Friday, October 19, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Photo courtesy of .
Why does Portland keep entering into discussions about the super-sized price tag of a small streetcar line for Cincinnati? As has already been indicated by Michael Earl Patton, Portland has restrictions on sprawl. Given an article in today’s Enquirer, I thought this point worth repeating—as we are already starting to see repetition of illogical points used as a strategy for bolstering this concept.
First, let me clarify that I do believe we need more mass transit. However, more effective mass transit does not mean more expensive mass transit— more specifically I think mass transit should be designed to benefit everyone, and I’m not sure the current streetcar proposal really takes that kind of inclusivity into consideration. Instead, it seems this plan is really designed for the “creative class,” that elusive group Cincinnati seems bent on attracting, even at the expense of everyone else.
Here is the kind of rhetoric I find disturbing, given the facts of Portland’s very different situation with streetcars:
City Architect Michael Moore said that Cincinnati, like other cities with similar projects, will need to compile funding from many sources, which planners are just beginning to investigate.
He cited Portland, Ore., where a streetcar line helped revitalize an old warehouse district and create 7,000 new homes. Initial financing came from bonds, grants and city funds; corporate sponsors help pay operating costs.
“You’ve got to get creative when you need capital money,” said Kay Dannen of Portland Streetcar Inc.
As Patton has indicated, Portland has restrictions on it’s urban growth. Here are some excerpts from that article on the subject, which I provide to indicate how Portland is not analogous to Cincinnati from a logical perspective:
Portland is Oregon’s largest metropolitan area and has an international reputation for its growth management policies ... Portland is perhaps best known for its urban growth boundary (UGB) ... Under the requirements of Oregon’s land use statutes, all land outside the UGB—with exceptions—is designated for resource use and prohibited from urban development. All land both inside and outside the UGB must be planned by the appropriate city or county ... Portland is also known for its light-rail transit system ... The Portland area is also distinctive in at least one other regard: It has the only directly elected regional government in the United States.
I thought these discrepancies worth emphasizing because, from a strictly logical perspective, the constant comparisons to Portland are fallible—known in technical terms as ”false analogy”—and therefore if Cincinnati wants to be serious about discussing a streetcar system it needs to get serious, and stop playing political and rhetorical games in an attempt to create the illusion of a selling point.
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