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LOWER PRICE HILL HEALTH & SAFETY ACTION PLAN

The Lower Price Hill Health & Safety Action Plan is a strategic plan for Lower Price Hill (LPH) that focuses on community safety, leadership and neighborhood change. The Plan was motivated by a desire on the part of the Community Council and area residents to be engaged in the many changes taking place in their neighborhood and be effectively involved in ways to shape the future of their neighborhood. The Plan was developed by the Community Council with support from the Community Building Institute. It is focused on housing, community institutions and quality of life issues in Lower Price Hill. The Lower Price Hill Urban Design Plan, adopted by the City in 2003 is designed principally to guide redevelopment efforts in the industrial part of the neighborhood.

The Plan is a resource guide for community leaders, volunteers, activists, and stakeholders. It is designed to be a resource to improve the understanding of the community about the many plans and project development activities currently underway in the neighborhood . Neighborhood residents want to have an informed perspective on their community's social assets and resources in order to productively influence their future. Currently there are many potential changes facing LPH. Future success for residents will depend on the community's vision for the future and also an understanding of the many other stakeholders working in the neighborhood and their plans and how they all integrate.

Lower Price Hill is a neighborhood where there has always been a mix of housing and industrial uses. The relationship of those uses to one another has been one of the central issues of this planning process. As the MetroWest project undertakes the significant clean up and redevelopment of the area for new industrial uses and the debate over use of the riverfront goes, on neighborhood residents wants to ensure the long-term viability of the affordable residential part of the neighborhood as a good place to live.

The neighborhood sits two miles west of downtown with its southern border at the Ohio River and its western border lying along the prominent hillside leading up to East Price Hill. These 3 features alone afford the neighborhood an array of assets including, unique viewshed opportunities, riverfront greenspace and recreational uses, and a quick commute to downtown Cincinnati. (Lower Price Hill could be one of Cincinnati's most bike-friendly neighborhoods). Another appealing aspect of the neighborhood is its affordable housing.

LPH also has its challenges, it is one of Cincinnati's poorest neighborhoods with a median household income over $15,000 less than the City median income and a population loss of close to 1,000 people between 1980 and 2000 resulting in a current vacancy rate of 20%. In 2000 the owner occupancy rate was under 17%.

As of 2000 Lower Price Hill's racial makeup was 80% White and 11% Black. Many LPH residents have Appalachian roots and have families who have lived in the neighborhood for generations. Residents are concerned about the recent rise in drug-related activity in the neighborhood; Drug-related crimes have wreaked havoc on the neighborhood. In 2006 alone LPH had 101 drug-related crimes, the majority of which were located in the heart of the neighborhood and in the business district.

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