Tag: public policy

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati defeats Issue 48 and votes a younger, more progressive city council into office

For the second time in three years rail transit advocates scored a major political victory in November. This year’s victory came in the form of the 51.5% to 48.5% defeat of Issue 48 which would have banned all investments in rail transportation for the next decade.

The defeat of Issue 48 coincided with the overhaul of Cincinnati’s city council. The new council includes a 7-2 majority in favor of the Cincinnati Streetcar (previously 4-4-1), and an 8-1 progressive voting block after four Republicans were not reelected. Also striking with new council is that the three brand new members are all Democrats and all 32-years-old or younger.

Still, the news of the day was the repeated defeat of a measure intended on stopping Cincinnati from building a modern streetcar line and planning a comprehensive regional light rail system. Construction of the Midwest’s first modern streetcar system is now scheduled to commence in the coming months.

UrbanCincy will provide more in-depth updates on the 2011 election results in the coming days, but for now enjoy this exclusive footage from the Cincinnati Streetcar celebration at Arnold’s Bar & Grill last night.

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Business Development News Opinion Politics Transportation

Vote in support of Cincinnati’s urban core today

Today Cincinnati voters will approve or defeat the most far-reaching public transportation ballot issue to confront any American city in recent times. The passage of Issue 48 would not just kill Cincinnati’s modern streetcar project, which has been in planning since 2007 and fully funded by 2010, but will ban all planning and construction of rail transit and passenger rail projects within the City of Cincinnati’s municipal boundaries until 2020.

Issue 48’s author, Anderson Township resident Chris Finney, has been abusing Cincinnati’s charter amendment process since the early 1990’s. He is the man who concocted 1993’s Article XII, the anti-LGBT charter amendment that attracted waves of bad publicity and cost Cincinnati an estimated $25 million in convention business until it was overturned in 2004.

In 2009 Finney’s political action committee, Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), partnered with the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, then headed by ex-city councilman Chris Smitherman, to place an anti-transit charter amendment on the ballot. The broad language of Issue 9, as it became known, would have mandated a public vote on Cincinnati’s modern streetcar project as well as any other passenger rail investment, such as Ohio’s 3C Corridor proposal, within the City of Cincinnati.

Issue 9 was soundly defeated, all necessary capital funds were identified for the Cincinnati Streetcar in 2010, and groundbreaking was expected in 2011. Bolstered by the election of John Kasich (R) as Ohio’s governor in November 2010, and his controversial reallocation of $50 million in state funds this past spring, COAST regrouped with the NAACP to place another anti-transit issue on the November 2011 ballot.

The implications of Issue 48 are even more far-reaching, as the charter amendment will undo all of the planning work that has been completed for the Cincinnati Streetcar, force the city to forfeit the $25 million Urban Circulator Grant it was awarded in 2010, and cripple the city’s ability to improve its public transportation for the rest of the decade.

UrbanCincy would like to encourage you to go out and vote today. Issue 48 is one of many significant issues on this year’s ballot. You will not see our endorsements for any other issue other than public transportation this year, so please be sure to go out and vote your values. And please be sure to vote no on Issue 48.

Also, when you visit your polling place today, remember that these city council candidates support the Cincinnati’s modern streetcar project: Wendell Young (D), Kevin Flynn (C), Chris Seelbach (D), Yvette Simpson (D), Chris Bortz (R), Laure Quinlivan (D), Cecil Thomas (D), Roxanne Qualls (C), Nicholas Hollan (D), Jason Riveiro (D), Kathy Atkinson (I). A full list of individuals and organizations who oppose Issue 48 has been provided by Cincinnatians For Progress.

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Business News Politics

City’s third Community Entertainment District designated in Price Hill

City and neighborhood leaders gathered in Price Hill yesterday to celebrate the designation of Cincinnati’s third Community Entertainment District (CED). The new CED will cover the Incline District and is expected to facilitate redevelopment efforts ongoing in the neighborhood.

Price Hill was required to go through an application process in order to receive the CED designation which requires that an area include entertainment, retail, sporting, cultural, and/or arts establishments.

Once the designation is in place it allows new restaurants to open with a liquor license thus reducing startup costs by an estimated $30,000. Nine additional liquor licenses will be up for grabs in the new Price Hill CED.


City and neighborhood leaders gather in Price Hill to celebrate the CED designation. Image provided.

“We decided to pursue the CED designation after seeing its potential to free up capital for smaller restaurateurs,” Diana Vakharia, director of operations at Price Hill Will, told UrbanCincy. “The costs of installing a commercial kitchen and other upgrades are burdensome enough.”

Vakharia said that the tools and resources provided with the designation will help Price Hill better compete in the initial years of economic revitalization taking place there.

In addition to the $50 million Incline Square development, a new residential development called The Flats reached 100 percent occupancy in 60 days, and the area is also soon house the region’s second Bayou Fish House location. Price Hill Will officials also say that property owners are in negotiations with another potential restaurant.

In total, the 48-acre Price Hill Community Entertainment District includes more than 70,000 square feet of commercial space available within existing and potential new structures.

In addition to Price Hill, Pleasant Ridge received the CED designation with the help of Cincinnati City Councilmember Laure Quinlivan (D) last December. Two other CED designations exist in downtown Cincinnati along the central riverfront for The Banks.

City officials say that neighborhood leaders in Over-the-Rhine, Northside and Madisonville are also working on applications to receive the coveted designation.

“Helping neighborhoods thrive and grow is my goal,” Councilmember Quinlivan said. “It’s going to be exciting to see what happens in the Incline District now.”

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News Politics Transportation

‘Transportation poverty’ predicted for Cincinnati’s aging Baby Boomer population

A new report, Aging in Place, Stuck without Options: Fixing the Mobility Crisis Threatening the Baby Boom Generation, released by Transportation for America finds that more than 64 percent of Cincinnati’s population between the ages of 65 and 79 will have poor transit access by 2015. In the Cincinnati metropolitan area, that accounts for approximately 200,000 people.

The Cincinnati region is not alone when it comes to providing adequate transit options to a growing aging population. Out of 48 regions studied with 1-3 million people, Cincinnati ranked as the 17th worst. Columbus and Cleveland, meanwhile, ranked as the 18th and 24th worst respectively.

The lack of transit options provided in the regions studied is matched by an increasing number of seniors utilizing public transit. A 2011 report from the AARP Public Policy Institute found that the total number of trips by seniors on public transit grew 51 percent between 2001 and 2009, and that seniors now account for nearly 10 percent of all trips taken on public transit in the United States.


St. Bernard bus stop photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Nancy Schuster, executive director of Independent Transportation Network of Greater Cincinnati (ITNGC), believes that these facts are on a collision course that will very soon result in transportation poverty for many Cincinnatians.

And the data comes as Cincinnatians face an important decision at the ballot box in November. Issue 48 would prohibit the City of Cincinnati from spending any money on rail transit for the next decade.

Schuster refrained from offering an official position on Issue 48, but did say that much of the focus has been on the price tag of mass transit, not on its benefits to the city and how transit serves the needs of seniors and those with disabilities.

“Hopefully we can find suitable, affordable transit options that will enable seniors and visually-impaired adults to remain independent, contributing members of our Greater Cincinnati community,” Schuster told UrbanCincy.

The Transportation for America report listed five best practices to help address the pending crisis for seniors and the disabled. Those practices include coordination between different levels of government for planning and service integration, promotion of mobility management, designing communities that accommodate all demographics, improved transportation safety, and encouraging community-based transportation programs.

“Failing to plan for mass transportation options will likely hinder the vision of Cincinnati as a retirement destination,” Schuster explained. A situation made even more troubling by the fact that more than 85 percent seniors have a strong desire to age in place.

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News Politics

Hamilton County looking for public input on development of 2012 budget

The Hamilton County Administration is looking for community input on the development of its 2012 budget. Hamilton County residents will be able to share their thoughts on transportation, economic development and various tax levies now through October 23.

The 2012 Hamilton County Citizen Survey also asks participants how they would handle various tax proposals to help balance the stadium fund.

A theme continued from last year’s citizen survey is that of regional governance and planning. In this year’s questionnaire participants are asked what role regional planning should play in Hamilton County, and how county-wide programs like the sewer district and sheriff patrols.

According to the Hamilton County Office of Budget and Strategic Initiatives (BSI), many of the more than 1,300 respondents last year expressed a desire to share additional thoughts not otherwise provided in the multiple choices presented in the survey. As a result, BSI officials have added comment boxes to this year’s survey in order to ascertain even more ideas and potential solutions.

The survey will run from October 10 through 23, with final results being shared on October 26. Those interested in participating can also do so by utilizing the QR code shared in this article.

Those who would prefer to share their thoughts in person will have the ability to do so at two remaining public budget hearings. The first will take place today at 11:30am at the Hamilton County Administration Building downtown (map). The second, and final of four total budget hearings, will take place at the Springfield Township Administrative Building on October 20 at 7:30pm.