CINCINNATI — It’s going to feel hot everywhere in the Tri-State this week, but some of Cincinnati's neighborhoods might be about 10 to 20 degrees hotter than others.
South Cumminsville is one of Cincinnati's smallest — and hottest — neighborhoods.
It's known as an urban heat island. Industrial facilities in the area, traffic and a lack of trees all play a part.
Saundra Davis lives in the neighborhood, and she doesn't have central air conditioning in her home. She said typically it's no problem, but this type of heat is a different story.
"When I stepped out the door just now to water my plant, it just took my breath away," she said. “Just a walk to the store on a day like today is difficult."
Davis said her furnace is about 20 years old, so she would need to replace the entire unit. She said doing that would cost about $10-13,000.
“I couldn't afford it, so I said in the meantime, I need to do something else to stay cool,” she said.
Davis said she added window AC units and turned on her ceiling fans to help her stay cool.
The city is also taking action.
Cincinnati's sustainability manager, Ollie Kroner, said planting trees is a solution.
“It provides shade, it soaks up stormwater when we have our storm events, and the more tree canopy we have the fewer urban heat islands we see,” Kroner said.
Kroner said the city's parks department has planted about 85,000 trees along city streets.
“You can see the difference in real-time,” he said. “In fact, I can show you the difference it makes."
He used a temperature gun to demonstrate. In a sunny area, the pavement was 119 degrees. Just a few feet away, he took the temperature under a tree. It was 96 degrees, more than a 20-degree temperature difference.
In addition to planting trees, Kroner said they invested in solutions that reflect lighter colors — "almost like sunscreen for buildings."
As for Davis, she has a couple of favorite places to cool down during intense heat.
“The library, the mall, I love to shop so that's in my wheelhouse," said Davis. “I was looking at a splash pad on lick run. I've always thought of that as for children, but I think I just may enjoy the splash pad this week."
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