Donna Jones Baker, President and CEO of the
Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio, has joined the ranks of leaders applauding job creation tied to Cincinnati's streetcar.
"The streetcar is happening," Baker says, "and the Urban League wants to be part of it." She notes that rails are being laid through
Over-the-Rhine right now, providing jobs and new options for startup businesses along the line.
Citing the rise in employment in
downtown and
uptown, Baker says the Urban League wants to "go to work on getting the streetcar to Uptown," where job growth is booming. The initial phase of streetcar construction will run from
The Banks to
Findlay Market, with “Phase 1b” aiming to stretch uptown to
Clifton.
"The Urban League wants our progress to continue, and the streetcar has a major role in connecting important places in our city," Baker says. "If we can re-create neighborhoods where people can live with fewer cars and commute to work by high-quality transit, we're all for that."
“The concept of connecting the 70,000 jobs between uptown and downtown through the streetcar is very valuable,” adds Derek Bauman, Co-Chairman of
Cincinnatians for Progress. “There will be a compounding effect, as more people start to move to downtown and Over-the-Rhine … these people will need more services like grocery stores and dry cleaners, which will necessitate new businesses and create more jobs. Those are the true benefits.”
“Another important factor is that the development potential does not just center around a specific neighborhood,” Bauman continues. “The mayor of Kansas City was recently in town, and we learned from him that they are expecting a total of $4 billion to come from streetcar development. When you are able to attract that kind of growth and keep the dollars in the community by spending locally, that’s where the development will far outweigh the expenses.”
By Mike Sarason
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