CINCINNATI - A Walk on McMicken Avenue
 

Cincinnati is one of those cities that's really difficult to capture through photos. The topography isn't quite as extreme compared to what you might find in Pittsburgh, but you can find yourself suddenly high in the air over the course of a short walk. Photos also fail to capture how truly eclectic Cincinnati's architecture is. There aren't many places that have as many dramatic changes in style as I've found in various neglected corners of the Queen City of the West. One such street, notable both for its bizarre collection of architecture and its dramatic topographical changes, is McMicken Avenue. It snakes along the hill that forms the northernmost boundary of Cincinnati's "urban basin" and is roughly the dividing line between the "downtown" neighborhood and the "uptown" areas surrounding the University of Cincinnati. Below are a few shots along just this one street that I hope help capture both the beauty and sheer weirdness of this isolated little pocket of the city.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...405a7499_b.jpgIMG_9554 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
McMicken's southern terminus is at Main Street, where it branches off at an angle roughly parallel to the base of the northern hillside. Because it runs off-kilter from the downtown street grid, you end up with a lot of oddly-shaped buildings.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...11b77cff_b.jpgIMG_9555 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
A handsome stone townhouse sits at the start of the street.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6d58a41a_b.jpgIMG_9557 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
McMicken is primarily located in the "Northern Liberties", or the northern half of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Although most of the lower half of OTR has been fixed up after decades of neglect, the northern half is only recently coming into its own.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...02412da3_b.jpgIMG_9558 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Because of its Germanic heritage, Cincinnati was a huge beer producer for much of its history. The Northern Liberties have been adding signage recently to highlight this heritage and to hopefully transform the area into a tourist magnet not unlike Kentucky's Bourbon Trail.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...46713def_b.jpgIMG_9559 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Notice how the one house is set a bit further back than its neighbors. For whatever reason, this is fairly common in Cincinnati, where you'll have an odball building or two on a block not built up to the lot line.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...099ba3c7_b.jpgIMG_9562 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
The Second Empire house in the foreground recently got fixed up and sold for quite a bit of money. People have been snapping up some of the properties higher up the hillside for cheap and renovating them, since many of them have spectacular views of the urban basin.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c6b6ddb1_b.jpgIMG_9566 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7f19202b_b.jpgIMG_9568 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2ae1cf1c_b.jpgIMG_9569 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99182fb2_b.jpgIMG_9570 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cd2ef734_b.jpgIMG_9573 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
This beautiful building, situated at a five-way intersection in the heart of the neighborhood, has recently been undergoing some restoration work.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...17a20cd1_b.jpgIMG_9575 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d3425aa1_b.jpgIMG_9578 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7308128d_b.jpgIMG_9579 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99ca75a0_b.jpgIMG_9581 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a593a163_b.jpgIMG_9582 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Another beautiful old brewery building.

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Some wonky houses because of the street grid's angle.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4c627bb9_b.jpgIMG_9586 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums...pswygwb4re.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4e29f753_b.jpgIMG_9589 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4088a15b_b.jpgIMG_9593 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Things start getting a little weird once you cross into West McMicken and the road beings to head northbound.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f68fe2cf_b.jpgIMG_9594 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99b86f8c_b.jpgIMG_9597 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b7b8ae30_b.jpgIMG_9598 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9eb4f692_b.jpgIMG_9599 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...556abe17_b.jpgIMG_9600 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
This is the famous "Mockbee Building". It's hard to get a sense of how massive it is - because it's on a hillside, it's actually two-three stories taller on the south face than on the north face!

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Another angle on the building.

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The views in this area really are spectacular. This shot is from a block further up the hill, so the buildings in the foreground are all along McMicken.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f4738161_b.jpgIMG_9602 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Another funky-angled dude.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e5a125a1_b.jpgIMG_9605 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
I love how this house wraps around on itself but then suddenly stops.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4f7b4e61_b.jpgIMG_9607 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Look at all the bizarre editions this house has had over the years!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b2118871_b.jpgIMG_9609 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
A beautiful Second Empire mansion. Yes, we're still on the same street, just over a mile from where we started.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...09434b63_b.jpgIMG_9611 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Cincinnati suddenly gives way to San Francisco and this gingerbread stunner, directly across the street from the previous mansion.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1711b636_b.jpgIMG_9613 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...352d226b_b.jpgIMG_9614 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
A gorgeous little chunk of rowhouses.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a8c5379b_b.jpgIMG_9618 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
The Fairview Steps climb an additional 200 or so feet up to the Fairview neighborhood uphill from McMicken Avenue.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0d734bd7_b.jpgIMG_9619 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3582f6de_b.jpgIMG_9621 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
The poor guy in the foreground has been mutilated beyond recognition.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f34f4ee1_b.jpgIMG_9622 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
More strange additions.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0a267d94_b.jpgIMG_9623 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bfd08178_b.jpgIMG_9625 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c7e773bd_b.jpgIMG_9626 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ede4a7f1_b.jpgIMG_9628 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
It's hard to tell here, but we're 100 or so feet up now. Below us is the Camp Washington neighborhood.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e07da1ac_b.jpgIMG_9629 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b62375da_b.jpgIMG_9631 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
This might look like a narrow shotgun-ish house, but it's perched on the hillside and actually has a second unit and a cellar below it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ae817431_b.jpgIMG_9632 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
Meanwhile, this house is tucked well down the hillside and almost completely invisible from the street.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e8d58637_b.jpgIMG_9635 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
A better view of how far back this house is. It has no driveway and no back alley access, so it's completely isolated on its lot.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...44edbacf_b.jpgIMG_9638 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
And then out of the blue... some bungalows. On one street we've gone from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...006e2eb4_b.jpgIMG_9641 by Ethan Kocjan, on Flickr
And there you have it. The last building on McMicken Avenue. Hopefully these photos gave some good insights into a very unique street in a very unique city.

Beautiful historic architecture. Looks more like a quaint and cozy little town. Nice phots.

Fantastic tour, and what a beautiful and amazing street. Also, its condition (in a first-world country!) is shocking. Cincinnati is a place I'd really like to visit. Thanks for sharing!!

Sooooo much potential.

Absolutely fantastic bones. The street looks like a hipsters wet dream and I'm sure down the road it'll be the new hip urban place to be in Cincinnati.

That was pretty cool!

Great tour, thanks! Next time I'm in Cincy I'll have to check this street out.

Is this street centrally located?

I’d noticed this building while in Cincy last week and wondered about its past and what it could become in the future. Plenty of interesting old buildings but this one in particular stood out for me.

Some of those buildings look like they're so old, they don't know how old they are.

Great tour! Thanks!! :) Those are awesome bones.

I've never been to Cincy, I'm surprised that the architectural styles are totally Northeastern (you probably could have fooled me into believing it was Albany).

Cincinnati was the first big city to be settled after the Revolutionary War, so despite being deep in the Northwest Territory, it feels more at home along the Atlantic coast in a lot of ways than it does with its surrounding cities. It also tended to have a lot more flamboyant architecture than what you'll find in comparable cities like Baltimore or Philadelphia, and it's one of the few American cities outside of New York that was more tenement-oriented as opposed to rowhouse-oriented, at least initially.

One killed Wednesday night in shooting in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine, police say

Ladon Williams was shot and killed in Over-the-Rhine on Wednesday night, police said

A 36-year-old man was shot and killed Wednesday night in Over-the-Rhine.

Police were called to the 100 block of E. McMicken Avenue at 8:41 p.m. and found Ladon Williams, 36, dead.

No suspect information has been released at this time.

Anyone who has information about the shooting may make a report to Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-304

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...ne/1148274001/

Great photos, and thank you for sharing them here! Please share more Cincy photos on this forum!

Not surprising. McMicken has been a very rough street for quite a while. When I was in high school, it was pretty infamous for being a prostitution pick up spot, day or night. The revitalization of OTR has been pretty incredible to watch, and I think a lot of people either forget or don't know that the neighborhood was a pretty lawless, dangerous place for many years. Even driving through OTR was a no-go when I was growing up, and for good reason. After the riots in 2001, OTR became very violent, and crowds of people would often just hangout in the streets, blocking traffic, creating insane amounts of litter, open air drug dealing, prostitution, etc. As the lower portion of OTR (south of Liberty St) has all but cleaned up, a lot of this activity has been pushed to the north to places like McMicken and beyond. Now, this area is finally starting to see a decent wave of investment itself, as OTR continues to gentrify and get more expensive. I'd say this area will be much improved in about 5 years, but as of now it's still definitely on the periphery.

Interesting, my sense is that this street is pretty far from the heart of over the Rhine as well as being next to a highway. No wonder it looks a bit rough (for now)

The start of McMicken is only a block from Main and Liberty, which is central OTR. It runs on a diagonal along the base of the hill before turning and heading more uphill, where it does parallel I-75. See the two end points here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/E+...!4d-84.5145595

fantastic. i've been watching development in cincinnati for well over a decade, when i first drove through OTR, and remember how it was. i believe coldayman squired me through this neighborhood a year or two ago. not sure if i posted any photos from that.