Streetcar skeptic to believer (Cincinnati, Kent: neighborhood, construction, live in)

[Coseau]

From streetcar skeptic to believer
A story on how someone initially opposed to the construction of the streetcar changed his mind to now becoming a proponent favoring its expansion.

[American Luxury]

I think we'll be seeing a lot more of these types of stories in the coming months.

[goyguy]

Don't forget, its proper name is the Cincinnati Bell Connector now.

[Kevin1813]

The most important thing the article pointed out was that a successful urban neighborhood needs is a grocery store and a hardware store.

[SPonteKC]

I predict you guys will see this happen a lot. It certainly has happened in KC, which is a lot like Cincy culturally (cautious, staid, little "c"conservative, uncomfortable/unfamiliar with successful, modern urbanism, transit-starved), and the streetcar projects are very, very similar. And the opposition to our streetcar has been uncannily similar to what's been voiced in Cincy, even using the same catch phrases and propaganda...

KC has consistently nearly tripled our daily ridership projections, with wildly successful weekend usage, and to date nearly 900,000 trips have been taken on our similarly sized line, which is almost 20% of our daily total transit usage (also very similar to Cincy's numerically).

Nearly as stunning is that, of KC residents surveyed, almost 25% have ridden the streetcar, which is maybe unsurprising for a place called the "Show-Me State"(as in "you have to show me for me to believe it"). But, unlike Cincy, KC's population is over 1/2 suburban, with an urban core of only about 250K people, which makes the ridership even more pleasantly surprising. Plans are already in the works here for an extension through the KC equivalents of CUF/Clifton (Midtown/Westport) all the way to the Plaza, which doesn't really have an equivalent in Cincy, but is like our "uptown", with our highest population density, our secondary business district and primary shopping district.

I have a feeling Cincy's streetcar will be just as successful, if not more so, and that Cincinnatians will come around and embrace the streetcar and it's expansion even more quickly than Kansas Citians.

[motorman]

^

[WILWRadio]

I live in the KC area right now and I don't see all that much in common culturally with Cincy. KC is not that conservative and the people are what you would call "wild" and far less reserved, especially the women. KC has more of a western culture ingrained with the Midwest while Cincy is decidedly a mix of the Midwest and South with some Northeast influences.

That being said the comments concerning the streetcar in both places is at least more factually accurate. But bear in mind the Slight Rail line in KC is completely funded by taxpayers. In Cincy passengers are going to be paying to ride.

[WILWRadio]

One thing to add. If the streetcar is expanded in Cincy, hopefully the developers and city government will have the foresight to insure that the do not add a line over the river to NKY. After seeing how the Grand Ave. bridge spanning I 670 in KC had to be taken down due to structural issues and won't be replaced for months, the KC street car is damn lucky they did not route the line over the Grand Ave. bridge. Better hope the bridges that it runs over don't need to to be replaced otherwise you have a whole lot of useless steel sitting in the ground to rust of months on end.

[cincydave8]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

One thing to add. If the streetcar is expanded in Cincy, hopefully the developers and city government will have the foresight to insure that the do not add a line over the river to NKY. After seeing how the Grand Ave. bridge spanning I 670 in KC had to be taken down due to structural issues and won't be replaced for months, the KC street car is damn lucky they did not route the line over the Grand Ave. bridge. Better hope the bridges that it runs over don't need to to be replaced otherwise you have a whole lot of useless steel sitting in the ground to rust of months on end.

Cincinnati city government probably wouldn't have much say in expanding the streetcar into NKY. That would fall to Newport and Covington, especially since Kentucky owns the river and the bridges. I can't see that happening without a federal grant, Kentucky's Tea party governor would never support it.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by cincydave8

Cincinnati city government probably wouldn't have much say in expanding the streetcar into NKY. That would fall to Newport and Covington, especially since Kentucky owns the river and the bridges. I can't see that happening without a federal grant, Kentucky's Tea party governor would never support it.

Seems practical. Imagine a line over a bridge spanning the Ohio River suddenly needing to be replaced, or any bridge for that matter that has a rail line of this nature. While a freight train could reroute, slight rail line riders are in trouble as well as the taxpayers.