CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) presented its final plan to manage parking to the Over-the-Rhine community with the hopes of finalizing the plan and receiving one final round of feedback from the community.
OTR has been seeing rapid development over the years, and with that comes a larger demand for parking — especially in the northern part of the neighborhood where there’s often traffic for Findlay Market and other local businesses.
“The parking situation for I think everyone north of Liberty is just a challenge and a constant struggle,” said Alexis Marsh, a north OTR resident.
The City of Cincinnati began working on a plan in 2022 to improve parking in north OTR.
“So a lot of it was coming up with all these competing needs, and how do we come up with a plan that best balances all of these competing needs, while providing those limited spaces are used as much as possible by those different stakeholder groups,” said Dan Bower, deputy director for the Cincinnati DCED.
The current proposed plan looks to add flex parking — residential parking areas where visitors can park during certain hours, move certain residential permit zones and add paid parking around the area.
However, some residents still have concerns.
“What we’re concerned with is there is a great imbalance,” Marsh said. “According to this plan, there is 10% of the parking spots reserved for residents and 90% used for visitors.”
It's not just residents in north OTR who are complaining about parking. People who work there also say parking is a nightmare when they have to go to work.
“I know a lot of my coworkers are coming in hours early, not hours but like an hour early every day just so they do have time to look for parking,” said Brittany Bruce, a barista at a north OTR coffee shop.
Employees in the north OTR area don’t have designated parking areas or permits, leading to them to possibly pay up to $24 in parking for an eight-hour shift.
A recent study done by parking consultant group Desman, out of Cleveland, looked into establishing an employee-focused permit program for the Findlay Market area. The study concluded that the city avoided an employee parking program, saying it would be “counterproductive.”
However, the city said that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the conversation.
“We’re having conversations that’ll be productive to seeing how we can encourage worker parking that’s accessible to them,” said Bower.
Bower said they hope to have the plan in front of city council to vote for by late September and to make the necessary changes to signage before winter.
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