Tag: environment

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Development News

Cincinnati Preservation Association to host lead paint seminar – 9/25

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting seminar on how to safely work around lead paint, and how new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might affect your renovation project.

During renovation or repainting work, toxins found within lead paint can become a health risk for humans. As a result, many regulations have been developed to help guide this kind of work and keep those performing the work safe from any potential toxins.

According to building officials, lead paint is more prevalent in buildings built or painted prior to 1977 when lead paint was banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. New regulations passed by the EPA in April 2010 require that all renovators who work on homes built before 1978, and disturb more than six square feet of lead paint, be Renovation, Repair & Painting (RRP) certified. It is estimated that the new regulation will impact more than 100,000 renovators in the United States.

Event organizers say that the seminar will include presentations from Aisha Tzilla of the City of Cincinnati Community Development Department and Bill Menrath of the University of Cincinnati.

Lead Paint: Renovate Safely, Learn the New Regs will be held on Saturday, September 25 from 10am to 12pm. The event will be held at Building Value located in Northside at 4040 Spring Grove Avenue. Reservations are required due to limited space, and can be made by contacting CPA at (513) 721-4506 or info@cincinnatipreservation.org. Admission costs $5 for CPA members and $10 for the public.

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News Politics

Cincinnati to take part in fifth annual international PARK[ing] Day

The third Friday in September marks the 5th annual Park[ing] Day, celebrated across the globe. From San Francisco to San Juan and in between, people will be taking over ordinary parking spaces to demonstrate the need for more public space in cities.

PARK[ing] Day started as a collaborative art project with the group REBAR in San Francisco. What was one group’s side project has turned into a global phenomenon, as people across the continents have teamed up to take back the asphalt, if only for one day.

According to the group’s website, “The mission of PARK[ing] Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!”

PARK[ing] Day has since been adapted and remixed to address a variety of social issues in diverse urban contexts around the world, and the project continues to expand to include interventions and experiments well beyond the basic “tree-bench-sod” park typology first modeled by REBAR.

In recent years, participants have built free health clinics, planted temporary urban farms, produced ecology demonstrations, held political seminars, built art installations, opened free bike repair shops and even held a wedding ceremony! All this in the context of this most modest urban territory – the metered parking space.

Cincinnati has participated in the movement for the past four years with community members setting up in the Central Business District, Over-the-Rhine, and Uptown neighborhoods. These Cincinnatians have taken the few basic guidelines for PARK[ing] Day to create an open-source project and creation completely of their own making.

Last year UrbanCincy was on the scene as several parking spaces throughout Over-the-Rhine were transformed. UrbanCincy will once again be back this year with its own space (or two) outside of Park+Vine (map) from 10am to 4pm.  I hope you will come and join me at our little community space.

Cafe de Wheels will be just down the road at Court and Vine streets offering a free beverage, with the rest of their purchase, to those who mention PARK[ing] Day.  Get your food there and then bring it up to our urban oasis where we will have a couple tables, chairs, and more.  Plus at the end of the day, you can keep the fun going by helping Park+Vine move to their new location on Main Street at 6pm.

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News Transportation

Metro announces winners of “Tell Your Story” contest

Metro officials have announced the winners of their Tell Your Story contest that asked Metro riders to share their stories about how transit benefits their lives and their community in terms of jobs, the environment, energy independence, and overall quality of life. The transit agency narrowed down the many entries to five finalists for the written and video entries, then opened the contest to public voting which determined the winners of each category.

After hundreds of votes were cast, Teresa Roush of Wilmington and Travis Theiss of Hamilton respectively won the written and video contests. According to Metro officials, both individuals won a year of free rides on Metro and will be featured in the transit agency’s advertising this fall.

Roush’s written entry described her five-day-a-week commute on the 71X from Kings Island to downtown Cincinnati and back. In her story Roush highlighted how she is able to use her time effectively by knitting afghans that she donates to a children’s charity in Clinton County.

Meanwhile, in Theiss’ video entry filmed at the Taste of Cincinnati he described how he uses Metro as an opportunity to catch up on sleep, and he explained how his Metro bus route provides him with easy access to work while also providing a time to take a nap.

“I just gave it a shot and thought it would hopefully entertain people, and I was glad I could share my feelings that Metro is a great option for transportation,” said Theiss of his video entry.

Metro also awarded 96-year-old William Kenny a year of free rides on Metro for his written story on August 21. In his entry Kenny described how he uses Metro to get to and from the Over-the-Rhine soup kitchen where he volunteers five days a week. It is also believed that Kenny is Metro’s oldest regular rider.

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Development News

Ground broken on $1.2M sustainable learning facility in Avondale

Construction work has begun on the Civic Garden Center’s $1.2 million Green Learning Station at 2175 Reading Road in Avondale. The facility is the first of its kind in the Cincinnati region, and is described as an interactive, state-of-the-art learning laboratory for applying sustainable practices into gardens and the systems that support them.

“The Green Learning Station will be a field trip destination for people of all ages, open to the public for tours, workshops and classes related to green living in the city,” said Ryan Mooney-Bullock, Program Manager.

“Classes who visit the Green Learning Station will be challenged to conduct experiments and solve problems as they learn about urban environmental problems. Back in their schools, students will assess some aspect of their school’s environmental impact and develop a plan to make it more sustainable, whether by starting a compost system, a vegetable garden or capturing rainwater.”

Situated on a former SOHIO gas station, the project will include a variety of green features like pervious paving, rainwater harvesting units, bioswales, green roof systems, energy efficient utilities, and showcase sustainable gardens.

“The Board of the Civic Garden Center identified the need for the Green Learning Station more than two years ago,” explained Betsy Townsend, a volunteer and chair of the Green Learning Station committee for the Civic Garden Center. “Since then we have been diligently working to bring the project to fruition. The start of construction has been made possible by countless volunteer hours and generous gifts from local foundations, individuals and corporations.”

The Green Learning Station was designed by SFA Architects and Martin Koepke Design, and is expected to achieve LEED-Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Cincinnati-based HGC Construction is expected to complete work on the Green Learning Station in spring 2011.

Once complete, home builders, developers, and public officials will be able to use the Green Learning Station as a demonstration site on how to incorporate green technology into residences, businesses, and public spaces.

Categories
News Transportation

Vote for Metro’s “Tell Us Your Story” contest winners through 8/31

After Metro kicked off the “Tell Us Your Story” in May 2010, hundreds of bus riders submitted their stories about how transit benefits their lives and their community in terms of jobs, the environment, energy independence, and overall quality of life.

The many entries have now been whittled down to five finalists for both written and video submissions, and now Metro is asking the public to vote on its favorite entry in both categories. The winning entry from each category will a year of free rides on Metro, while the remaining four entries will each win a month of free rides.

“Riders shared stories about growing up, family traditions, poems, songs and raps with one thing in common – the difference Metro made in their lives,” said Metro CEO, Marilyn Shazor.

The five written story finalists include Teresa Roush from Wilmington, Ernest Disney Britton from Hyde Park, Jalilisha Dixon from Finneytown, Kelly Drinan from Amberley, and Sidney Coleman from Silverton. To read their entries visit the contest’s website. Below, you can view the five video finalists for the “Tell Us Your Story” contest.

Online voting runs through August 31st, and the grand prize winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 1. Ten voters will also randomly be selected to win prizes of their own.

Videos A and B

Videos C and D

Video E