Economic development

The construction of a a modern streetcar system in Cincinnati will be a vital investment in the urban core.  A streetcar will focus development along the route, connect the existing economic engines of the city, and bring thousands of new residents and jobs into Cincinnati.

Streetcars, like all transportation improvements, are powerful tools of economic development.  When a new interchanges off of I-75 opened up at Union Center Boulevard, millions in investment followed.  The Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport pumps billions into the local economy each year.

The City of Cincinnati is already criss-crossed by highways and served by airports, but building a streetcar would allow Cincinnati to unlock the vast potential of its urban core.

Phase 1 of the streetcar system would cost $102 million, according to the HDR study.  This investment would increase the property values along the line by $379 million and enable $1.4 billion of new development to occur. 

For each dollar invested, the city would reap approximately $14 in new economic activity.

Increased Commercial Development

The streetcar will increase the population downtown and encourage more people to come patronize downtown business.   The economic impact study estimates an additional $17 million in retail spending from the new residents alone.

If someone driving downtown only has to park once for an entire evening, they are going to be more likely to the Reds game and then have a beer at Rock Bottom brewery, or see a show at Music Hall and eat at one of the new restaurants at Fountain Square.  The thousands of new residents downtown will do a large amount of shopping at Macys, Tower Place, and Findlay Market. 

For those living downtown, the streetcar will allow them to go between all of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine’s shops and boutiques, without having to lug their bags ten or twelve blocks back to their homes.  Because streetcars have several large doors, they are much easier to get onto with a bag of groceries than a narrow bus.  

Getting people out of their cars and onto the street will create hundred of potential customers to stroll past downtown merchant’s windows every day. 

A streetcar line linking Downtown, Uptown, and Northern Kentucky will connect hundreds of thousands of employees, tens of thousands of residents, and the largest University in the area.  Someone working at the UC medical center could take the streetcar to Downtown or to Northern Kentucky to shop or eat dinner and not have to worry about parking.  A tourist wouldn’t need a car when visiting Cincinnati.  One cab ride from the airport to a hotel downtown would put them within a short streetcar ride of all the major attractions.

More people living downtown translates into more retail opportunities downtown for those who live there and those coming in to visit.  Phase 1 of the streetcar system will lead to million of new dollars in retail activity and additional retail choices downtown.

Historic preservation

Over-the-Rhine once had a population of nearly 50,000. This number has fallen to around 7,000.  If Over-the-Rhine’s population increases to even half its historic high, there is going to be a severe parking shortage in the neighborhood.  The streetcar can help alleviate the parking requirements and act as a tool of both development and historic preservation.

The product of German immigrants, Over-the-Rhine was built in an era before the automobile.  It was designed for walking, streetcars, and carriages.  The building lots are generally too small for parking structures.  To build enough garages to accommodate all the cars would require leveling countless structures from the 19th century. 

A treasure like Over-the-Rhine exists nowhere else in the country.  Over-the-Rhine is the largest collection of Italianate Architecture in the United States and was named one of the 11 most endangered historic sites in America.  The streetcar can help save the wonderful structures and houses that remain in Over-the-Rhine by cutting down parking ratios, encouraging renovations of old buildings, and increasing home ownership levels.

By lessening the importance of the automobile and encouraging renovations and rehabilitations, Phase 1 of the streetcar system will help preserve Cincinnati’s most unique and historic neighborhood.

Housing

HDR's study estimates building Phase 1 of the streetcar system will lead to the development of 314 new residential units a year for the next ten years, bringing thousands of new residents into the urban core.

The streetcar will greatly increase the speed at which downtown development occurs.  The HDR study looks at long term development trends and the effects of the streetcar.  Without the streetcar, the number of residential units downtown is predicted to rise to 2000 units by 2039.  With the streetcar 2000 units will be reached in 2018, a full 21 years sooner.

There are 92 acres of parking lots in the area along the streetcar route.  For comparison, Burnet Woods in Clifton is only 89 acres.  This much surface parking is not a sign of a healthy city.  The streetcar can transform some of these lots into mixed-use developments with residential and commercial activities wrapped around or above parking garages.

Developers will make long term investment decisions based on a streetcar line that they wouldn't make on a bus line.  The streetcar is a permanent improvement that can’t be easily changed. Changing a bus route only requires a can of orange paint.

Downtown Cincinnati is undergoing a condo building boom, but too many of these projects appeal only to the high end market.  Currently parking is holding back building more affordable housing in the Central Business District.  Many Young Professionals, a demographic that has consistently embraced urban living, is too often priced out of condos downtown.

Parking is the number one problem in developments downtown.  It forces developers to either build only very high end projects or ask the city for tax rebates and credits to finance the construction of underground parking structures.  Building a parking structure, especially underground, is very expensive, to the tune of $25,000 per space.  If a condo has two spaces that adds up to $50,000 per unit.  This may not be a problem for a $1 million dollar condo.  The parking would only by 5% of the total cost.  However this is a problem for the $200,000 condo, parking would account for 25% of the cost. 

Consider this hypothetical scenario.  A husband and wife want to buy a condo downtown, own two cars, and have a budget of $200,000.  Parking costs the developer $50,000; $150,000 covers the cost of the actual unit. 

If you have a streetcar, you can get rid of one of those parking spaces.  That would drop the $200,000 condo to $175,000.  In addition that household would only have to pay upkeep on one automobile, saving around $5000 a year (gas, insurance, wear and tear, car payments) or $420 dollars a month that could be put towards the mortgage.

The couple can either have a $175,000 condo of about the same size and an extra $400 to spend ever month, or put the money saved towards the mortgage and afford and extra $50-60,000 worth of house. 

A place that wouldn’t be affordable now is, or that household can get more space and amenities for their money.  Some people who would live and work downtown might not need a car at all.  In Portland, along the streetcar line condos have an average of 0.8 spaces per unit.  If Cincinnati could drop its parking ratio to one space per unit, a whole new section of buyers could be able to buy.

For more information on streetcar transit, click here to visit the City of Cincinnati's Streetcar Transit FAQS