Tag: northside

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Business News

FUEL Cincinnati to provide technical assistance and funding for creative young professionals

On Thursday, September 16, Give Back Cincinnati will host an event to showcase Cincinnati’s newest young professional retention tool called FUEL Cincinnati. FUEL provides technical assistance, volunteers, capital funds, and directional assistance to individuals who are looking for the means to start a new business in Cincinnati.

FUEL is a program of Give Back Cincinnati, which uses a diverse set of resources to enhance neighborhoods through the use of volunteers and leadership development. They are the region’s largest young professional organization.

Thursday’s event lasts from 6pm to 8pm at Northside Tavern, and is free and open to the public.  Reservations are appreciated due to limited space and can be made online. The event will discuss new ideas for the region, will describe the types of programs that FUEL seeks to fund, and will provide insight about how to apply. The event will also feature the opportunity to submit ideas for a $1,000 grant. Free appetizers and drink specials will be available.

Northside Tavern (map) is located in the highly accessible Northside neighborhood. Plenty of on- and off-street parking is available. Northside is served by several bus lines (plan your trip), and was the first neighborhood in the city to install free, on-street bicycle parking in addition to the many bicycle racks found along the neighborhood’s sidewalks.

Read more about FUEL Cincinnati in this week’s issue of Soapbox.

Categories
Development News Transportation

City adding bike lanes to Central Parkway, Spring Grove Avenue, Linn Street

As summer draws to a close, Cincinnati city officials will be installing several miles of new dedicated bike lanes and sharrows. According to the Cincinnati Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE), crews have already introduced bike lane symbols along Spring Grove Avenue, between Crawford Avenue and Mitchell Avenue, and will be completing the separation line later this week.

Other city streets to be improved later this summer include Central Parkway, between Brighton Place and Hopple Street, and Linn Street from W. 6th Street to Gest Street.  In total, the projects account for approximately two-and-a-half miles of new bicycle facilities.

“We know that Spring Grove Avenue is already a major bicycling corridor, and we hope that the addition of bicycle lanes will encourage even more people to try using a bicycle for casual trips,” said Curtis Hines, Spring Grove Avenue project manager.

According to Hines, the timing is perfect as all of the streets receiving the new bike lanes and sharrows were already scheduled for routine maintenance work.

“We’re committed to building streets with all users in mind, so we plan to continue incorporating bike lanes in as many street improvement projects as possible.”

The new bike lanes and sharrows come shortly after Cincinnati City Council approved dramatic new bicycle policies that include new safety regulations, parking requirements, and a comprehensive Bicycle Transportation Plan that calls for 445 miles of on- and off-street bicycle facilities to be installed by 2025.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Two national community engagement movements to gather in Cincinnati tonight

Transition Town Northside will be meeting tonight at 5pm, and members of the Over-the-Rhine community will be taking part in National Night Out at historic Findlay Market.

The National Night Out event in Over-the-Rhine offers a chance for community members to engage with their local law enforcement officers. Police officers from District One of the Cincinnati Police Department will be at the event that will include food and games. Organizers state that the event is geared towards creating a safe, healthy community by strengthening relationship with the community and its police force. The event will take place at Findlay Market’s farmers shed (map) on the north side of the market house from 5pm to 6:30pm. Please contact the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce for more information at (513) 241-2690.

The Cincinnati Police Department will also be participating in five other National Night Out events throughout the city.  District One will also be at Mt. Adams Monastery (map) from 6pm to 8pm, District Two at the Mt. Washington Recreation Center (map) from 6pm to 9pm, District Three at the Kroger Grocery on Ferguson Road (map) from 5pm to 8pm, District Four at Fleischmann Gardens Park (map) from 6pm to 8pm, and District Five at College Hill Presbyterian Church (map) from 6pm to 9pm.

Meanwhile in Northside, a group committed to helping the neighborhood build community and achieve a more fossil-free existence will be meeting from 5pm to 7pm at the McKie Center (map). The goal of Transition Town Northside is to create an umbrella under which like minded individuals and organizations can pool their efforts, with the main goal of working towards a neighborhood that is local and sustainable. The grass-roots, community effort is generally geared toward responding to the challenges presented by peak oil.

All of these events are free and open to the public and most can be accessed by Metro bus service (plan your trip). Free bicycle parking is also available in the immediate area for most locations.

Categories
Business Development News

Community Development Corporations honored for their work, impact in Cincinnati

The Community Development Corporations Association of Greater Cincinnati (CDCAGC) celebrated nine individuals, one area project, and one local community development corporation for their achievements and efforts in revitalizing Cincinnati’s communities last month.

The awards come at a time when CDCs are facing difficult circumstances as they attempt to do more with less in a down economy. From 2009 to 2010, the CDCAGC is funding fewer community development corporations, but is remarkably creating more housing units with approximately $100,000 less in funding. In 2009 local CDCs developed 34 housing units, while in 2010 they are developing 89 housing units with an additional 140 units in pre-development stages.

“When the private market doesn’t function it creates a need for community development corporations,” said Patricia Garry, Executive Director, CDCAGC. “Utilizing the process our CDCs use may take a bit longer upfront, but implementation happens in a second since there is already community support for the project.”

This year’s award winners represent a broad collection of organizations and individuals, and the first year someone from Hamilton County has won the ‘Most Outstanding Government Staff’ award. Also included amongst this year’s winners is Kevin Hughes who was recognized as the ‘Most Outstanding Volunteer’ for his efforts to create a renter equity program. The ability to generate equity as a renter is a new concept that was started in Cincinnati. With the help of the City of Cincinnati and the CDCAGC, Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity hopes to double the number of units involved in the program while also spreading the renter equity concept around the nation.

“The renter equity concept is a real game changer because poor residents can build wealth and landlords are able to save a lot of money on maintenance, lower resident turnover, and reliable rent payments,” Garry explained. “Kevin traded his 27th floor view of Great American Ball Park for a ground floor office in Over-the-Rhine with bars on the windows, and is now working as a volunteer to build both Cornerstone and the renter equity concept.”

  • Most Outstanding Director: Andy Hutzel, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing
  • Most Outstanding CDC Staff: Judy Mattingly, Cincinnati Housing Partners; Joe Gorman, Camp Washington Community Board
  • Most Outstanding Volunteer: Kevin Hughes, Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity
  • Most Outstanding Lender: Kevin Donovan, Fifth Third Bank; Chris Urti, Fifth Third Bank
  • Most Outstanding Consultant: Chip Williamson, Chameleon Architecture
  • Most Outstanding Government Staff: Susan Walsh, Hamilton County; Karen Alder, City of Cincinnati

Garry also recognized Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank for their leadership with the ‘Most Outstanding Lender’ award which included recognition for two Fifth Third employees instrumental in making project financing and loans possible for local community development corporations.

The ‘Most Outstanding Project’ award went to the Jimmy Heath House in Over-the-Rhine that is creating 25 housing units with on-site services meant to treat the chronically homeless and provide them with permanent supportive housing. The project is also restoring five buildings, in the historic neighborhood, that have long sat vacant on Odeon Street. The ‘Most Outstanding Collaboration’ award went to Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation for its work with the Northside Business Association, Northside Community Council, NorthSide Bank, and active churches in Northside to help revitalize their community.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Cincinnati Equinox Pride Parade and Festival This Weekend

Equinox Cincinnati

Equinox CincinnatiDowntown Cincinnati’s tag line “Life Happens Here” has never seemed more appropriate than this coming weekend, July 2-4, when the fabulous Equinox Cincinnati: Pride 2010 parade and festival takes place on 5th Street and Fountain Square. Pride is an all-weekend, annual festivity that gives the Greater Cincinnati LGBT community and allies a chance to come together and celebrate their individuality as well as diversity in general.

This year’s event is seen as a major turning point for the Cincinnati LGBT community, as Pride will once again be held downtown for the first time since 1995. For the past ten years, the parade and festival has been held in the gay-friendly neighborhood of Northside, but after the Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce took over the event this past year, the powers that be decided a better fit for the parade and festival was Downtown, a place that can properly showcase the increasingly visual and centralized gay Cincinnati community.

This move is seen as a positive turn of events by many Pride supporters, including Brian Reynolds, President of Cincinnati Men’s Chorus.

“Cincinnati Pride really did outgrow tiny Hoffner Park in Northside several years ago. And as much as I enjoy Northside and how much it has to offer, it just makes sense to me that Pride would move at this point from a neighborhood to someplace more central,” Reynolds explained.

He also believes moving Pride downtown has bigger implications beyond solving space issues in Hoffner Park, noting “This change has the potential to make the gay community and this event more visible than it has ever been, and visibility is the key to what we all want – acceptance.”

With its new location comes the new time frame of July 2nd-4th. Cincinnati Pride is typically held in the last weekend of June but was pushed back to the first week of July because most downtown hotel rooms were booked for a convention. The switch seems to have worked out for the better, as it coincides with the holiday weekend and no longer competes with other regional prides, like the hugely popular Chicago and Columbus Pride events. With the new time frame set, organizers expect the event to draw a large number of out-of-towners and help build on past successes, as last year’s Pride drew upwards of 20,000 people.

Downtown leaders and businesses were quick to show support for Pride and its date change. Pride flags can be seen along 5th Street – the Pride parade route, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. has included Equinox in its marketing campaigns, and numerous billboards around town advertising the festival. With all these changes and the support of the downtown community, there is an aura of excitement and energy around this year’s Pride.

As Reynolds explains, “With Pride this year falling on the Independence Day holiday, with the relocation, and with an entirely new team organizing the event — the Gay Chamber of Commerce — I have no idea what to expect. But I can’t wait to experience it and hope it continues to grow after this inaugural year.”

This year’s Pride events are bigger and better than ever. Below is a summary of the major events that can be enjoyed by anyone. Check out the Cincinnati Equinox Pride website for additional details.

  • Equinox Kickoff Happy Hour – Tonic on Fourth – Friday, July 2nd, 5-7pm
  • Bud Light Equinox Pub Crawl – Friday, July 2nd, 9pm-3am. 3 shuttles, 15 stops, 19 bars. Various locations.
  • Equinox Ball – Duke Energy Center, Saturday July 3rd, 10pm-2am.
  • Pride Parade and Festival – 5th Street and Fountain Square, Sunday, July 4th, 11am – 9:30pm
  • Numerous entertainment options, including performances by Deborah Cox
  • P&G Fireworks on the Square – Fountain Square, Sunday, July 4th, 9pm.

Greg Meckstroth, editor for UrbanOut, holds a geography degree from the Ohio State University along with a Masters in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally-ranked School of Planning. Greg currently works as an urban designer with an planning and design firm in Indianapolis.