Tag: public policy

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Cincinnati region lands $17M for energy efficiency retrofits

The Greater Cincinnati region landed $17 million for energy efficiency retrofit projects through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Retrofit Ramp-Up initiative that is a collaborative effort to reduce energy costs for thousands of home and business owners throughout the Cincinnati region.

The energy efficiency retrofit funds will be supported locally by the Greater Cincinnati Retrofit Ramp-Up program run by the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA). U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH) states that the funds will help modernize the region’s energy infrastructure and create jobs that are critically needed.

“Retrofit projects put people to work, increase energy efficiency in older buildings, and save ratepayers money on their utility bills,” Driehaus explained. “The Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance has offered a plan to retrofit thousands of homes and businesses in our community, and I look forward to the alliance putting these resources to good use.”

According to the U.S. DOE, Cincinnati’s retrofit program will involve community and organizational outreach efforts that will include the expertise of energy adviser services in residential, commercial and public sectors. This process, led by GCEA, seeks to utilize a model of community collaboration, including marketing, utility program integration, financing affordability and accessibility, customer participation and workforce development.

“This federal funding allows us to leverage private capital to potentially create a local energy efficiency market of up to $50 million per year,” said GCEA Executive Director Andy Holzhauser. “That means residents and business owners are saving money on their utility bills, moving our country toward energy independence, and creating or retaining as many as 1,400 quality jobs to serve this market.”

In total, national Retrofit Ramp-Up projects make up part of the $80 billion Recovery Act investment aimed at developing clean energy and improving energy efficiencies. Cincinnati’s program won its $17 million grant through a competitive bidding process.

Photo of Andy Holzhauser provided.

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News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati City Council approves critical funding for streetcar project

Cincinnati City Council gathered today to vote on allocating $2.6 million for the Cincinnati Streetcar project that will allow the project to move forward and signal a local financial commitment to the Federal government in the next round of TIGER grants.

An initial motion by Councilman Monzel opposed to the Cincinnati Streetcar was soundly defeated five to two with Winburn abstaining from the vote. Following that motion 31 members of the public spoke on the matter of allocating the $2.6 million.

The group consisted of students, young professionals, business and property owners, and those interested in seeing a better city. Out of the 31 speakers only two spoke against the project – one of which being Tom Luken. The message was clear to Cincinnati’s City Council: If you want the support of the next generation of Cincinnatians, you need to support improved public transportation.

Business owners also spoke overwhelmingly in favor of the project touting its economic benefits with Bob Pickford, President and CEO of Findlay Market, going as far to say that, “The single-most important investment this city can make to keep Findlay Market viable long-term is the streetcar.”

A student from the University of Cincinnati’s world renowned college of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning then went on to urge City Council to prove his classmates wrong by investing in the streetcar and showing them that they can stay in Cincinnati after graduation and be welcomed by a progressive, forward-thinking city.

After the long public comment session Cincinnati’s City Council discussed the matter amongst themselves. Councilman Berding went on in his comments and quoted creative economy expert Richard Florida’s recent book that discussed the need for vibrant city centers in a new economy. Berding also mentioned Jane Jacobs’ progressive vision for American cities as places that are vibrant and foster creativity.

Councilman Bortz then brought the discussion back home and stated how an affirmative vote to allocate these funds will go a long way towards closing the financial gap and securing the necessary Federal funding for the project. Meanwhile Monzel sounded off on Teaparty talking points about “feeding the beast” when it comes to getting Federal grant money.

When all was said and done, Cincinnati’s City Council voted 6-2 to allocate $2.6 million to the Cincinnati Streetcar project with only Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel voting no (Winburn abstained). While initially small, this commitment will go a long way in terms of the total $63 million local commitment as Cincinnati sends its application to the Federal government for the next round of TIGER funds.

Interestingly enough, both Ghiz and Monzel have their sights on the vacant Hamilton County Commissioner seat and have since shifted further to the right to appeal to a broader, more conservative county population. Ghiz has made the greatest shift after having authoritatively saying that she had always supported the project – that is until now that she has the suburbs in mind as she is voting on city issues.

Downtown resident John Schneider has seen all of Cincinnati’s public transportation discussions as the chairman of the Alliance for Regional Transit, and summed it up near the end of the public comment session when he said, “This is a day that will go down in the history books.” Speculation is not typically my thing, but I believe this will be the day that we look back and realize when Cincinnati stepped up to the challenge of redefining itself for a 21st Century economy.

Follow along with the live Twitter discussion from earlier today here.

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News Politics Transportation

Critical vote on Cincinnati Streetcar funds today at 1pm

Today, Cincinnati City Council will vote on whether to approve roughly $2.6 million in City funding for the streetcar project. This financial commitment from the City is not only important to help keep the project moving forward, but also to help the project win future allocations of state and federal grants.

The Cincinnati Streetcar came away empty handed when the first round of TIGER funds were awarded, and one of the primary reasons for this was the lack of a local financial commitment to the project. The Feds, like any investor, like to know that they are investing in a project that is supported financially by those asking for the money. They like to know that the local community has a financial stake in the project and want to see it succeed.

If you are able, attending the meeting today at City Hall would be extremely helpful. There needs to be a majority in favor of approving these funds to make it happen, and so far there are four firm yes votes (Quinlivan, Cole, Qualls, Thomas). Both Chris Bortz and Jeff Berding appear to be on the fence, so let them know that your vote depends on them supporting this crucial investment in Cincinnati’s urban core, and let the others know that their future political aspirations outside of City Hall depend on their support as well.

If you would like to comment you should show up to City Hall 15 minutes early (meeting starts at 1pm) so that you can fill out a card to speak. If you are not quite comfortable sharing your story with members of Council, then simply show up to let them know that there is a critical mass of support for this project that won overwhelmingly at the ballot box this past November. If you are unable to show up at all, please contact members of City Council to share your thoughts.

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News Transportation

Qualls to discuss conversion of prominent Uptown streets to two-way traffic

Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls will host a press conference today at 11am in Walnut Hills to discuss the conversion of McMillan Street and William Howard Taft Road from one-way to two-way streets.

Qualls reportedly will be joined by various Walnut Hills community leaders who have long supported the idea of converting the two heavily traveled east/west streets back to two-way traffic. Residents and business owners in the area feel that such a conversion will help to further revitalize their neighborhoods, and return vitality to the business district.

Converting one-way streets into two-way streets has become an increasingly popular urban design tool over recent years by cities looking to slow down traffic, increase access and thus improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Qualls has been a leading advocate for the implementation of a ‘Complete Streets’ policy that would also embody many of these things by ensuring that all modes of transportation are accounted for in the design of streets and the public right-of-way.

The press conference will be held at Kurelis Interiors on E. McMillan Street (map) in Walnut Hills at 11am. Also on hand will be Greg Loomis from Campus Management and Jeff Raser who is part of the Walnut Hills Working Group and has been lending professional assistance in the development of form-based codes around Cincinnati.

UPDATE: Following the press conference Qualls’ office released a motion that is co-sponsored by Jeff Berding, Chris Bortz, Laure Quinlivan and Cecil Thomas. The motion calls for city administration to develop an implementation plan for the two-way conversion of McMillan Street and William Howard Taft Road east of I-71 before City Council takes its summer recess. The motion also calls for city administration to deliver a report on the feasibility of converting McMillan and Taft west of I-71 to Clifton Avenue by September 2010.

Another critical part of the motion calls for the incorporation of several traffic calming measures that will make the streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. Those improvements could potentially include landscaped medians, crosswalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, improved on-street parking design, wider sidewalks, bus pullouts, reduced traffic speeds and even the incorporation of roundabouts.

Photo taken by Laura Sandt.

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News

Cincinnati showing improvements over 2000 Census response rates

Lower Price Hill, the West End, Over-the-Rhine, Mt. Auburn, Clifton Heights and Corryville make up much of Cincinnati’s center city neighborhoods, and they also represent some of the lowest Census 2010 response rates to date. As of Monday, April 12 most of Cincinnati’s center city neighborhoods were below the 66% national average response rate while the East End, Clifton, Hyde Park, East Walnut Hills and Mt. Lookout all reporting at or above the national average.

A Census tract representing the northern portion of the West End is currently at a low 39%, while two Census tracts representing Pendleton and part of Walnut Hills have registered 43% and 42% response rates respectively. The lowest in the City of Cincinnati is Fay Apartments, an official City neighborhood and its own Census tract, at 34%. The City of Cincinnati in its entirety is at 63%, while Hamilton County has a 71% response rate making it the highest of Ohio’s five most populous counties.

Back in Cincinnati’s center city the success story is overwhelmingly the Census tracts that make up Over-the-Rhine. All four of the Census tracts there are already well above the Census 2000 response rates with two of the tracts a dramatic 21% higher already. Meanwhile, the Census tract in Over-the-Rhine that has been publicized for being one of the most difficult to count in the nation is currently at 44% which is 17% higher than the final Census 2000 tally.

“We are pleased with the appearance of an increase in participation, especially in OTR,” said Katherine Keough-Jurs, Senior City Planner with the City of Cincinnati’s Department of City Planning & Buildings who went on to note that the data collection methods differ from 2000 to 2010 and thus make the numbers more difficult to compare.

“Technically, comparing 2000 to 2010 is little bit like comparing apples and oranges,” Keough-Jurs explained. “Still, we are pleased that so far OTR is showing 40% to 53% participation rates and that some City neighborhoods are as high as 80%.”

The areas surrounding the University of Cincinnati had initially been slow to report and were initially some of the most under-performing in Cincinnati. The past week has seen a rapid increase in the number of responses in these neighborhoods with all now reporting at levels comparable to 2000 Census response rates with months still to go thanks to a 10% surge.

Cincinnati Counts workers have been hitting Cincinnati’s streets for months working to inform people about the 2010 Census. The good looking group on the right is a group of fellow Urban Planning students I knew while at the University of Cincinnati (shout out!).

The real paradigm exists when you move from the difficulties of counting center city populations to their suburban counterparts. As of April 12th, the west side community of Green Township boasted the highest response rate (83%) in the entire nation for communities with more than 50,000 people.

Census workers will continue to visit households that have yet to respond through July to help drive up those response rates before they must, by law, deliver the Census results to the President in December. Keough-Jurs notes that households with forms not turned in by Friday, April 16 may receive a visit from a door-to-door enumerator in May.

“Our 100-plus Complete Count Committee members are still working hard to get the word out that the census is simple, safe and important, and reminding people to complete and return their Census forms,” explained Keough-Jurs.

Those who have lost or have not received a form can pick up an additional form at local libraries and post offices. There are also Be Counted Centers that have forms available, and Questionnaire Assistance Centers that have helpers there to assist individuals with filling out their forms. You can find the closest Be Counted or Questionnaire Assistance Center near you online.