Spring 2023 PLAN1012 | Corryville and Mount Auburn Urban Design Analysis and Recommendations

Urban Design Analysis and Recommendations

Principals of Planning Design Graphics PLAN 1012

CORRYVILLE and MOUNT AUBURN

Aaron Earlywine, Lauralee Thach, Tori Walker-Gulley

Corryville and Mount Auburn

Corryville and Mount Auburn are centrally located withing the city of Cincinnati and just a mile north of the Ohio river. They are located east of OTR and north of downtown. The University of Cincinnati is located west of the neighborhoods.

Seeing Double

The challenge through the neighborhood analysis was identifying Corryville and Mount Auburn. The impressions, and also what the two neighborhood’s weakness and strengths.

Shown left and listed below are the combined first impressions and long-term resident opinions of Corryville and Mount Auburn.

• Unending construction

• Landscape design

• UC Health and Medical Campus

• Apartment buildings mixed in with single-family row homes

• The monopoly Kroger has on the grocery market

• Very few parks with those that do exist being unused and forgotten

• Large hills on the southern side of Mount Auburn

Short Vine

The Eden

Inwood Park

Flatiron Cafe

Christ Hospital

Mount Auburn

The University of Cincinnati has a slight affect with Corryville and Mount Auburn because of its connectivity with the residents. There are college students who lives in urban homes to be near their campus and found it highly accessible. The institutions such as the UC medical campus and local hospitals are important as well.

There are three different districts: commercial, residential, and institutional. These districts are important because they take over majority of the land use, and most of the infrastructure is car-dependent. This creates intense borders around the two neighborhoods. Additionally, the hill on the south side of Mount Auburn is a major border. Within the neighborhoods, there are a few distinct landmarks and areas of pedestrian mobility.

Mount Auburn and Corryville share somewhat similar stories and are quite intertwined throughout history with the growth of one contributing the growth of the other. However they are distinctly different to each other and with 2 arterial roads running right in between both of them it only pushes them further apart. Along with the roads pulling the neighborhoods apart the terrain does a similar job separating many along the side of the hill and on vine street from the rest of the neighborhood.

Corryville and Mount Auburn have unique districts that mesh easily into the combined imageability map. It is important to include these districts they make the identity of the two neighborhoods that are so different, yet similar in multiple ways that can be identified through observation and research.

History

Burnet Woods is established in the early 1870s at 170 acres. The street grid does not connect Mount Auburn and Corryville. Corryville is incorporated into Cincinnati city limits in 1870. In 14 years, the planned street grid of Corryville and Mount Auburn filled in and expanded. The existing incline helped spur growth and provided access to the many features of this area on top of the hill, including zoological gardens, located just north of Corryville. The area surrounding the park was suburban. Mount Auburn, first known as Prospect Hill, was predominantly white and wealthy.

The University of Cincinnati expands to a campus of over a dozen buildings. Cincinnati General Hospital has moved to Corryville, later becoming the University of Cincinnati Medical Campus. Before the University of Cincinnati started expanding, Dutch and German immigrants resided in Corryville. The university started out as a communal school. As the population of professors and students grew, the campus spread into Corryville, taking over more than a dozen residential blocks and encouraging the transformation of Vine Street.

UC campus pushes further east, annexing a large portion of western Corryville. Vine Street is re-routed and renamed alongside the UC Main Campus. The old route is renamed Short Vine and becomes a commercial and nightlife hub for residents and college students alike. Martin Luther King Ave is constructed, solidifying the current north edge of UC and increasing the separation of central and northern Corryville. The road connects with I-71 in the east, making it the first thing outsiders see when driving through Corryville.

Renting vs. Owning

7% OWN

26% OWN

93% RENT

74% RENT

The rates of home rental compared to home ownership in Corryville and Mount Auburn are somewhat similar; however, the slight difference in numbers tells a big piece of the larger story. Corryville has a lot more college students and young adults that cannot afford to buy a home, while Mount Auburn is an older and more mature area where people who can afford a home are looking to buy.

Race

Corryville’s population is entirely 40% and less non-white and Mount Auburn is 80% and less untill you get to the southern portion that overlooks the city where it goes back to 40% or less non white induviduals. Both north and west Mount Auburn are 80% or less non white.

MLK exit nished making more tra c go through MLK then mcmillan and calhoun

The slow progression of the University of Cincinnati has stalled since around the 70’s I-71 nished after cutting through the easter portion of Cinicinnati

Cincinnati streetcar quits servicing the Cincinnati area entirley

Nippert stadium built in 1915 making it the 2nd oldest stadium in college football

UC o cially moves into their new home where the upper part of Burnett woods stood

Christ Hospital begins servicing Cincinnati

First incline built to service people looking to get to the zoo and spurring the growth of Corryville and Mount Auburn

Mount Auburn became o caially a neiorhood in Cincinnati

Land Use

Residential

62% of parcels in Corryville and Mount Auburn are residential, however they take up only 37% of the land area.

Linkages

• High intersection density in Corryville

• Lots of major arterial roads

• Few pedestrian specific connections

• No dedicated bike infrastructure (only unprotected lanes and shared use paths)

While there are many small, interconnected blocks in Corryville, the existing pedestrian infrastructure in regards to crosswalks, sidewalks, and built environment scale is lacking in many areas.

The alley ways in Corryville connect blocks together creating quicker connections for pedestrians that aren’t easily accessed by car. Narrow streets help pedestrians with quick crossing distances creating less interaction with cars and they also have the side effect of lowering car speeds down to safer speed on most roads.

Northern Corryville and all of Mount Auburn do not have the same connected street grid as central Corryville. This limits pedestrian connectivity and walksheds. Some of this is due to the difficult terrain in southern Mount Auburn, while other areas are simply filled with large buildings like in northern Corryville with UC Health and Medical Campus and western Mount Auburn with Christ Hospital.

The current bike infrastructure in Corryville and Mount Auburn isn’t up to standard. Theres a shared use path on the west side of Jefferson that counts as a bike path but doesn’t give enough space to either cyclist or pedestrian so it just feels like a good sidewalk.

Martin Luther King Ave

With a maximum of ten lanes in places, MLK Ave is a massive road that cuts Corryville in half. Surrounded by commercial and institutional uses, the majority of the road is adjacent to parking lots and large setbacks.

Corryville Recreation Center

From single family homes to The Eden’s towering apartments, the blocks surrounding the Corryville Recreation Center (CRC) have a wide variety of housing densities.

Mount Auburn

Mount Auburn has many hills and green areas, both park and wilderness. This block just north of Christ Hospital shows the general low density of housing and the occasional business venture located on Auburn Ave.

Analysis

While the area has small pockets of walkability dotted throughout, both neighborhoods need proper walking connection. For example, Short Vine has great walking connections when heading west, but all other directions lead to large roads with unsafe crosswalks.

Walkability

With growing enrollment numbers at the University of Cincinnati and more people who want to live near downtown and OTR, more density is needed in Corryville and Mount Auburn.

Density

Transportation

Corryville and Mount Auburn are very car dependent with limited alternatives. Buses get held up in traffic and biking feels unsafe on large roads with no dedicated bike infrastructure. The area has a low level of car ownership due to the amount of college students and low income residents, creating an opportunity to invest in transportation.

Vacancy

Vacancy is rampant in Corryville and Mount Auburn with many lots sitting empty for long periods of time. Reasons include a broken tax code that can reward land owners for leaving lots empty. Additionally, constructions costs are only increasing, making now the right time to invest in removing vacancy.

Mount Auburn is lacking any real commercial investment. Businesses are limited to health service providers and one coffee shop. There is a need for more shopping opportunities in this area as it is equidistant from the Short Vine and Over the Rhine commercial districts.

Marked are the proposed locations of improvements to Corryville and Mount Auburn decided according to our analysis of the opportunities and issues currently present. These additions include bike lanes and bus lanes throughout the area, a new park in north corryville on Martin Luther King Ave., and a Central Business District in Mount Auburn to spur development and improve quality of life.

Creating parks using vacant lots in Corryville

Bike lanes

Bike lanes

Bus lanes along Vine Street for future BRT lines.

New Mount Auburn Central Business District

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITY WEAKNESS

THREATS

The MLK street is not walkable, just a giant road that centralize streets in the uptown area. It has a major connectivity.

Short Vine is iconic for some residents and college students, considers a great location for everything.

Vine street has a lot of vacant areas that could be redevelopment that can benefit residents.

Inwood Park is a green space that is useful to the Mount Auburn community.

The UC medical campus is a large institution that taking up the north part of Corryville. There is mixed use development and not very walkable for everyone, it is only utilizing for medical students.

Corryville Recreation Center is a community hotspot where people can hangout, workout, and attend local events.

East McMillan road is dangerous and cuts off Corryville and Mount Auburn. It is loud, chaotic, and not easy to drive on.

Mount Auburn Avenue is under construction to enhance safety and redesign for the road.

The intersection of Auburn Ave. and Dorchester Ave. has one current business and space for two more, adding much needed jobs and commercial space to the neighborhood.

Alternative Travel

Due to Corryville and Mount Auburn’s proximity to important institutions and downtown, many bus routes stop in the area. Frequencies range between 15 and 60 minutes with an average of 28 minutes between buses.

• 7 routes serve Corryville and Mount Auburn

• 5 have stops on Jefferson Ave

• 5 connect to downtown

• 4 serve UC Medical Center

• 2 run crosstown

• 2 serve Christ Church Hospital

• 1 express route

• 1 commuter route

Infrastructure in Corryville and Mount Auburn is currently built for cars first and everything else second. This creates an environment that is hostile to any other mode of transportation, such as buses, bikes, or pedestrians. A significant portion of the local population does not own a car so they are forced to navigate an environment not made for them. This inequality leads to the question: how should we be using our space? Capacity measurements can assist in these decisions. Below is the amount of people who can be moved through one dedicated lane in one hour.

A B C

A car lane has capacity for one private vehicle carrying an average of 1.5 people. In contrast, buses can carry up to 60 people in one vehicle. Dedicated bus lanes provide a separate area for buses to run, unimpeded by traffic. This increases bus speed, frequency, and reliability. Additionally, bus lanes can be used for emergency response vehicles to gain the same benefits.

A: Demonstration of proposed bike lanes on Euclid Ave. Parking will be removed on one side of the street and bike lanes will be added on the outside of the drive lanes.

B: Plan of proposed bike lanes on Auburn Ave through William Howard Taft Rd. and E McMillan St. intersections. Bike lanes will continue on Auburn Ave until the Dorchester intersection.

C: Section of proposed Vine St. with Bus Rapid Transit lane by Inwood Park. No construction required, only repainting the road lines.

Map of proposed dedicated bus lanes and bike lanes

Aaron Earlywine, Lauralee Thach

Alternative Travel

Bike lanes take up less space and can carry more people than car lanes. They also decrease annual road maintenance costs, noise pollution, and emissions. Pedestrian walkways allow for even more people to be moved per hour, as well as letting people move at their own leisure with no equipment.

AJames McDermott, Aaron Earlywine, Lauralee Thach

Image: Man bikes down residential street

Business District

Current

Shown above is the first abandoned building that we are recommending be turned into a grocery store that sells a limited selection of foods and drink options. Behind it is another empty storefront. Across the street are several empty lots that would be well suited for a mixed use development of some sort.

Step 1

Step 2

Expand construction to fit the available space, converting low density commercial into mid-density mixed use.

To revive the Central Business District in Mount Auburn, remodel the two western buildings into a grocery store and local small business.

Current standing building in its abandoned condition.

Using existing buildings at the Auburn Ave and Dorchester intersection to spur the growth of a future Mount Auburn Central Business District

Plan for future mixed use development taking advantage of a vacant lot to add parking for the Central Business District.

Current businesses in the area are the Flatiron Cafe with no other supporting businesses inside Mount Auburn.

Walkability & Vacancy

The need for this location is to make it more walkable and safe for the pedestrians, who are either medical students or residents in Corryville. The empty space can be utilized for something and is tied to Martin Luther King. The pedestrian crosswalks are faded on the major road, which makes the automobiles yield in the middle of the walkway. This causes danger and chaos within the people that cross this street. Pedestrianizing the street can be a solution for this issue. Creating visibility on the crosswalks and connections to campus.

Conclusions

• 62% of parcels in Corryville and Mount Auburn are residential, however they take up only 37% of the land area.

• No dedicated bike or pedestrian infrastructure currently exists.

• Only one central business district between the two neighborhoods.

• Mount Auburn is in need of a CBD.

• Vacancy is an issue in both neighborhoods.

• Green space isn’t as common as it should be.

Mount Auburn Commercial

Mount Auburn is lacking any commercial investment in the neighborhood making the area more car dependent as the residents aren’t within a convenient walking distance to services like groceries. Enabling the neighborhood to be able to take care of even a portion of these services by putting in a convenience store and some shops in the core of the neighborhood would make a significant difference in the habits of the residents. Putting commercial investment in Mount Auburn would also create a middle step between OTR and Short Vine strengthening the connections between the Commercial Districts.

Corryville Transportation

Infrastructure in Corryville and Mount Auburn needs to be changed from car-oriented to equally focused on providing buses, bikes, and pedestrians their share of space.

Due to Corryville and Mount Auburn’s proximity to important institutions and downtown, seven bus routes stop in the area. Each of these routes is currently mixed in with car traffic, limiting their potential. One car lane has capacity for one private vehicle carrying an average of 1.5 people, while buses can carry up to 60 people in one vehicle. Additionally, bike lanes take up less space and can carry more people than car lanes. Pedestrian walkways let people move at their own leisure with no equipment.

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

– Margaret J. Wheatley