For those seeking an urban environment with a funky blend of Victorian homes, eclectic and traditional businesses, a long tradition of community activism and one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Cincinnati, you can't go wrong with Northside. Home to the legendary 4th of July parade, the Northside Farmer's Market, Shake It Records, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Cincinnati, popular watering holes like the Comet and Northside Tavern and an active community council, Northside is all about preserving its strong grassroots heritage. One of Cincinnati's most walkable neighborhoods, Northside also features multiple green spaces, including Hoffner Park, the central site of numerous festivals.
For foodies, Cyber Monday is a great opportunity to buy just about anything gourmet-related, from meats to cheeses, pizzas to pies and soup to nuts (literally). The Wall Street Journal picked a couple of local favorites as their favorites. Read the rest of the story here.
Judi and Dominic LoPresti met in a bike shop. Their first date was a bike ride. They even got married at an international bike show in Las Vegas. Next year, the Cincinnati natives will fulfill a lifelong dream to open their own bike shop when they welcome customers to Spun Bicycles in Northside, at 4122 Hamilton Avenue in the storefront space of historic Hoffner Lodge. They've leased the storefront space and are already busy planning for the space, which will have a 60-inch TV screen pumping BMX videos and music and a bench constructed out of skateboards. "Cincinnati hasn't seen anything like this," says Judi LoPresti, who worked as a bicycle messenger in San Francisco and raced for three years before deciding that the traditional riding scene was not for her. "We just want to have a bike shop that's going to be really cool." With her background in bikes of all sorts and her husband's history as a sponsored BMX rider, the couple spent countless hours volunteering for MoBo, the city's only bicycle co-op. She spent most of her time volunteering with youth programs, including summer initiatives that provided bikes for neighborhood kids. What she noticed, over and over again, were people who didn't want to work on their own bikes, which MoBo supports, but just wanted their own bikes fixed. "The neighborhood needs a bike shop," she says. While it won't be a focal point of Spun, the couple does plan on selling locally crafted skateboards by Fickle Boards. But the shop's main focus will be restoring and repairing bikes, selling bikes and supporting the local biking community. Judi LoPresti says that he shop's location next to The Listing Loon will make it easy for customers to drop of their bikes for repair, stop next door for beer or wine, then come back to pick up their fixed wheels. She sees a symbiotic relationship with MoBo and the newly opened Wrong Brothers bike shop in nearby Northside International Airport. "I'm really excited," says Judi, who currently spends days tending the coffee bar at Sidewinder. "There are ton of people looking forward to it." The LoPresti's get occupancy next month and hope to have their logo on the windows soon. Inside, though, they have lots of renovation and design work to do. Still, Judi LoPresti hopes to have the doors open by late March 2013. Currently, We Have Become Vikings is designing Spun's logo, which should be unveiled this month, and the shop's website, which will launch next year. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter
A parade of cherry-pickers greeted Northside business owners and shoppers last Friday at the unveiling of the city's first CoSign Project. Artisan-crafted signs took the shape of everything from intricately carved tumbleweeds to airplanes to jackalopes in this celebration of signage, small businesses and collaboration. Soapbox's Scott Beseler takes a tour.
On Nov. 8, Cincinnati Public Schools auctioned 13 school buildings and four land parcels, valued at more than $27 million, according to the county auditor's office. Eleven of the buildings sold, along with one piece of land. Bidding opened on Nov. 5 at $50,000; at the close of the auction, CPS made $3.5 million, which was more than enough to complete the district's Facilities Master Plan. The FMP was part of a bond levy that was passed in spring 2003 that combined state and other funds for a $1 billion build-out of the district. In the next 18 months, every school currently in use by CPS will either have been renovated or rebuilt to create a better environment for students, faculty and staff. As part of the FMP, many of the schools that were sold at auction were “swing” schools, which means they were used for classes while other schools were being renovated. After renovations, CPS no longer had a need for the schools, but wanted the buildings to have second lives. “As part of the plan, we knew we couldn’t overbuild, and we didn’t want to under-build,” says Janet Walsh, director of public affairs for CPS. “The consequence of that was that there were some beautiful buildings that we weren’t able to use as school buildings, but could be used by the community in other ways.” The district's approach, as it has been before, was to put the buildings up for auction. CPS held a successful auction about three years ago, but this one included more buildings and raised more money than expected, says Eve Bolton, board president of CPS. Some of the schools that didn’t sell in the 2009 auction sold this time around. “The reality is that the economic upturn in this region and the interest in Greater Cincinnati leaves a stock of historic, well-built schools empty,” says Bolton. “We want to see our buildings reused and recycled so that they can be beneficial to the neighborhoods they are a part of.” State law allows CPS to auction off unused buildings, but only after they have first been offered to local charter schools. Those left after auction can be sold on the public market as pieces of real estate. Buyers have no legal restrictions regarding what the school buildings can be used as—some of the buildings will become other schools, residential housing or office buildings; others will be torn down and something else will be built in their places. CPS schools and land included in the Nov. 8 auction:Burton Elementary School, 876 Glenwood Street, North Avondale: sold for $305,000; built in 1966, last class in 2008Central Fairmount Elementary School, 2475 White Street, South Fairmount: sold for $310,000; built in 1900, last class in 2012Heberle Elementary School, 2015 Freeman Avenue, West End: sold for $60,000; built in 1929, last class in 2007Hoffman Elementary School, 3060 Durrell Avenue, Evanston: sold for $200,000; built in 1922, last class in 2011Kirby Road Elementary School, 1710 Bruce Avenue, Northside: sold for $230,000; built in 1910, last class in 2005Lafayette Bloom Middle School, 1941 Baymiller Street, West End: sold for $60,000; built in 1915, last class in 2006Linwood Fundamental Academy, 4900 Eastern Avenue, Linwood: sold for $75,000; built in 1927-29, last class in 2005Losantiville Elementary School, 6701 Elbrook Avenue, Amberley Village: sold for $525,000; built in 1954, last class in 2008Old SCPA, 1310 Sycamore Street, Pendleton: sold for $1.3 million; built in 1910, last class in 2010Old Shroder Junior High School, 3500 Lumford Place, Kennedy Heights: sold for $150,000; built in 1956, last class unknownParadrome Street parcel, Mount Adams: sold for $135,000Winton Montessori School, 4750 Winton Road, Winton Place: sold for $265,000; closed in early Nov. 2012George F. Sands School, 940 Poplar Street, West End: not sold, valued at $1.89 million; built in 1912, last class in 2007North Fairmount Elementary School, 2001 Baltimore Avenue, North Fairmount: not sold, valued at $2.2 million; built in 1954, last class unknownE. Apple Street parcel, Winton Hills: not sold, valued at $485,628Terry Street parcel, East Price Hill: not sold, valued at $13,400Site of old Millvale school building, 3277 Beekman Street, Millvale: not sold, valued at $135,550By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter
This year, Black Friday will be a “Bright Friday” for the community of Northside. Up and down Hamilton Avenue, businesses will unveil fun and funky new signs that bedazzle Northside’s main drag. In an unlikely collaboration of 11 businesses, local artists, several zoning officials and one museum, the CoSign project is now a proven success in creating attractive, cohesive street signage with hopes to shape future signage projects in city neighborhoods locally and across the nation. What started as a broader grant application to ArtPlace America for several city neighborhoods became a personal quest for Northsiders after the city-wide application went unfunded last spring. Stepping up with funding support, the Haile US Bank Foundation, Northside partners and the American Sign Museum created a pilot project that paired local businesses and visual artists with sign fabricators to design and install a critical mass of new signage along Hamilton Avenue. With an idealistic launch date of November 23, this year’s Black Friday, Eric Avner knew this would be a challenge. “We wanted to do multiple things at once,” says Avner, vice president and senior program manager of the Haile/US Bank Foundation. “Help the sign museum, help local business districts gain vitality and give the creative sector of Cincinnati more opportunities to make a living.” The American Sign Museum played a vital role in the project, serving as the primary grant recipient and providing staff as content specialists for the design process. The museum held two August training workshops for artists and businesses, put together a team of professional sign fabricators and installers, and participated in a judging panel to decide upon the best signage proposals from business/artist teams. “Part of our mission is to educate the public and special interest groups about signs,” says Tod Swormstedt, founder of the American Sign Museum. “The workshops helped to educate the business owners on why signage is so important for marketing, as well as to educate artists about what is a good sign. Artists may create an aesthetically-pleasing sign, but it may not identify the business well.” The week before their unveiling, the American Sign Museum displayed the signage in its brand-new facility near Camp Washington at 1330 Monmouth Street. CoSign documented the progress of the project from start to finish with help from The Queen City Project so other communities have the opportunity to replicate the project and broadcast their own creativity and collaborative spirit through signage. And the sign museum plans to go after that ArtPlace grant again - the one it lost just a few short months ago. Says Swormstedt, “The application is much stronger now, given the learning curve we experienced, the lessons learned and the project’s success.” By Becky Johnson
Peggy Shannon, who dreamed up Queen City Cookies just two years ago, will open a gift shop today as part of her new Northside "campus" dedicated to community empowerment, entrepreneurial energy and amazingly delicious sweet treats.
Queen City Cookies is an artisan cookie whose founder, Peggy Shannon, is a life-long baker and artist who put up the cookie shop as a way to offer consumers beautiful and delicious baked goods. Read the full story here.
Karen Fessler has a message she wants you to hear loud and clear: Faces Without Places is alive, well and kicking. For years, the nonprofit, grassroots organization that has provided nearly $1.5 million in educational support for homeless children in Greater Cincinnati was affiliated with the Cincinnati Public Schools. But about two years ago--and for a variety of reasons--the organization split with the school system, says Fessler, who is a board member and a founding member of the 17-year-old group. But its mission remains intact, says Fessler. “The most important part of the program is that we get kids out of shelters, we get kids off the streets and we show them that education is a way to experience a larger world,’’ says Fessler. “We want to broaden our reach. We want to broaden our horizons.” Fessler declines to discuss what led to the parting of ways, but adds the founders of the program all left their jobs at CPS as well. “But none of us lost our passion for the kids and the mission of Faces Without Places,’’ she adds. “I want people to know that we are here, and we are committed to providing services. We are toughing it out through thick and thin--for the kids.” The nonprofit helps about 3,000 school children annually in Greater Cincinnati. Last year, the group provided 7,702 services to 3,013 children, according to its website. Those services included providing taxi services to school for 112 students, uniform vouchers for 777 students, backpacks and supplies for more than 839 students and Payless gift cards for 320 students so they could get a new pair of shoes, a luxury for many, Fessler says. The nonprofit is best known for its Yellow Bus Summer Camp, which completed its 15th year this past summer. Last year, 152 children attended the eight-week camp that focuses on reading and day trips. Earlier this month, the group’s biggest fundraiser--the Yellow Bus Ball--raised more than $23,000, most of which will go to fund the camp. “The ball is critical because we have to have money to pay teachers and buy supplies,’’ Fessler says. “We can get grant money for field trips, but the fundraiser really helps us be able to put on the camp to the degree we have always done it.” Fessler has worked with thousands of homeless children over the years, and she readily admits she is biased toward teens. “A lot of people don’t realize this, but these kids are completely out on their own; they are either staying at friends' or living eight, nine, 10 kids piled up in an apartment,’’ she says. “They are squatting and some are living on the streets trying to negotiate life … they are all living life on the edge. I am most impressed by their sheer tenacity and their desire to find a better life.” Do Good: • Register for the Mt. Adams Yellow Bus Pub Crawl on Saturday, Nov. 17. • Attend the 5th annual Chili Taste Off on Dec. 9 at Northside Tavern. • Contribute to Faces Without Places' wishlist of school and personal hygiene supplies. • Sign up for the monthly email newsletter. • Give back while you shop. By Chris GravesChris Graves is the assistant vice president of digital and social media at Powers Agency
Where you see an empty carton, Andrey Kozakov sees a face. Where you see a cabinet, he sees a magical box. Most of all, the Cincinnatian from the Ukraine sees his art as an expression of his freedom—from the bonds of the past and the constraints of convention.
As many areas of Cincinnati are being rejuvenated, including OTR and Washington Park, the City of Cincinnati approved a comprehensive approach to focus on development in the city as a whole, not just targeted neighborhoods. Last Friday, the City Planning Commission approved and adopted Plan Cincinnati, which was designed with input from residents. The Plan is an opportunity to strengthen what people love about the city, what works and what needs more attention, says Katherine Keough-Jurs, senior city planner and project manager. The idea is to re-urbanize suburbanized Cincinnati; in a sense, to return to the strengths of the city's beginnings. Cincinnati was established just after the American Revolution in 1788 and grew into an industrial center in the 19th century. Many of those industries no longer exist in the city, which is part of why Cincinnati has become more suburbanized in the past 50 years. One of the long-term goals of the Plan is to bring new industries to Cincinnati. With a new approach to revitalization, Cincinnati is blazing the trail for other cities. With a focus on building on existing strengths rather than tearing down structures and creating new ones, the Plan aims to capitalize on the city's “good bones” and good infrastructure. Cinicinnatians had a huge role in developing the Plan. The first public meeting for the Plan was held in September 2009, when residents offered their insights into “what makes a great city?" and "what would make Cincinnati a great city?” A steering committee of 40 people representing businesses, nonprofits, community groups, local institutions, residents and City Council helped develop the Plan. The Plan also got support from a grant from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which the City received in 2010. The grant allotted $2.4 million over three years to support the Land Development Code, which combines and simplifies Cincinnati's codes, reviews the development process, implements Form-based Codes and considers more creative uses for land. The grant allowed the city to start implementing some of the ideas voiced in public meetings. Visionaries included youth, too. City staff worked with community centers and Cincinnati Public Schools to develop an art project for children. They were given clay pots and asked to paint their fears for the city on the inside and their dreams for the city on the outside. The children saw the big issue was quality of life, just like the adults did. “It was an interesting way to get the kids involved and thinking about the future,” Keough-Jurs says. The Plan aims to strengthen neighborhood centers—the neighborhoods’ business districts. It maps out areas that people need to get to on a daily basis and found that most are within about a half-mile of the business districts. But in some neighborhoods, residents can’t access their neighborhood centers. The accessibility of a neighborhood center is based on walkability—not just for pedestrians, but also about how structures address walking. For exampke, if a pedestrian can walk from one end of the neighborhood center to the other without breaking his or her pattern (the window shopping effect), the area is walkable; if he or she has been stopped by a parking lot or vacancies, it’s not walkable, Keough-Jurs says. The neighborhood centers are classified in one of three ways in the Plan: maintain, evolve or transform. Some neighborhoods have goals to maintain levels of walkability, whereas others need to gradually change or evolve. Still others need to completely transform in order to strengthen their business districts. “Cincinnati is at the heart of the region,” Keough-Jurs says. “If we strengthen Cincinnati, we strengthen a region.” The next step for the Plan is to go before the Cincinnati City Council, specifically the Livable Communities Committee, which is chaired by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls. By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter
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