Cincinnati’s Renaissance

A lit up downtown Cincinnati from Mount Echo Park in Price Hill. Fourteen years removed from race riots that rocked the nation, the city has been undergoing a revitalization of the urban core, resulting in the downtown area thriving more than ever before.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

The revitalization has started in downtown Cincinnati, but is slowly spreading throughout the city. Ten years ago this shelter in Mount Echo Park was covered

in graffiti, but has recently been restored.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

Construction on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center began in 2002, a year after the shooting death of Timothy Thomas and the subsequent riots. Opening in 2004, the center can be viewed as the initial groundbreaking to the start of the cleaning up of downtown

Cincinnati. The riots caused crime to spike in 2002 but, since then, crime has dropped within city limits and in townships that are part of the Greater Cincinnati area.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

One of the initial projects associated with Cincinnati’s resurgence, is The Banks. Moerlein Lager House is a popular riverfront restaurant and brewery located next to Smale Riverfront Park, which regularly hosts small music acts and other forms of entertaintment during the warm

seasons.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

East Freedom Way houses many results of the Banks Project. The street and area has become a staple for college students and young professionals with bars such as Holy Grail, Tin Roof, Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill, and Jefferson Social renting the spaces below the apartments,

Current at the Banks.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

With Freedom Way East supporting so many booming businesses, construction on Freedom Way West has begun. When the entire project is complete, Cincinnati can expect to see an increase of $276 million a year in economic impact and an estimated total of $2.7 billion from 2011-

2020.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine has often been viewed as a street associated with heavy amounts of crime, especially after the 2001 riots. The street has been a popular destination for up-and-coming business owners and young professionals, as it’s now difficult to find an abandoned

building; a far cry from the Vine Street of the early 21st century.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

Vine Street has become a popular place for business among restaurant owners. Places such as Bakersfield, Krueger’s Tavern, Senate, and Taste of Belgium haven become a few of many restaurants that are consistently crowded.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

OTR’s revival has brought about not only restoration in buildings and businesses, but has allowed artists to use these buildings as canvases to pay homage to Cincinnati’s history, such as the photo on the left.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

Renovations continue throughout OTR to help build the community into a thriving, crime-free neighborhood. One piece of art that has been left standing is the Arch of Peace along Vine Street. The Arch and the park that lies behind it are being renovated.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

While business has been the main attraction for people visiting OTR, the city continues to construct and renovate apartments to give the neighborhood a steady population for the continued resurgence of this once desolate area.

Cincinnati’s Renaissance

The Great American Building stands tall as fog rolls in through downtown Cincinnati. Completed in 2011, the building is the tallest, most noticeable reminder of the positive change rolling through the entire city.