Tag: uptown

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News Politics Transportation

Uptown neighborhoods endorse Cincinnati’s streetcar project

Today the Uptown Consortium Board of Directors voted unanimously to endorse the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar project. The consortium represents Uptown’s largest employers including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, TriHealth Inc. and the University of Cincinnati that combined represent close to 50,000 employees, a payroll of $1.4 billion and an annual economic impact of more than $3 billion.

The Board of Directors stated that the Cincinnati Streetcar represents “an important economic development tool that will connect the city’s two largest employment centers – Uptown and Downtown.”

The newly formed Neighborhoods of Uptown (NOU) represents seven city neighborhoods including Corryville, Clifton, Clifton Heights, University Heights, Fairview, Mt. Auburn and Avondale, and has also unanimously extended its support for the streetcar project and see it as an exciting prospect to link their neighborhoods with Downtown.

“The streetcar project is the kind of bold initiative the neighborhoods are looking for from City Hall,” said Neel, who is president of the CUF Community Council and an assistant professor at UC’s College of Medicine. “We think the streetcar will bring a welcome dose of vitality to our neighborhoods.”

Phase 1 of the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar will run from Cincinnati’s riverfront, through downtown Cincinnati and historic Over-the-Rhine, and up the hill into the Uptown neighborhoods and business districts.

“We believe the streetcar will help attract talent to our city’s key economic centers,” said John Prout, president and CEO of TriHealth, Inc. and the consortium’s board chairman. “The project will also stimulate job growth and serve to revitalize our neighborhoods.”

The announcement comes just months after the unprecedented unanimous vote by University of Cincinnati Student Government Association to support the streetcar project as well. Once complete, the Cincinnati Streetcar will introduce modern streetcar service to the Midwest and will connect the region’s two largest employment centers and many major attractions.

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News

Census meeting today on hard to count populations

U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH) will be in Cincinnati today for a field hearing on hard to count populations on the University of Cincinnati’s Main Campus at 2pm. The hearing will take place at UC’s Main Street Cinema in the lower level of the Tangeman University Center (map).

Representative Driehaus will be joined by a host of local officials including Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Thomas L. Mesenbourg who is the Acting Deputy Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, Representative Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), Dave Scharfenberger who is the Director of Training for Working in Neighborhoods, Jason Riviero with the Leauge of Latin American Citizens of Ohio, Suzanne Hopkins with the Center for Independent Living Options, Josh Spring with the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, and Todd Duncan with UC’s Department of Housing & Food Services.

The hearing will include testimony from the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The intent is to better understand how to count historically under-counted populations in the U.S. Census. Recently a Census District including part of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine and West End neighborhoods was identified as the 6th most difficult to count Census District in the nation.

In Cincinnati, Mayor Mallory has championed efforts over the last several years to ensure that Cincinnati is fully counted and represented in the U.S. Census with the Cincinnati Counts campaign. The U.S. Census helps determine how to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year, and during the last full count in 2000, the U.S. Census Monitoring Board estimated that the United States’ population was under-counted by over 3 million people who are often either minorities, children, the poor, and people in large urban areas like Cincinnati.

Officials now estimate that Cincinnati’s population is currently uncounted by approximately 45,000 people which results in the loss of $2,263 per year, per person in federal funding for schools, public safety and more. Over a ten year period, Cincinnati officials estimated that this cost Cincinnati about $104 million in terms of lost funds.

Tangeman University Center photograph by fusion-of-horizons.

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Business News

$8.5M Facilities Grant to Bolster UC’s Research Standing

The University of Cincinnati has been awarded nearly $8.5 million by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) for the repair, renovation, and modernization of existing research facilities in uptown Cincinnati.

In 2003, then University of Cincinnati president Dr. Nancy Zimpher championed UC|21 – a comprehensive academic planning process that would help lead UC into the 21st Century. Among UC|21’s six primary goals, Goal 2 was to “grow our research excellence” by building on the university’s greatness as a major research university.

The goal was taken even further by Dr. Zimpher who often said she intended on making the University of Cincinnati the nation’s premier urban research institution.

Click to open larger version in new window. Chart produced by Randy A. Simes.

In 2009, the University of Cincinnati generated $378 million in research funding compared with $194 million in 2000, just before the start of UC|21, representing a 95 percent increase in research funding over a ten year period. Announced by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the nearly $8.5 million grant will be issued tomorrow on March 4, 2010 and remain active for five years after its activation.

“This is great news for the University of Cincinnati,” said U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH). “UC carries out cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, and this investment will help ensure the university can continue its important work.”

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News

New parking restrictions added to MLK Drive

Parking just got a little tougher for students at the University of Cincinnati. Traffic Engineers from the City’s Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) have now eliminated on-street parking during rush hour commutes along Martin Luther King Drive heading between Woodside Drive (entrance to Burnett Woods) and Clifton Avenue (map).

Martin Luther King Drive between Woodside & Jefferson removed on-street parking completely when the street was repaved [LEFT]. Martin Luther King Drive between Woodside & Clifton now has rush hour on-street parking restrictions [RIGHT]. Photography by Jake Mecklenborg.

The westbound stretch of roadway has been precariously without parking meters and is one of the most sought after off-campus parking locations for students at UC’s College of Business and College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning. While the eastbound side does have parking meters, the rates are extraordinarily low and are not on pace with nearby parking rates on-campus, in Burnett Woods, on other off-campus streets or garages.

The move comes after the City completely removed on-street parking from the both directions of MLK Drive between Woodside Drive and Jefferson Avenue, and is seemingly part of the larger effort to grow MLK Drive to a much more auto-oriented street than is currently present.

DOTE officials state that the new parking regulations are intended to “improve traffic flow” and “reduce traffic accidents” along the six-lane stretch of roadway. The new regulations prohibit parking eastbound on MLK Drive Monday through Friday from 6am to 9am and westbound from 3pm to 6pm.

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News

New Clifton Heights traffic signals improve pedestrian safety

The City of Cincinnati has installed two new stoplights in the Clifton Heights neighborhood directly adjacent to the University of Cincinnati. These lights are located at the intersections of Calhoun & Ohio streets as well as Clifton & College Court (the drive at which the college of DAAP is located).

For now the light at Ohio and Calhoun only blinks yellow and red, but will be changed to a full functioning stop light in the future. The DAAP light is fully functioning and allows for drivers turning left out of College Court onto Clifton to have a safe right-of-way.

The new light on Calhoun (map) comes at a particularly troubling spot for pedestrians. The flat straight-a-way had often encouraged drivers to speed down the street just feet away from pedestrians and bicyclists, many of whom cross back and forth across the street.

As a student attending the College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning I have experienced the perils of attempting to cross Clifton Street during rush hour. It is a busy, four lane road where drivers often drive over the speed limit. Drivers had a tendency to ignore the small yellow pedestrian crosswalk sign swinging high above the street, and more than once I jumped out of the way to avoid a collision. One memorable morning a van screeched to a halt approximately 6 inches from smashing me into pulpy art student pieces. I gave him a piece of my mind, for sure.