WORKING TODAY FOR CINCINNATI'S FUTURE

By Roxanne Qualls

The four things our city must emphasize in our to create a better future for all Cincinnatians.

How do we begin?

By:
1.Focusing on the fundamentals
2.Building on our strengths
3. Transforming the built, natural, and social environment of our city
4.Making every neighborhood a neighborhood of choice.

Focusing on the Fundamentals

Safety is the must fundamental requirement for a healthy person or community. The recent decrease in crime is encouraging and the innovative CIRV initiative must be fully supported and implemented, we must also aggressively pursue getting guns off the street, getting the leadership of violent criminal associations off the street and in jail, and provide job training, employment opportunities, and support services for young men and women who want to be responsible contributing members of our community.

Blight, deterioration, disrepair, graffiti-all the symptoms of abandonment of lack of connection to community, create a rich culture in which crime can take root. Aggressive enforcement of building, fire, and safety codes; penalizing slum landlords and absentee owners where it hurts-their own personal pocket books. These are the minimum antiseptics required to help clean up some of our neighborhoods.

Like any homeowner, we are responsible for maintaining, repairing, and improving the public assets that contribute to and enhance individual and business property values in the city. Our internationally recognized park system, our historic public buildings, our streets and roadways, our recreation centers are our inheritance from Cincinnati's past citizens and are our legacy to future citizens.

Building on Our Strengths Our greatest strengths are our people, our central location, and our built environment.

To capitalize on these three aspects of our competitive advantage requires that we:
1.Invest in a transit system that allows people to get from where they are to where they work and play. This means insuring that our bus system is "Best in class." It also means expanding transit options to include streetcars and rail. This community and region are behind the eight ball when it comes to investing in transit, and it will take a generation to catch-up. But, catch up we must, if we are to be competitive.
2.Maintain and strengthen the compact, pedestrian oriented, mixed-use neighborhoods of our city. This goes beyond reforming the zoning code. It means putting in place form-based codes that reinforce the unique character of our neighborhoods, simplify permitting processes, speed development, all the while reflecting the aspirations and goal of the residents. It means combing through all the codes that impact our existing buildings and, without sacrificing safety, finding those codes that add costs and delays to renovation and rehab.
3.Use the major capital investments the city continues to make in its streets and roads to reinforce the quality of the public realm, and integrate multiple modes of transportation-bicycle, bus, rail, walking.
4.Be prepared to capitalize on most significant investment in transportation in our lifetime-the rebuild of I-75. This is an opportunity to reconnect downtown to the west side, re-knit together the Mill Creek Valley neighborhoods, open up developable sites for new Industries-green industries

Transforming our Environment

We must incorporate in all our efforts a response to the two worldwide realities-the global economy and global climate change.

Competing in the global economy for people of talent and for the jobs in the knowledge economy requires that we recognize that "place matters."

This means the quality of the built environment matters. We must reinforce the urban nature of our city and neighborhoods by maintaining and creating walkable, transit friendly, high quality places.

It means the quality of the natural environment matters. We must maintain and enhance our existing green infrastructure and use it to cool the city and manage our stormwater.

It means the quality of the social environment matters. People of talent expect to live and work in communities of people who reflect different backgrounds, experiences, lifestyles, and attitudes.

Global climate change is a reality. Arguing about its cause as an excuse for not acting to ameliorate the effects, is like two people standing in the middle of a burning building and arguing about who lit the match.

Weather events will become more severe-heat, storms, etc. Economically healthy cities are already adapting to this new reality. Cincinnati must reduce the urban heat island effect of asphalt, concrete, heat emissions by integrating green infrastructure into streets and roads; using new construction materials and methods; changing codes to encourage innovation in building design, heating and cooling, and storm water management. These are just a few of the ways we can begin.

Creating Neighborhoods of Choice This means insuring that every neighborhood is a safe place to raise children.

This means supporting the renovation and development of our neighborhoods in ways that reinforce their unique urban qualities of walkability and density while eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to development and redevelopment.

This means recognizing that climate changes imposes a hidden "tax," if you will, on every resident and business by severely increasing the costs of cooling. We must convert the city's infrastructure investments into "green" infrastructure investments saving money for both the city and its residents.

The motto for every neighborhood, including downtown, should be safe, clean, green, and beautiful.

I am committed to public service because I believe each one of us has a responsibility and duty to serve our community. It is only when we all work together for a common purpose that anything of lasting significance can be achieved for all Cincinnatians. As I work on behalf of this city I am guided by a set of values about government and service. They are:

• A commitment to a city government that is open and accessible to all citizens
• A commitment to a city government that treats all citizens equitably and fairly
• A commitment to a culture of excellence in the service of the city whether on the part administrators or elected officials
• A commitment to a culture of responsibility-personal, financial, social, and environmental