COURT STREET PLAZA

For years, the northern section of Cincinnati’s Central Business District – particularly the area around Court Street – has been dealing with crumbling infrastructure, vacant structures, and underutilized buildings. A handful of core businesses notwithstanding, the area surrounding Court Street has steadily fallen into disrepair. In early 2019, a Pedestrian Task Force was created in a joint effort with the City of Cincinnati. The Task Force’s mission was to pinpoint pedestrian and traffic improvement needs, facilitate community engagement and meetings, and, along with Human Nature and 3CDC, develop design options for an updated plaza. Thanks to its outreach efforts, the task force was able to arrive at a plan the community supported. The result is Court Street Plaza, a streetscape improvement project along Court Street from Vine Street to the east and Walnut street to the west.

The new design has resulted in wider sidewalks, making the area more pedestrian-friendly, and allowing for a better opportunity for outdoor dining areas for restaurants located within the plaza. Reconfigured driving pavement has created a festival-style street design, allowing for vehicular closure of the street and opening the entire street to pedestrians for organized events. One lane of traffic each way has been maintained, and metered parking spaces are also still available.

COURT STREET PLAZA PROJECT UPDATES