Posted January 30, 200619 yr The Southeast Neighborhood sits to the south of downtown on the east side of the Great Miami, hints the name. The area is largely rundown, but recent streetscape improvements along some streets have helped in the effort to clean the area up. Between the river and this neighborhood is a government housing project, Bamboo Harris which was built in the 1940's. Commonly referred to as Hamilton's Projects, the complex of 150 units is now more than 90% vacant. The Butler County Housing Authority has twice failed to recieve Hope IV grants to raze the complex and build a community with single family homes and duplexs similar to the neighborhood and restoring the street grid. I am crossing my fingers for this project. I have felt a little uneasy about walking through to take pictures, but was pleasantly surprised. People on the street were very kind asking what I was up to and giving me information. This is still a community where people sit on their front porch, and I'm glad I found that out. Although most of threads present the prettier sides of Hamilton, I think the UrbanOhio crowd can see the potential, history, and charm this neighborhood offers. The infamous Hollow Earth sculpture in the 4th Ward Park Casablanca A row of Earths that arn't hollow create a barrier between an alley and the park Old mixed-use Some of the housing looks pretty good Nice awning Another pocket park The new streetscape included black mast poles for the signals and dorchester streetlights There is a nice house somewhere in there, I swear I didn't know why this house was here Nice tile The city redid Bailey Square with a HUD grant I believe, it looks pretty good St. Joesph Notre Dame Catholic Girls High School Catholic Parochial School I just love this parsonage Imagine hundreds of these, but many in worse shape Somebody messed up this place, I wonder what it looked like before? This might be my favorite Hamilton Core Galleries Hamilton! - Gallery 1 - Downtown http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=10975.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 2 – Main Street Business District http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5108.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 3 - Dayton Lane Historic District http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5269.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 4 - Rossville Historic District http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5417.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 5 - Glorious Old Industry http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6730.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 6 - German Village Historic District http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6958.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 7 - Historic Highland Park http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7208.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 8 - Southeast Neighborhood http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7309.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 9 - Prospect Hill and Grandview http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8025.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 10 - Forest Hills and Oak Park http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8107.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 11 - Greenwood Cemetery and St. Stephen's Cemetery http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8438.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 12 - Lindenwald http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9336.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 13 - Hyde Park and Verlyn Place http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8424.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 14 – Historic Images of City Life and Atmospheres http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8668.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 15 – Art Deco etc. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8830.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 16 - The Gardens of Rossville http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9262.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 17 - The Northend and Fordson Heights http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9501.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 18 - The East Avenue Ghetto and Jefferson http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=10146.0 Hamilton! - Gallery 19 - Butler County Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=10205.0
January 30, 200619 yr Although most of threads present the prettier sides of Hamilton, I think the UrbanOhio crowd can see the potential, history, and charm this neighborhood offers. Definitely! Thanks for showing this 'hood.
January 30, 200619 yr I think you may be too close to Hamilton, and a local person's perspective/bias to see how wonderful this neighborhood looks to an outsider. No disclaimer needed. Thanks for showing me around a city I formerly knew as just a name on the map.
January 30, 200619 yr Outside of the run down retail, that does look like a nice neighborhood. It has a kind of quaint, small town feel. I like all the little parks with houses arranged around them.
January 30, 200619 yr There's some blight, for sure, but some interesting character, too. All it needs is millions of dollars of investment, and it could be a delightful place.
January 30, 200619 yr I didn't know there were two John Cleves Symmes. One, the judge, was the purchaser of the Land between the Miamis, also known as the Symmes Purchase. The other, his nephew, was the hollow earth guy. I learned something new today. Thanks!
February 1, 200619 yr I think this part of Hamilton is worse than these photos show. No photos of the housing projects or the worst buildings. That's fine, but some of the readers who haven't been there might get the wrong impression of Southeast. The neighborhood is kinda fenced-in by rail lines, river, housing projects, industry, and an old landfill to the south (if memory serves me correctly). It is right up against the "downtown" area, so maybe it has some possibilities, especially if they get some HOPE VI funding to re-develop the housing project. But still the neighborhood has lots of bad reputation to overcome for a resurgence. And to do this when the good areas of Hamilton are also struggling will be difficult.
February 1, 200619 yr From what I recall this neighrborhood varies ...closer to downtown it seems more run down, but heading south, toward that Catholic church, it is in better shape. This is one of the areas where youll find some latinos. One thing I like about this set is the neat little cornershop buildings scattered around.
February 3, 200619 yr There are certainly worse areas of town than what is shown here. Even in this area, though, as a female Realtor, if I show a house here I make sure the office knows where I'm going and I never just "meet" someone here - they have to come to the office first. There are still many really great folks who take pride in owning a home there, but there are also the pocket of crime and drug areas there. I think it has been improved in the last few years and I hope it continues to get better. Thanks for the tour! I really love St. Joe's steeple. It's quite the beacon at night all lit up.
February 3, 200619 yr ^I guess being 6'5 I don't really think about those things. Yes, the neighborhood seems to be getting better and I hope the efforts of the HPD and Bamboo Harris project continue the change. Anyway, here is a link to mamapo's great shot of St. Joe's steeple: http://www.pbase.com/jpochard/image/40677014
February 4, 200619 yr Ithaca is a bit smaller than Hamilton, but from what I've seen of these pics, there's 2 or 3 hoods in Ithaca wprse off than this. Even the boarded up retail doesn't look bad. There's no graffiti or vandalism that's visible. I suppose the projects might be a different story, but most of those residences shown look nice and there's green sppace in good shape too. Thanks for the pics and all the Hamilton tours. :-D
February 6, 200619 yr I think this part of Hamilton is worse than these photos show. No photos of the housing projects or the worst buildings. That's fine, but some of the readers who haven't been there might get the wrong impression of Southeast. The neighborhood is kinda fenced-in by rail lines, river, housing projects, industry, and an old landfill to the south (if memory serves me correctly). It is right up against the "downtown" area, so maybe it has some possibilities, especially if they get some HOPE VI funding to re-develop the housing project. But still the neighborhood has lots of bad reputation to overcome for a resurgence. And to do this when the good areas of Hamilton are also struggling will be difficult. True, I've shown the more respectable homes, mostly because I don't care to take pictures of blight and I didn't get time to walk down to the housing projects. I figured readers could tell the neighborhood wasn't extremely healthy but does have charm and potential. When I locate the demographics, they'll give us an idea. The landfill is long gone, now the campus of Miami Hamilton and woodlands. The projects will hopefully be redone and the worst of the industry, the old Matandy, has been redeveloped. I doubt this area will ever be anything but housing for the lower end of society, but I hope it continues to be cleaned up, appearance and crime wise.
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