Monthly Archives: September 2011

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Obama Picks the Wrong Bridge to Highlight

Streetsblog discusses Obama’s visit to the Brent Spence Bridge, complete with a quote from Jake Mecklenborg of UrbanCincy/Cincinnati Transit.

The main thing to keep in mind: The Brent Spence Bridge is over-capacity, but it’s still structurally sound. That means it carries too many cars. Building a second bridge is only one potential solution to that problem. The $3 billion cost of the new bridge would go a long way to building a pretty awesome regional light rail system.

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Utah tightens liquor laws

  • As of next year, even new restaurants licensed to serve nothing stronger than beer — weak 3.2% alcohol beer at that — must keep taps and bartenders out of customers’ sight and have beer sales account for no more than 30% of revenue.
  • There’s a freeze, probably for at least a year, on issuance of the type of alcohol license that allows restaurants to serve liquor, wine and full-strength beer in full view of customers […]

So all new restaurants that want to serve alcohol will need to install a barrier like Vuz’s, which was 4 feet high and ran down the middle of the length of the bar, or to store and dispense alcohol in a back room. […]

You can’t order a double, or a stiff drink; happy hours and any other drink discounts, even for 3.2 beer, are illegal; […]

Senate President Michael Waddoups, a Republican and LDS member, has said that bar-like restaurants encourage underage drinking because “listening to the shaking of the drinks and the sights can make drinking attractive.” […]

Hersh Ipaktchian, owner of a chain of sports bars, is one of several operators who say they won’t open new places in the state because they’d have to build barriers around bars central to their look and layout. National chains also have slowed their expansion into Utah.

Sounds like job-killing regulation and bigger government.

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Local political group COAST is exploiting the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of FDNY firefighters in an attempt to advance their anti-streetcar cause.

On top of it, their claim is a lie — not a single dollar has been diverted from the city’s operating budget (which pays firefighters) to fund streetcar construction. The two are completely separate budgets and money can not be moved from one to the other, by law.

Whether or not you support the current streetcar plan, keep in mind that COAST’s proposal would completely ban any “system of passenger vehicles operated on rails” within the city until 2020 — that would also include the Eastern Corridor commuter rail plan and any regional light rail plan.  (Learn more at UrbanCincy.)

Do not let the disgusting, shameless, lying men of COAST amend our city’s charter. Vote “no” on Issue 48 this November.

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nebachanezar:

taestell:

A new Enquirer article shows that Downtown Cincinnati is safer than many of the surrounding suburbs.

In an unscientific poll online, the Enquirer asked, “Did this story change your views on downtown safety?” Forty-seven percent answered, “No, I still don’t feel safe.”

What this shows is that 47% of Cincinnati.com visitors are the type of people who will not let pesky “facts” get in the way of their opinions.

Or, maybe the crime has moved to the suburbs because that’s where all the businesses and people have moved. Downtown is a ghost town, that’s why crime has gone down. There are simply no stores or shoppers to rob blind anymore.

You are correct that crime follows the population.

You are terribly wrong that downtown is a “ghost town”. Downtown and OTR have been rising in popularity over past several years in spite of the general economic downturn. Check out sites like UrbanCincy.com for some updates on what’s actually happening in the urban core or visit Fountain Square, The Banks, the Gateway Quater, and other downtown destinations and see for yourself. And see this recent story about Gateway Quarter apartments being 100% leased.

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Downtown Cincinnati ‘a safe place to be’

A new Enquirer article shows that Downtown Cincinnati is safer than many of the surrounding suburbs.

In an unscientific poll online, the Enquirer asked, “Did this story change your views on downtown safety?” Forty-seven percent answered, “No, I still don’t feel safe.”

What this shows is that 47% of Cincinnati.com visitors are the type of people who will not let pesky “facts” get in the way of their opinions.