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David Cole is the owner and administrator of the Metro Cincinnati project.

Moving Forward

Yesterday marked another long-overdue milestone in Cincinnati’s transit history, as the city formally broke ground on the first phase of the modern streetcar line that will connect Over-the-Rhine, downtown, and the riverfront. Although there will no doubt continue to be hurdles and the usual litany of catcalls from naysayers, the project now seems to be […]

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A Great Night for Cincinnati

Cincinnati’s future got a lot brighter last night, with the defeat of Issue 48 and the election of a pro-streetcar supermajority to City Council. Issue 48, which would have outlawed any form of passenger rail in Cincinnati for the next ten years, was defeated by voters 51.5% to 48.5%. It’s a little closer than I […]

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The Enquirer Throws COAST Under the Streetcar

The Enquirer’s coverage of the streetcar has been spotty at best, and I’ve called them out plenty of times when their “news” coverage about the streetcar has veered into territory that should be confined to the editorial page. That said, it’s only fair to give the Enquirer props when they get it right. In today’s […]

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COAST Charged with Making False Statements to Influence Issue 48 Vote

And in Ohio, that’s a crime that can be punished with up to six months in prison and/or a $5000 fine. Here’s the press release from Cincinnatians for Progress: October 28, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE In an action filed today with the Ohio Elections Commission, Cincinnatians for Progress formally charged COAST with knowingly making false […]

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Metro Cincinnati to be Featured During ArchiNATI’s Visual Delight Presentation

If you follow goings-on in Cincinnati, then by now you should be aware of the first annual ArchiNATI festival, a week-long celebration of Cincinnati’s built environment. ArchiNATI is the brainchild of the Young Architects and Interns Forum (YAIF), a committee of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. (Full disclosure: yours truly is […]

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Going Underground

Just a quick note to inform readers that tomorrow evening, yours truly will be boarding a flight to London, where I’ll be spending the next twelve days exploring that fair city’s transit system, neighborhoods, and pubs. I also plan on taking a few side trips via rail, most notably a day trip to Paris on […]

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Stay Classy, Smitherman

If the national office of the NAACP had any idea what Chris Smitherman is doing to their brand here in Cincinnati, they would’ve shown him the door years ago. The head of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP and one-term city council member, Smitherman has a long history of outlandish statements, paranoid conspiracy theories, shameless […]

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Learning from Los Angeles

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles for the first time on a business trip. The vast majority of my transit-related expertise so far has been from transit systems that I’ve experienced first-hand, particularly in Chicago and along the East Coast. From that perspective, Los Angeles had never spent much […]

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What COAST’s Anti-Rail Charter Amendment Really Means

Cincinnatians for Progress has posted a note on their Facebook page explaining the consequences of COAST’s anti-rail charter amendment, should it be approved by voters in November. With permission, I’ve reproduced it here in its entirety: Take a close look at the language of the new Charter Article XVI that voters are being asked to […]

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Monkeys on our Backs

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’” — Isaac Asimov Once again, the alliance of extremists who brought us the failed Issue 9 campaign has demonstrated they can’t take […]

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