The Vision: South Reading Road Corridor

By Catherine E. (del Campo Hartman) Hartman

By landbanking parcels in the South Reading Road Corridor we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely change the use and appearance of this corridor.

The south Reading Road corridor is that section of Reading Road between Glendale-Milford and Cooper Roads. According to a marketing study done for Evendale, the South Reading Road corridor is not suitable for retail space. The retail space we already have in Evendale includes a significant amount of space available for lease or sale; adding more retail will only compound the problem. While we do need to serve the local residents needs for some retail space, the appropriate location for that is in the existing shopping center on the corner of Glendale-Milford Road and Reading Road. Obviously if we can't keep that space full, then it would be a mistake to add more down the road along Reading Road. The report also states that areas around Evendale, including Blue Ash and Sharonville in particular, are overdeveloped with respect to office space, even as more offices are being built. So this is not an economically viable alternative either. Building office space that remains half empty is not a good thing for the Village.

Evendale has a significant industrial base. I would not like to see the industrial base expand onto Reading Road. Since Reading Road is the boundary between our current industrial zones and our residential zones, we need to keep this area as a buffer between the two and not let the industrial development get any closer to our residential areas. We already live with more noise and odors than is pleasant.

Given our significant flooding problem in Evendale, I think any development should be limited to the east side of Reading Road, toward the residential areas of the Village. I would like to see the west side (that in back of GE) remain undeveloped land so that it can hold and retain rain and flood water from the Mill Creek. Developing more land near the Mill Creek will only compound our already significant flooding problem.

Given that office space and retail are not viable options for the east side of Reading Road, what are some reasonable land uses that would enhance our Village? The Village plans to have some visioning sessions in which residents are asked about their preferences for this corridor. I look forward to participating in these sessions, as I am confident that some residents will have creative ideas that we should put on the table. Having worked on this corridor for about 9 years now, I also have several suggestions for the corridor. I welcome feedback on these ideas.

1. Evendale Park and Village Square

Create a green corridor as a park with a village square, fountain, benches, landscaping, and a winding paved bike/walk path. The path would connect Cooper Road to Glendale-Milford Road. Connector paths to some neighborhoods might also be possible. This would provide a safe and attractive place for residents to walk, bike, and visit with each other. It would also provide a way for residents near Cooper to get to the Recreation Center without riding or walking directly next to Reading Road. It would significantly beautify our community, something we sorely need. Evendale is a wealthy community, but you would never know it by traveling down Reading Road. With trees, benches and landscaping, this stretch could be an attractive feature of our community. It could make the difference between the unattractive drive it now is, to a beautiful stretch of green. A village square could provide a focus for the community, provide a gathering place for walkers, joggers, bicyclists and other residents to get out and meet and talk. This is part of what makes a place livable and friendly rather than just an address. It would preserve and enhance our community as a village, a small community where people know each other and talk with each other.

Creating a green park with a paved bike/hike path and landscaping would do more to enhance the beauty of our corridor and improve our image than anything we could build there. We do not have that image now. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely change the visual image of Evendale as a community, from an old, industrial community, to a green, attractive upscale place to live. Progressive, upscale communities value greenspace for the aesthetics, beauty and positive impact to home values. We would do well to add attractive greenspace to our community.

2. Town Homes

The only housing choice in Evendale is single-family homes. Many residents have asked me why we don't have some town homes or condominiums in Evendale so that empty nesters can enjoy the freedom of living here without the responsibility of taking care of a large house and yard. I would like to add some upscale town homes to the green corridor, preferably set back from Reading Road and close to the shopping center on Glendale-Milford. Providing an alternative housing choice would allow our older residents to remain in the Village and not be forced to leave if they don't want to or can not longer take care of a single family home and yard.

This is an important community need that we have an opportunity to address. A small area of town homes would add some desirable housing choices. Location of town homes near Glendale-Milford Road would also allow residents to walk to the store, something that becomes more important with age, as driving abilities for some become impaired. The park and Village Square with the bike-hike path, benches and green space would be a lovely setting for this, that would enhance the social opportunities and lifestyle of those who choose to live there.

We have some justified concerns that allowing some multi-family housing could expand our population and we do not want to become a city. But if we allow only a small number of multi-family units in a small section of our community, the increase in population would be minimal. If we had 50 units, we would probably not increase our population by more than 100 people, bringing our current population total of 3000 to 3100, still well below the threshold of 5000 for a city. Some condominiums or similar housing choices would meet a significant social need.

3. Education Corridor

One of the best ways to attract high-tech businesses to an area is to focus on education. The Evendale Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) was approached some time ago about possibly locating the Cincinnati School for the Gifted along the eastern side of South Reading Road. Schools do not add the same amount of revenue to a community as industry (we would still make income tax on the teachers and other employees), but Evendale is one of the few communities in the region that could afford to have a school because we are not dependent on additional revenue. A School for the Gifted would be a tremendous draw for the region that would put us on the map as having something distinctive that no other community could offer. Such schools are particularly attractive to families that value education and achievement and could be a resource for many of our own residents.

A high end pre-school learning center, something more than a day-care center, has also approached us for locating on Reading Road. This could tie in well to the School for the Gifted, and both could link to education programs offered at the Cincinnati Nature Center Gorman Heritage Farm, also located on Reading Road. We already have a branch of Cincinnati State College on Reading Road. Part of the former Marion-Merrill Dow building (now Aventis) has been donated to UC for neurological research and education. Locating all of these facilities on Reading Road would create an education corridor. Besides being an attractive land use that would benefit both the Village and the region, we could conceivably create a high-tech corridor here by focusing on specialized education and thereby drawing the high-tech businesses that go along with higher education.

We have a significant opportunity to do enhance our Village. We can be bold and visionary, or we can follow the same old thinking that got us where we are today. We can create something beautiful (the park, Village Square and green corridor), something that meets a vital social need (town homes) and something that creates an education corridor that could draw high-tech businesses. Let's think about some creative alternatives that make our Village a better place to live, not just a place with a bigger bank account and more half-empty buildings.