News Media Continues to Fail Cincinnati
1 week ago
...“There are three economic engines: Uptown with its 60,000 jobs, the central business district and Northern Kentucky growing like a weed. If we can connect those three economic engines, we’re not going to be the envy of Ohio. We’re going to be the envy of the nation,” ....
The link, he suggests, is a street car system, which Cincinnati officials are trying to add to Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and the Uptown neighborhoods, which include six hospitals and the University of Cincinnati.
Policinski would like to see that effort come to fruition and for Northern Kentucky to get in the act by building a street car link to Cincinnati’s system. He is quick to note that OKI’s board has not endorsed the street car concept.
...As for light rail, which would cost billions and take far longer to construct than a street car network, the conversation should continue, Policinski says.
“What we have tried to do is say at some point that we’re going to have to reconsider this,” he explains. “And when we do, the debate cannot be if you don’t do this, you’re stupid. The argument to take to the public is how it’s going to benefit them. And you also have to figure out how you’re going to pay for it.”
But OKI hasn’t seen a rush to revive a system that voters rejected 2-to-1 six years ago. “Bortz’s work on the street car proposal has opened up the door. I don’t see a lot of elected public officials wanting to walk through the door. They’re waiting to see what happens...”
-Cincy Magazine, Sept 2008, Interview with Mark Policinski, executive director of the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments.
...If the debate is about transit versus roads -- and currently the battle lines are drawn at 20 percent funding for transit, 80 percent for roads -- it’s a really limited debate. It leaves out the whole discussion of what kind of roads to build. So if you have a city with boulevards and avenues and no freeways, it’s going to be a lot more valuable. You look at Vancouver, they have no freeways whatsoever, and they have a fabulously intense and valuable real estate and job market. And then you look at the places that have invested all the money in the giant road segments and they tend to be degraded. It's not roads versus transit -- it's good street networks-plus-transit versus mindless building of out-of-scale roads. I mean they're basically putting rural roads into urbanized areas and it’s counterproductive, it reduces the value of the economy, it destroys jobs, destroys real estate value.
.....this week we are going to kick Friday up a notch with a special performance by the Fiery Five. And -- we’ve started offering complimentary hand-crafted, gourmet pizzas on Friday evenings, so be sure to check it out.
Tuesday, Mar 31: Ed Moss and The ever-enthralling Society Jazz Orchestra w/Pam Ross on vocals ($10 cover). Includes buffet
Thursday, Apr 2: Ed Moss on piano, Dave LaRocca on bass, and award-winning vocalist Kathy Wade on vocals ($10 cover)
Friday, Apr 3: The Fiery Five with the incendiary Ed Moss on piano, Dave LaRocca on bass, Sandy Suskind on flute/alto sax, Todd Remy on drums, Pam Ross on vocals ($10 cover)
Saturday, Apr 4: Ed Moss on piano Sandy Suskind on Alto Sax and Flute and Pam Ross on vocals ($8 cover)
[where: 1901 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]
Look for GREEN lanterns on either side of door 651-2236
Music starts 8:30 p.m. (Tues / Thur) and 9:00 pm (Fri / Sat)
...So what did $1,900 buy? The run-down bungalow had already been stripped of its appliances and wiring by the city’s voracious scrappers. But for Mitch that only added to its appeal, because he now had the opportunity to renovate it with solar heating, solar electricity and low-cost, high-efficiency appliances.They have been getting LOTS of media attention lately. See here, here and here. Their website is here. Don't miss their recent post about the inquiries from people interested in following their footsteps.
Buying that first house had a snowball effect. Almost immediately, Mitch and Gina bought two adjacent lots for even less and, with the help of friends and local youngsters, dug in a garden. Then they bought the house next door for $500, reselling it to a pair of local artists for a $50 profit. When they heard about the $100 place down the street, they called their friends Jon and Sarah.
Admittedly, the $100 home needed some work, a hole patched, some windows replaced. But Mitch plans to connect their home to his mini-green grid and a neighborhood is slowly coming together... - NY Times
We have, overtime, overlighted everything in America.
...
Anything over two (footcandles) is a waste of money
-Howard Brandston, Lighting expert in the New Yorker, 3/23/09 page 26 (no link)
Figures Show Migration to Outer D.C. Suburbs Nearly Halting
Washington Post
..."I looked at these numbers and said, 'Wow!' " said William H. Frey, a demographer from the Brookings Institution who analyzed the figures. "This is a more drastic change in U.S. migration patterns than we've seen in a long time, and I don't think we've seen the end of it."
...outer counties whose comparatively inexpensive housing once attracted newcomers in droves appear to have lost much of their luster.
...the estimates -- which the Census Bureau produces annually based on sources such as census surveys, tax returns, and birth and death records -- closely track the housing market's meltdown in Washington's outer suburbs.
-To accommodate major events, two ingress/egress points are needed – one on Elm and one on Race.I think "gateway and arrival plaza" really means traffic clogged, oil-stained concrete sloping driveway to underground parking, but maybe they are planning to make it nice somehow.
-Elm Street access will have strong relationship with Music and Memorial Hall, sliding in between the existing tree lawn and the proposed concessions area.
-Race Street access will take advantage of the mid-block signalized intersection at 13th Street, building upon the idea of a major new gateway and arrival plaza.
Quotes from the video: Breastfeeding has become another way to control women, and make them feel insecure about their identity as women. It becomes this measure..."are you a good mother? Do you breastfeed?"
..I liked the idea of being central to my child's existence. It's not about the milk...
It's supposed to be empowering, not about the science, (which is weak in support of breastmilk)...
...We don't have maternity leave in this country...just breastfeeding at night is a disaster...that moment when women go back to work is a crux when judging begins...
...the formula container says 'breastmilk is best'...
... the average urban family emits more than two tons less carbon annually because it drives less. In Nashville, the city-suburb carbon gap due to driving is more than three tons. After all, density is the defining characteristic of cities. All that closeness means that people need to travel shorter distances, and that shows up clearly in the data.
...But cars represent only one-third of the gap in carbon emissions.... The gap in electricity usage between New York City and its suburbs is also about two tons. The gap in emissions from home heating is almost three tons. All told, we estimate a seven-ton difference in carbon emissions between the residents of Manhattan’s urban aeries and the good burghers of Westchester County. Living surrounded by concrete is actually pretty green. Living surrounded by trees is not.
...environmentalists should be championing the growth of more and taller skyscrapers. Every new crane in New York City means less low-density development. The environmental ideal should be an apartment in downtown San Francisco, not a ranch in Marin County....
Finally, Federal Funding Ok’d for Eastside Streetcar Line!
I want to share with you today great news for uniting Central Portland with a streetcar loop!
President Barack Obama signed today the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill that includes $45 million in appropriations for the Eastside Streetcar Loop. The money signals a first-ever federal investment in streetcars.
When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood submits the administration's proposal to Congress for the next surface transportation authorization bill, it will focus heavily on the idea of "livable communities."
His plan would link land use and housing development with transportation projects and require him to coordinate with other federal agencies, such as Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services, in a way that's never been done at the federal level.
"The era of one-size-fits-all transportation projects must give way to one where preserving and enhancing unique community characteristics, be they rural or urban, is a primary goal rather than an afterthought," LaHood said at his Senate confirmation hearing.
In recent years, local and state governments have already been coordinating transportation with other development. But federal coordination would be a new development.
For the past half-century, say many observers, the federal government has ignored mobility within communities to build the Interstate Highway System to promote movement around the country. In many cases, they say, the approach has contributed to poorly planned suburban sprawl.
"It should not be that radical an idea to link up land use with the infrastructure policies that go along with it," Robert Puentes, a Brookings Institution expert, said. "The problem is institutional inertia and the previous lack of federal leadership to encourage this kind of integrated thinking."
LaHood has already met with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to discuss how affordable housing can be built near public transportation, neighborhood street blocks can be shortened to promote walking and bus routes can be expanded to reach more areas.
Joel Szabap, the Transportation Department's deputy assistant secretary for policy, said both Cabinet secretaries are on board.
"In a perfect world, you build where people live and want to live," Szabap said. "You will see an administration proposal focused around livable communities."
For most Americans, daily car trips are only a couple of miles long. The theory is that many people drive largely because viable alternatives such as public transportation or safe sidewalks for walking or biking do not exist.
"When you are ready to give up your keys, you need to have other options," said James Corless, campaign director of Transportation for America. "Those departments should break down silos. . . . This is not about Congress telling communities they need to become more livable, it's about them providing the resources." Strong Congressional Support
Key lawmakers who will help draft the surface transportation authorization and spending bills this year already have signaled their support for this integrated approach to transportation.
John W. Olver, D-Mass., chairman of the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, said his panel intends to open the dialog between the housing and transportation departments.
...
"By coordinating housing and transportation policy to encourage smart land use, we can generate economic growth and create vibrant communities where people can live and work with a smaller carbon footprint," Dodd said in a February speech. "The lack of national leadership I've described at the federal level for much of the last several decades is,in many ways, only matched by our lack of creativity."
...
"The challenge has been just as all of the states started moving toward major smart-growth programs, the national government was simply not involved, and in many cases they were hostile to it, favoring major road construction over transit or walkability projects," Glendening said. "It is very clear to all of us that the Obama administration clearly gets it on smart growth."
Even with the administration and lawmakers' support, pushback will come from road builder groups that have enjoyed decades of being at the forefront of the transportation debate...
...Car-dependent places design each area for one single land use. They also seem to design for single life stages, too. A large yard may make sense when a child is just learning to walk. However, what happens when children outgrow the yard and want to interact with their peers and explore the world around them? While it is clearly possible to raise children who become successful adults in car-dependent places, it clearly has its shortcomings for pre-teens and carless teenagers...-a D.C. FatherThe comments section after this article is full of insightful comments by parents trying to find a balance between freedom and security for their kids. Worth skimming.
...gorilla mothers are capable of rearing their offspring pretty much through their own powers, but human mothers are not.
Human beings evolved as cooperative breeders... a reproductive strategy in which mothers are assisted by ...“allomothers,” individuals of either sex who help care for and feed the young.
Our capacity to cooperate in groups, to empathize with others and to wonder what others are thinking and feeling — ...probably arose in response to the selective pressures of being in a cooperatively breeding social group, and the need to trust and rely on others and be deemed trustworthy and reliable in turn. Babies became adorable and keen to make connections with every passing adult gaze. Mothers became willing to play pass the baby....
...Other anthropologists have made the startling discovery that children have entertainment value, and that among traditional cultures without television or Internet access, a bobble-headed baby is the best show in town.
... The tide of gentrification that transformed economically depressed enclaves is receding, leaving some communities high and dry.
...What happens to bourgeois bohemia when the bourgeois part drops out? ...
... in this downturn, Mr. de Velasco’s printing shop doesn’t seem to be hurting, nor is Tritch Hardware. The shops at risk are the ones playing the Decemberists in a continuous loop.
“Some of them tried niche things,” Mr. Tritch said, with no gloat in his voice. “That didn’t work out.”
...In bad times, neighborhood idealism can be compromised with one trip to Wal-Mart...
...“Those places are important — they dissolve some of the cruel anonymity of everyday life,” he said. “They’re part of the equation of making the local real to us. But they’re not the whole equation. They’re not enough. ...I’ve got enough handmade soap....”
... will probably return to being a neighborhood whose best qualities are well-preserved homes, old-school pizza and a really good hardware store.
But ...The cityscape will be dominated by Walgreens and muffler shops....
... the screenwriter, has given up her neighborhood shopping fantasies. “When we first moved here,” she said, “I wanted it to be cool. But that stuff doesn’t matter anymore.”
-What do you think are the reasons young parents/families leave the city or are unwilling to consider moving to the city?Note that the YPKC is focused on the entire city (and beyond actually), so it’s not just about downtown. Also, note that we only have a year and have no money (unless we find it somewhere), so I’m not expecting to solve world hunger, so to speak. That said, we do have the ear of the Mayor and I believe that he truly wants us to provide him with new ideas.
-What have been your pet peeves as a parent living in the city?
-Are there any city policies that, if changed, you think would improve the city’s attractiveness to young families?
-Any events that our committee could host or use to promote the city to young families?
..."I tried to say something to her. She literally has the little girl on the steering wheel and I said, 'I can't believe you have that kid in your lap and she said, 'You want to pop your titty out and breastfeed this kid?' That's what she said to me. I'm like, 'You can feed your kid when you stop.'..
Families and Urbanism in Cincinnati