Five Point Alley: Community Visioning Open House
The Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, Walnut Hills and the University of Cincinnati’s MetroLAB invited the community to come together and brainstorm leveraging the success of last years Five Point Alley popup. The goal is to expand the Sunday event over an entire weekend. But what should the other two days be used for? Hope is that in this afternoon session residents and stakeholders would help map the future of Five Point Alley.
There is momentum in the area leading into this summer. Fire Side Pizza will be moving into the old firehouse on E. McMillan and a heard rumors of a coffee shop opening up with its back to the event space.
The residents I talked to were all high on the changes occurring in the neighborhood, things are definitely moving in the right direction.
This summer is going to be pretty exciting in Walnut Hills.
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7 comments
It was such a great event! The 5 Points Alley Biergarten last summer was what made me interested in Walnut Hills in the first place. Then I just fell in love with the entire community, the residents, the small businesses, the community organizations, the spirit of the space. I moved to Walnut Hills last month. I seriously can't wait to see what happens in my new neighborhood and I am excited about being a part of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out in my mind last summer was meeting two women from Hyde Park and then listening to them talk about how cool it would be to live in Walnut Hills!
DeleteThat's how it all starts.
Being here is a different story. We moved here last Summer and it was all "We have so much happening this summer"... nothing. Then it was "wait till Spring"... nothing. Now it's ALLLLLL about the Summer...
ReplyDeleteThe community is spending $90,000 to open a pizza restaurant... that's grant money!!! and even more in tax credits, yet there "aren't enough resources" to address the crime. The Core Safety Committee spends the majority of their time going in circles about a Youth Ambassador Program without coming to any decision. "Let's pay kids $10 an hour to play basketball" --and no time about how to put pressure on Kroger to step up and be accountable for their loitering problem.
There's no new businesses in Walnut Hills. Hinge opened in July of 2013 and nothing has happened since then. There's not even a place to open a new business if you wanted. We moved in on the basis that we were told that we would have neighbors by Summer of 2013... the space isn't even finished. What kind of developer buys a building for $30,000 and can't have ANY units done in 2 years???
Three kids were shot last weekend in an after-school gang battle... one of them died. There are drug dealers on nearly every major corner and all the business group can decide on is buying flowers and sprucing up the sidewalks. As a small business owner in this neighborhood, I do not support the idea that critical mass presence will organically solve the crime problem... I truly appreciate all that you have done for our business, Bob... we get several new followers each time you mention Hinge, but I can't let this visionary conversation be sold to unsuspecting people. We were baited into it and while we are capable of doing the hard work, the progress is very little to what is being told.
I'm all about positive conversation... but I'm also about the truth.
I hope you found time to stop in and make your voice heard.
DeleteThanks but I'm in constant conversation with people in the area that I don't need to attend.
DeleteIf you go back and look at the conversation, its always "better than it used to be" or "up and coming"... but show me any real progress over the past year or more... and I fully understand that progress takes time, but when the conversation is being sold within certain timelines and nothing is delivered time and time again. We're here,, 6 days a week... investing in the neighborhood with action and presence, attracting all parts of the city and generating positive engagement (and clearly supplying the city with an alternative to the CityBeat Top choices for Home Accessories, because THAT's a joke!!!).
A monthly frat party is cute and all, but its time to really step it up around here. There's no reason to have workers falling through the ceiling... 3 TIMES!!
June 2009, OTR started with a "frat" party. It took them 5 years to get to where they are.
DeleteAnd they have all the money and power of 3CDC behind them.
Walnut Hills won't do it any quicker than that.
And that's the truth.
I'm not out to bash OTR or the WHRF. I suppose I simply have higher standards, which may or may not be appropriate, for where we are. Honestly, OTR doesn't impress me. We like the businesses there and have made some good relationships with OTR residents. We looked there and decided not to open there. With Walnut Hills being a fresh slate full of potential we felt like it was a better pick for us because of its geographical accessibility and authenticity of character. Its frustrating to see so much invested in a pizza restaurant when that $89,000+ could be invested in more police presence and repaving some sidewalks. I imagine Walnut Hills to be a crossroads to the rest of the city with Gilbert and McMillan (Peebles Corner) in the center bringing the city together. There are no Target stores in the city and I think the Northeast corner would be a perfect place to have one. Target has done an amazing job in other cities (see Uptown and Downtown Chicago) at fitting within historical sites and modeling urban restoration of blighted areas. Its easy to appeal to college kids. I'd like to see a more mature approach to appealing to the whole city. Rallying around a keg of beer in a pile of woodchips just doesn't send out the right message for me and I don't apologize for those feelings.
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