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Connectivity of Public Space

Two-dimensional aerial map of a residential area. Streets run horizontally and are lined with rectangular houses which are designated by light blue lines.

Study Site 03 Description

Study Site 03 is bounded by Glenwood Avenue to the north, which curves downhill to the east to intersect with Lexington and Victory Parkway, the eastern boundary, Rockdale Avenue to the south, and Reading Road to the west. The area consists mostly of single-family homes, as well as some multi-family residences with off-street parking, including one for people with developmental disabilities that features a conference center. The structures are of different scales—modest to mansion-size—some brick and others wood or stucco. They are in varied states of repair, from well-kept to abandoned, boarded up, or demolished. Grassy, mowed lots (one with a picnic table) or parking lots (some with cyclone fencing) fill the areas where structures have been demolished.

Visual Description

A two-dimensional map shows a residential area from an aerial view with a mostly regulated linear layout. There are three main roads which run horizontally across the square image. The topmost road is Lexington Avenue, the middle road is Hutchins Avenue, and the bottommost road is Rockdale Avenue. Along the straight horizontal roads are rectangular structures lined in a row which represent single-family or multi-family homes. Grassy areas fill the space in between the backs of the homes. There are more rectangular structures in the grassy areas that run parallel to the roads and perpendicular to the houses. Off Lexington Avenue on the left side of the image, a large polygonal structure in the top left quarter stands out amongst the square structures. On the top right, a cul-de-sac extends into the map, originating from a road out of the frame. On the bottom right corner of the image, a curvilinear road extends of Rockdale Avenue and extends to the left edge of the frame.

Slightly three-dimensional map of a residential area from aerial view. Four main roads run diagonally from the top left corner to the bottom right corner and are lined with residential structures that have slight three-dimensionality to them.

Distinguishing Features

  • Three of its boundaries are important Cincinnati thoroughfares. Victory Parkway is a scenic, curving drive that intersects with Reading Road in downtown Cincinnati. It was once called Bloody Run Boulevard due to the massacres that occurred there when it was a Native American trail. Rockdale Avenue becomes Forest Avenue to the west of Reading Road, a thoroughfare that bisects the densest multi-family section of Avondale and leads to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Reading Road and Rockdale Avenue anchor Avondale’s commercial district.
  • The avenues that slope downhill to Victory Parkway have views of the area’s lush landscape.
  • A mini historic district is located along Reading Road between Rockdale Avenue and Glenwood Avenue. These four blocks contain two late-19th-century historic churches (one originally a synagogue) located kitty corner from one another, a Spanish Colonial-style Carnegie branch library recently renovated to improve accessibility, and a historic four-story Queen Anne-style Streetcar Suburb apartment building constructed to accommodate the migration of the Jewish middle-class from Cincinnati’s West End to Avondale.

Visual Description

A slightly three-dimensional map shows a residential area from aerial view. The four reads that span the frame from the left to the right are Glenwood Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Hutchins Avenue, and Rockland Avenue. Only a small portion of Glenwood Avenue stretches through the frame in the top right corner. Along the right side of Glenwood Avenue are two large structures shaped like a wide H, which are across the street from a cul-de-sac lined with rectangular residential structures. Moving to the next road to the left is Lexington Avenue, which is lined with rectangular residential homes, and one large polygonal structure at the left end of the road at the top of the frame. On the far right of Lexington Ave, a small road runs perpendicular to it connecting Lexington to Hutchins Avenue. Hutchins Avenue is also lined with residential structures on each side, and larger polygonal structures on its left end. Rockland Avenue is the left-most road and is also lined with residential structures on both sides, and a road branches off to run behind Rockland. Any empty space in the image where no structure or road stands is filled with simplistic trees. In between the lots the houses sit on are grassy areas with smaller structures.

Objectives

In Study Site 03, the Decolonizing Suburbia team explores strategies to improve the connectivity of public space to achieve the following:

  • Improve housing access through retrofit and new construction. The interventions improve access to the existing stock of single-family housing, while adding new small-scale housing units.
  • Enliven the residential fabric with a mix of income-enhancing community uses. The interventions takes advantage of the site’s central location and scenic qualities to create a walkable destination for entrepreneurship and recreation.

Avondale Community Council Goals

  • Sharing Success
  • Connecting Residents
  • Improving Housing

 

Legal and Policy Considerations

These interventions necessitate changes to zoning laws to allow for the mixed-use integration of commercial and institutional uses into a residential zone. More challengingly, they also require the redrawing of lot lines to create community-owned rear lots and a secondary circulation system. In addition to zoning changes, new legal tools are required to establish liability for these reconfigured rear yards.

Toolkit Interventions

Mixed-Use Dwelling

Mixed-Use Dwelling addresses the need for smaller housing units within the fabric of the mostly large, single-use structures that dominate the area. It provides new residential alternatives for the large number of young, single people who live in Avondale and for those who may need supportive services. The Mixed-Use Dwelling also integrates income-producing commercial and institutional spaces. The tool can be deployed on vacant lots, creating opportunities to increase the neighborhood’s tax base through new mixed-use construction tailored to the needs of the existing population. At only two stories, these structures can be constructed by small-scale home builders.

3-D rendering of a two-story structure with a patio out front and grassy areas to the left and right. People are at leisure on the patio and in the grass. 

Visual Description

An aerial-view illustration of a two-story structure depicts several people accessing the space. The structure extends into the scene from the top right corner—the rear of the building is out of frame. A man stands with a walking cane on the balcony on the left of the structure’s upper level. To the right of this balcony is a circular window, where you can see a table on the interior. To the right this circular window is another balcony which runs along the right side of the building. On the first floor, large square windows face a font patio with a white and gray grid pattern, occupied by several people. A door on the right front of the building is level with the ground. On the left side of the patio, benches face toward the right, where more people are at leisure. A table with stools is in the middle of the patio and a tree sits in the bottom right corner of the illustration. Grassy areas surround the patio and structure on all sides.

3-D rendering of a long rectangular building with two-stories, balconies, windows, and a patio on the side.

Visual Description

A linear, three-dimensional illustration of a rectangular structure with two stories and a gabled roof. The building is skinny and long, running from the left bottom corner to the right top corner of the frame. The left side façade is visible—it contains a circular window and a small balcony on the top floor, and square windows with a rectangular door on the bottom floor. The right side of the building is visible and can be broken up into 3 sections. The section closest to the left façade has floor-to-ceiling rectangular windows. The middle section has a balcony, and the rightmost section has a wall of windows. The right façade is not visible, but a corner of a balcony is visible. On the bottom floor, the leftmost section has horizontal siding. The middle section has a wall of windows and a door with a short set of two steps leading up to it. The rightmost section has vertical siding and a flat patio connected to it that has a table with three chairs.

Community Hub

This single-story building can accommodate a variety of community uses. Its flexibility is its strength: it can be built as a single unit or joined to form a longer space depending on programmatic needs. Imagined as a shared resource that generates income for residents, the intervention can be deployed as an auxiliary structure in the rear yards of properties and is accessed via a semi-public network of circulation and social space. It can also be built on vacant lots and accessed from the existing street. At only one story, these structures can be constructed by novice builders.

Illustration of an aerial view of a multi-purpose space shows single-story structures all facing an open area with gardening boxes.

Visual Description

A linear illustration shows a multi-purpose space. Four single-story structures occupy each corner, have entrances flush with the ground, and all face a central grassy area with gardening boxes. The building in the top right corner has a dark gable roof over an archway opening on the left, and a circular window on the right. A man with a walking cane stands in the archway looking into the central area. In the top left corner is an open-air structure. The walls are not solid and are made up of square units in a grid pattern. On the left side of the structure, a solid wall contains a door to enter the space. The structure does not have a roof and you can see inside from the top—there are tables, potted plants, and people. The structure in the bottom left corner faces the central area but its façade is not visible, only the gable roof can be seen. In the bottom right corner is a structure made of glass walls supported by grids of small support beams. There is an enclosed room on the right, whose door faces a structure of the same layout—in between the two enclosed rooms are beams which connect the ceilings. Through the glass, tables and chairs are visible. The central area in the middle of all the buildings has garden boxes, and people tending to the boxes or walking through the space.

3-D rendering of a long and skinny roofed structure that faces the bottom left corner and extends to the top right corner of the frame. 

Visual Description

A linear illustration shows an accessible structure. It is flush with the ground and has a large archway to enter the structure at the front which is facing the bottom left corner. To the right of the archway is a low, circular window. The left side of the building is not visible. The long right side has three sections—around the corner from the circular window is horizontal siding. The middle section is jutting slightly off the building and is made up of two, four-by-five grids of squares. The back third of the wall is covered in windows. We do not see the back façade of the building. A simple gable roof covers the entire structure.

Front Porch Accessibility

The front porch that characterizes the single-family home effectively mediates between the public realm and the private realm, but it also makes these homes physically inaccessible to many. This intervention makes the porch physically accessible while maintaining, and even enhancing, its function as a social space. It consists of a broad ramp that negotiates the transition between the street and the porch. The porch itself can continue to function as it has in the past—as a covered outdoor space or an enclosed extension of the home, but its increased accessibility also allows it to be used as a small commercial space within the existing home, increasing the property’s income potential. This small-scale retrofit can be constructed by novice builders.

Illustration of an aerial view of a multi-purpose space shows single-story structures all facing an open area with gardening boxes.

Visual Description

A linear illustration shows a multi-purpose space. Four single-story structures occupy each corner, have entrances flush with the ground, and all face a central grassy area with gardening boxes. The building in the top right corner has a dark gable roof over an archway opening on the left, and a circular window on the right. A man with a walking cane stands in the archway looking into the central area. In the top left corner is an open-air structure. The walls are not solid and are made up of square units in a grid pattern. On the left side of the structure, a solid wall contains a door to enter the space. The structure does not have a roof and you can see inside from the top—there are tables, potted plants, and people. The structure in the bottom left corner faces the central area but its façade is not visible, only the gable roof can be seen. In the bottom right corner is a structure made of glass walls supported by grids of small support beams. There is an enclosed room on the right, whose door faces a structure of the same layout—in between the two enclosed rooms are beams which connect the ceilings. Through the glass, tables and chairs are visible. The central area in the middle of all the buildings has garden boxes, and people tending to the boxes or walking through the space.

An aerial view of two entryway-type structures that are isolated from buildings. Both are similar in form.

Visual Description

A 3-D illustration of two separate structures on a white background seen from a top-down perspective. One corner floats in the top left corner and the other is by the bottom right corner. The two structures are similar in their form. The left structure is an entrance that is isolated from a building. A sign on the left of the ceiling says “GROCERY.” On the leftmost edge of the structure, a ramp leads up to a windowed façade. A raised garden box with a tree is the to the right of the ramp. The structure on the right of the image similarly has a ramp on the left but on the right of the ramp is a flat patio with stairs leading up to it. The patio and ramp connect with a covered porch that has a table and chairs.

Public Space Activation

This intervention anticipates the greater density that other toolkit interventions will bring by adding opportunities for shaded rest, outdoor congregation, and four-seasons community gardening. The network of planted pergolas integrates modular seating and can be flexibly deployed within the new public spaces. The pergolas can be planted with flowers, fruits, and vegetables so that they are in bloom and can be harvested year-round; the modular seating units can be arranged to foster social gatherings of varying sizes. These small-scale structures can be designed by local artists and constructed by novice builders.

A simplistic image of a polygonal shaped pergola surrounded by isolated geometric shapes seen from an aerial view.

Visual Description

A polygonal pergola sits in the middle of the frame, surrounded by small geometric shapes. The shapes are a half circle and square connected to each other and rest in varied spaces around the central pergola. The pergola is focused on a long rectangular shape with a rounded top on the right. The pergola has horizontal slats which allow light to pass through. Three half circles extend off the pergola in various spots. On the left side, a large half circle stretches across about half of the main rectangular base, and two small half circles extend off the right side. The pergola is raised by tall cylindrical poles; five on each side stretch from the ground to the pergola.

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