Cincinnati's largest neighborhood, Westwood, houses more than 30,000 residents in a six-mile area just west of downtown. With tree-lined streets and architecturally appealing homes, many parts of the neighborhood offer beautiful walking views. Westwood maintains its historic buildings as renovations, new businesses and diverse young residents continue to be drawn to the west side. The community was featured in the Soapbox On The Ground series where we connected with Westwood community members and their many, ongoing initiatives. Want to learn more about Westwood? Check out On The Ground Westwood.
Tis May once again, dear Soapdish readers. At the dawn of Preservation Month, we coronate our region’s more notable preservation victories of the past 12 months. From Powel Crosley Jr.'s estate to Emily Pulitzer's childhood home, Cincinnati saves legendary landmarks.
City and neighborhood leaders, led by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, have been building support for a new approach to development regulations for more than four years. Much of that has been developed through the program Plan, Build, Live. Plan, Build, Live is a program driven by community feedback and discussion, all gathered via the project's website. The website encourages people to share their ideas about how a city should be designed. This weekend, instead of just online, Cincinnati residents and business leaders will come together to shape our future through a citywide Urban Design Workshop. The Workshop takes place from April 28 to May 2 to help create a "form-based code" that can be used by neighborhoods all over Cincinnati -- and help shape how development happens in Cincinnati in decades to come. "Traditional zoning focuses on the use of the building and how far the building is off the street or how large the building is," says Della Rucker, public engagement office for Plan, Build, Live. "Form-based code flips that around and focuses on how a property contributes to the experience people have in the area. How it creates a vibrant, walkable community." Plan Build Live is funded by a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Local funding is provided by the City of Cincinnati, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Health Department, and the Mill Creek Restoration Project. One of the Plan Build Live tools, a form-based code, encourages strong neighborhoods, business districts, and downtowns by focusing on the shapes of buildings, streets and sidewalks. Form-based codes can helps maintain or enhance a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly environment that offers a mix of residential options, transportation methods, workplaces, shopping and more. Traditional zoning codes encourage patches of similar use, forcing long distances between work, home and play. Form-based codes allow different uses to cluster – restaurants, apartments, drug stores and grocery stores, for instance – as long as they stick to rules that address the ways they relate to the neighborhood. Form-based codes are not planned to replace other types of zoning in Cincinnati, but they are intended to give neighborhoods a more flexibility. A key difference of form-based codes is that even people who are not trained planners help put them together. Participants only need to be willing to share their ideas. During the Workshops, citizens will meet with planners, architects and engineers to talk about what they like and want to see -- both in Cincinnati's neighborhoods and on several "special opportunity" sites. The preliminary Workshop focuses on creating a city-wide form-based code that will serve as a framework for the fall workshop, which will focus on four neighborhoods: Westwood, College Hill, Madisonville and Walnut Hills. The estimated completion date is 2013, but feedback and participation from residents and business owners is critical to helping the city implement the program. By Evan Wallis
The Western Wildlife Corridor has turned a passion for nature into a crusade for a more beautiful Ohio River Valley. Stretching from Mill Creek near downtown Cincinnati to the Great Miami River bordering Indiana, the WWC’s work seeks to enhance the quality of life for Cincinnatians by removing pollutants from the air and water, eradicating invasive plant species and helping boost the values of properties along the river. As stated on its website, the organization’s mission is “to protect the scenic beauty and natural resources of the Ohio River Valley through direct land protection and through the promotion of responsible land use.” One of the ways the WWC accomplishes this is by obtaining protective easements or purchasing properties in need of habitat restoration. “Raising enough money to purchase these properties is probably one of our biggest challenges,” says Tim Sisson, WWC president. According to Sisson, the WWC has agreements to protect properties in both Miami and Delhi Townships. In terms of the condition of the land itself, Sisson says that one of the biggest problems facing the Ohio River Valley is the prevalence of invasive plant species. “Species like Amur honeysuckle and garlic mustard kill other plants, trees and bushes,” says Sisson. “Once brought in as ornamental, these species are now threatening the indigenous plant life in the Ohio Valley.” Although the organization conducts habitat restoration year round, springtime is its busiest season – and just a few weeks away. The WWC relies entirely on volunteers to do everything from manually removing the smaller invasive plants from the riverbanks to performing administrative duties such as bulk mailings, website maintenance and newsletter coordination and editing. “Volunteerism with the WWC represents the opportunity to protect something important,” says Sisson. This fall, the WWC celebrates its 20th anniversary. Throughout 2012, the WWC will host many events providing opportunities for the community to become aware and involved. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, the WWC will host its annual meeting at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Open to the public, the meeting will include a presentation on the ecology and geology of the hillside. “Now is the time to protect the beautiful natural environment of the Ohio River Valley for future generations.” Sisson says. Do Good: • Donate: funds to help purchase a property in need of natural restoration. • Volunteer: your time to “clean up” the Ohio River banks. • Become: a member of the Western Wildlife Corridor. By Deidra Wiley Necco
Cincinnati may be the last place you’d expect to find a winery, but Henke has been around for more than a decade. Read the full story here.
What makes a business district more friendly than puppets? In Westwood, neighborhood redevelopment gets a boost from some of the city’s most colorful characters, the troupe from Madcap Productions, which moves into a bigger, better space this year. For more than 30 years, Madcap’s traditional and contemporary puppeteering have engaged audiences of all ages. Thanks to a new grant, Madcap can move from its Glenway location to a bigger space that will include a theater. In a partnership with the Westwood Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, Madcap was invited to the new space in an effort to help restore the historic business district in Westwood. The grant came after a two-year search by Madcap leaders who found the Neighborhood District Development Fund and received the capital grant from the City of Cincinnati. “We are working with several private and public community organizations,” says John Lewandowski, artistic director at Madcap. “We are excited to reanimate the district and become an anchor for the community.” Performing hundreds of shows each year for tens of thousands of people each season, Madcap has garnered national and international attention. The troupe travels around the country, performing at schools, with symphonies and even with local artists such as Know Theater. “We’ll be able to open our new shoes in our own theater,” Lewandowski says. “We’ll be able to invite local and regional audiences.” The new building, on Harrison Avenue in Westwood, will give Madcap a 200-seat performance space, a space to display their 600-plus-puppet collection and opportunities to expand workshops and educational offerings. Lewandowski hopes to have the doors open this spring, but he has no set date for performances. Working with teachers to immerse children in the arts is the backbone of Madcap’s educational programs. With the added square-footage, Madcap will be able to host larger workshops that focus on children in grades K-6, where they learn about storytelling, literature and even get to make their own puppets. While children remain a large focus of the non-profit, Lewandowski makes sure the performances appeal to adults as well as children. “We reach an enormous span of ages,” Lewandowski says. “Puppets can reach four-year olds, all the way up to adults.” By Evan Wallis
Once, the forests of western Ohio were so dense, a squirrel could travel by tree from the Ohio River to Lake Erie and never once touch the ground. In today’s urban landscape, it is hard to imagine those many miles of dark woods that once blanketed Hamilton County. Mt. Airy Forest’s 1,471 acres of wooded ravines and hiking and bridle trails offer city residents a glimpse into that past, even in the midst of highways and urban sprawl. The Mt. Airy Forest Festival, Oct.8, celebrates the history of this park’s creation 100 years ago and its legacy as one of, if not the first, urban reforestation projects in the country. In 1911, the Cincinnati Park Board established this park with the purchase of poorly managed farmland and began to reforest and enlarge it. The physical development of the park - its roads, trails, lodges, arboretum, stone walls and open shelters – was the work of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). For its rustic architecture, the rich history behind its construction and the early reforestation of an urban area, the park was recently listed as a historic site on the National Register of Historic Places. Mt. Airy Forest Festival celebrates that designation with the installation of a National Park Service plaque. History interpreters and members of three history encampments will celebrate Cincinnati’s history, discuss the work of the CCC, the paths of the Underground Railroad through Hamilton County and Civil War stories. The day also features an annual Amazing Family Race, games for all ages and food vendors. Do Good: Attend: Mt. Airy Forest Festival, October 8, 11 am-5 pm, Oak Ridge Lodge. Learn: About the rich history of the Cincinnati Parks and what the parks offer residents today. Volunteer: Contact the Cincinnati Parks to discover many volunteer opportunities in the parks. By Becky Johnson
This summer — from the Jersey Shore to Brooklyn, and from the Hamptons to the Catskills —the satisfying thump of weighted sacks hitting plywood of cornhole reverberated across New York area beaches, lawns, rooftops and city sidewalks. Read the whole story here.
One summer. Nine performances in two weeks. Sound like a blast? If you think so, and you're a Cincinnati youngster, The Young People's Theater might be the perfect way to spend your summer. Started in 1982 by Executive Director Tim Perrino, The Young People's Theater began as a summer camp for child thespians at the Dunham Recreation Center and Westwood Town Hall. Thirty years later, the program exists under the umbrella of Cincinnati Landmark Productions, which also operates the theater on the Showboat Majestic. "The Young People's Theater is the genesis of everything we've done," says Perrino. "I was looking to do what I did with my summers as a kid and it just gained momentum." Each summer more than 100 children audition for the chance to perform with The Young People's Theater at the Covedale Performance Art Center. The space was purchased exclusively for the program in 2002. This summer, the theater put on a performance of "Crazy For You," a musical based on George Gershwin's "Girl Crazy" with Judy Garland. "Crazy For You" is a 90s adaptation that packed more Gershwin songs from other musicals into the score. Two of the nine performances sold out and each show boasted at least 350 audience members, Perrino said. Last year's production of "Les Miserables" sold out every night. "It's all about the show," Perrino says. "We give them the experience by putting on a full- scale musical production." Do Good: • Volunteer. Visit the website to get involved. Operational meetings for next summer's program begin in December. You can get involved in everything from set design to costumes. • Donate: YPT benefits from outside donations and also offers two $500 scholarships for child actors. • Make a friend: Facebook "like" Cincinnati Landmark Productions. By Ryan McLendon
Hundreds flock to Findlay Market every week to stock their pantry, snack on samples and pay homage to the local agro-businesses that surround the city. But Findlay Market also gives residents the opportunity to learn about sustainable farming from the ground up, literally. In partnership with the USDA, The Corporation for Findlay Market has been training de facto urban farms hand since 2009 to cultivate produce on local farm land that will eventually be sold at the market, thus increasing access to locally grown foods to Cincinnatians.The project, dubbed Findlay Markey Farms!, recently received another $30,000 grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation http://www.gcfdn.org/ to continue the farming on urban acres within the city. "We created to the project because we knew we had more demand for local produce than we had supply," says Karen Kahle, resource development director for Findlay Market. The grant allows Findlay Market Farms! to hire an urban farming manager, in partnership the Civic Garden Center. It also helps train two dozen apprentice farmers and provides funds for equipment and supplies.The four plots of land used by Findlay Market Farms! are located in Over-the-Rhine, Hartwell and Westwood. Hundreds of volunteers from local organizations, schools and universities have helped with the project, Kahle says. They recently hired their fourth co-op student in urban planning from the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) Kahle says that the skills Findlay Market Farms! teaches could help residents make a career of urban farming."We feel confident that on a quarter acre lot with an extended growing season, folks can make living as an urban farmer after a couple years," she says.Do Good:• Volunteer. Donate a few hours a week to help maintain a plot in your area. Email for details.• Go shopping. Support the local growers by purchasing produce at Findlay Market.• Join the Friends of Findlay Market. Stay up-to-date on the latest news and opportunities at the Market.By Ryan McLendonPhoto courtesy Friends of Findlay Market
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