Cleveland’s Lakefront Neighborhood Edgewater

Because of its location along the Lake and being on the westside of Cleveland, Edgewater never experienced serious blight and abandonment issues and has always been Cleveland’s more stable neighborhood with a rare pocket of wealth along the Lake and West Blvd. The neighborhood is now taking advantage of the general rise and interest in all of the westside of Cleveland north of 1-90. And by all measures it should be as this neighborhood has many attractive elements: decent walkable commercial district, good mix of housing stock and price point, great access to Edgewater Park and solid public transportation options with a 10 minute ride to downtown.

Click here to view the full Edgewater album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Edgewater Park is easily accessible from many points of the neighborhood
* Beautiful early 20th century mansions along the lake north of Clifton, and large 4-5 bedroom homes between Clifton and Detroit. Lots of beautiful tutor style apartments on Lake and Detroit Avenues.
* Decent commercial Districts on Detroit and Clifton. Many important amenities on W 117 but it’s mostly auto-centric.
* Redline stop at Detroit and West Blvd. and good bus access on Detroit and Clifton.
* Good mix of for sale price points. Can easily find a 3-4 bedroom for 100-200K south of Lake and 300K and above if home is near or on the lakefront. Million dollar homes on Edgewater. Lots of affordable and mid-level rentals available. Can easily find a 2-bedroom for under 1,000 K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Most of W 117 is very auto centric
* No bike lanes other than within Edgewater park, but the City now has a dockless system in place.
* Walk to decent commercial areas often more than 1-2 mile in neighborhood.
* Some rougher/ blighted areas south of the railroad tracks.

Harrison West, a charming village like neighborhood in Columbus, OH

Harrison West is the more sleepy version of its neighborhood Victorian Village. The district has good access to downtown, a modest commercial district with several good restaurants/bars, quality parks, good historic architecture and a great infill project called Harrison Park.

Click here to view all Harrison West photos on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good density at over 10K per sq mile
*Great access to downtown, decent bike lanes and transit lines
* Decent late 19th century wood and brick Architecture. Harrison Park redevelopment in-fill project, is also high quality.
* Vermont Park is a great asset (Blvd. park lined with beautiful historic homes).
* Good access to park space (i.e. Harrison Park, Harrison West Park, and Wheeler Memorial Park

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Commercial District on 3rd still lacks many neighborhood services
Could be built up more.
* What remains of the historic stock is very nice but much of the neighborhood was rebuilt in the 90s with mediocre historic in-fill
* Redevelopment efforts in the southern end of the neighborhood

Oxford OH, home to Miami University and an attractive college town

I used the original square mile of the town as my boundaries as this encapsulates pretty well the historic boundaries of Oxford and the majority of its pre- WWII population. These boundaries also include the majority of Miami University, the reason for the town’s existence.

Miami University was chartered in 1809 and the town of Oxford laid out the following year. Thus the fortunes of town and university were inextricably linked since their founding. From an urbanist perspective historic Oxford is a pleasant mostly walkable environment including the bucolic Miami University Georgian campus, main street like Uptown, surrounded by historic but mostly college serving housing. Ringing historic Oxford on three sides is a well establish park system built along rivers and creeks.

The major urban downsides to Oxford is a lack of walkable schools (with the middle and high school located on the urban fringes), a lack of owner occupied housing in the city core, and distance from downtown Cincinnati, the hub City in urban metro to which Oxford belongs.

Click here for my full Oxford Album on Flick. Click here for my Miami University Album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good public transit for a small town. Miami University provides excellent shuttle system.
* Augmenting the convenience of bike on campus there are several dedicated bike lanes outside of campus.
* The rental situation is different from a typical urban neighborhood as this is a college town. Because of this there are lots of rental options, albeit geared towards students. 1-bedrooms generally go for $600-$700 & 2-bedrooms in the low $1,000s. Entire houses rent in the $2,000s.
* Not a ton of dedicated public park space within historic Oxford other than Oxford Memorial Park but plenty of green space once you include all the quads and sport fields on Miami’s campus. Also a whole system of trails and greenways ringing historic Oxford.
* Culturally Oxford is enriched by the performing arts brought by the university. Outside of campus there is a community theater and plenty of bars and restaurants.
* High Street hosts a solid array of cafes, restaurants, bars, boutiques, and neighborhood serving retail. There is also a drug store, Ace Hardware, library, and post office located off high street. Locust street, the western edge of historic oxford is an auto centric strip but provides important conveniences such as a supermarket, Moon co-op, and other retail options.
* Quality architecture on both campus and off including a gorgeous Georgian themed campus, Italianate commercial on high street and good urban infill.
* Great tree canopy both on and off campus.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Access to Dwtn Cincinnati is very inconvenient (50 mins) but the majority of Oxford residents work in Oxford. Dwtn Hamilton is also only 20 minutes away.
* Almost all for-sale property in historic Oxford are rental properties. Sadly one needs to resident in more suburban parts of town to find owner occupied property.
* Oxford Elementary is located just outside of the historic core. Unfortunately the middle school and high school are located on the edge of town, and thus are not walkable.

Dayton Lane, historic home to Hamilton’s most prominent industrialists

Dayton-Lane is located just east of Downtown Hamilton between 5th St and Erie Blvd. The district includes an officially designated Historic District hosting mansions of some of Hamilton’s most prominent industrialists at the turn of the last century. Architectural styles include Queen Anne, Italianate, Second Empire, and Georgian Revival. The neighborhood also mixes in plenty of middle class homes and worker housing, a good example of how many turn of the century communities were built as truly mixed income districts out of the necessity of proximity before the creation of the automobile.

From an urban form perspective, Dayton Lane has decent density and convenient access to Downtown Hamilton. There is still a fair amount of blight here on the neighborhood edges and the district’s two commercial districts (i.e. Erie and High Street) are generally auto centric. Urbanizing these commercial districts with quality urban infill and permitting mixed-use development within the core of the neighborhood would go a long way towards improving Dayton Lane’s urbanity.

Click here to view the full Dayton Lane Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Highly convenient to Dwtn, only a 5-15 minute walk.
Good generational and racial diversity.
* Some of the best architecture in Hamilton and certain the best representation of late 19th century mansions.
* Crazy diversity in housing prices ranking from 25K for an old worker house to 300K for a large Victorian mansion.
* The neighborhood hosts a cafe, drug store and lots of chain restaurants along Main Street. Most of the district is no more than a 15 minute walk to all the Downtown amenities.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Bike infrastructure is non-existent.
* About 1/4 of the neighborhood is living in poverty. Interesting contrasts with wealthier households that own that large historic mansions.
* Neighborhood is a mix of well mentioned and gritty/blighted pockets. Because of this safety is still somewhat of a concern here.
* Rental product is a limited but very affordable.
* Only a couple pocket parks within Dayton Lane but the Smith Field sports complex and Greenwood Cemetery are walkable.
* The two commercial districts on the edges of Dayton Lane, High & Erie are pretty auto centric. High Street at least has usable sidewalks and some older buildings left. This does provide a fair amount of retail, albeit generally chains.
* A public elementary and middle school lie about 1/2-1 mile east of the neighborhood.

Highland Park and Prospect Hill, great neighborhoods on Hamilton’s westside

Some points of interest include a resurging main street with new businesses filling historic buildings along the southern edge of Prospect Hill and lovely 1920s & 1930s housing in Highland Park. Many pleasant streets throughout Prospect Hill in the early 20th century. Prospect Hill also has very convenient walkable access to Downtown.

The biggest areas I’d like to see in Prospect Hill/Highland Park improve include building new mixed-use buildings to fill in the missing teeth along Main Street along with revitalizing the blighted portion of the district along the Miami River.

Click here to see my full Highland Park Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great generational and economic diversity.
* For-sale housing is a mix of affordable and middle of the market with prices ranging from 50K-200K. Prices are most expensive in Highland Park with very affordable pockets in Prospect Hill in the more blighted areas closer to the Great Miami River.
* Decent amount of parks including the nice plaza along Main Street, extensive natural trails along two mile run, sport parts surrounding the middle school, and several neighborhood pocket parks.
* Nice urban commercial street along Main with a nice mix of urban retail including a cafe, several bars & restaurants, several boutiques, banks, a drug store, and lots of other neighborhood serving retail.
* Limited cultural amenities within Prospect Hill/Highland Park but one simply needs to walk 5-20 minutes to Dwtn to find this.
* Good architecture spanning the first half of the 20th century. Some blight in Prospect Hill, but not too bad.
* A public elementary, middle school, and high school are all located in Highland Park are ranked pretty well. No schools however in Prospect Hill.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Rental product is a bit limited but affordable. Concentrated in Prospect Hill. Highland Park is largely owner-occupied.
* Public transit access is limited.
* Limited amount of racial diversity.
* Generally a stable neighborhood but some blight along the River.
* Limited modern in-fill and what does exist is very auto centric. High Street becomes rather auto centric when passing through Highland Park.

Rossville another gem in Hamilton Ohio

The neighborhood is located on the west side of the Great Miami River across from downtown. The neighborhood takes its name from the old town of Rossville used prior to its merger with the City of Hamilton in 1854. There are still some gorgeous mid to late 19th century structures remaining today, which helps Rossville retain a solid urban fabric.

Some points of interest include a resurging main street with new businesses filling historic buildings and the large mansions lining South ‘D’ Street. Many pleasant streets throughout Rossville spanning many decades before WWII. Also very convenient walkable access to Downtown.

The biggest areas I’d like to see Rossville improve include building new mixed-use buildings to fill in the missing teeth along Main Street along with revitalizing the blighted portion of the district along the Miami River.

Click here to view the entire Rossville album on my Flickr page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Very diverse for-sale housing stock ranging in price from 50K-300K for large historic mansions.
* Great generational and economic diversity.
* Decent amount of parks including a riverfront park, a nice plaza along Main Street, and several larger parks that are mostly fields.
* Nice urban commercial street along Main with a nice mix of urban retail including a cafe, several bars & restaurants, several boutiques, banks, a drug store, and lots of other neighborhood serving retail.
* Limited cultural amenities within Rossville but one simply needs to walk 5-10 minutes to Dwtn to find this.
* Quality historic architecture from many different eras.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Rentals are very affordable here but not a lot of product.
* Limited amount of racial diversity.
* Generally a stable neighborhood but some blight along the River.
* Not great walkable access to schools here.
* Limited modern in-fill and what does exist is very auto centric.

Downtown Hamilton- The City of Sculpture

I included the district between the Miami River and MLK Boulevard and all of German village and dwtn south to Sycamore Street.

Hamilton started as Fort Hamilton in. 1791. It was the first of several built north from Fort Washington into Indian territory. A settlement grew up around the fort and was platted. It was officially incorporated in 1810. By the mid-19th century, Hamilton had developed as a significant manufacturing city and by 1950 it had around 57,000 residents. This has resulted in a fairly large urban neighborhood surrounding Dwtn and fortunately much of it is still in-tact especially on the West Side.

Dwtn Hamilton held onto much of its fabric of low to medium rise buildings helping fuel its recent renovation the past 10 years. Along with new shops, restaurants, and small businesses, Hamilton created a new multi-faceted downtown park surrounded by new apartment buildings. North of Dwtn, German Village connects pretty seamlessly with gorgeous mid-late 19th Italianate architecture and a nice mix-used district along 3rd Street. Hopefully Dwtn Hamilton continues to fill in all the underutilized lots especially south of High Street. Great progress has been made, but certainly room to improve.

Click here to view the full Downtown Hamilton Album.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

*Highly walkable district in small 0.25 square mile.
* Great historic architecture both in along High Street, Hamilton’s main dwtn corridor, and German Village.
* The Dwtn/German Village population has historically been very low, but this is changing with increased dwtn population and historic renovations in Germantown.
* Nice set of parks including the riverfront park along the Great Miami, Symmes Park Playground, and the downtown jewel Marcum Park, complete with a fountain, significant programming, an outdoor stage, etc.
* Nice array of cultural amenities including several local museums & theaters, Artspace lofts, many restaurants & bars, and some live music venues.
* There has been a wonderful resurgence of locally owned shops, boutiques, cafes Dwtn and across the river in nearby Rossville. The main post office and library are also located here. No large retail stores or grocery stores however.
* High level of ADA infrastructure. Very comfortable to walk here.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Not great public transit. Some shuttles run by Butler County but the system is not really tied into the Cincinnati public system.
* Generally very affordable for-sale and rental product. Nice homes in German Village selling btwn 75K-100K. Larger mansions in the 200Ks. Not a ton of rental product listed dwtn, but higher end product slowly coming starting with the Marcum apts.
* Limited ethnic and household diversity dwtn.
* There is a public elementary school and Catholic grade school located just south of Dwtn.
* Very low density. This partially is to be expected as this is a mid-sized dwtn.

Historic Annapolis

I generally used the block groups as boundaries but feel like Cathedral street is the appropriate western boundary between Historic Annapolis and Murray Hill. I also used Washington Street as the NW boundary. The Naval Academy Forms the Eastern Boundary. St. John’s College included. The Civil war era is general the cut off as to what I included in Historic Annapolis.

Historic Annapolis contains a great stock of late 18th and early 19th century Georgian architecture. But many other great attractions including the Maryland statehouse, a wonderful main street, historic market square, the Naval Academy, and lots of great cultural amenities. Obviously this is a not your typical urban neighborhood as it hosts the statehouse and is a major tourist attraction. But there are a fair amount of locals that create enough urban authenticity to make this an interesting environment.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Gorgeous Georgian architecture. Some of the best in the country.
* Walkable access to many State jobs.
* Great walkable and mixed-use fabric. Main Street/Market Place hosts an incredible main street. Good urban commercial also along Dock St. and Maryland Ave.
* Ok racial diversity but lots of family households in Historic Annapolis.
* Culturally several community theaters, tons of restaurants and bars (many of them host live music), a plethora of museums and historic museums, and the cultural activities of both the Naval Academy and St. John’s College.
* Neighborhood retail includes tons of diverse independently owned shops including several book stores, craft clothing stores, antique stores, and more traditional amenities like a post office, rid aid, library.
* Generally comfortable sidewalks, but the brick makes it harder for those with disabilities.

URBAN WEAKNESS:

* Limited dedicated bike lanes. A bike share program was active for 2 years but was shut down due to Covid.
* For Sale housing is very expensive. Small 2 bedrooms start at around 450K. Most homes are selling near or above 1 Million (albeit large homes).
* Rentals also expensive but a bit more affordable. 1-bedrooms start in the low $1,000s and 2-bedrooms generally in the $2,000s.
* Park space is limited to the Statehouse lawn and St. John College quad, and a small board walk. Not bad, but still pretty underwhelming for such a quality urban district.
* No supermarkets nor larger retail stores.
* Really not modern in-fill but for historic lovers this isn’t a huge deal.
* Density not great, but makes sense given this highly touristy nature of the district.

Maine’s Victorian Jewel… the West End of Portland

The neighborhood is home to many historic homes from all decades of the 19th century. Its considered one of the best preserved Victorian neighborhoods in the country. Other great qualities to Portland’s West End include its convenient access to Downtown and Old Port, strong walkability, safety, mixed use and dense character, and expansive Western Promenade Park hugging its western edge.

The major downside to the neighborhood is its expensive housing where for-sale options start at 200K for a modest condo and generally exceed 400K for a SF home. Surprisingly the neighborhood manages to have great economic diversity likely indicating a large cost burdened population. This is certainly not a great district for modern architecture lovers as its almost non-existent.

Click here to view my entire West End Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity.
* Nice array of smaller diverse parks and the expansive Western Promenade
* Great Tree Canopy.
* Gorgeous brick sidewalks fill most of the neighborhoods.
* Very safe district.
* Culturally many historic houses, convenient access to several Dwtn museums, music venues and cinemas; also many restaurants and some cafes and bars.
* Neighborhood amenities includes a couple smaller groceries, several drug stores, and a good amount of boutiques, and several book stores. The Congress Biz District is nearby and contains a good amount of retail amenities as well.
* North Light Mercy Hospital located here.
* Gorgeous historic architecture from all decades of the 19th century.
* Urban massing is generally good throughout except the Commercial St. on the West End’s southern border.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Limited racial and generational diversity.
* Rentals are plentiful but generally expensive. One-bedrooms range in the $1,000s. 2-bedrooms in the high $1,000s and low $2,000s.
* 1-bedroom condos generally sell in the $200ks, 2-bedroom condos often in the $200s but plenty of product in the 300ks. 3-bedrooms homes anywhere from 300Ks-600Ks. Larger homes are easily over 600K.
* Curbs cuts at all intersections but generally not ADA standard.
* No art galleries in the district
* Modern architecture is very limited here.

Portland Maine’s East End, an Upper Class Community with Great Access to the Sea.

The East End was developed in the late 19th century with a mix of wood frame SF and small apartment buildings. Historically the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American population. This is a stable upper middle class district with convenient access to downtown without significant traffic, beautiful bayfront parks, several attractive urban business districts, and attractive historic architecture. The waterfront park, Eastern Promenade, was designed by the Olmsted Brothers as well as Baxter Boulevard, which rings part of Back Cove.

The district however lacks significant racial diversity, is very expensive to reside, and contains only a mediocre elementary school. Public Transit is also average.

Click here to view my Full EastEnd Album on Flickr.

URBAN STRENGTHS

* Very convenient access to Downtown.
* Expansive bike system connect the district to downtown and other adjacent areas.
* Great economic diversity and decent generational diversity.
* Lovely Historic architecture mostly wood frame housing from the late 19th century.
* Good amount of tree canopy and street trees.
* Generally high quality sidewalks with ADA ramps.
* The East End is well endowed with recreational spaces including its extensive waterfront parks and many small and medium sized parks throughout offering most types of amenities.
* Culturally a good # of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several theaters and music venues and art galleries. No museums but several historic sites.
* Amenity wise there are several smaller groceries but Wholefoods nearby, a Walgreens and a good offering of retail and boutiques along Congress St. and Washington Ave.

URBAN WEAKNESSES

* Public transit is decent but not great.
* Very Caucasian neighborhood with limited racial diversity.
* For Sale housing is very expensive starting at around 300K for a 1-2 bedroom condos. Most 3 & 4 bedroom SF homes selling between 500K-800K. Rentals are expensive too with studios starting around $1,000 and most 1-bedrooms in the mid to high $1,00s. 2-bedrooms rent in the high $1,000s and $2,000s.
* A decent grade school sits within the East End and the well rated Portland HS is about a mile away.