LICK RUN

Lick Run becomes Cincinnati's trailhead neighborhood, where the greenway connects daily life to new gathering places, safer streets, and a clear identity along the creek.

LICK RUN:
COMMUNITY CONTEXT

The Lick Run area presents an opportunity to create a new district for the city at the confluence of the Mill Creek Valley and Lick Run. The area includes legacy industrial buildings that are ready for adaptive re-uses, publicly controlled land, and a new large-scale linear park centered on watershed restoration. In addition, the area will be directly impacted by the construction of the new Western Hills Viaduct, a major regional infrastructure investment that will reshape access, circulation, and visibility. The project presents both short-term challenges during construction and long-term opportunities to improve connectivity, safety, and integration between surrounding neighborhoods, the Greenway, and key redevelopment sites. The following recommendations describe near-term opportunities to boost incremental change.

10 YEAR VISION

Lick Run is a vibrant neighborhood with many offerings that bring new excitement and pride to an area rich in green, public spaces. It is a place rooted in its industrial past and designed to surpass the needs of today’s residents and businesses. New investments connect homes, shops, and workplaces to parks, trails, and regional transit. At the center of this transformation is a multi-modal network anchored by the Mill Creek Greenway and the restored Lick Run corridor. These trails are the backbone of a neighborhood built for people.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

    • Prioritize the reuse of industrial buildings to preserve character.

    • Combine residential, retail, and commercial uses to create a compact and walkable district.

    • Encourage flexible spaces that can evolve with the neighborhood’s needs.

    • Design streets that work for people walking, biking, using transit, and driving.

    • Create clear and safe connections to the Mill Creek Greenway, Lick Run Greenway, and other regional trails.

    • Focus on access and safety for people of all ages and abilities.

    • Design for flexibility so many cultural expressions can thrive.

    • Support programs that bring people together through shared effort and celebration.

    • Make room for art, music, and gathering that reflect the community’s identity.

THE PLAN

  • EXISTING

    The Lick Run focus area includes legacy industrial buildings, publicly controlled land, and a new linear park shaped by watershed restoration. The Mill Creek Greenway and the Western Hills Viaduct project will change access, visibility, and how people move through the district. Today, gaps in crossings, sidewalks, and wayfinding make it hard to reach the creek and key sites, even though major reinvestment is already underway.

  • 0-3 YEARS

    This early activation concept focuses on a series of targeted, street-level interventions along Queen City Avenue, Beekman Street, and State Avenue, helping to quickly establish Lick Run as a safer and more people-oriented destination. A pop up food truck park is shown near the bend at Queen City and State, paired with a road diet on State Avenue to slow traffic, improve safety, and create space for people to gather near the creek. A pocket park at the end of Queen City provides a flexible area for markets, performances, and community programming adjacent to the creek and the future Mill Creek Greenway trail. Together with murals and lighting along a stretch of Queen City that is mostly used only for parking, all of these tactical investments improve comfort and access, and help the area function as an everyday social space for residents, employees and visitors.

  • 3-7 Years

    In the mid-term, Lick Run grows into a mixed-use, trail-oriented district built on early activation and infrastructure improvements. New residential development along Beekman is paired with adaptive reuse of major legacy buildings such as Immanuel Church and the Lunkenheimer. As the Greenway strengthens the area’s identity and draws more activity, a 2-way conversion and redesign study for Queen City Avenue and Westwood should help improve access, calm traffic, and connect the district more safely to surrounding neighborhoods.

  • 10+ YEARS

    This 10-year vision for the Lick Run area shows what is possible when the Mill Creek Greenway is built out and the construction of the new Western Hills Viaduct is completed. At this point the Lick Run Greenway is extended east to the Mill Creek,  creating a continuous green and blue network that connects neighborhoods to the regional bike trail and establishes a new waterfront public space. With new residential, mixed-use, and employment-oriented development framed by enhanced streets, trails, and open space, the area becomes a highly connected district where infrastructure, ecology, and everyday community life reinforce one another.

THE PRIORITY

Queen & State Trailhead Activation

Queen City Avenue and State Avenue function as a barrier today, but they can become Lick Run’s front door to the Greenway. This project uses quick, durable upgrades to make the trailhead obvious and comfortable: better lighting, murals, safer crossings, and painted curb extensions that slow turning vehicles. A small, flexible gathering area near the creek supports pop-ups and everyday use while the larger district builds out.

QUEEN CITY PLAZA

Queen City Plaza is a simple outdoor room for the neighborhood. It converts an underused space into a flexible plaza with shade, seating, lighting, and basic infrastructure that can support everyday hangouts and occasional events. The goal is steady, repeatable programming that feels local, stays neighbor-friendly, and is easy to operate.