Some wonderful news came for the residents of Kennedy Heights as the City of Cincinnati announced that they selected our neighborhood for the spring The Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP).
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Watch the NEP News Conference (courtesy of CitiCable)
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Kennedy Heights Community Council President Natalie Boyer speaks at the NEP announcement news conference.
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The NEP is a 90-day collaborative effort between City departments, neighborhood residents and community organizations. Two neighborhoods are selected by The City per year and Kennedy Heights has been selected for the spring 2012 session which will take place from March through May 2012.
The NEP focuses on developing neighborhood assets. Integrated service delivery includes:
- Concentrating building code enforcement
- Identifying and "cooling down" crime hot spots
- Cleaning up streets, sidewalks, and vacant lots
- Beautifying landscapes, streetscapes and public right of way
- Engaging property owners and residents to create and sustain a more livable neighborhood
Through focused, integrated and concentrated City service delivery and community redevelopment efforts, partners will seek to improve the quality of life in Kennedy Heights. The targeted areas are identified through an analysis of building code violations, vacant buildings, disorder and drug calls, drug arrests, as well as incidence of graffiti, junk autos, litter and weeds.
The boundaries for the NEP program in Kennedy Heights include the area between Montgomery to Woodford and Rodgers Park to McHugh, however this initiative will also include other parts of Kennedy Heights. While the city driven services will be limited to the NEP area, neighborhood leaders are brainstorming ways to enhance all of Kennedy Heights with addition donations and resourced that have become available.
A "wish list" is being develepod for programs, events, fix-it's, and other community driven projects. Input from all KH neighbors is welcome. Please e-mail any ideas or suggestions to Natalie@KennedyHeights.org to be included in the list. The suggestion list will be approved at the Kennedy Heights Community Council Meeting on Tuesday, January 17.
A Spring to Remember
The NEP and related projects come on the heels of the recent announcement that the Kennedy Heights Cultural Center will begin to take shape this spring as well.
The long negelcted property at the corner of Kennedy and Montgomery will see a rebirth as a hub for the neighborhood. Partners in rennovating the former Kroger/Furniture Fair building include the Kennedy Heights Arts Center who will be outfitting portions of the center for studio and gallery space, the Kennedy Heights Montesorri School, who will be coming home to the neighborhood for the first time in 3 years, and the Cincinnati Art Museum, who will be using their portion of the space for both storage of their massive collection and and community outreach, ensuring the public will be able to visit and view some of their works. Eventually the corner property will include public meeting space for community events, and down the road even more occupants and businesses.
Also on the horizon for the first part of 2012 is the expected opening of the new Woodford Paidea Academy.
