Bortz on Streetcars: A Cure for the Naysaying Headaches

Is City Council living in reality? Well, not in the old reality. The old reality said that Cincinnati can't accomplish anything or that Cincinnati is moving backwards. And that we are going to continue to cut budgets, cut services, and lose population. The old reality had various jurisdictions working in isolation. CPS didn't work with the City, the City didn't work with the County.

The new reality is that we are beginning to work together to solve our problems. We are starting to realize that we are all in it together as a city and as a region.

The new reality is that we are making good progress on our priorities of public safety and economic development. We have a fully developed and implemented Strategic Public Safety Plan that has resulted in a double digit decrease in violent crime. GO Cincinnati - a strategic economic development plan - is nearing completion.

And now we have a streetcar proposal in front of us that could really tie things together and catapult us to the next level. As much as it is about transportation, it's also a tool that creates economic development and public safety. To not act "until the streets are completely safe" is a recipe for failure. Public safety and economic development go hand in hand.

And I think we do have to admit, when it comes to transportation, Cincinnati is 10 years behind. At least. The conversations that have begun on the streetcar proposal are exciting. Even Peter Bronson's editorial contributes to the conversation. Big ideas, transformational ideas, should be met with an "Are you crazy?" Now we enter the phase of educating people and explaining, "No, it's not crazy and here's how it would work and here's what's in it for you." The questions that have been answered so far, in broad terms, are "Is this feasible?" and "How much of an economic impact will it have?" After nine months of statistical and geotechnical analysis, economic modeling, and research, we know that the answers are "Yes" and "1.4 Billion."

But that isn't the end of the conversation. It's just the beginning. There's no denying that we have serious short-term challenges but we can't continue with short-term fixes.

We will continue the community dialogue and the due diligence including answering, Can we afford it? Can we raise $11 M in private contributions? Can we create $20 M from public-private partnerships?. We have to be open to possibilities and big ideas and envision a new reality for tomorrow's Cincinnati.