The Cincinnati Music Hall, built in 1878, is one of those monumental buildings in America that might very well have been swept away by urban renewal, replaced by a new performing arts center. Instead, it has been revitalized, and almost 150 years later, is still very much part of the cultural fabric of the city…
Tag: Rehabilitation
Elm Street Between Elder and Wade Streets, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
Heading south down Elm Street from Findlay Market, there are more commercial and restaurants spaces compared to Race Street, which run parallel to each other. The north side of Elder Street, below, shows how vibrant the area around the market is. Heading south, there are a wide variety of Italianate buildings. But later, taller buildings…
Race Street Between Liberty and Elder Streets, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
As I’ve often said, wide streets are impediments to redevelopment, and it is obvious in Over the Rhine, where Liberty Street, a major artery which widened with the demolition of buildings on its south side, has a dramatically different character to the north of that high-speed traffic boundary. While heading north on Race Street, which…
Lower Price Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio
When I spotted a small enclave of a neighborhood tucked at the bottom of the hills that form the western edge of the Mill Creek Valley in Cincinnati, I knew I had to visit. By poking around, I discovered this area is known as Lower Price Hill, settled early in the history of the region….
Mount Adams, Cincinnati, Ohio
We’re going to take a break from Over the Rhine to visit Mount Adams, an example of a successful community fit into a tight space. As the name implies, and as can be seen above in the historic photograph, the steep slopes of the hill have kept the outcropping isolated northeast of downtown Cincinnati. Eden…
Half Flounders, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
Half flounders are not somehow unique to St. Louis. I found them all over the Over the Rhine neighborhood, mostly north of Liberty Street where there is more demolition and vacant lots, making it easier to see the rear of buildings. Like I had mentioned when visiting the town of Blois in France, while certainly…
Main Street, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio, West Side
Going back to the south and heading north again looking at the west side of Main Street in the Over the Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, we see more of the newly rehabbed, and a little of the old. I love this old storefront church, which is a remnant of when this was not a “hot”…
Main Street, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio, East Side
The built environment on Main Street through Over the Rhine in Cincinnati is just about perfectly preserved, with few building losses. We’ll look at the east side of the street first. Despite being “Main Street,” it’s a surprisingly narrow thoroughfare, allowing for relatively slow traffic speeds and easy pedestrian crossing. The street has one of…
Liberty, Sycamore and Thirteenth Streets, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
We’ll look at a variety of streets next. Liberty Street is a classic example of a narrow street that was widened by the demolition of historic structures, creating what I call a traffic sewer. The north street wall is preserved, as you can see above and below, but on the south side, there’s a jagged,…
Vine Street and Environs, Over the Rhine, Cincinnati, Ohio
Vine Street is one of the main streets cutting through the Over the Rhine neighborhood, coming up from the Ohio River through Cincinnati’s downtown. It is not interrupted from the central business district by any interstates and other than the overly wide Central Parkway, pedestrians can easily connect with the heart of the city from…