Spring in Our Steps

Two weeks after the cleanup at Peck Alley in Mohawk area of Over-the-Rhine, the community and all-call volunteer response still feels immense.

Residents nearby matched our rented tools from Cincinnati ToolBank. Residents matched our spiced blueberry bars and cold brew from Deeper Roots Coffee with croissants. Jim Groh matched the coordinated response from Public Services via Keep Cincinnati Beautiful by operating a Bobcat to clear all the way to the end.

Now, Peck Alley is traversable on foot and by bike for the first time in decades! Thank you so much to everyone who came out and made this happen! We will do this again soon.

Friday, October 9 through
Saturday, October 10
Kill the Moth: A Wheatpaste Exhibition

We’ll bring together three incredible and acclaimed Cincinnati wheatpaste artists into one alley space, on one wall, during BLINK and while it lasts. Technique2012, EMPR CTZNS, and Martian Code Art will be filling the space with their works. We’ll have snacks, lights, and an off the beaten path experience along side BLINK.

Location will be announced Thursday, October 8.

https://facebook.com/events/s/kill-the-moth-a-wheatpaste-exh/2169931273874908/

The City is weeks away from seeing the first reconnection at the upper Warner Street Steps (Fairview Park Dr to Warner Street at Fairview Avenue) in decades! This will nearly fulfill a vision we had almost 15 years ago: to have a one mile, continuous corridor for walking from Central Parkway to Vine Street at Inwood Park. We are also told that design work of a rebuilt Polk Street Steps is underway!

Swipe to view the Queen City Alley Steps, lower Warner Street Steps, upper Warner Street Steps (nearly rebuilt), Warner Street from Fairview Avenue to Ohio Avenue, Conklin Street from Ohio Avenue, peering down to Vine Street from the abandoned Polk Street Steps, and the corner of Vine & Polk catty corner from Inwood Park. Finally, an aerial view of the full path!

‘Nuff said. Join us for our next bike ride of alleys in Mohawk and Brighton areas of Over-the-Rhine and West End respectively, starting at Deeper Roots Findlay and ending at KANTINE Biergarten!

11am gather at Deeper Roots
11:15 roll out
back to KANTINE before 1pm

Please remember to bring water—and a lock if you’re planning to hang afterward.

Need a ride?
Cincy Red Bike has stations near Findlay Market.

This is Saturday! We need your help! Let’s match the community turnout planned. If we make enough progress, we might be able to bike through it over the same weekend!

Saturday, September 5 • Let’s clear the path, uncover the bricks and curbs, and make Peck Alley a place for walking and biking again. We’ll register as a Great American Cleanup event through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to arrange pickup by City of Cincinnati Government, rent tools from Cincinnati ToolBank, offer coffee and pastry bars from Deeper Roots Coffee, and band together to do something great.

More info: https://tinyurl.com/PeckAlley

The culmination of a vision that sparked over three years ago has brought us to this announcement: Spring in Our Steps has secured a 7-year lease of city-owned land at 2125 Vine St, along the full length of the Fig Alley Steps!

What begin with our collaborative work with Step Up to Art, to bring wayfinding and art to this stairway and at Ohio Avenue, led us to pursue official naming of the Fig Alley Steps. We then sought to activate this alley stairway in a different way while meeting community needs. We will soon hire a form to clear invasive growth from the land. Then we will work with YOU to manage the site in advance of fruit tree planting. (Primary access will be right off the Fig Alley Steps.)

We’re so excited and can’t wait to have you join us to build this exciting neighborhood amenity.

Saturday, September 5 • Let’s clear the path, uncover the bricks and curbs, and make Peck Alley a place for walking and biking again. We’ll register as a Great American Cleanup event through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to arrange pickup by City of Cincinnati Government, rent tools from Cincinnati ToolBank, offer coffee and pastry bars from Deeper Roots Coffee, and band together to do something great.

More info: https://tinyurl.com/PeckAlley

A look a Peck Alley over the years reveals that public walking access has been compromised for more than a generation. Even dating back to 1985, when dumping further eroded connectivity here. We’re collectively going to change that.

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟱 • 𝟵:𝟯𝟬𝗮𝗺
Peck Alley at Hamburg Street
We’ll join community members to restore access to Peck Alley, from Manchester Avenue to Hamburg Street. One of the first brick-paved alleys in Cincinnati will see a path forward.

Recommending closed toe shoes. Coffee and snacks from Deeper Roots. Let’s make it clear that this public corridor will languish no more!

Embracing entropy is critical to caring about—and caring for—walkable public corridors. There’s only so much we can do to counter private property actions, which may include the spread of invasive growth. We are working to ensure that Wendell Alley remains walkable and bikeable. While we may still be one of its only active stewards, we find it to be a giant gem in the massive crown of Cincinnati. And we will be even more active along Vine Street Hill in the weeks, months, and years to come. Cherish these wonderful alleys. // 📷: Ella Schultian

Peete Alley and the Peete Street Steps are walkable again! Thanks to Ella Schultian and company for cutting through the invasive overgrowth to make it happen. Since the building fire at 2016 Vine and surrounding demolition in 2021, and subsequent years of intermittent grounds maintenance by Vision + Beyond, direct sunlight on Peete Alley has made our own maintenance that much harder. Fortunately, we have good people on our side. Be patient with us, as each year becomes harder to keep the overgrowth at bay!