5chw4r7z:: the ethos of downtown Cincinnati

People shoot out 8th St on their way from Price Hill to downtown and vise versa, but zipping along is any thought given at all as to whats hiding behind the fire department and a couple other run down buildings on 8th near State St.?
I've heard of the renovations going on at St. Michael’s, the second oldest Catholic Church in Cincinnati but I really knew nothing else about the Lower Price Hill Historic neighborhood. I reached out to the Director of Community Programs Mike Moroski for a tour around St. Michael’s and the neighborhood.
It was inspiring, St. Michael’s and the surrounding buildings are undergoing over $8 million in renovations that will transform the properties and the ongoing mission of Lower Price Hill Education Matters/Community Matters. St. Michael’s itself will be come an event space available for rental and the former school next door will have a pantry on the ground floor. The 2nd and 3rd floors will house the GED programs and a Cincinnati State satellite campus. Mike Moroski told me how LPHCS has had great success helping residents in the neighborhood obtain their GEDs. They felt getting the adults acclimated to a classroom environment would give them the foundation they needed to then move on to a more traditional college after they obtained an associate degree.

Lower Price Hill Education Matters/Community Matters

The neighborhood has its challenges to be sure. It has been cut off from the river by the new 6th St viaduct. It is also hemmed in one one side by heavy industry and the other side by steep hills. They have seen a few advances however, Bloc Minitries has opened a pizza shop. The shop hires people from the neighborhood providing them with work experience. Somewhere down the road Moroski would like to see a small grocer with healthy option located in the neighborhood also.