Utilizing Public Spaces in Neighborhood Business Districts

Price Hill PlanEconomic Development & Business Districts

Utilizing Public Spaces in Neighborhood Business Districts

Priorities, Possibilities, Strategies for St. Lawrence Corner

Price Hill Plan 2

St. Lawrence Corner

• Multiple assets in place:– St. Lawrence Church– St. Lawrence Bakery– Kroger– Price Hill Historical Society

• St. Lawrence Square offers additional possibilities as a public gathering space

• Church + park + wide intersection = opportunity to make strong visual impact

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Price Hill Plan 3

St. Lawrence Square

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• Plans include:– Performance stage– Memorial to veterans– Water feature– Large, grassy areaimage from pricehillwill.org

Price Hill Plan 4

St. Lawrence Square

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Opportunity to make the entire intersection a showpiece for the neighborhood

Image courtesy of glaserworks

Price Hill Plan 5

Strategies to Consider

• Improve visual appeal– Capitalize on work already being

done on St. Lawrence Square– Landscaping, lighting, storefronts

(and other ideas?) to make it our showpiece

• Improve walkability– Maximize St. Lawrence Square

as a gathering space– Slowing traffic = stronger visual

impression on drivers

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Price Hill Plan 6

Strategies to Consider

• Better mix of retail businesses that complement each another and fill a need– Fit within a walkable, visually impressive district– Casual, non-chain restaurants

• Only current walkable options are fast food

– High-end retail: art, clothing, etc.– Ice cream parlor

• Bring in professional, non-retail business– Business accelerator?– Co-working space?

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Price Hill Plan 7

Co-Working Spaces

“The emergent startup community in Cincinnati has created an influx of entrepreneurial talent, and with it has come growing numbers of designers, marketers and creative thinkers.

In cities where these and other small businesses and sole proprietorships flourish, a byproduct is an increasingly large workforce that works remotely, not necessarily tied to an office space, but more prone to coffee shops or home offices. And with the proliferation of this new segment of the workforce, co-working spaces are on the rise.”

Soapboxmedia.com, 8/26/14“Co-working options grow thanks to Cincinnati's expanding pool of independent professionals”

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Price Hill Plan 8

Strategies to Consider

• Take advantage of existing destinations that draw consumers to St. Lawrence Corner and introduce them to other existing destinations– i.e., St. Lawrence Church and St. Lawrence

Baker, or Kroger and Price Hill Historical Society

– Utilize St. Lawrence Square to hold events that draw crowds to the Corner and keep them there

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Price Hill Plan 9

St. Lawrence Square

• Events that draw from existing anchors– i.e., “popup bakery” after Sunday mass, since St.

Lawrence church draws from outside Price Hill and St. Lawrence Bakery is not open on Sunday. Serves as reception space for churchgoers and gives bakery a chance to reach new customers.

• Events that draw customers from outside Price Hill or introduce a potential new business– Examples on ensuing slides

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Price Hill Plan 10

St. Lawrence Square

• Popup beer garden (or ice cream parlor or coffee house)– Walnut Hills and Westwood draw 300+

for popup beer gardens– Invite a local brewery and food trucks,

host kids activities

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Westwood photos from Westwood Works Facebook page; Walnut Hills photos by 5chw4r7z

Price Hill Plan 11

St. Lawrence Square

• Popup retail– Covington has done this the past two years around the holidays,

using abandoned storefronts. Last year, one of the popup businesses opened a permanent store in the neighborhood.

• Concerts– Washington Park and Fountain Square hold free concerts

throughout the summer; partner with a brewery and restaurant / food truck

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Price Hill Plan 12

St. Lawrence Square

Other ideas from LISC communities:• Temporary Public Art Installations to Animate Vacant Spaces: Phoenix:

Knowing vacant lots could trigger a host of socioeconomic challenges, the city moved to repurpose them as sites for temporary installations—a project they called Cultural Connections.

• Making the Journey a Destination: Indianapolis’ Cultural Trail Debuts: The trail is a way to experience all of the great stuff in downtown Indianapolis. It is a curbed, buffered, beautifully paved, richly landscaped, and artfully lighted bike and pedestrian pathway that connects to every arts, cultural heritage, sports, and entertainment venue in the urban core.

• Riverside Gateway Initiatives: Citizens of Providence, RI, guided rehabilitation of a polluted riverbank area that was a haven for criminals into a family-friendly, nine-acre park. In addition, they acquired vacant lots and problem properties with police assistance and transformed them into attractive, affordable homes.

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