Saturday, March 01, 2008

East Price Hill: Incline Square On The Rise

Griff's most recent post reminds me that I've been meaning to link to an article for the past several days. The Enquirer reports that a plan--and lots of cash--are in place to develop Incline Square in East Price Hill:

Backers of the hilltop development aren't elaborating yet, but they promise that the neighborhood they're redeveloping will also include a steakhouse,gourmet pizza parlor, 24 condos with views, a banquet/reception facility,nightclub with outdoor areas and live music, an upgraded park and a concrete pier on which people can walk for a downtown view.

I'm hopeful that the project (in which John Cranley is heavily involved) could mean a detente between Griff and Cranley with respect to their long, bitter feud over the Bank and chain sports bars. (I don't know if Cranley knows he's part of such a feud, but Cincinnati Blog readers know it.) The article's lede is:

By late next year, developers say, you should be able to have a beer at
Incline Square's new sports bar with a view of the city.

Maybe if Cranley has a chain sports bar to visit in Price Hill, he won't be so insistent on one in the Banks. And maybe Griff won't object to a chain sports bar that's farther from him than the Banks will be. Might there be peace in our lifetime?

Finally, we should talk a little more about the old inclines. One of the most interesting ideas I heard during the last Council election (coming, as I recall, from former CPD Officer and Cincinnati NAACP President Wendell Young, who didn't prevail) was a suggestion to rebuild some of the inclines. I think much of the reasoning that applies to the benefits of streetcars applies to inclines. And if you visit other cities with big hills, inclines tend to be an attraction themselves, bringing development around them. In Pittsburgh, for instance, there's three inclines that I can think of, (the "Mon" Incline, the Duquesne Incline, and the Mt. Washington Incline), and at the top of each is a pretty highly developed area with either restaurants, shopping destinations, or both.

Could inclines be an answer to development for some of Cincinnati's neighborhoods outside of downtown? And with talk of spending lots of money for the streetcars (that would spur development primarily in downtown and Over-the-Rhine), isn't now the right time to raise the issue?

UPDATE: Here's some pretty neat pictures of the old Price Hill Incline. And here's an interesting discussion (hosted by NKU) of the historical link between development and transportation, including the inclines, in Cincinnati.

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