Tag: events

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Hundreds of Cincinnatians celebrate groundbreaking of Midwest’s first modern streetcar

On what turned out to be virtually perfect weather for Cincinnati in mid-February, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the Cincinnati Streetcar this past Friday.

The event was announced to the public a week prior, and included dignitaries and media from not only Cincinnati but from around the United States. The #LetsGo stream used on Twitter quickly became a trending topic and people from St. Louis, Portland, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, Seattle, Cleveland and Indianapolis chimed in with their praise of Cincinnati.

Some of the dignitaries at the event included FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff; Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory (D); City Manager Milton Dohoney; councilmembers Laure Quinlivan (D), Roxanne Qualls (C), Chris Seelbach (D), Yvette Simpson (D), Wendal Young (D), Cecil Thomas (D); and Secretary of Trasnportation Ray LaHood (R).

Those in Cincinnati who have been involved with its efforts to improve its transit system know that the most honored guest of the day was John Schneider. Schneider, or as Mayor Mallory refered to him “Mr. Streetcar,” has been advocating regional transit improvements for nearly two decades and has taken scores of Cincinnatians to Portland to see how modern streetcars work first-hand.

Schneider also serves on the Cincinnati Planning Commission and has been living car-free in Cincinnati for many years. During the press conference Mayor Mallory gave the podium over to Mr. Schneider so that he could share his thoughts on the historic day.

UrbanCincy contributor Jake Mecklenborg also captured the climatic end to the event as the hundreds in attendance counted down to the official groundbreaking.

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Arts & Entertainment News

World’s first game-sourced film to debut in Over-the-Rhine next Saturday

The 2011 MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) ended nearly five months ago, but one of its products is about to have a major impact on the neighborhood it calls home. On Saturday, February 25, Possible Worldwide and Cincinnati-based Ripple FX Films will hold a world premiere of what is believed to be the first-ever, game and crowd-sourced film.

Radius: A Short Film gathered its material at last year’s MPMF when festival-goers used the SCVNGR smartphone application. Those who played the game helped to create its content. Since that time, the production team has worked together to produce the film in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Film Commission.

According to the production team, content for the film also came from the Emery Theatre’s 11.11.11 opening event and a Final Friday on Main Street.

The film will debut at Memorial Hall (map) from 7:30pm to 11pm on Saturday, February 25. Tickets can be purchased online until 12pm on Thursday, February 23 or at the door the day of the event for $25. Event organizers say that it will include a champagne reception, comments from the producers and filmmakers, food, drink and what is being called a “red carpet experience.”

Those who would like to find a cheaper way into the event are in luck. UrbanCincy will be giving away two free tickets to one lucky person who best answers “What Is Radius?” to them. Feel free to be creative and do response videos, photos, cliché memes, or simply submit a written entry.

We will take those submissions via email, comments on this post, or through any of our social media outlets until midnight on Sunday. The winner will be contacted (please include an email or phone number where you can be reached) on Monday and instructed how to get their free tickets for the Saturday event.

Categories
Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati to break ground on streetcar project next week with Ray LaHood

Councilmembers Christopher Smitherman (I) and Charlie Winburn (R) called a special city council hearing today to discuss the finances of the $110 million Cincinnati Streetcar project. The hearing had a specific focus on utility relocation agreements due to the current impasse between the City and Duke Energy.

City officials stated unequivocally that the project will move forward, and that it is common for projects of this scale to have ongoing issues needing to be resolved even once ground has been broken. Both Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney stated that an agreement will eventually be made with Duke Energy, but that the engineering disagreements between the two parties needs to be resolved first.


Rendering of the streetcar along Walnut Street in downtown Cincinnati.

The biggest question at hand, with Duke Energy, is that the City has looked at existing streetcar projects around the United States and come up with a standoff they believe is workable. Duke Energy, meanwhile, has disagreed with those statements and believes that a much greater standoff is needed.

Duke Energy estimates that the relocation work, based on their engineering, would cost approximately $18 million. The City, on the other hand, believes it should only cost $6 million based on the work of their engineers.

“Utilities are issues in every transportation project, not just rail but roadway projects as well,” a representative from Parsons Brinckerhoff told UrbanCincy immediately following the meeting. “This is true for every single project, and they get worked out, and moved forward.”

At a press conference held earlier this week, City Manager Dohoney stated that City of Cincinnati should not be responsible for subsidizing the modernization of Duke Energy’s utility assets, and that the two parties will remain at an impasse until the engineering is validated.

The big news came in the final statement of the meeting when Mayor Mallory announced the groundbreaking for the Cincinnati Streetcar will take place at 1pm on Friday, February 17 outside of Memorial Hall (map). Mayor Mallory also stated that city and project officials will be joined by the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at the groundbreaking.

Jenny Kessler and John Yung contributed to this story.

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Business News Politics

Cincinnati may soon be powered by 100% renewable energy

Cincinnati is working on a new power aggregation deal right now that could lead to the entire city being powered from 100 percent renewable energy sources. The deal, city officials say, could be finalized within the coming months and be in place for consumers by summer 2012.

Such a move would make Cincinnati the largest city in the United States to have its energy supply come from 100 percent renewable sources, and it might be accomplished without any significant cost difference for ratepayers.

The way it would work, city officials tell UrbanCincy, is by requiring power providers to include quotes for both the cheapest electricity available and 100 percent renewable electricity. In Oak Park, IL, for example, the bids came back so competitive that city officials decided to go with the 100 percent renewable solution.


Cincinnati businesses and homeowners may be supplied by 100% renewable energy as soon as this summer.

“There is no guarantee that our bids will come in the same as Oak Park’s, but the question may be whether we are willing to pay an additional one percent to pay for renewable energy,” explained Office of Environment Quality (OEQ) director Larry Falkin.

The movement towards sustainability has evidently picked up steam in Cincinnati as of late. At the first of two required public hearings, approximately 70 people came out to speak in favor of using completely renewable energy sources, and the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace flew a hot air ship over Cincinnati last week advocating for such change.

“The biggest thing impacting our carbon footprint is how we get our electricity,” said Falkin who explained that Cincinnati currently gets approximately 85 percent of its energy from coal. “This is probably the biggest opportunity we’ll have over the next several years to dramatically reduce Cincinnati’s carbon footprint.”

After a positive first hearing at City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee, officials expect that the effort will move forward and receive approval from the full council on Wednesday. Should that take place, the request for proposals (RFP) would then go out within the next two to three weeks.

Even if the response to the city’s RFP does not come back as favorable as Oak Park’s, city officials may be able to structure the deal to offer consumers a choice between the cheapest electricity option and a 100 percent renewable electricity option.

“There are a lot of things Cincinnati is doing to position itself as a leader in sustainability and going green – both in the public and private sectors,” Falkin concluded. “This is a significant part of that total package in terms of branding Cincinnati as a progressive city, and cities across the country may start to look to adopt the Cincinnati solution for energy.”

The final Budget & Finance Committee meeting scheduled to discuss power aggregation will take place today at 1pm at City Hall (map).

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Arts & Entertainment News

The Bright Light Social Hour at MOTR Tonight

Over the past few months there seemingly has been more news about concert venues in the Cincinnati area than concerts themselves. There was of course the drama that has temporarily shuttered The Southgate House in Newport which has plans to reopen the venue in some form or fashion elsewhere during 2012. Then came the news of the loss of The Mad Hatter in Covington which was a small room that hosted many up and coming acts.

Not all news has been bad though, as some of the larger venues in town have booked shows that generally pass by Cincinnati. The newly renovated Taft Theatre will be hosting Ryan Adams at the end of January, and The Black Keys have chosen US Bank Arena as a launching point for their 2012 North American tour with a show on March 3. Additionally, the historic Emery Theatre in Over the Rhine has shown signs of life with a successful fundraiser during November 2011.

While all of that drama has unfolded, MOTR Pub on Main Street has quietly been chugging along during their first 15 months of operation bringing local and national acts to the stage nightly, all the while helping to cultivate the music scene in Cincinnati. Dan McCabe, also known for his leadership with MidPoint Music Festival has breathed life into a bar and brought along with it a venue that showcases up and coming talent all without ever having a cover charge. MOTR also features a free jukebox to keep the music going even when the stage is empty.

Tonight, MOTR hosts a 2011 MPMF favorite, Austin Texas based The Bright Light Social Hour. To say that this band is a favorite of Austin is putting it lightly. They burst onto the scene with their self titled release in 2010 and managed to pick up six awards from the Austin Chronicle including band and album of the year. However high the acclaim was for the album release, their legend has truly grown since then because of their dynamic live show, and just recently The Austin Post recognized them as the best live act in Austin during 2011.

The Bright Light Social Hour brings along a sense of self-described “an unabashedly wide-screen rock group, melding fists-up rock and roll with muscular funk, soul, and psychedelia.” Add in heart, soul, and a ton of energy and you may have  a sense as to what their live show is like. You can stream their full length album and live EP here and decide for yourself. They will be taking the stage at MOTR around 10pm tonight, with of course no cover charge.