A Model for Neighborhood Development: Price Hill Will

Price Hill Will: Making a real difference in Cincinnati

This past Saturday I had a great opportunity to attend a free continuing education seminar in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati.  Not only did I get 3 hours of free CE, but more importantly I became a Price Hill Pro affiliate.  The program was sponsored by Price Hill Will, a community development organization in the heart of the neighborhood.  Multiple other Price Hill groups gave presentations which I will also discuss.

Price Hill is one of the oldest and most storied neighborhoods in Cincinnati.  Ask almost any Cincinnati native about Price Hill, and they're sure to mention things like the Price Hill Incline and the always delicious Price Hill Chili.  What most people don't see is what active residents of Price Hill are doing every day to encourage community, growth, and prosperity in their area.

When Price Hill natives decided to really work on changing their community they focused on what academics call, "positive inquiry."  Instead of listing a laundry list of problems, people listed all the great things about living in Price Hill and used those as the building blocks for their development efforts.

The end result was a housing resource center, an economic development imitative, and the formation of community action teams.

Price Hill Will describes the community action groups:

"To date there are six active community action teams (CATs) organizing programs and projects that are designed to draw attention to a particular neighborhood asset (greenspace, diversity, religious institutions, arts, etc.) and/or create new neighborhood traditions as a means of building a safe and cohesive community. They include Arts & Culture, Beautification, Churches, Diversity, Eco-neighborhood, Housing, and Safety. Residents, business owners, community organization/agency staff, police, and various other stakeholders make up the members of these committees. Each group has made a "bold statement" or outcome they would like to achieve."

In addition to these groups, a full time staff works to buy distressed properties, renovate them, and resell them to homeowners.  Price Hill Will's housing resource center works to raise property values and make neighborhoods better by rehabbing homes that were once eye sores.

Lastly, Price Hill Will has active and ongoing partnerships with local businesses to strengthen the economic outlook for the area.  PHW is working hard to create and keep jobs and businesses in Price Hill.

This neighborhood and its efforts are leading the way for Cincinnati.  Price Hill is making a name for itself as being an environmentally friendly (greenest neighborhood in Cincy), community and arts oriented place to be.  I look forward to watching home values and community morale continue to rise as the residents work to make Price Hill a better place.

For more information on all the amazing initiatives of Price Hill Will please visit www.pricehillwill.org or contact me directly from the information below.

A special thanks to all who spoke and presented at the Price Hill Pro presentation.

Other Great Price Hill Resources:

Historical Society: www.pricehill.org

Soapbox Media: www.soapboxmedia.com