In Soapbox this week I wrote about the plans for renovating Mt. Lookout Square. Below you can view the three-phased approach to implementing those changes. The work is still preliminary and is still trying to work itself out in terms of funding and overall scope. Click on any of the images to open up a larger version in a new window.
While the editor’s at the Cincinnati Enquirer have said that they’re not in favor of a streetcar system for Cincinnati right now, the Cincinnati Business Courier disagrees. Business Courier publisher, Douglas Bolton, hits on a key issue with this topic. Whether you like the plan or not, now is not the time to tie Cincinnati’s hands on passenger rail development as the rest of the nation moves forward with a prioritized passenger rail agenda.
“Sure, the economy is generally burnt toast right now – but history tells us that some of the most important companies, inventions and decisions were made during great economic strife. The Cincinnati streetcar should join that list. If Cincinnati and its voters turn their backs in November on a streetcar and rail system this time, we once again will be cutting ourselves out of significant state and federal shifts toward this type of transportation system that are sure to propel other metropolitan regions far ahead of us.” – Douglas Bolton, publisher Cincinnati Business Courier
Bolton emphasizes a couple of important points that are embodied in the above selection:
As Cincinnati moves forward in the coming months more will become clear about the positions of both sides of the rail transit debate in Cincinnati. Much of what was heard in 2002 is being said again in 2009 with this effort to bring rail transit to Cincinnati (second largest metropolitan area in the U.S. without rail transit, behind only Detroit). It is important that the voters are offered correct information and that they hear more than the same old rhetoric used to defeat rail transit in the past. No longer are we able to sit back and let things happen. Cincinnati will either be a part of this new economy and capitalize off of the changing U.S. demographics, or it won’t.
Vote AGAINST the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment this November.
It appears like the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program is more about stimulating the auto industry than it is about being environmentally beneficial. Officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program officially kicked off on July 1, 2009 with $1 billion worth of money to go out and get an estimated 250,000 “clunkers” off the road. That money was intended to last until November 1, 2009, but it was already projected to be depleted within the first month. As a result Congress acted “within minutes” by allocating an additional $2 billion for the program following a briefing by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
The auto industry, car dealerships and many individuals out there seem to be giddy at the idea of getting up to $4,500 to trade in a vehicle for a newer model…especially when they might not have been planning on doing so. This benefit is being matched some some automakers and car dealerships which makes it even more financially advantageous for Americans to go out there and ditch their car for a modestly more efficient vehicle whether they need to or not.
There is estimated to be 1,000 gallons worth of energy within an already existing automobile. So the lifetime gas savings should exceed that 1,000 gallons worth of fuel in order for this program to be worthwhile from a fuel standpoint alone. ABC News notes that:
“A car may be traded in for a new car that gets as little as 22 miles per gallon; the owner of a large pickup truck that gets 15 miles per gallon or less may be eligible for a $3,500 voucher to purchase another large pickup truck of no better fuel economy if it is “smaller or similar” in size.”
It has been said that the most “green” building is one that already exists, so it makes more sense to renovate historic and other existing structures than it does to tear them down or let them deteriorate beyond repair. I guess this same theory can be applied to automobiles. This program just seems to be more evidence that our nation is obsessed with consumption and that we can not accept lower growth rates as reality. At some point our revenue and growth models are going to have to be adjusted in a way to be profitable without such high rates of consumption that leave us all broke.
Photo from TheCarBlogger
Sometimes, people just say exactly what needs to be said. This is one of those times.
Please take 2 minutes to read what our friend Jason over at Somewhere Over the Rhine has just said about why the election this November is so important.
And from the Mayor himself:
“If that measure passes, it’s the end of streetcars in Cincinnati, it will be the end of the conversation about light rail, it will be the end of the conversation about passenger rail between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland,” Mallory said. “If we are in a situation where we have to wait, the federal government is going to move on.”
Tearing down a major interstate highway through the heart of a major metropolitan area sounds crazy right? Wrong. Past case studies have shown that this has been done in places like San Francisco, Milwaukee and Portland, and has resulted in higher qualities of life and with little to no harm caused to driving times.
This topic is always a popular one with those in the Urban Planning/Design profession, and with a new planning interest in New Orleans post-Katrina the recipe might be just right for the demolition of Interstate 10 through the Treme neighborhood. Like many urban neighborhoods of the early to mid 20th Century, Treme was a once vibrant, unique and local that centered around its grand North Claiborne Avenue. What happened was the injection of the interstate system that plowed through Treme like many other neighborhoods including Cincinnati’s West End and downtown area.
The transition in Claiborne was even more intense as a grand boulevard was replaced by an elevated highway which facilitated the downward spiral of the neighborhood. Many older Nola residents remember North Claiborne Avenue as being the “black people’s Canal Street.” This is important as French Quarter activists were able to block a highway from tearing through their neighborhood which left the Treme neighborhood vulnerable to the interstate system’s wrath…and with that North Claiborne Avenue was gone.
As with many urban neighborhoods across America, Treme is redeveloping and becoming attractive to residents once again. One problem though is that I-10 has caused lower property values and interest for those properties within its immediate vicinity (the exact opposite effect of transit service).
As Nola moves forward with its potential plans to tear down I-10 through Treme (area map), what can be learned? In addition to past examples (listed above) cities like Chattanooga, Buffalo, Seattle and Trenton are all considering the option of tearing out highways through their cities.
Cincinnati narrowed and buried its Fort Washington Way that connects I-71 with I-75 through the heart of downtown and its riverfront property, but could this have instead been removed with traffic instead utilizing the underused Central Parkway and Liberty Street, or even connecting via I-275? What about the Norwood Lateral that ate up the right-of-way that had been preserved for Cincinnati’s planned subway system?
These are important questions as Cincinnati examines how it is going to handle the $1 billion reconstruction of the Brent Spence Bridge, $1 billion reconstruction of I-75 through the Mill Creek Valley and considers the options of upgrading US 50 West to highway status via the 6th Street Expressway through Queensgate, and even possibly extending I-74 east through the city and its eastern suburbs so that it could eventually connect to Washington D.C. per the original Interstate Highway Plan – both of which present untold hundreds of millions (potentially billions) of dollars of public expense.
Are we going to continue to move forward with an antiquated view of transportation planning straight out of the Robert Moses playbook, or will Cincinnati too start to re-examine how it goes about planning for its city and its residents that make it special?