the Cincinnati Streetcar (and beyond)

For my first post I'd like to post a bit about a topic that I belive is critical to the future of this city, but first I will introduce myself a bit.  My name is Dan and I've lived in Cincinnati most of my life, although I spent a few years in Louisville and Cleveland as well.  Erica and I started this blog to chronicle our adventures around town (and maybe more?) - and to help get the word out about eating and shopping local. Cincinnati is full of chain retailers and restaurants, but if you take some extra time there are some real amazing things to be found here. Erica's posts have covered a few that we've already visited, and over time we'll be adding more and more. 

The Streetcar
The big debate in town lately is the Streetcar, and more importantly Issue 9. To me these are two separate issues, mainly b/c of the future implications of issue 9, if it were to pass (which I hope is unlikely). There are valid reasons to support or protest the streetcar. It's a gamble and will either be an epic success and change the landscape forever in town, or it will fail and we will have wasted 200+ million. This is the risk of any major public funds project. I personally believe it will do amazing things for the communities along the line, and bring new life and opportunities to downtown. Not only will current projects in Clifton, OTR benefit, but I think it is critical for the success of The Banks projects.

Issue 9, however, is going to set the tone for years to come when it comes to transportation in this city. Originally billed as a way to force a public vote on the streetcar, the truth about it is is that will force public votes on ANY tax dollar expenditures on public transportation. This means any STATE and FEDERAL projects - IE: light rail, high speed rail, etc. In essence this issue could cause Cincinnati to be left out of these important regional projects. We could lose our branch of the proposed high speed rail links in the Midwest. I think the implications of that are FAR more serious than a gamble on a streetcar. We can recover from that, what we cannot recover from is the population and job loss that could come if Cincinnati is left out of major transportation projects linking the Midwest and beyond.


Fore more information about the above mentioned projects please check out these links. And please vote NO on Issue 9 in November!
Midwest High Speed Rail
CincyStreetcar Blog 
Google map of street car route
Vote Hamilton County