they have continued to receive lots of community input about where future locations might be best suited.
From early results, one of the most popular parking locations is the 6th & Walnut spot which also happens to be the closest location to Fountain Square. As a result the City is really trying to find another location with close proximity to Fountain Square to offer the 6th & Walnut parking spots some relief.
So far the City has identified three additional two-wheeler parking locations in the downtown area. Mel Thomas, from the DOTE, is really encouraging people to continue to send ideas for more spots as their next round of studies will start to look at additional neighborhoods outside of the downtown area.
Another item that will eventually be studied is whether to keep the parking spots free for two-wheeler users, or whether the city should start charging some kind of rate for the spots. All of this will be worked out as this is still a “pilot program” and is assumed to have kinks that need to be worked out.
Thomas encourages people to share their thoughts on all this and more by June 5th by sending emails to twowheeler@cincinnati-oh.gov.
This Week In Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about Rookwood Pottery’s new OTR digs, new restaurants in College Hill and Newport, downtown Cincinnati residential trends, new life for the historic Crosley Building in Camp Washington, a new water sports complex on Cincinnati’s upper westside and my feature article on Ohio’s 3-C Corridor that would introduce high-speed rail to Ohio’s primary metropolitan areas.
If you’re interested in staying in touch with some of the latest development news in Cincinnati please check out this week’s stories and sign up for the weekly E-Zine sent out by Soapbox Cincinnati.
TWIS 5/19:
The 31st annual Taste of Cincinnati festival takes place this Memorial Day weekend from Saturday through Monday on Fifth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
The Taste of Cincinnati is the nation’s longest running culinary arts festival and typically draws around 500,000 visitors to the heart of Cincinnati. At this year’s event there will be approximately 45 area restaurants and more than 60 musical acts over five stages.
There are nine new restaurants this year including Cafe Istanbul, J. Gumbo’s, Keystone Bar and Grill, Kyosin Japanese Restaurant, Mixx Ultra Lounge, Mac’s Pizza Pub, Roher’s Tavern, United Dairy Farmers and the much anticipated Vitor’s Bistro that won two awards at the “Best of Taste” competition.
Each entree being served is $5 or less and the festival is free and open to the public. On Saturday and Sunday, the Taste of Cincinnati will run from noon to midnight and on Monday it will run from noon to 9pm.
Tonight is Singles Night at the Reds vs. Brewers game tonight. First pitch is at 7:10pm, but the fun starts at the Fan Zone (behind the first base concourse) with a dating game, that will award a variety of prizes to contestants, at 6:30pm.
The game will also have a five-stop Pub Crawl where fans can stop for free giveaways including:
Plus on top of all this singles fun the Reds are playing some great baseball. The game will most likely pit Cincinnati’s pitcher/hitter Micah Owings (1-3) against Milwaukee’s Braden Looper (2-1). We’re also fighting with the Brewers for second in the NL Central…so get out there and support your hometown team.