Madisonville has experienced a lot of the same issues of decay and disinvestment that many urban communities have faced, but it's finally on its way back.
In recent years, community participation has skyrocketed. The community council, local businesses, and churches are active in the neighborhood. Community visioning sessions led to November's Madisonville Quality of Life Plan, which is a framework for future development.
The neighborhood also is one of the first few in Cincinnati to participate in detailed form-based code planning.
The City has been on board, having helped the community purchase and demolish several blighted structures near the intersection of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue for the future development of a town square. Just last month, the City approved a $2.5 million bond package to further that work and designated most of the business district as a community entertainment district, making liquor licenses easier to obtain for prospective restauranteurs.
This tour shows both the struggles and the promise of the Madison Road neighborhood business district, and some unplanned meanderings of mine from after the tour.
These 34 photos have been added to the following galleries:
- Madisonville +34 (48 photos)
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1. Beautiful mural, Whetsel Avenue.
2. Another mural, Whetsel Avenue.
3. The heart of it all, Madison and Whetsel.
4. Madisonville branch of the Fifth Third Union Trust Co. (later to become Fifth Third Bank), northeast corner of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue. Built in 1927.
5. Detail of Fifth Third Union Trust Co.
6. The building could use a little bit of woodwork....
7. Going inside of the Fifth Third Union Trust Co. building, we see that it's pretty worn down...but some work has been done.
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11. If this was your apartment, the intersection of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue would be your view.
12. "Strip mall", Madison Road.
13. Madison Road.
14. Madison Road.
15. Dial One Security's campus, Madison Road.
16. Madison Road.
17. Apparently, a private bar. Awesome. Madison Road.
18. Mish-mash Madison Road.
19. Great detail, Madison Road.
20. Food truck, Madison Road.
21. The French Rendez-vous, a shop specializing in French fabrics and gifts, moved from Montgomery to Madison Road in April 2012.
22. Inside the French Rendez-vous, it feels like France. Not that I've ever been there.
23. Fabric at the French Rendez-vous.
24. Figurines at the French Rendez-vous.
25. Oh, BE-have!!! Whetsel Avenue.
26. Formerly the Madisonville Arts Center, this building on Whetsel Avenue will soon be the Madisonville Arts and Cultural Center (MACC).
27. Whetsel Avenue.
28. Birds atop a church, Prentice and Ward streets.
29. Cincinnati Fire Department Station 49 (1926), Prentice Street.
30. 1906 building with a 1988 bicentennial marker in the foreground, Whetsel Avenue.
31. Another perspective.
32. Multi-use, multi-clad, addition bigger than additional building. Whetsel Avenue.
33. Madisonville branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (1925), Whetsel Avenue and Prentice Street.
34. Another view of the beautiful Renaissance Revival building!
Previous reading on BC:
$2.5M bond package to further Madisonville redevelopment plans (12/17/12)
Three development control districts extended nine months (9/24/12)
Extensions of Pleasant Ridge, Madisonville, Wasson overlays get preliminary approval (8/20/12)
Three overlays to control development for 90 days (6/25/12)
Catalytic 'Madison Square' gets $200K in TIF funding (4/23/12)
