Welcome to Over-The-Rhine
Over-the-Rhine’s low-rise brick and brownstone buildings are welcoming new residents, restaurants, and shops. Read our story Downtown is Looking Up on the revitalization and click through for reasons why OTR is worth a visit—and move.
1. Overhauled Washington Park
Washington Park, in the bustling southern end of OTR, has roots in the urban-development plans of the Civil War era. After years of neglect, it was overhauled and enlarged with annexed land, and reopened in 2012. Today it’s a major draw for families and new home buyers, as well as an incentive to redo the 19th-century buildings surrounding it.
2. Registered Historic Sites
Landmarks include Music Hall, the 1878 home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera. A large portion of Over-the-Rhine is on the National Register of Historic Places.
3. Bustling Fun After Sundown
Dan Wright greets customers at Pontiac, one of three eateries he has opened on Vine Street, the neighborhood’s main artery. The return of foot traffic after sundown helped bring about the neighborhood’s revival.
Wright was one of the first restaurateurs to bet on the neighborhood. His pub Senate landed in a newly restored building on Vine Street in 2010. “There was nothing here,” Wright recalls. “Everything downtown closed at 5 P.M. But just south you had thousands of people working at Macy’s and Kroger. I figured if we did things right and served food that was better than the chain-restaurant [fare] they’d grown used to, we had a good chance of succeeding.”
Wright’s success caught the attention of 3CDC, the nonprofit that has spearheaded Over-the-Rhine’s revival. Steve Mileham of 3CDC praised Wright’s role in the neighborhood’s transformation: “He had a belief, passion, and, most important, great ideas. The true pioneers of Over-the-Rhine are the Dan Wrights—the people who believed in what we were doing.”
4. Community Stalwarts Driving Change
Longtime community advocate Jim Tarbell is pictured on Vine Street in tuxedo and top hat, in homage to a popular peanut vendor at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium who liked to dress the part.
In 1985, Tarbell started the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, which he describes as “an all-purpose organization for housing, social action, and business.” He went on to serve on the City Council from 1998 to 2007, including a two-year stint as vice mayor, helping to shift city leaders’ outlook on the neighborhood’s future. After retiring from City Hall, he remains a beloved figure in the community.
Tarbell raised four children in a beautifully restored 1860s townhouse a few steps east of Over-the-Rhine. “I was so in love with living and working here,” he says. “I wanted other people to feel the same.”
5. Decades-Old Beloved Businesses
A destination diner on Vine Street, in the northern section of OTR, Tucker’s opened in 1946 and is still going strong.
6. Emerging Local Bars and Eateries
Holly and Michael Redmond moved to OTR in 2004 and now operate two bars, including Japp’s, which resides in a restored 19th-century wig factory.
Holly says the walkable neighborhood has transformed their lifestyle, adding, “We are selling our car.” Who needs one when you live steps from the business district, not to mention a bevy of new restaurants and boutiques?
7. Historic Brewery District
Craft-beer fans pile into Rhinegeist, which opened two years ago in a formerly abandoned 1895 bottling plant in an area of Over-the-Rhine that is part of the historic brewery district.
8. Charming Public Art
Over-the-Rhine, like the rest of Cincinnati, is dotted with enough public murals to warrant walking tours (artworkscincinnati.org).
9. Gracious Open-Air Food Scene
Findlay Market‘s food halls spill into the streets, attracting visitors and helping to anchor the northern section of OTR.
10. Caffeine Brew and Buzz
Collective Espresso opened its doors three years ago and quickly contributed to the neighborhood’s new buzz.
