The year is 1848, and Germany is in the throes of political and social upheaval. Friends who have immigrated to America write about a western city where jobs are many and their own language is commonly spoken on the streets. This neighborhood teems with so many Germans, and entering into it over the busy, prosperous canal is like crossing over the Rhine River.
Fast forward to 2010. A young woman, a professional with a good college degree and a job that reflects her hard work, is transferring to Cincinnati, Ohio. Her perspective is not colored by the past as she researches different neighborhoods and notices one that truly stands out. Its Victorian architecture is pristine, its restaurants superb, the cultural arts there world-class. The farmer's market is open all year, shopping is everywhere and downtown and her job are just a walk away. The decision to live there is not hard to make.
If history does repeat itself, Over-the-Rhine could offer such an example. From its first settlement in the early 1800s, this neighborhood has served as a port-of-entry for immigrants to Cincinnati. Today, a new kind of migrant is crossing its borders and calling it home. From around the country, young professionals, drawn in by its cultural amenities, historic architecture and livability, are finding a community of neighbors who share a passion for Over-the-Rhine's well-being and future.
Erin Riggs is one of these urban settlers. Raised in Indiana, she knew little about Cincinnati and its neighborhoods when she went to work for Procter & Gamble. Joined by her friend Elli Miller, another P&G professional who was also transferring to Cincinnati's downtown headquarters, they decided to look together for living spaces to purchase.
Not wanting to "be tied to a car" in their commute, Riggs and Miller worked with Pamela Kurtz of Team Chabris, a Cincinnati Keller Williams marketing and sales group, and Holly Redmond with Coldwell Banker West Shell's Gateway Quarter office to find the right neighborhood and then the right real estate. Within a week, their search had narrowed to Over-the-Rhine.
"Living there just felt right," says Riggs now. "There were so many different kinds of places to live in Over-the-Rhine, from lofts and townhouses to condos. I wanted a [place] that didn't feel like a hotel. I travel enough; I wanted it to feel like home."
Miller had grown up in a Missouri small town but had learned to love city life while living in Minneapolis. She was looking for an active urban neighborhood with a built-in network for making new friends. And both women felt strongly about, as Miller describes it, "rebuilding the urban core of the city." "We both had a personal passion to grow and invest in the area," says Riggs today.
Offered a variety of architectural choices and prices, the women both found what they were looking for: side-by-side rowhouses in the
City Home development on Pleasant Street. Their two buildings are new, in-fill construction that reflects the Victorian architecture of the neighborhood. Inside, however, the feel is modern with light-filled, open-floor plans that allow for easy living and entertainment.
Riggs and Miller have made the neighborhood a home from themselves, shopping locally at
Findlay Market and Kroger's, eating breakfast at
Tucker's, inviting friends out to local bars like Neon's and Motr. The commute to work is just one mile, and the women walk together mornings and evenings. They attend community events like Second Sundays and Final Fridays, and both women rave about the local cobbler, a true find. Still, there's room for improvement. "The only thing I want here is a dry cleaner," Riggs admits wistfully.
Safety was a concern to both women, no matter where they lived. The attached garages and new lighting behind their houses have added security. But it's the neighborhood around them that has given these women the strongest sense of safety. Says Riggs, "I feel safe because it's a community within a community. The local business owners know my name," and there is a sense of being watched out for.
Holly Redmond agrees. About five years ago, when her office was being constructed at 12th and Vine, the corner received 600 police calls in a year. Once she and her team moved in, those calls dropped to just four. "When you see new construction starting, you know that the area is cleaning up," she believes. And the attitude of the neighborhood had changed. "People's eyes are on the street, and people aren't putting up with [crime] anymore."
Redmond sees Miller and Riggs as part of a growing trend: relocating professionals who are "coming from large cities, are used to living in metropolitan areas and looking for an urban setting." She sees far more reluctance to live in this urban environment from the area's natives. "Kids see it as a fun, great area, and some [of their] parents see that it's great and can't believe the redevelopment" but often the young adults come in excited and their parents kill the deal. Over-the-Rhine's twentieth century struggles with poverty, homelessness, and drug dependency are often too fresh and frightening in the minds of long-time Cincinnatians to overcome.
So Redmond educates her clients, taking groups of young professionals on tours of the
Gateway Quarter where they see the rehabilitation projects, the new construction, a growing number of unique businesses and Washington Park's revitalization. "Without Main Street coming back, the casino coming in,
Washington Park being revitalized and Fountain Square being as vibrant as it is, the area wouldn't be so attractive."
Because of these developments, there is a sense of excitement, almost anticipation, in the voices of these urban immigrants. As in the past, young professionals are finding Over-the-Rhine a home to all economic classes, including the poorest, the working class families, shop owners, and businessmen and woman of means. As in the past, they are finding friends who support them as family.
Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a place where people new to the area have tried to make better lives for themselves. Today, Riggs and Miller are finding a community that is integrated with that deep sense of time and place and yet recognizes a bright and exciting future. Miller can definitely see it.
"The momentum is building."
Photography by Scott Beseler.
Erin Riggs and Elli Miller
Erin Riggs
Over the Rhine
City Home development
Gateway Quarter
Findlay Market