ULI Cincinnati’s 18-Hour City Series – The Crown, a Curtis Infrastructure Initiative Grant recipient, kicked off the first of six sessions virtually the afternoon of January 14.

Providing an overview of Cincinnati’s proposed urban trail loop, the CROWN, Wade Johnston, AICP, the Director of Tri-State Trails, explored the opportunities and unique challenges of connecting Cincinnati’s current trail network and neighborhood communities to a 34-mile trail loop around Cincinnati’s urban core.

Ed McMahon, Senior Fellow of Sustainable Development for ULI, discussed the growth in shared use mobility and how the explosion of trail infrastructure has led to greater use.  He demonstrated how urban trails and metro-wide trails provides a high level of return on investment through increased tourism, property values and development.

Tyrone Rachal, President, Urban Key Capital Partners, wrapped up the session with a focus on how public and private partnerships can help these projects come to fruition, showcasing lessons learned from the Atlanta Beltline on its successes as well as the need to be more intentional in addressing the threat of displacement during trail planning.

There is still an opportunity be engaged in future series workshops by clicking here including:

• Developing Affordable Housing Along Urban Trails on March 11;
• Understanding Urban Trail Design Challenges on May 20;
• Completing the CROWN Strategy and Funding on July 8;
• Completing the CROWN Action Plan on September 9;
• CROWN Plan Critique and Feedback on November 11.

Learn more about ULI Cincinnati and the Curtis Infrastructure Initiative here and here.