Walnut Hills – the next hot neighborhood
How many times have we heard that line over the last couple of years? Don’t get us wrong, it’s exciting to see that so many are catching on to what many of us have known for years – that Walnut Hills is a great place with wonderful assets and loads of potential – but how do we ensure that new development, new businesses and new housing units fit the vision held by our existing residents, business owners and stakeholders? Well, we think it’s time we had a concrete and tangible answer to that question and many more. Over the next three months we will be working with the community to go through what we are calling a Reinvestment Plan. The purpose of which is to do the following:
- Create a targeted and action-oriented development/investment plan for the entire neighborhood
- Conduct an intense amount of community engagement throughout the community to make certain everyone has a voice in what the future looks like
- Research and pursue equitable development strategies that ensure an inclusive growth process moving forward
- Conduct a data study for the entire neighborhood that will inform the type of housing that should be developed in the future and where it should be built
- Establish specific site and development plans in three focus areas – Peeble’s Corner Business District, MLK Interchange and surrounding areas, and the Southwest Quadrant.
With our partner, MKSK, and with support from the City, Uptown Consortium, Kroger, the Walnut Hills Area Council and the Walnut Hills Business Group we plan to create a plan that will be used to guide redevelopment for years to come. For the first time in decades the future of Walnut Hills is bright, but now more than ever we all need to come together to discuss what that future means to us.