Second, a week ago today Cincinnati learned that it would receive no stimulus funds for the proposed Cincinnati streetcar system. The stimulus bill made $1.5 billion available for transit projects and Cincinnati was expecting at least half of the initial $128 million for the project. While city leaders are still hoping to move the project forward, it appears that at least for the time being Cincinnati will not have a streetcar.
As a student at UC I welcomed the idea of an easy and affordable route downtown but I couldn't see the point of a streetcar simply going around Over-the-Rhine. Furthermore, multimillion dollar budget deficits have brought into question whether or not the city would have been able to pay for their part of the project. I have to say though, I am disappointed that Cincinnati was not able to secure federal funding when so many other cities did. As one of my professors astutely pointed out, at this point any money being spent downtown is a worthwhile endeavor.
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