Cincinnati Curfew

The trains are coming! The trains are coming!

I’ve griped in the past about our lack of public transportation, but felt the need to post some basic information before going on to the news…

Our "Metro" (public bus, fondly referred to as "The 'Tro") is our only form of "Mass Transit". No trains. No Subways. No Streetcars. We had a subway system once...Our own secret underground railroad. Construction began in 1912 and the system continues to lie in shame underneath the pavement our cars grace. Its demise was blamed on funding in the 1960s, but I find this suspicious timing coinciding with social changes. (Specifically, desegregation. Transporting "others" in to our still segregated neighborhoods must not have appeared such a good idea at the time.)1/3 of Metro Riders have no other means of transportation. (Translated as "No Car") and 51% are earning less than the current poverty level. With the exception of the 20% who work downtown using the system, we can assume that most are using what could be an excellent system because they must.

Today I found out that trains might be coming. They call this our first light rail system (which isn’t the case considering that taxpayers already spent 13 million on a system that never saw completion) which would shuffle East Siders (the white-collar section of the city) downtown. As a “West Sider”, I should be bitter, but it’s an important first step.

I say “Might be coming” because a lot of environmentalists are hacked off because the plan (which also calls for a highway system) could degrade our river system. (Because the proposed highway or rail would cross the river) Though we’re not best friends, I do love our earth and all of the river systems that come with it, but for anyone that’s ever visited, we’re talking about the OHIO river. You know, that river that we dump sewage, industrial waste, refrigerators, and dead bodies in? That sludge covered river deemed unsafe for swimming and fishing? This transportation plan also calls for beautification, landscaping, environmental protection, green space, bike paths, and restoring of the wetlands. It would also save our environment from 50 million miles that cars drive on that stretch of road.

What is everyone afraid of? Again, I’d like to just throw it out there: Desegregation of our neighborhoods. “Those people” downtown could invade the East Side just as easily as East Siders could commute downtown.