From the past: Visions of Vine Street

CINCINNATI - Visions of Vine Street is an hour-long prime-time documentary which originally aired Dec. 13, 2001.

The idea came when 9 News Director Bob Morford asked I-Team Reporter Laure Quinlivan to look into the number of abandoned and dilapidated buildings along the city's main connector between downtown and Clifton for an I-Team report.

The more Quinlivan and photographer Rod Griola dug into the ownership of the buildings, the need for a larger scale report became apparent.

The documentary contrasts the then-vibrant Main Street district to the run-down Vine Street corridor and investigates the reasons for the disparity. It cites the concentrated social services as well as the efforts of some to push out developers in order to save low-income housing.

The documentary aimed to hold property owners accountable and highlight those working to cause positive change.

The docmentary offered 10 solutions to fix the problems on Vine Street:

1. Develop a housing court

2 Open a neighborhood Pride Center

3. Offer low-interest loans

4. Develop a Co-op loan program

5. Make street improvements, ie bury overhead power lines, plant trees

6. Increase funding to improve building facades

7. Limit low-income housing

8. Create a new historic building code

9. Have police officers walk a beat on Vine Street

10. Create a master plan for Vine Street

The documentary won a prestigious George F. Peabody Award from the University of Georgia.