the future. build it now

Council meetings I've found out are as boring as a gallon of white paint.
But this is where the sausage making gets done. I was hoping to hear about possible financing of the sreetcar instead it was hours of people trying to convince council that after six year years of fighting for the streetcar that yes, we still want it built. Except for a few opponents that is who left me wondering, did they sound crazy to everyone or just me because I'm biased?
Toronto Councilwoman Karen Stintz made the trip to Cincinnati to talk about how important streetcars have been to her city and summed it up by saying,
“You know what you have,” she said. “But it’s sometimes a struggle to imagine what you could be.”
I pulled out a couple random tweets from the council meeting last night.

As Bill Donabedian says, "We're on the 5 yard line and if we don't make it we'll fall by the wayside."

— Over-the-Rhine (@OTRcincy) April 30, 2013

Casey Coston: Voters elected a pro-streetcar mayor & pro-streetcar council majority twice, proves the project has support

— Kevin Osborne (@kevinwcpo) April 30, 2013

UC student: "Can u show me your suburbs, with your Applebees and your Starbucks" - said no tourist to a city ever!

— P.G. Sittenfeld (@VotePG) April 30, 2013

COASTer "I don't see the difference between tires, rail." Well, one is steel & permanent, the other made of rubber... #cincystreetcar

— Paige E. Malott (@Paigetastic01) April 30, 2013

Casey Coston: "how many times do citizens have to come to tell council that WE WANT the #cincystreetcar"

— Paige E. Malott (@Paigetastic01) April 30, 2013

"If there's anything Cincinnati cannot afford, it's not to build the streetcar" Jean Francois Flect @tasteofbelgium #Cincystreetcar

— Erin Marie (@ms5chw4r7z) April 29, 2013

This hearing isnt ab the merits of the streetcar (which r great and which we should all be fluent in by now). Tonight is ab the budget!

— P.G. Sittenfeld (@VotePG) April 29, 2013

To be fair and balanced like FoxNews I need to include the opposition, Tom Luken was at the meeting talking about how he went to Tampa and couldn't find their streetcar, and no one there knew anything about a streetcar. And he was the smartest guy in the crowd of opponents.

I feel like I just got a whole lot dumber. #Luken #CincyStreetcar

— Kenny F. Kilmore (@mattrisher) April 30, 2013

Couldn't agree more Matt, couldn't agree more.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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Demand the Cincinnati Streetcar! SHOW UP MONDAY!

Vice-Mayor Roxanne Qualls has called a special public hearing on the status of the Cincinnati Streetcar project, and Cincinnati needs your support NOW more than ever!
The City has been behind the eight ball for awhile now letting anti-city special interests from Anderson Township set the tone of the Streetcar argument. They keep hammering away at cost, because that's a hot button issue right now.
But the truth is, the cost of not building the streetcar is very high, the future of Cincinnati is at stake. I don't think anyone can be too dramatic in overstating what a colossal mistake not building the streetcar would be. After failing to build the subway system almost 100 years ago, the city can not afford to make the same mistake twice in two different centuries.
I know Washington does, they thought the streetcar project was so important they sent the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to the groundbreaking. Washington said, "[the] Project Will Revitalize Downtown by Attracting More Local Investments and Improving Access to Jobs, Recreation and Services"
Do we as a city want to tell the next generation of tech-savvy workers, people with no interest in owning cars, that they are not welcome here.
I don't think so.
Please come to city hall Monday April 29th at 6pm at tell council to do what we elected them to do in 2011 and build the streetcar.

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Sid Saturday

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2nd St transit center

Nice for a bike ride. if you like renta cops screaming and chasing you

He's fat and he don't run too fast
But he's faster than me
Last night at the show we saw him
Going out of his tree
Walkie Talkie Man ~ Steriogram

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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what ever happened to that...

bar that was on the Purple People Bridge?
and that walk they did
and the hotel?
I'm just glad we can still walk or bike across it and enjoy all the views the river has to offer
because the world needs more Cincinnati

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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American Sign Museum reduex

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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have you ever gone to a baseball game and tried to eat only one bag of peanuts....

How about Choo? Has that guy been playing crazy or what?
He reminds me of that scene from Moneyball
Billy Beane: He gets on base a lot. Do I care if it's a walk or a hit?
[looks over at Peter]
Billy Beane: Pete?
Peter Brand: You do not.

There's no prima donnas on the Reds team, no divas. Everyone goes out and does their job. They brought Choo in to do one thing, get on base, and boy has he done that.
That and I hope they got all the errors out of their system playing the Cubbies.

cotton candy? nah, this chair tastes mighty fine!


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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American Sign Museum

Cool little party at the American Sign Museum for Enjoy the Arts last week.
Love the new space for the Sign Museum. The old space was cramped and there was always a hot sign six feet from your face. The new space is open and much cooler, both in temperature and ambiance.

pretty cool they left the tagging intact on the sign

It was before my time but I was told that El Rancho was a real roach motel on the East Side back in the day.


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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Sid Saturday

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Cars and Coffee @Fuel

Fuel Coffee just 4 miles out of downtown at 2726 Riverside Dr. On weekdays you should be getting off the Columbia Pkwy rat race and driving into the office on Riverside, then you could stop for a relaxing coffee at Fuel.
The weekends however are made for enjoying a confluence of cars. And doubly so this Saturday, a car show made seemingly for Fuel called Cars and Coffee that travels around the country checking out all the coolest spots for, yes cars and coffee.
If you have cool car or you love them and even if you have no aspirations to be on TV you should stop in tomorrow at Fuel just to soak in the scene. Everything from Ferraris to 1930's Packards show up, something for everyone.
8am to 12pm every Saturday.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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Cranley, a tone in search of a target

John Cranley in a quest for the office of mayor, along with his partners, the anti-city hate group COAST are a political Forrest Gump mindlessly opposing everything in their path with no idea why.

He saw an opportunity and helped oppose the parking plan designed to balance the budget and save city jobs then released a his own budget that made no sense. In a quest to better hide his prejudices he has now created a new budget that makes even less sense and released it on an unbelievably busy news day.
So no one would notice?

John Cranley a few weeks ago on his way to killing the plan to save police/fire jobs said “It’s a 100 percent hidden tax increase on the citizens of Cincinnati.” in reference to parking fees.
And his big plan now to balance the budget?
Raise $6 million a year by writing more tickets.
In his budget he says, "While I strongly oppose the parking meter privatization plan, I believe the City can earn more than it currently does from its parking meters by stepping up enforcement..."
So instead of having everyone pay the true cost of parking he wants to turn every Cincinnati citizen into a criminal.
He also specifically mentions a shell game to change the funding of Focus52, the economic plan to target all of Cincinnati's neighborhood business districts for improvements. Improvements learned from what worked in OTR.
So it is becoming more clear that its not Downtown vs the rest of Cincinnati like he has made it out to be, its his Incline District vs the world.

While I'm on the subject of the anti-city hate group COAST, how about their mouthpiece Chris Smitherman?
“if you like this parking deal, then you hate America.” - NAACP President Christopher Smitherman
Smitherman days later also wrote: “The streetcar operation puts city jobs at risk. "
This couldn't be further from the truth.
Mr. Smitherman is relentless in his cluelessness, and its outrageous for him to think that anyone could disagree with him. Its hard to wrap ones head around the uninspired banality of Smitherman/Cranley’s so-called “leadership” when both of them in fact helped kill the plan to save police and fire jobs.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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Findlay Market

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati
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EcoSculpt at Washington Park

An Eco-friendly event comprised of an installation of original sculptures made of recycled and/or recyclable materials in celebration of Earth Day. Ecosculpt continues 3CDC's movement of events from Fountain Square to Washington Park. Maybe it makes more sense here but I always like seeing the art on the square.
There are fewer entries this year but they make up for it in quality, two of the installations are amazing.
And of course when traveling to see Ecosculpt you should travel ecoly. Is that a word? Doesn't matter, It is now.

[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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Barrio Tequileria

Spontaneity, it always has a way of making good things great.
We headed out for Northside Second Saturdays hungry, knowing one thing, we wanted pizza or tacos. I know, two very different things, but there it was. Imagine our surprise when we saw people walking into what used to be the Painted Fish but now is home to Barrio Tequileria. They had me hooked at the sugar skull motif, no way we could not go in after that.
We walked in and found out they had just opened the night before! Things were getting better and better.

Its funny because walking past JR Table earlier in the day we overheard two couples on the sidewalk amazed that John Robert had a new restaraunt. had it just opened they wondered? "boy they must not get downtown often" Ms 5chw4r7z mused.
HA! I guess thats why people think we know everything that happens in the city if we know all about restaurants that have been open for years.




Getting back to Barrio Tequileria, the food is amazing, the chips salty, the drink list extensive and the cervaza cold.
Somehow the Northside has become the place to go for Mexican.
And we're all the richer for it.


[where: 45202] best place to learn how to live downtown cincinnati ohio the ethos of Cincinnati

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