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CincyInDC
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He may be operating on the theory that if he keeps at it eventually it will stick. In other words...even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut.
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NBow37
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Let's Make Cincinnati A Better Place to Live
http://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/let%E2%80%99s-make-cincinnati-a-better-place-to-live/
Great article. Did not know Quinvalin was a staunch streetcar supporter. So we add Qualls, Thomas, Bortz, and Berding to make 5. Ghiz is back and forth depending on her voting support. Cole is still undecided and is in her last term, so she wont be swayed by re-election concerns. She could go either way. I really like the direction this is going. Just need to get this funding squared away. I'm glad the city decided not to let Smitherman and COAST decide the future. Although these Smitherman ballot initiatives are troubling. These next 7-8 months will be crucial. Lets do this!
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Cygnus
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Smitherman is planning a Mayor recall ballot initiative as well as a streetcar ballot initiative for 2010.
Be cautious of any ballot initiative you are asked to sign!
Oddly enough, I was asked to sign a ballot while walking at lunch today (around Walnut & 8th). The gentleman asked me to sign his ballot initiative. I asked for details and found out it was for the Slot Machines at Race Tracks issue. I later saw him at Fountain Square. They aren't wasting any time.
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Civvik
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West Sacramento will be a modern streetcar like we're doing.
This is correct. It will be a spur that connects to their existing LRT system, although that too is being expanded. This was the very last project I worked on the day I got laid off. LOL!
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Caseyc
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Smitherman was sitting at the "Chesley Table" at the Palace today having lunch. Stan seemed to be doing all the talking. That must have been an interesting conversation.
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oakiehigh
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You'll never have a chance to buy land/real estate in OTR as cheap as it was yesterday! 
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Johio
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I think the casino victory gives legitmacy for skeptics of rail a viable reason to invest into downtown. The revenue generated calms the financial fears and they also see economic development that they can believe in because the basin will now be flanked by major attractions within the immediate vicinity on all sides:
South: PBS, GABP, the coliseum, The Banks, the riverfront parks, Freedom Center
East: the casino
North: UC, Findlay Market, Cincinnati Zoo
West: Convention Center, Museum Center/Union Terminal
Central: Aronoff, Fountain Square, all of the festivals, Backstage, Gateway, Music Hall
Not to mention Xavier, Eden Park, Krohn Conservatory, the art museum, etc.
Tieing together all of these assets with a clean, efficient mode of transporation just makes sense.
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jim uber
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Shouldn't the NAACP have more pressing issues to deal with? Maybe it's a good sign for race relations in Cincinnati, that the NAACP has the time to get so worked up about rail transit.
I think that they do have more pressing issues. I would appreciate NAACP getting involved in the redevelopment of OTR in a positive way. I don't know of anyone who lives here who wouldn't hope for a truly integrated community. The emotional key to Smitherman's push on NAACP to go anti streetcar is in his statement that it's a "toy for white yuppies" (can't remember the exact quote, but that was the essence). Everything else - the "boondoggle", the "excessive" costs, etc. is window dressing to play to a wider audience. So, the healthy racial integration of OTR as it redevelops is the keystone to defusing the entire streetcar issue. Of course this is difficult to accomplish, but without dialog nothing even has a chance. And I think there must be many "honest brokers" out there who could serve this city well by helping us to turn the corner. In my opinion the CFP and related groups should now turn their attention to finding those honest brokers, and asking how they can help to bring NAACP to the redevelopment table along with the city, 3CDC, and other groups. I'd like to suggest that this topic is not necessarily off limits for the recently announced City task force that will consider obstacles to OTR rehabilitation. The emperor has been naked for a long time. It's time to be really honest and get down to what the real issues that are holding us back.
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taestell
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It's too bad that Downtown critics would ignore the success of Fountain Square, the Gateway Quarter, and the progress at The Banks, and not start thinking that Downtown is improving until they see a casino. But if that's what it takes, let's build that casino. Cunningham said "I think I'm in favor of it because of the Casino!"
He also spoke highly of passenger rail.
Also Mallory on Tracy and Eddie at 3:10
Was he saying that he supports the Streetcar specifically?
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NBow37
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It's too bad that Downtown critics would ignore the success of Fountain Square, the Gateway Quarter, and the progress at The Banks, and not start thinking that Downtown is improving until they see a casino. But if that's what it takes, let's build that casino.
Cunningham said "I think I'm in favor of it because of the Casino!"
He also spoke highly of passenger rail.
Also Mallory on Tracy and Eddie at 3:10
Was he saying that he supports the Streetcar specifically?
He didn't flat out say "I am behind the streetcar" but he did say that exact phrase of "But now I think I am in favor of it because of the casino". Cunningham wanted to talk about it some more but CFP kinda of went off topic into passenger rail. Regardless, its a positive step. It's around the 2:10 (2 hours and 10 minutes) mark of the podcast
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NBow37
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Tracy sounds like an angry man talking to Mallory. Said the "trolley is stupid" and "high speed rail is dumb"
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DanB
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He didn't sound angry in any way. Just voicing his opinion.
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Cygnus
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Tracy (and Chris Monzel) also wants the Casino put inside the Freedom Center... It's all apart of his radio act. Thankfully he lives (and votes) in Bellevue, KY.
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cincySAL
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Tracy (and Chris Monzel) also wants the Casino put inside the Freedom Center... It's all apart of his radio act. Thankfully he lives (and votes) in Bellevue, KY.
actually, a casino in the Freedom center would be a decent place (partially tongue in cheek).
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Living in Gin
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Funny how COAST's blog today mentions nothing about Issue 9, and they're now back to harping about red light cameras.... Fine, let them obsess about that while the city moves ahead with 3C and the streetcar.
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Sherman Cahal
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Streetcars hot voter issue across USABy John Miller, The Associated Press, November 2, 2009BOISE, Idaho - A streetcar revival in American cities isn't just kicking up sparks from the tracks, they're flying down at city hall, too. In Idaho's capital, a proposed $60 million trolley plan has become a major theme of local elections Nov. 3. Likewise, mayoral races in Charlotte, N.C., and Cincinnati hinge at least partially on whether they should build lines of their own. -- Streetcar backers hope check's in mailBy Barry M. Horstman, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 4, 2009Having turned back a bid to slow down, if not kill, the Cincinnati streetcar plan, city leaders hope they soon will be able to say the check is in the mail from Washington to proceed with the project.
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DanB
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In retrospect, a casino between the stadia would have been a much better idea than the freedom center which isn't exactly bringing in throngs of people. That would have been better at the Harriet Beecher Stowe home in Walnut Hills. Of course, it can only help Broadway Commons, which should have had a baseball park in it already!
Can't you guys see the difference between entertainment and serious discussions? Would people really want to listen to pro-streetcar people talk on the radio all day long?
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Jeffery
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Congrats to y'all on this win. I was following this and could sense that there was some uncertaintiy...but common sense prevaled!
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Eigth and State
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^---"Common sense prevaled!" I know that some voters voted "NO" and thought they were voting against the streetcar. I have no way to know how many might have done this, and we may never know. In any case, it's over, and we can talk about routes and funding again. 
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jim uber
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Funny how COAST's blog today mentions nothing about Issue 9, and they're now back to harping about red light cameras.... Fine, let them obsess about that while the city moves ahead with 3C and the streetcar.
COAST was pretty specific about being happy no matter which way it went, because the people got the vote and that was all they were after. Could be BS, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
No. The vote they wanted the people to have was the vote on any expenditure on any rail project in Cincinnati. Not the vote that happened yesterday, which is what you implied. I mean, that's just nonsensical - if they just wanted the vote they got yesterday, the result would have never mattered, and they would have succeeded just by gathering 6000 signatures. No, COAST lost yesterday. They care, and yes, anything else is BS, and not deserving of any benefit, from doubts or otherwise.
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jmecklenborg
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The rise of Issue 9 did force Mark Mallory to get behind the issue and risk a major embarrassment if the streetcar never got off the ground. COAST exists in large part to try to chisel cracks in the Mallory machine.
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jmecklenborg
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The distance from the planned route to Gilbert Ave. is approximately a half mile. I think the high per-foot cost of the streetcar line will encourage them to place the casino entrance close to Broadway, instead of fronting Gilbert Ave., as was the case in the graphic they published months ago in The Enquirer.  In such a track layout, I suspect that only one streetcar would run the route from the riverfront to the casino, and that particular streetcar would probably receive a ridiculous casino paint job. Hopefully provisions would be made so that the line could be extended through the casino to Gibert Ave. then north to Walnut Hills.
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John Schneider
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Needs to get to Gilbert. You'd have a lot of bus to streetcar transfers there. Adds value to the North Frame.
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Cincy1
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I would like to see the "Smitherman Issue" placed on the ballot whereby the number of signatures required to get something on the ballot is raised substantially. As it is, I feel like the city is held accountable to the whims of any idiot.
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kingfish out of water
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All I know is I can't wait to catch a train from Columbus to Cinci and a streetcar to the zoo; our zoo will continue to suck eggs far into the future.
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