A Little Bit of Politics: No on 9

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I try really hard to keep my personal politics out of this blog. You all don’t care (I hope) whether I’m Democratic or Republican or for whom I voted. But Issue 9 has a ripple effect across our city and our region, with consequences pretty far into the future.

Kevin and I live in Northern Ky, and we’re pretty lucky in that the bus swings right by the house and drops off Kevin pretty close to his office downtown. I contemplated a job in Mason for while, but the drive turned me off. I certainly can’t take a bus from Northern Kentucky to Mason without a whole lot of hassle, and having lived in the DC area, I no longer have the patience for traffic.

When I lived near DC, I often worked projects in Princeton, NJ, and Philadelphia. To get there, I took a train (or multiple trains in some cases). Everything worked so well together: Amtrak, the New Jersey Transit, the DC Metro, and the Baltimore Light Rail. I could easily and comfortably get anywhere I needed to go, without worrying about weather or traffic. Everything connected. It was particularly wonderful when I wanted to go to New York City for an evening from Princeton or to the airport. One time I even took a train from upstate New York back to Baltimore. It’s so relaxing …

The passenger rail in Alaska takes you across the state. We just went halfway.

In Chicago, I usually take the Blue Line from the airport to Downtown. It’s so easy, and whereas a cab runs around $30 or a car includes renting + upwards of $25/day for parking, CTA costs me $3. The Blue Line also runs from downtown to a neighborhood I love with a great shoe store. And that’s just the Blue Line. Chicago’s public transportation is fantastic, running above, below, and around the city – making it a vibrant city, full of people from the surrounding suburbs who can easily get downtown to museums and shopping and work.

Imagine how great it would be to take a train/light rail to the airport, or to the outer suburbs, or downtown without having to deal with parking?

Those for Issue 9 play up the Streetcar, but that’s not the only thing Issue 9 covers. Basically, if you vote yes for 9, you’re saying you don’t ever want passenger rail connecting our fair city to Columbus and Cleveland. The 3C line would be dead to us. Heck, the fun train at the Zoo (within Hamilton County limits) would even be a problem. Yep, this measure affects the Zoo train too.

I can’t vote on this. I really wish I could. And in the interest of keeping this brief, I’ll direct you to Wine Me, Dine Me and the Hoperatives. Both of those blogs have written wonderfully informed posts about how voting yes for 9 will slow down development in Cincinnati. I’m just telling you how much I love trains. Vote No on 9.

Update: I recommend everyone read CityKin’s great mythbusting post on Issue 9.