It seems that I have not spent enough time in Cincinnati, Ohio, with my trips taking me to the highlands of West Virginia, all throughout the hills of Kentucky and the crossroads of Ohio. But one neighborhood that I have not focused enough attention on is mine: Northside. I last visited my neighborhood on an Urbanup Tour back in August 2011, so another tour is well needed considering that spring has sprung quite a bit early.

 

Northside is generally bounded by Interstates 74 and 75 to the south and east, Spring Grove Cemetery to the north and a hillside to the west. I consider it to be both an eclectic and traditional neighborhood, great for youthful individuals and families alike.

 

I start the tour, as with the last, with Beech Hill Avenue where I reside. My residence is the bright yellow townhome. In the foreground is a red bricked three story that is finally undergoing rehabilitation – hopefully to a single family home.

 

 

 

Beautiful mansard roofs along Langland Street.

 

 

A large residence – now apartments, at Hamilton Ave. and Bruce Ave.

 

 

Beautiful cast iron detailing that needs painting along Bruce Ave.

 

 

The Kirby Road Public School, at 1710 Bruce Ave. and Kirby Road, was constructed in 1910. It replaced an earlier 1869 facility below Chase Ave.

 

 

 

 

 

An Art Deco-styled apartment building at Bruce Ave. and Georgia Court.

 

 

Florida Avenue has a great housing stock. I considered purchasing a house on this street.

 

 

Chase Ave. used to be a fairly rough and downtrodden street. Not so much anymore.

 

 

This corner building at Kirby Ave. and Hanfield St. needs some TLC, especially for its first-floor retail spot, but is in otherwise good condition.

 

 

 

I remembered when this corner structure at Hanfield St. and Gordon St. was in pathetic condition. It has been wonderfully restored.

 

 

 

Corner house at Hanfield St. and Gordon St.

 

 

A view of Pitts Ave.

 

 

St. Boniface Catholic Church is located along Chase Ave. The church was first constructed in 1853 on Delany Street. The current facility was completed in 1927, with a school added in 1933.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further Reading

a. Northside: http://urbanup.net/cities/ohio/cincinnati-ohio/northside/

Awesome 'hood. Awesome photos.

Thanks.

City Bleat readers voted Northside 3rd best hood in town after #1OTR & #2Hyde Park in their latest "Best of Cincinnati"

In my opinion, I loved Over-the-Rhine but thought it was over-rated. Great neighborhood and the development that is coming along is nothing short of amazing, but I feel that much of the newness caters to a very specific clientele ($$$). Northside is generally more affordable, family friendly with a lot of great parks, and there is room to spread out.

 

I just wish they would bury the damn power lines.

^Used to live on Chase years ago.  Most of Northside used to be rough, so proud that local TLC has really given the area momentum.  Still suffers from access issues (streetcar is a must in Northside).  Does anyone know how the areas east of Hamilton Ave are doing?  There are many styles on that side of the neighborhood that can't be found elsewhere in the city.  I'd love to see an influx of enthusiasm on streets like Langland.

Some here may know better than me, but so far as I can tell, the area east of Hamilton is now the more stable part of the neighborhood, with more crime issues and blight as you head west from Hamilton.

^East side always seemed better to me overall (there's always pockets)

Burying power lines requires modern electric in all the buildings & probably a majority of owners can't afford the upgrade. I like the power lines in the business district but not in the residential areas.

More & more of the corner stores that have been re-zoned residential are getting made over residential.

For a weird area of Northside - go east on Glenn Parker & roam.

IIRC, it is $2,000 to bury a line for a residential house - at least that is what it was for mine. You can't recoup that in a sale, so most don't even bother.

 

I live east (north) of Hamilton and the "sketchy" area is south of Pullan, east of Langland, west of Dane and north of Knowlton. There are a lot of Section 8 housing and higher crime, mainly due to drug houses. West of Hamilton, and it is along Virginia, part of Bruce, Kirby north of Bruce, and along Colerain. Hamilton north towards Frederick and Otte isn't that great either. But yeah, Qimbob, there are some GREAT houses on Glenn Parker east and in that area - completely isolated.

I basically draw the good / bad line at Chase & divide between north & south (south being worse). Kinda surprised me when I heard people divide east & west...

Northside could really benefit from more attractive & less polluting streetlights.

LED streetlights are making their way down here hopefully soon. ODOT has been installing LED streetlights on their rehabs in eastern Ohio - noticed quite a few in Steubenville on ODOT-maintained routes. Lawrenceburg, Indiana has replaced their lamps with LEDs. And in many rural Pennsylvania towns, there are now LED streetlamps. There is no associated light pollution, and enough light is cast down to not create glares (a huge problem on some routes, like I-71 in Cincinnati).