Writing Sample

MOHAWK AREA PLAN ANALYSIS

Since the start of the 21st century, the city of Cincinnati has been trying to revitalize its Over-the-Rhine urban core in the historic sense. After finalizing its comprehensive plan in 2002, the area of Mohawk was defined and goals for its area came into place. In 2018, a local historic district within Mohawk was brought about. Geographically speaking, the Mohawk area is narrow, almost like a hallway, that lies north of Overthe-Rhine and West End, south of CUF (the communities of Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview), as well as Mount Auburn. Demographically speaking, the Mohawk area is quite small in size and is split halfway between multiple census tracts, making them overlap and thus gathering accurate data is laborious. Economically speaking, development in the Mohawk district has been led through incentives by Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Opportunity Zones. These help to give financial support to infrastructure improvements and projects. Planning for improvements and projects focused on neighborhood benefits. Roadways, parking, lighting, sidewalks, and vacant buildings. Being established in 1792, a majority of its built environment dates back to the mid-late 1800's during industrialization. This resulted in the architectural styles of Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, and Rundbogenstil that are still present today. The Mohawk area is described to be a Historic Brewery District with residential and commercial mixed-use land, as well as having industrial aspects. More and more plans for this area have been drawn up and comprised into the Mohawk Area Plan, so it is safe to say that the city is not starting from square one. The main priorities for this area plan are committed on revitalizing this historic neighborhood in ways as of serving as a guide for decisions relating to the physical development of Mohawk's community. The visions for the Mohawk Area Plan are: 1. To develop Mohawk into a safe, assessable, and greatly connected neighborhood community (Connectivity), 2. Create a prosperous business district that provides revitalizing the neighborhoods historic elements (Economic Development), 3. Create a safe and attractable built environment for the experience of those who come to and live in the area (General Improvements), 4. Provide diverse housing for all levels of income (Housing), 5. Create an area open to ideas and collaborative thoughts to solve problems that arise (Big Ideas and Challenges).

When summarizing the Mohawk Area Plan, consideration of the amount of community involvement must be considered for how well the planning process played out in the end. To make improvements to a city or neighborhood, there must be community ideas brought into place. The people who live in the area call it their home and must have their own desires put above planners who are trying to implement change. Working together to create a beautifully planned outcome takes time and motivation, but with the right tactics and people, life will be brought to an area. The planning process consisted of community involvement meetings, as well as public outreach, spanning between 2016 all the way until 2019 when the approval of the plan came from the Cincinnati City Council. The Community, the City of Cincinnati, NonProfits, and Non-Governmental Organizations all joined together to make this a reality. Here’s how they did it.