Lower Price Hill's revival enters its next phase
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Community Matters hopes projects like this Lower Price Hill community garden will help grow both food and opportunity. Photos: Courtesy of Community Matters
Money is finally flowing into — and all around — the Lower Price Hill neighborhood for housing projects and new businesses.
Why it matters: After surviving decades of disinvestment, local leaders are focused on building lasting economic opportunity.
State of play: Roughly $76 million has been invested in major Lower Price Hill projects since 2012, according to Community Matters — a significant shift for the small neighborhood along the Mill Creek.
- Lower Price Hill had just 1,070 residents in the 2020 census, down 12% from 2010.
- Its estimated median household income was just under $16,000 in 2016-2020 census data.
By the numbers: That $76 million includes $25 million invested in Nehemiah Manufacturing, $21 million for Oyler School's renovation, $15 million for the LPH Thrives housing project and $12 million for Community Matters' redevelopment of the historic St. Michael campus.
- Another $3 million went into State Avenue Lofts.
- LPH Thrives restored 10 vacant buildings and built another, creating 47 apartments.
- Habitat for Humanity has completed 10 homes — five restored and five newly built.
- The Washing Well brought a laundromat back to the neighborhood, while The Sanctuary created community and event space.
- Community Matters also turned three vacant lots into community gardens.
Zoom in: The change is increasingly visible at street level, Community Matters executive director Mary Delaney tells Axios, pointing to new businesses including Ful Café and The Frank.
- Seven storefronts have been brought back into use since 2012, according to Community Matters.
- More public investment is coming through the planned CROWN bike trail and federally funded traffic-calming and street improvements.
Yes, but: Growth can also bring higher costs.
- Delaney says the next phase must focus on expanding homeownership, supporting resident-owned businesses and creating businesses that meet everyday needs.
- "We want to make sure neighbors aren't priced out of the progress they helped create," she says, "and that they actually share in the assets and build wealth long-term."
The bottom line: Delaney started working in Lower Price Hill in 2010, expecting to stay for one year.
- Sixteen years later, she can't imagine leaving.
- "Our neighbors are passionate and caring, and they show up for each other," Delaney says. "There's nowhere else quite like it."