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mrworldwideplanning · 2 years ago

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Post: 3

What’s the “best” density for the design of cities today? Why?

Find an example(s) of the city block that has the best density in Greater Cincinnati. Measure its density in housing units per acre and FAR and provide supporting images (aerial photos, street photos, sketches, etc.)

Gabe:

The best density for modern city design is using mid-rise dense, multi-use buildings to promote to a large amount of people living and shopping in that area. 4-6 story buildings with public stores on the street level and living spaces above make for the best amount of density in a city today.

The best area in the Greater Cincinnati area for this kind of density is OTR. Almost all buildings on the main streets have restaurants, shops, or other businesses on the street level and places to live and/or office buildings on the levels above. The buildings have many apartments on the upper levels but do not tower over the people and make it feel like an inhuman area.

Lauralee:

The best design for the density of cities is mid-rise mixed-use, with residential condos and apartments above commercial and office development. This provides the residents with quick access to places to shop and work, creating the perfect base for a 15-minute city.

In Cincinnati, the length of Main Street between E Liberty St and E Central Pkwy has many historical and up-and-coming shops topped with beautiful apartments in various architectural styles. The density of this area can be measured in housing units per acre (16.42) or Floor Area Ratio (no data found).

Jack Gedritis

In my opinion the best density is between is a mixed-use triplex like in Rome and Paris. I think this is the best density because there is plenty of shopping places for the amount of people living in the neighborhood.

The intersection of Pike and Madison in Covington Kentucky is a great example of density here in Greater Cincinnati.

(Google maps 2022)

The intersection consist of several 3-5 story buildings with commercial space on the street level and residential and office space on the upper levels. The intersection is surrounded by dense residential areas as well as amazing public transit service.

(ARCGIS Density of Cincinnati) (google maps 2022)

Roan:

Since these streets are small the housing units per acre is good. The map on the right of the picture shows a density map of Cincinnati with this area of Covington being the densest in the region! The FAR is also very high because most of the buildings don’t have any frontage. The parking behind the buildings is also very minimal compared to other Cincinnati neighborhoods.

The best density for the design of cities today is one that encourages the interaction of people, fits in well with its urban environment, and is functional and happy for people there. An area that does this well is CUF, Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview. This area is mostly known for The University of Cincinnati and is home to 20000 permanent residents, and many more students. With 313028 people in Cincinnati (https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/cincinnati-oh-population), with around 52 neighborhoods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cincinnati_neighborhoods), it’s safe to say that it’s much larger and denser than most.

(CUF Cincinnati, walkscore.com)

CUF’s density is due to its vast amounts of small homes and apartment towers. Deacon, Marian Spencer, and The Heights Apartments are just a few apartments to name. All of Fairview is small homes too, so the small amount of land taken by each home combined with the large amounts of them contribute to this density. Below campus, the population per square mile of land reaches its densest at 16084 (https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Ohio/Cincinnati/CUF/Population).

(The Heights Apartments, Rentable.co)

In addition to this density, there are ample businesses and recreation places that provide a fulfilling life to the people who live here. The businesses on Calhoun Street and Short Vine alongside Nippert stadium in UC provide a constant stream of people to do things at. This campus nearby also makes the area more walkable, meaning that people could make the short walk to Kroger and not need a car.

(Short Vine Street, Cincinnatirefined.com)

Jack J

The best density for American cities are when the cities are planned to be very compact with mixed use spaces in each of the buildings. The buildings themselves need to be mid rise as increasing the height will increase the need for parking lots which decreases density. The areas also need to have good public transportation access like a streetcar or a bus route.

In my opinion, one of the densest blocks in Cincinnati is between Race and Republic street and 15th and 14th. The block is one of the few blocks in Cincinnati that is mostly complete as only one lot is empty as it is used for a park. The buildings are mainly three stories tall which gives the street a dense feel. The buildings are also all mixed-use except for one that is used as an event venue. The building is also right next to the streetcar which provides great access to public transportation as well as being close to two different bus routes. There are 20 out of the 21 buildings in the block are mixed-use and have apartments above the shops on the bottom floor. The population of Over-the-Rhine is 4934 people and covers about 319 acres. On average this would mean on average there are 15 people per acre. However, this number is likely skewed as Over-the-Rhine is covered with abandoned buildings, empty lots, and large roads.

Image from Google Earth

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