Graduate Thesis

Affordable Housing in Cincinnati's Urban Core

2011

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As a continuation of my written thesis, this design project looks at new and energetic ways to provide affordable housing to the current stakeholders of Cincinnati's urban core. The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has long been a home for many of the city's urban working poor. With recent revitalization efforts focusing on bringing in more affluent residents, I wanted to look at inventive ways to address the needs of the neighbor's current stakeholders. This design seeks to address the changing family structure by providing 2 bedroom units; 3 and 4 bedroom multi-generational units, where grandparents feel welcome; and 4 bedroom shared housing units, where single parents can band together for support.

 

The site is bordered by a high traffic, mixed-use street (Race) and a narrow, primarily residential street (Pleasant). These differing contexts guided the scale and aesthetics of units bordering each street. Building designs also had to meet historic preservation guidelines for new construction. Density, scale, facade, fenestrations, and materials were guided by these regulations.

 

The Pleasant St. frontage consists of two-story, multi-generational, ADA accessible townhouses with grandparent suites on the ground level. The units are setback from the street further than is typical for the area. This was done to create a public/private delineation. The rear of each unit has a small private porch with access to green space.

 

The higher-traffic Race St. features retail space on the street level of each unit, with two-story, four bedroom shared housing units above. Each unit has its own private entry on Race St., with patios off of the kitchen areas on the back of each unit. The living space features generous square footage to accommodate the two small families in each unit.

 

Parking is handled by way of an internal surface level parking court. This court is meant to act as a dual-purpose space serving both parking needs and providing a public space for children to play (much as I did on my small street growing up).

 

The southeast corner of the site is anchored by a four-story office building. The first floor offers space for the nonprofit housing agency that would manage the development. It also provides an area for much needed laundry facilities for the local residents. Levels two and three provide spec office space while the forth floor is designated as a community meeting space. This top level also features a generous terrace that overlooks the neighborhood.

 

These design interventions not only challenge the status quo of the neighborhood, but also challenge current funding strategies for low-income housing. HUD regulations on how multiple “households” are subsidized would need to be addressed to make this proposal feasible. I believe that this intervention, with adjustments to HUD’s guidelines could provide low-income residents better housing options while not raising obligations for taxpayer funding.

 

The complete written thesis that guided this design is linked here. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments regarding this project.