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In my job, I've got funding to work on an illustrated "Density Guide" to explain density and help people and public officials become more informed about and less afraid of density. To promote the idea that density is not necessarily about units per acre and people per square mile, but also is very much about design. I want to show that density in our cities, county seats and small towns preserves farmland and revitalizes communities.

 

I want to illustrate this with photographic examples from around Ohio, in towns large and small. I'm seeking suggestions of neighborhoods that are models of well-designed density. I'm looking for places such as Victorian Gate in Columbus -- 160 units on 3.2 acres, an attractive, desirable urban place that preserves farmland (160 units at 1 unit/acre in a rural area would gobble up a nice farm). I'm looking for southern Ohio rowhouses in tiny farm towns. I'm looking for small county seats with tidy rows of single-family homes at 7-10 per acre -- urban-transit density in picket-fence America.

 

Any suggestions?

Gallipolis, Ripley (along the riverfront), Marietta, East Liverpool, Steubenville, Chillicothe, Martin's Ferry, and Portsmouth all immediately come to mind.

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

Thanks. I've got downtown shots of most of those places (and will be in Gallipolis again this evening for a meeting). But are there particular streets, residential neighborhoods that you think might be illustrative? I've got some shots from a residential street just upriver from downtown Gallipolis.

Gallipolis has a street just east of downtown paralleling the park with some great French-inspired shotguns and rows.  Ripley along the riverfront street has some great stuff.  Marietta has some great housing near the twin-spired Spanish church.  The other cities you're going to have to explore (don't know the street names).

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

I hope you can share some photos with us along the way!

  • 8 months later...

Does anybody have any pictures of good and bad examples of Ohio density that I could use in this non-commercial guide, with photo credits? Here are a few samples of the kinds of things I'm looking for:

 

density005.jpg

Columbus outerbelt apartment complex, at 38 units per acre

 

density006.jpg

Victorian Gate -- 50 units per acre, walkable and attractive

 

Utica2.jpg

Small-town density, Utica, Ohio. Block at about 8 units per acre

 

Gallipolisrows.jpg

More small-town: Gallipolis, about 7 units/acre

 

PB130221.jpg

Urban density, German Village, about 10 units/acre

 

  • 2 weeks later...

C'mon, gang. This is a request perfect for forumers. I'm looking for pictures, but also for suggestions of neighborhoods to mention -- new-build infill; vibrant, dense, mixed-use old neighborhoods; new TND; etc. What are the best, dense old neighborhoods in and around Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, etc.?

 

This guide will be published in late March and sent to planning agencies around the state. It's being produced in central Ohio, but is funded through the Ohio Environmental  Education Fund. It's intended to illustrate that density is not a bad word or something to be feared, but something we need as an attractive, well-designed, cost-effective option for changing cities, a changing population and changing times.

In Cincy:

OTR revitalization is maybe a good focus. Mt. Adams & Northside. Clifton might be good, as it is medium-density but functions like an urban hood.

 

I think the reason you aren't getting many responses is because not many of us know about the smaller towns which you were asking about: "I'm looking for southern Ohio rowhouses in tiny farm towns. I'm looking for small county seats with tidy rows of single-family homes at 7-10 per acre -- urban-transit density in picket-fence America." We know the cities, hence UrbanOhio.

 

  Whoa - big subject.

 

  I can't remember where I saw this, but I found this illustration helpful:

 

  Draw 3 squares, each one inch by one inch.

  In the first square, place nine dots, equally spaced on a 1/4 inch grid.

  In the second square, place nine dots next to each other in the center.

  In the third square, place nine dots equally spaced in a diagonal row from corner to corner.

 

    All three squares have the same density of 9 dots per square inch.

    Square No. 1, the uniform density, maximizes space between the dots. This represents the typical post-war American residential subdivision.

    Square No. 2, with all the dots concentrated in the center, represents the traditional village.

    Square No. 3 represents development along a road or transporation route.

 

   

Anybody have any good shots of places like Chagrinn Falls or Hudson that show a bit of downtown and maybe also some residential? Trying to get a bit of both in the same shot.

 

How 'bout a Cincinnati shot -- maybe something that shows the density of Mt. Adams with the skyline in the background?

Wow! Perfect. Thanks.

 

  • 1 month later...

Density guide ("Dense by Design: A Compact Guide to Compact Development") is almost ready to go to the printer. But I still need a few things. Anybody have any good shots of mixed-use urban infill in Cleveland? Pictures of downtown Hudson or Chagrin Falls? Anything from the Toledo area (the guide is weak on NW Ohio). Also seeking quotes/comments from citizens or officials who once were skeptical of the merits of density but now embrace the idea.

I am working on project that could use similar help.    I am part of a small working group called the North Clintonville Development Task Force.  Our goal is to re-develop the northern most section of High St. in Columbus.  Unlike the rest of Clintonville which uses a Urban Commercial Overlay, our portion of High Street has a Community Commercial Overlay (less dense and more greenspace).  I would love to find photo examples of mixed used development in an quasi-urban environment to plug into a PowerPoint presentation.  Specifically, we have a 5 lane stretch of road with 20' set backs.  Parking is supposed to be to the side or rear of any new buildings.  Additionally, we would like to see multi-family residential with a density of about 30 units per Acre.  If you go to my facebook page:  "North Clintonville Development Task Force," you can see pictures of what we have now, mostly a lot of parking lots.  I'd like to show people what is possible.  Maybe some folks on this site know of good projects to use as benchmarks. 

 

Any help would be much appreciated. 

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