Avail. for 5XNW Area ARBOR Meeting 9/23 @ 6:30pm @ 1500 W. Third Avenue

Hello all – fellow contacts in our neighboring Area Commissions:

 

We are starting the process of getting in-place a tree-planting effort for our area of Columbus and I was wondering if any of your might be able to attend our meeting tomorrow night (9/23) at 6:30pm to be held at the Wagenbrenner 1500 W. Third Avenue Building, Lower Level to lend your experience to our efforts to launch our tree-planting “5XNW Arbor” effort for our area. As many of you have probably experienced when you were in our area for business, shopping or passing through – we could use trees along West Fifth Avenue, which for a while before our Area Commission was in-place turned into a little bit of a business-only, no landscaping zone.

 

Since the 5XNW Area Commission have been in-place over the last 3-4 years, and especially since we put in-place our Urban Commercial Overlay in the last year – we require developers to add landscaping to their zoning requests. This, tree planting group is an effort to go back and fix the inequities of the past – not only on W. Fifth Avenue but throughout our area.

 

If you have a few minutes to drop-by at the beginning of the meeting, it would be most appreciated – if you could lend your thoughts to our process. FYI, there is parking to the side of the building (located behind the Grandview Carryout across from the Grandview Café) if the front-lot is full. If you have a “Landscape Committee” – maybe that person could be the “delegate” for this meeting? We would like to hear about how you went about planning your beautification efforts in your Area Commissions through the City of Columbus’ program.

 

Sorry about the short-notice – if you have a few minutes, just wanted to provide the opportunity to let us learn from your experience.

These are the directions from MapQuest:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Columbus&state=OH&address=1500+W+3rd+Ave&zipcode=43212-2843&country=US&latitude=39.98515&longitude=-83.04564&geocode=ADDRESS

 

Thanks,

Becky Obester

Chairperson of the 5XNW Area Commission

614-516-8577

High-Speed Rail - No Laughing Matter

Here's some ammunition to use against "The Great Hypocrisy"....

High-Speed Rail – No Laughing Matter
By: Bill Cawthon
September 10, 2010 07:16 PM

In any case, the argument against government support is a bit ingenuous; we don't ask airlines to build airports, we don't ask automakers to build highways but, by golly, we sure expect railroads to lay their own track and they'd better do it out of their own pockets.

Where do airports come from? Most of the airports that handle commercial passenger traffic are built and operated by government agencies or quasi-governmental agencies. Where do they get their money? According to Airports Council International (ACI), an industry group representing the operators of commercial airports in the U.S. and Canada, airports rely on four primary sources of infrastructure funding: Airport bonds (58 percent); federal AIP (Airport Improvement Program) grants (21 percent); local passenger facility charges used on a pay-as-you-go basis (11 percent); and locally generated revenues, such as revenue from concessions operations and such (10 percent). More than 60 percent of airport-issued bonds are required to be sold as tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) rather than governmental purpose bonds. Incidentally, ACI is lobbying to have those PABs receive the same tax considerations as government bonds to make them more attractive to investors.

So less than a quarter of the funding for infrastructure improvement comes from revenues, only slightly more than what taxpayers kick in as grants. The bulk of the rest of the money comes from bond buyers who get tax-free interest, meaning the rest of us have to cover the taxes those people would have paid had the bonds been securities from private companies. Milton Friedman would be so proud.

READ MORE AT:
http://www.modelrailroadnews.com/voices/from-the-editor/blog/high-speed-rail-no-laughing-matter/d5a8681b83.html

 

 

Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org

North Carolina - High-speed trains save time and fuel

High-speed trains save time and fuel
Published Tue, Sep 21, 2010 02:00 AM
PATRICK SIMMONS

RALEIGH -- There has been a great deal of misinformation regarding high-speed rail lately. I'd like to set the record straight.

A key point deals with train travel time. It's been suggested that rail travel would be no faster than interstate highway time by auto. That's not true. Today, trains take a little more than three hours to make the trip from Raleigh to Charlotte. Once the first round of improvements is made, that trip will be less than three hours. After all improvements are made and the trains run up to 90 mph, that trip will take about two hours. In addition, we are adding more trains - offering more options.

And while some say "no one will ride the train," the facts tell a different story. Each year since 1990, ridership has increased an average of 6.5 percent. Last year over 700,000 people took the train and we expect this year's total to be nearly 800,000.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/21/693098/high-speed-trains-save-time-and.html#ixzz10BmQIf9S

 

 

 

Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org

Membership Note - RPAC affected by Steam Repair Today - Sept 21

 

 

The RPAC will be without steam today, meaning moderate loss of heat in pools and spa, and loss of hot water for showers as the hot water storage tank water supply is depleted.  The repair will take a majority of the day Tuesday,  the RPAC should see a return of steam by mid-to-late afternoon today.  Please call (614) 292-7671 with questions

 

Membership Note - RPAC affected by Steam Repair Today - Sept 21

The RPAC will be without steam today, meaning moderate loss of heat in pools and spa, and loss of hot water for showers as the hot water storage tank water supply is depleted.  The repair will take a majority of the day Tuesday,  the RPAC should see a return of steam by mid-to-late afternoon today.  Please call (614) 292-7671 with questions

 

Generation Y Giving Cars a Pass

Gosh, I wonder if Ohio's lack of transportation options has anything whatsoever to do with it's "brain drain" of young creative people??

 

Generation Y Giving Cars a Pass
By Jim Ostroff

Selling cars to young adults under 30 is proving to be a real challenge for automakers. Unlike their elders, Generation Yers own fewer cars and don't drive much. They're likely to see autos as a source of pollution, not as a sex or status symbol.

Motorists aged 21 to 30 now account for 14% of miles driven, down from 21% in 1995.  They're more apt to ride mass transit to work and use car sharing services...

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1523/generation-y-giving-cars-a-pass/

 

 

Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org

Rail Study Looks beyond 3C to Regional Network with Ohio in Center

Here are some great quotes in a news story. Please subscribe to read the full story about the Ohio PIRG report, which addresses Ohio's entire regional rail proposal including routes to Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Detroit and other cities, not just 3C....

Sept. 20, 2010
HANNAH REPORT
Rail Study Looks beyond 3C to Regional Network with Ohio in Center

 

The Ohio Public Interest Research Group (Ohio PIRG) released a study Monday outlining the potential economic and environmental benefits of building passenger rail in Ohio and tying it into a larger Midwestern network, while a Democratic lawmaker supportive of the study's findings needled critics of the 3C rail plan with a charge of "political amnesia."

 

Amy Brennick, chief operating officer for Betty's Family of Restaurants in Columbus, said increased intercity travel from passenger trains could mean more patrons for her restaurants and thus more jobs. Noting that students and young professionals comprise a big part of her company's workforce, she pitched 3C and rail in general as part of addressing Ohio's brain-drain problem.
 
"When our employees give us two weeks notice because they're moving to Atlanta or Portland, unfortunately the reasons have to do far less with what those states offer them and far more about what Ohio is lacking. Mass transportation and rail systems always come up," Brennick said.
 
Annie Ross-Womack, CEO of the Long Street Businessmen's Association, said train travel is more productive for professionals because it frees them from congestion and restrictions that bar people from typing on laptops or texting while driving.
 
Monday's press conference also featured many arguments proponents have used in the past: that the Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati route is the densest corridor in America lacking passenger rail; that inaction will leave Ohio behind other states; and that blocking the 3C project will simply mean some other state will benefit from the $400 million Ohio now has claim to.

READ MORE AT:
http://www.rotundacollection.com/promo/hanrep.htm

 

 

Ken Prendergast
Executive Director
All Aboard Ohio
12029 Clifton Blvd., Suite 505
Cleveland, OH 44107
(216) 288-4883
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
www.allaboardohio.org