green building

Change is underway, literally right across the street from us. Our neighborhood is undergoing something of a transformation, in part because of an ensemble of urban development projects aimed at revitalizing the area. The city of Cincinnati recently sold five plots of land ON OUR STREET -- all of them on our block or the next block over -- to the Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation for a total of $1. The buildings on these lots have either been demolished or are awaiting demolition, and the sense that we get (from our plumber, no less) is that most of these properties were effectively repossessed by the City in order to "cool off" drug dealing and crime. Here are some photos of the plots nearest us.







At any rate, yesterday the City held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of this initiative, which will eventually involve several green architecture projects on the sites in question. Here the efforts of the CNCUR will dovetail with those of the HOME House Project, recently featured in an exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center here in Cincinnati. The HOME House Project aims to develop affordable, sustainable housing (some of it mixed-use) for low-and-middle income families. I don't know too much about their building practices, but it seems they place a focus on recycled and/or sustainable materials, environmentally-friendly building practices and the like. Here's a sample design from the exhibition catalog.



The houses across the street from us will be designed by the winners of a recent competition. I believe one of the winners (or perhaps THE winner) is S. Flavio Espinoza. I'm not familiar with the architect's work, but apparently I will be soon as site-preparation is already underway. It will be strange having such beautiful green architecture across the street from us. I just wonder whether the neighborhood will absorb or reject these changes, especially considering their scale and pace. Seems like the ground is really shifting beneath our feet here, and I'm not just talking about the crumbling floor joists in our upstairs bathroom. It's weird watching this happen at such close range. bg