We worked together to report on and write about the 10th anniversary of Cincinnati's streetcar. So we'll each chime in here to explain how we came to the story.
Newberry was the newbie
As The Enquirer's resident transportation reporter, I've crossed pretty much every Greater Cincinnati bridge over the Ohio River. I use interstates daily and know my way around dozens of neighborhoods without help from my phone. I've covered the Brent Spence Bridge project frequently, along with airport news, road projects and mass transit.
But, gasp!, I'd never ridden the Cincinnati Connector. Until this summer.
That was when Enquirer Director of Photography Cara Owsley suggested writing about its 10th year on the rails. Sold on the idea, I enlisted the help of real estate reporter Sydney
Franklin, a regular rider, to dig into the streetcar's turbulent political history and find out whether − a decade later − it's as successful as many hoped it would be.
Together, we dug into city data, tapped key sources, and visited the Cincinnati Connector operations center in Over-the-Rhine. Along the way, I took my first two rides – once with Sydney and again with Lori Burchett, the city official who oversees the system.
To be clear, I was not avoiding the streetcar. It just doesn't fit into my daily life like it does for Sydney. (She explains how below.)
I drive down Interstate 71 to work and park on Third Street near Enquirer offices. I buy groceries and most everything else closer to home. My husband and I entertain and feed ourselves downtown pretty regularly, but we arrive and depart by car.
Now that I've written about the Connector, though, I'll call myself "streetcar curious." I'll be looking for new reasons to hop aboard again.
Franklin is the practiced rider
On my first day at The Enquirer on April 18, 2022, I decided to take the streetcar. But I missed it. Because I didn’t know exactly how to track it. So I had to walk the 30 minutes from Pendleton to Third and Elm streets instead.
Four-and-a-half years later, not only do I know how to track the streetcar (I finally learned in 2024, I’m ashamed to say), but I try to take it almost every weekday.
Still, despite my dependence on it, I’m not a die-hard fan. I’ll tell you why: The former New Yorkerin me is still really tired of trains, even though I fully comprehend their value. I also get frustrated when there are more tourists or Downtown visitors on the streetcar during game days or major events, compared to us regular commuters. What’s more, I live and work blocks and blocks from the actual line.
I do believe we need the streetcar, though. It’s a massive attraction in our city whether you ride or not – and it looks good, too. If we don’t expand the streetcar in its second decade, I think that will be a major miss.
Until then, you can catch me sprinting across Central Parkway to the stop by the Downtown library, hoping I catch it.
Tip of the hat to colleagues who helped
At least 10 other Enquirers staffers helped tell the streetcar's 10th anniversary story.
While Owsley had the story idea, visual journalists Sam Greene, Frank Bowen and Michael Nyerges created the photos, videos and graphics to help tell it.
Editors Carl Weiser, Jackie Borchardt and Joe Powell all touched the story, too, with Producer Keely Brown making it look good online and social media and Senior Designer Jason Bredehoeft creating the Page 1 print cover.
And then there were Enquirer sports columnist Jason Williams and former City Hall reporter Sharon Coolidge. They were Team Streetcar back in 2016, producing dozens of stories about the controversies before, during and after its start. (We reference Williams' chronology of the saga, published on its first day of operations, multiple times.)
Thanks to each, along with the expert sources quoted in our story.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: We followed the Cincinnati streetcar's tracks through a decade of data
