Results
Who lives in Price Hill?
“I don't know if this stat still holds but EPH was the most diverse neighborhood of all 50+ Cincinnati neighborhood. Primarily with the large Hispanic population. That is a beautiful thing” (See Appendix X for Survey Results).
A diverse group of people lives in Price Hill. This statement is a fact. However, descriptions like the quote above often skew the reality of Price Hill’s populations. 2010 Census data shows a majority white population representing 61% of the neighborhood – 30% of Price Hill is Black and 5% Hispanic. The final four percent include a variety of people groups, among them Asian Americans and Native Americans. These numbers have changed since 2010, and we know that people of color have increased in population across the United States {Frey, 2021, #174283}. That said, I think that a fair description of Price Hill is a historically white neighborhood with diverse sub-communities.
My results show that, if we look deeper below the surface, in addition to the three larger sub-communities, there are numerous micro-communities. People on the left, right, and in between; there are Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Seventh Day Adventists, and other faith traditions; Africans and African Americans; people who live in the Incline District of Western portions of West Price Hill and those who do not; immigrants born in different countries around Central America and those born in the United States; those who speak and read Spanish and those who speak, but cannot read Mam (Mayan language); home, public, charter, outdoor, and private schooling; Appalachian and non-Appalachian white European Americans; recent neighbors and long-term residents; steelworkers and nurses; families with multiple parents and those with one parent; people recovering from and people experiencing addiction; people with large wooded yards and people with no yards; and the list could go on. Residents may be more likely to associate with their micro-communities than feel attachment to Price Hill, East Price Hill, Lower Price Hill, or West Price Hill.
In other words, there are several sub-communities and micro-communities in Price Hill. It is tempting to stick to racial or ethnic monoliths and stereotypes as our only descriptors. We need to interrogate our biases, and the descriptions people give us of the neighborhood. Know that a neighborhood like Price Hill is far too dynamic to encapsulate into a few neat personas.
Design with people in the neighborhood, not for biased personas or fictional narratives of people in the community.
Why do they live in Price Hill?
I think for, um, more, and this is probably true across the country in a lot of ways, but I mean, I see for more affluent people, particularly a lot of white people, Price Hill is a pretty good place to live. Like, you know, you're close to downtown. If you want to work downtown, um, it's affordable. Um, there's kind of like enough to do, probably to keep you satisfied. I mean, there's, you know, there's a theater, there's Bold Face [dairy bar], there's a couple of restaurants.
The quote above comes from an interview with a Price Hill Leader. It is uncanny how accurate their words describe survey responses (85% white). Most people say they live in Price Hill because it is close to the city and affordable. The following most common answers relate to diversity, architecture, outdoor amenities, and raising a family.
What is affordable? To whom? Three years ago, my wife and I bought our house in East Price Hill for well under $100,000. That was the affordable marker for us. Since then, as with everywhere else, housing prices have increased tremendously. For instance, I hear that a local group is renovating a house on my street to sell for $260,000. While that is great for my home equity, I do not think I could afford to live in East Price Hill if I bought a house today.
If you cannot buy a house, you rent a house or apartment in Price Hill. There are affordable units in the neighborhood, but are they safe and well maintained? Do people move into them because they have a choice? I asked a Lower Price Hill resident why they recently moved to Lower Price Hill, and they said because "I had to."
Many people have moved or migrated to Price Hill over the years. However, there have been more significant influxes in the past few decades. In the early 2000s, as the government razed former housing projects like Laurel Homes in the West End, developers took advantage of voucher programs in neighborhoods like Price Hill. Residents of Laurel Homes, primarily black, migrated across the city to find new places to stay, even in historically white neighborhoods like Price Hill. Multiple, but not all, Black residents in Price Hill are here because of forced migration due to external factors beyond their control.
Furthermore, migrant communities make their home in Price Hill for cheaper housing. This group includes the Appalachians who moved northwest from Kentucky, Virginia, and Central Americans from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to one interviewee, the landlords like Central Americans because they are loyal and do not move often. On the other hand, many, though not all, Central Americans do not engage outside of their micro-communities. Many live here because their family and friends live here, not because of an affinity toward Price Hill.
In addition to the newcomers above, there are the long-term residents of Price Hill, living in the neighborhoods for more than twenty years (33% of survey respondents). These people likely grew up in Price Hill, many born here into Westside families. They often talk about how Price Hill used to be and are not shy of giving you all the details of its ups and downs. It may be easy to say, "ok, boomer," but resist that temptation. I guarantee that you will not like or agree with everything they say. However, they are looking for the same thing everyone else is looking for, an affordable and safe place to call home. They are also willing to put in the work to make that happen. Many are and have been for decades.
In other words, affordable and safe housing is worth interrogating and fighting for in neighborhoods like Price Hill since that is why so many people live and stay here. We need to ask affordable, for whom? Particularly, if we want it to stay a neighborhood that is diverse racially, generationally, and socioeconomically. Then the question becomes, does Price Hill genuinely want to stay diverse? When I look at interviews and historical data, it looks like white people in the past left the neighborhoods for deeper suburbs as poorer populations entered the neighborhood. Their migration left hundreds of empty houses, many of which lay vacant today. As the neighborhood grows more attractive to outsiders, will we face a wave of revanchism, where more affluent white people move back into the neighborhood for its potential growth and transformation?
Design toward affordable, safe, and dignified living for existing neighbors who live in the neighborhood, not for an outside audience.
How do we build relations?
As the survey shows, it is easy to attract the white population to participate in a design project in Price Hill. However, many populations in Price Hill feel skeptical of researchers and designers coming into their space. For a good reason too. What do we have to offer them in exchange for their labor? Many designers or researchers show up with little to offer residents. Therefore, they have every right to be skeptical. For instance, it is more likely that I will benefit from my research than my neighbors in my case. Begin relation-building by interrogating your perspectives and the purpose of your project – who and how it will benefit the community? What kind of language will you use when approaching the community? Does it dignify or degrade existing residents? What will you give them in return for their time?
From there, drop everything you know about research and design. Start by building authentic relationships with people in the community, without expectations or a hypothesis, plans, clipboards, surveys, and recording devices. Build trust by meeting people for coffee, shopping at the mini-markets, washing your clothes in the laundry mats. Essentially, become a participant-observer. In my case, participatory observation is convenient because I live here. People trust me quicker since I am somewhat of an insider. That said, I still find it challenging to step out of my comfort bubble. Promoting an online survey from a distance feels more convenient than spending hours in a grocery store.
Regarding collecting data, conduct multiple methods. I find that each of my methods offers unique perspectives on Price Hill. Some methods are up close, like a mini-workshop, and others are at a distance, like a survey.
Do your best to work across the spectrum. That said, I found that talking to people through the interviews, walking the neighborhood, and running the mini-workshops gave me the broadest and thickest descriptions of Price Hill. I wore my bright yellow shirt, stood in from of a table with a yellow tablecloth, offered bags of chips and apples, and asked people to tell me what they care about in Price Hill. Most people have something to say.
Furthermore, partnering with residents, particularly leaders, grants greater access to their sub-communities. For instance, I do not speak Spanish, and I am not from Central America. That significantly limits my ability to reach my Central American neighbors. Relationships with leaders in their community allow me to connect with Central Americans. One Central American man posted about my workshop on Facebook, and several Central Americans went to the survey. A leader of a community development corporation focused on Central Americans invited me to an invite where I met over a dozen women who participated in my mini-workshop. Relationships matter in neighborhood work.
Design slowly using multiple methods, with various disciplines and perspectives, building trust, reciprocity, and proximity, not quickly with extractive tactics at a distance.
What is quality of life?
It is straightforward. Can you walk to school, the grocery, the hardware store, or a park without fear? Can you choose to live in a safe and affordable home? Do you have access to health care, education, and fresh food and water for your family? These are some of the descriptions I heard in the community leaders' interviews. They are fundamental, without distinction, pomp, and circumstance.
The interview codes reflect these descriptions. The top 1/3 include "Affordable and Safe for Everyone," "Raising a Family," "Go Outside, Be Active," "Better, Cleaner Streets," "Meet Your Neighbors," and "Back Local Businesses and Organizations." Essentially, the ideal quality of life in Price Hill looks like a neighborhood that is both “affordable and safe”, not “safe and unaffordable,” or “affordable and not safe.” It is a place where diverse people (race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic levels) can raise their families, walk, and play outside without friction, and mingle with their neighbors. People there patronize, volunteer, and work for local businesses and organizations. That description sounds like a nice place to live, along with the one above. In the next section, however, I will discuss the current quality of life levels in Price Hill.
Design for the quality of life that existing neighbors wish to experience on their block, street, and the surrounding neighborhood, not trendy ideas or aesthetics.
How is quality of life?
Many of my interviewees talked about how quality of life depends on where you live in the neighborhood. I feel this when walking the neighborhood. I recall one street lined with beautiful sycamore trees and restored homes and another adorned with trash and apartment buildings. Sometimes, the contrasts are street to street and building to building. Other dividers are regional. It appears as if there are multiple Price Hills within the multiple Price Hills. The quality-of-life levels correspond with these differences.
The most apparent division I knew of before my fieldwork is between those who live on top of the hill (East and West Price Hill) and those in Lower Price Hill. However, I found the division between the region North of Glenway Avenue and South of Eighth Street the most inconspicuous boundary of quality of life in Price Hill after my fieldwork. The divide appears to be socioeconomic as much as racial or ethnic. More affluent people tend to live South of Glenway Avenue and West Eighth Street, and people of a lower socioeconomic level tend to live North of Glenway Avenue. 2020 Census data via Justice Map shows this hidden divide vividly (Cite website). Large populations of Black and Hispanic people live north of West Eighth Street and Glenway Avenue. In contrast, much of the White Population lives south.
Finally, I also see a strong correlation between codes for RQ1 and RQ5 in RM1 (Interviews). Essentially, one's identity corresponds with their quality of life. This pattern correlates with the quality of life quantitative data gathered in the RM2 and RM5. In other words, white people generally have a higher quality of life than their BIPOC neighbors. Though, that is not always the case. White people live in lower levels of quality of life in Price Hill like there are BIPOC individuals with high qualities of life.
When I asked white leaders of the neighborhood to recommend leaders of color, their options were few. Many talked about the lack of Black and Hispanic leaders in community organizations and businesses. My survey respondents were majority white, which I address above. Again, Price Hill is a historically white community with people of color living within its boundaries.
With a lack of BIPOC leadership, it is challenging to imagine an acceptable and equitable level of quality of life across its residents in Price Hill. Equity ties to power, and when people groups in the neighborhood lack power, the neighborhood lacks equity.
Ironically, there are many yard signs in Price Hill that say "We Believe Black Lives Matter…" signs (see appendix) corresponding with their affection toward Price Hill’s diversity. However, they are more often present in the whiter portions of Price Hill I mention above. Similarly, there are many murals in Price Hill that depict diverse groups flourishing. Will these signs and images manifest the equitable quality of life described above? Or do they brand the place, attracting further investments, which signals the eventual displacement of lower socioeconomic populations, often because they cannot afford to pay the increased taxes?
Design knowing that your work is political, not neutral, since quality-of-life ties to one’s intersecting identities.
What is the community doing?
Many organizations operate in and serve Price Hill. All of them hold massive volumes of work and responsibilities. The list of these organizations is too long to include here (see appendix). These groups spark community activity through various events and programs, including after-school programs for kids and teens, resources for families, food access, affordable housing, creative and performing arts groups, parks and trails maintenance, business district development, health, and healing spaces, and more.
I did hear on numerous occasions that the groups often operate in silos to one another. It is also hard to get the word out about all that is happening around the neighborhood. Community engagement beyond the regular participants is a challenge.
On an individual "resident" level, survey respondents most commonly said they "back local businesses and organizations" to improve neighborhood quality of life. Second, they participate in "home and building care." Meeting their neighbors and picking up litter are also mentioned, though less frequently. These responses speak to the more significant disconnection or segregation between people of diverse categories mentioned above. The survey makes it sound like neighborliness is strong between immediate neighbors but less so across blocks and beyond.
However, walking the neighborhood getting to know people more intimately, I can see that so much is happening. Too much to possibly fit into my neat research codes. For instance, the participatory process that the Lower Price Hill community underwent to redevelop their beloved grocery store. In approaching their store for my research, I follow their community-shaped guidelines for data collection. In West Price Hill, a few residents lobbied the city to install a public bus stop sign near the Westmont Apartments. That way, children have easier access to school. Across the neighborhood, churches and ministries serve meals and deliver food to residents—some open safe homes to sex workers who need a place to rest.
Others focus on people experiencing addiction through Celebrate Recovery and 12-step groups. A group of Central Americans organizes protests about street violence committed toward their people through homemade posters. The West Price Hill neighborhood association partners with Price Hill Will to save a beloved old building (unfortunately, it fails). A black man refurbishes a building and serves up the world's best barbering to the neighborhood's multi-cultural population. Any given day, you may find a police officer sitting next to a Black man, next to a Central American.
The people of Price Hill are laboring daily to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Their concerns may overlap, or they may not. They may be working across the neighborhood or focusing on their corner. Ideally, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hopefully, we move toward the Zapatista's "world where many worlds fit" (CITE).
Design with specific groups’ quality of life concerns in mind knowing that they live within the greater ecology of the neighborhood, not for the majority, while overlooking minority populations.
What is design?
Design is the long-term (Person 6) and considered (Person 5) visual, structural, physical, social, or procedural arrangement or layout of things (Person 6 and 2). It is relational because it does not happen outside of relationships (Person 4). Hierarchies and systems like neighborhood councils and government policies are designed. So too are our biases and perceptions of others through race and gender (Person 4). Design is decorative (person 5) and affective (person 1). It is the process that makes a house a home (person 5). It can foster a sense of community by gathering people into inclusive and exclusive cultural spaces (Person 5 and 6). Schools, streets and blocks, gardens, and where we make food are designed. So are the names of places and murals and other forms of public art are designed. Design can enhance the mental health and spirit of the neighborhood (person 2).
While some are trained in architectural, communication, industrial, and urban design, all residents can participate in design or co-creation (Person 4). Some do design in the privacy of their home (Person 4 and 3), while others do it publicly (Person 3). In the words of person 4, it is simply the process of listening, learning, loving, and leading (Person 4).
This research project's nature focuses on the first of those four steps. Essentially, listening to people before doing anything else. Person 5, a professional in personal care, emphasized this point when he said that he starts with a consultation before making any decisions.
What about place branding? Person 4 says he sees other neighborhoods use it to change their perception. "It is an option, but not one I would take. I do not think it is as strong as you could be." He shares that "real power comes from being able to mobilize and organize both money or resources and people." Branding is more so about attracting capital for development projects. It misses the opportunity to organize the community to ask, "what do we want?"
Person 5 likened branding to calling Greenland Green, when it is mostly not, to attract potential settlers. He subsequently said, "I guess brands can make or break a neighborhood. Right now, we are branded as a dirty-ass neighborhood." Interestingly, the neighborhood once promoted itself as "green" and even won a cross-neighborhood recycling competition.
On the other hand, this person said that he was rebranding his business, which is in personal care. He changed the name to attract a multi-cultural audience by including signs in Spanish and a rainbow flag. I might call this an act of hospitality or welcoming newcomers through inclusive visual communication design instead of branding since the signs match the atmosphere of his space. They do not bend the truth.
Person 2 talked about making the neighborhood business districts more welcoming through branding. She referenced replacing "ugly bus billboard" benches with more admirable benches throughout the neighborhood. Since she had not heard the team place brand before, she likens the work to "placemaking" or "streetscaping in a consistent design."
Person 1 talked about branding as the story of the place – both its history and future. They identified the competing narratives in Price Hill through the example of the Casa Colina, a house completely covered in a mural. The mural displays dynamic colors and monarch butterflies, referencing Central American migrants in the neighborhood. Many long-term residents criticize the mural because, according to person 1, it "challenges their perceptions of what the neighborhood is becoming." One resident said the community council needs to approve the next mural in the neighborhood to prevent another Casa Colina – another questioned the taste of the mural.
Other murals around the neighborhood depict stories of a community happy together, celebrating diverse cultures. It is fascinating to see these images juxtaposed with memorials around the neighborhood which remind residents of the violence that persists on our streets today. In these friction spaces, the functional reality of the neighborhood meets the ideal reality of the images.
Person 6 references another mural when I ask about place branding. He says an organization funded a sizeable colorful wall facing downtown Cincinnati that says "For God So Loved Price Hill." They said that the mural is there to show the city that this place "is loved and awesome." A series of silhouettes of people of abilities, ages, races, and ethnicities coming together toward a man on the left reading a bible. Jesus appears to be in the center. Another person sent in a photo of the billboard for RM3. He said that it frustrates him that people consider Price Hill the "armpit of Cincinnati." This mural stands to change that perception.
Comparing the descriptions of design and branding reveals that design focuses on real-world challenges, listening to groups and individuals in the community. Branding is more a technique, a way of changing people’s perception of the place, by changing the image of a place, even if it bends the truth. I will argue later in the conclusion that the former is bottom-up, starting with the community, and the latter is top-down, imposed on the community.
Design to enhance systems and relations in the neighborhood, not to change the perception outsiders have of the community.
Where is design?
Visual design exists across Price Hill in various forms and with several purposes. Looking at the traces displays what people might care about in the neighborhood. "Engage difference" is the most common code for visual design from RM4. This code includes eleven public art pieces and over one hundred yard signs. Combined, "Better, Cleaner Streets" and "Safe and Affordable for Everyone" showed up often as well. These include block watch signs, traffic safety signs, trash pick-up, and more. There were many "Meet your Neighbor" signs. I include the "We Love Price Hill" signs in this mix because one of my interviewees told me that the signs encouraged neighborhood cohesion during the lockdown phase of the pandemic. Curiously, a Facebook post announcing the signs did not include Lower Price Hill. In addition to "Engage Difference" and "Meet your Neighbor," there are many "Back Local Business and Organization" signs since these include storefront signage, promotional posters, and stickers.
"Go Outside" is the most prevalent code from RM3. Photos in this category include parks, benches, the view of downtown, and community gardens. "Make Music, Media, Art, & Design" showed up as well. This code is intriguing since it includes several DIY design forms. These include mosaics, signs fabricated by residents in the incline district, and graffiti tags on a perforated metal fence that says, "God loves you." Opposite of these informal designs are highly intricate and produced designs on the historic Catholic churches of Price Hill.
In comparing formal and informal visible language, we can learn from Trinch and Snajdr's examination of the disappearance of signs in Brooklyn that they describe as "capitalism without distinction" {2017, #21149}. “Distinction” is a term borrowed from Pierre Bourdieu. In the case of a sign, it relates to the visual language. A lower, or more informal, aesthetic may resonate with general everyday people. However, a higher, or more formal, sign speaks to more affluent audiences with "better taste." In future research, there is so much more to say on this topic – its semiotic implications. For now, I found the voice of visual design in Price Hill overwhelming informal (81% of traces found in RM4). It is imperative to pay attention to this semiotic landscape since the imposition of design with distinction may signal gentrification and the loss of locally owned businesses. An informal aesthetic does not mean bad design. It means design without distinction. Good design, depending on your measure, does not require distinction {Aye, 2019, #79899}. However, branding, if you recall the definition, requires a “distinct style” (Cite Jones).
Finally, I need to mention other forms of design that do not show up immediately when walking in the neighborhood—for instance, social media. Many neighbors utilize platforms like Facebook, Next Door, and Instagram. Likewise, one will see an abundance of security stickers and cameras on the fronts of people's homes linked to Google or Amazon servers. I call these "security with distinction" compared to the numerous informal security signs found in the neighborhood. Periodically, the videos from home security systems show up on Facebook or NextDoor when an Amazon package disappears from a stoop. These services, built by visual communication designers, form online social spaces in Price Hill. They spark questions about surveillance as well.
Design to increase social capital across the neighborhood, not to increase class distinctions.
What can design do?
The code that shows up the most in RM1 under opportunities for design is "Design to Engage Difference." Under this code, people describe how siloed it feels for the many organizations working in Price Hill. They are all doing different things across the neighborhood, separately. The code that shows up most in the surveys is "Back Local Business and Organizations." Excerpts with this code include respondents who say they like to patronize local businesses or support and volunteer with local organizations. "Meet your neighbors" shows up the most in RM5. People desire connection with their neighbors – one person suggests Price Hill birthday parties. "Go Outside, Be Active" and "Back Local Businesses & Non-Profits" are also present. Under the activities question in RM5, people suggest creating more awareness of what is happening in Price Hill, a ballet program, strategies to end bullying, places to share and exchange interests, entrepreneurial training, leadership training, walks and bike rides, food delivery, resources for maintaining a home, multi-cultural events, and more.
Between these three methods and the others, one sees opportunities for visual communication design beyond place branding. Simple how might we questions are a great start. How might design bridge the gaps between organizations working in the neighborhood? How might we encourage neighborhood residents to spend their money locally at a business they have never tried before? How might we design celebratory processes or artifacts that connect neighbors?
Furthermore, each quality-of-life code lends itself to "how might we" or "how well did we" questions. For example:
How might we use design to organize healing together in Price Hill?
How well did we use design to organize healing together in Price Hill?
How might we use design to teach home and building care in Price Hill?
How well did we use design to teach home and building care in Price Hill?
How might we use design to facilitate neighbors meeting each other?
How well did we use design to facilitate neighbors meeting each other?
Ultimately, how might we use design to develop and sustain a sense of the pulse of the Price Hill community over time? Communities change and evolve. Design should change with them. Brands, on the other hand, seek to manage and control. Rather than adapt to the community, they strive for the community to adapt to them.