Residents of College Hill Thursday celebrated the success of a 90-day neighborhood blitz that addressed crime, blight and building code violations in the community.
It was the seventh Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP) undertaken by the City of Cincinnati. The effort began March 1 and ended May 31.
New signs have been erected at the entrances to College Hill, proclaiming that it's "A Community of Diversity and Renaissance."
Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr., took it one step further by calling it "Extreme Makeover: Neighborhood Edition."
The targeted area was the College Hill business district along Hamilton Avenue from LLanfair Avenue to North Bend Road.
College Hill Forum President Amy Finnegan said the program will help the community reach its goals of safety, security and revitalization.
"It gives us a renewed energy," she said. "It renews the energy in our volunteers. It brings vitalization to the neighborhood. Our street is beautiful. We have pride in our business district. Our businesses can thrive this way."
Spencer McKinney hopes that's the case. He's set to open his new “Shhhhh” Restaurant on Hamilton Avenue on June 25.
"It's safer. It's cleaner," McKinney said, of the business district. "During tough economic times, we need something that really looks good for a neighborhood to be positive."
Results of the blitz included:
- District 5 police logged over 800 hours of overtime to provide a visible police presence to deter crime.
- A parking lot at Hamilton and Cedar Avenues was upgraded so it wouldn't be a potential hot spot for criminal activity.
- Over 1,200 buildings were inspected by city building inspectors and 97 owners have resolved 240 code violations.
- One building was demolished and five more will be removed.
- Fire inspectors examined 800 structures.
The Great American Cleanup took place during the College Hill NEP, resulting in the building of Evan Ramsey Florist being power-washed and repainted.
Two concrete planters at the front entrance are filled with brightly colored flowers.
"Guess what?" said owner Barb Ramsey. "We're going to make it even better."
Nearby, James Helton lay on his side, painting the facade of another storefront. He worked with worries on his mind.
"We have some problems here with the youth," he said. "Unless something is done with the youth, there have been a lot of people invest[ing] money foolishly."
Helton works for House of Joy Ministries and sees young people standing on street corners in groups.
"Sooner or later they're going to get into trouble," Helton added.
Cincinnati Police District 5 Commander Captain Dave Bailey said the extra police presence has curbed the number of loitering complaints.
"We've had undercover operations," he said. "We did some curfew violation sweeps."
However, Capt. Bailey added that the key to keeping things under control is using the partnerships police have developed with residents during the blitz.
"You're hoping now that you've got a base out there that you can go to and maybe they can help you work on issues affecting the quality of life," he stated.
Dohoney acknowledged that the NEP is a great opportunity for a community to engage its young people so they feel a sense of ownership.
"If they do not feel a sense of ownership, it leads to problems," the City Manager said. "We want them to be constructive and NEP provides a way through the variety of activities that we do to make that happen."
The city will follow up with College Hill residents and their partners over the next nine months to make sure the changes brought about during the blitz have been sustained.
In the meantime, construction continues on a new fire station at the corner of Hamilton and Llanfair Avenues. When it's finished this fall, it will anchor the southern entrance to the neighborhood.
Past NEP programs in Price Hill, Avondale, Northside, Clifton Heights/University Heights/Fairview Heights (CUF), Westwood and Evanston have resulted in an average reduction in blight of 15%.
College Hill's leaders hope the same holds true for their community.
