Tag: planning

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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.

Categories
Development News

Dog Parks Can Improve Livability of Cincinnati’s Urban Neighborhoods

The Trust for Public Land recently ranked the nation’s largest cities based on the number of dog parks available to their residents. Cincinnati fared well, coming in at #15 with 1.2 dog parks per 100,000 residents (73kb PDF) out of the 75 total cities examined.

Dog parks provide dog owners living in the city a spot where they can bring their canine friend to do their business. A secondary, and equally important, role to dog parks is the social component. Dogs and their owners alike often use their trips to the dog park as a way to socialize and interact with other dogs and owners.

This social component provides that always desired community feel as people become bonded to their neighbors through shared experiences. In the city, it also puts more “eyes on the street,” and creates a sense of vibrancy that might not be there if the owners kept themselves and their dogs cooped up inside their urban dwelling unit.

A rather large example of a good urban dog park in NYC – Source

So while Cincinnati fares well with the overall dog parks per 100,000 residents analysis, it fails in the very neighborhoods that dog parks would provide this dual benefit. Aside from the Pet Athletic Club, there is no dedicated spot for residents of Downtown, Over-the-Rhine or the West End to take their dogs. These neighborhoods are the most lacking in private yard space and need these kinds of parks to make urban living possible for the slews of dog owners out there.

There is hope though as a dog park is planned for the northern portion of Washington Park as part of its ensuing renovation/expansion. This will be a great asset for the residents of Over-the-Rhine and even those living in the northern parts of Downtown, but how about the many people living in the “Soapbox District” or over near Lytle Park?

Well there was a movement that surfaced about as quickly as it went away for a Downtown dog park. City Manager Milton Dohoney got a group of stakeholders together to study the issue with pledged support from the Downtown Residents Council. The effort, however, has been stalled indefinitely as the associated construction and maintenance costs appeared to be too cumbersome.

Please share any thoughts or ideas you may have about how to go about implementing a small dog park in Downtown Cincinnati. A donated piece of land, volunteer service and ideas about how to set up some sort of dog park endowment would be especially helpful in developing a dog park.
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News

Cincinnati launches Sharrow Pilot Project

In addition to the new dedicated bike lane on Spring Grove Avenue that will provide a critical north/south travel corridor for bicyclists through the heart of the city, the City has also announced a new pilot project for shared lane markings (sharrows).

Sharrows are widely used but have yet to be embraced in the 32nd ranked state for bicyclists that has no cities included on the bicycle friendly list. They improve the safety for bicyclists on streets that lack dedicate bike lanes. With sharrows, motorists are made more aware of their surroundings making it more difficult to ignore a bicyclist that is properly sharing the road with motorists.

The Cincinnati Sharrow Pilot Project has identified a few corridors that the City believes are good candidates for sharrows and is planned to start this spring. The City is currently asking for input and have put a survey up for people to vote on the top 2 corridors for potential sharrows. You can also email them with additional ideas and other corridor suggestions at sharrows[at]cincinnati-oh[dot]gov.

The City of Cincinnati currently boasts 55 miles of streets designated as bike routes (24 of which include signage), over 200 bicycle racks citywide, with an estimated 63 miles of bike/hike trails in the planning stages all as part of the City’s Bicycle Transportation Program. To request bike rack installation, report potholes, missing signs or any other bicycling related issue you can contact the City by calling (513) 591-6000.

Click to view larger version of flyer
Categories
Business Development News

Does casino fit for prominent Broadway Commons site?

It was announced last week that there is yet another movement to legalize casino gaming in Ohio. The difference with this proposal is its scope. Instead of a single casino for the entire state, casinos would instead be placed in each of the state’s largest cities (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo).

The intent is to reach a larger market and have broader voter appeal come November. In Cincinnati the proposal has already picked up some high-profile support in Mayor Mark Mallory, City Councilman Jeff Berding and former Mayor Charlie Luken.

The site for the proposed casino is the pipe-dream location that is Broadway Commons (GoogleMap). The site is located in the Pendleton sub-neighborhood of historic Over-the-Rhine. Its close proximity to Downtown, the convention center, several museums, gobs of hotel rooms and major tourism draws like the Reds and Bengals have long made the site a prime spot for redevelopment speculation (streetcar connectivity).

The question is what is right for such a prime location? Seems like a pretty subjective question, and it is. In the 90’s many people (including myself) thought the site would have been a perfect location for the new Reds ballpark. Other ideas have ranged from urban big-box stores, a mega park, rail transit hub and of course the mixed use urban infill that we would all love to see.

Plans for the once proposed ballpark at Broadway Commons

The problem of course has been market reality. With a slew of new condos and apartments constantly coming on the market in Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Newport, Covington and the Westend – can we really absorb more residential units, hotels, office and retail space, if so at what cost? Does it jeopardize the future success in OTR, Downtown and The Banks? Will Cincinnati ever push the rail transit agenda and make light rail, streetcars and high-speed rail reality here, if so can we afford to wait that long to redevelop this major site sitting unproductive?

The owners (Chavez Properties), of Broadway Commons, seem to be ready and willing to sell and they are on board with this casino plan. A casino would turn the giant surface lot into a tax productive use, create hundreds of permanent jobs, significantly boost tax revenues for Cincinnati and Hamilton County and potentially create some spinoff investment in the surrounding community.

At the same time the casino would seemingly prey on those with less, create a handful of social problems for a city that already has its fair share, possibly create an island development that encourages its patrons not to leave the confines and potentially insert an out-of-place building and design into one of the nation’s largest and most important historical districts.

Mixed Use redevelopment plan for Broadway Commons that competed with the ballpark proposal – Source

My preference would be for a rail transit hub with mixed use development. Another ideal scenario would be to develop the site as a high-tech business hub that would capitalize off of the proximity to both Downtown and Uptown with its hospitals and universities. At the same time I do realize the need to develop this site into something productive. So I’m decidedly undecided on the issue. Can anyone sway me one way or another?

If you’re in favor of this proposal feel free to sign the online petition.
Categories
News Politics Transportation

Scramble Crossings for Cincinnati

Those who frequent Downtown know how crowded some intersections get with pedestrians throughout the day. There are 23 intersections that see more than 1,000 pedestrians during peak hours. Of those 23, five see more than 2,000 and one (4th & Walnut) sees over 3,000 pedestrians per hour.

That’s a lot of people walking around and trying to navigate the roadways filled with delivery trucks, taxis, buses, bicyclists and the hurried drivers. In addition to it being frustrating, it can also be dangerous to attempt multiple crossings of the same congested intersection.

2008 Downtown Pedestrian Count Map

If pedestrians were able to cross diagonally across intersections with traffic stopped in all directions, it would improve both vehicular and pedestrian flow, but also improve safety across the board.

“Scramble crossings” essentially are intersections that do just that. In Cincinnati’s case, intersections with high volumes of pedestrian traffic could implement these during their peak volume hours of the day. The “scramble crossings” or “diagonal crossings” could first be implemented at the five intersections that see volume in excess of 2,000 pedestrians per hour, and could be expanded as needed.

When intersections no longer have pedestrian volumes to warrant the “scramble crossings” they could revert back to normal crossing operations. The associated costs would be reprogramming of the lights, painting of the diagonal crossings and possibly some minimal signage/education. Be sure to share any other intersections you feel are qualified for such programming in the comment section.

Watch this brief 3 minute video about how Los Angeles is implementing these crossings today, and how they are functioning for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Pedestrian count data from 2008 Pedestrian Count Summary (1mb PDF)