What is Connected Communities?
Connected Communities is a series of proposed land use and zoning policy changes that aim to help Cincinnati grow into a more accessible, people-focused, diverse, healthy, and connected community for all.
Housing prices have increased significantly in a relatively short amount of time. The Cincinnati region’s median home value jumped from $132,000 in 2016 to $229,000 in 2023—a 73% increase. Over the same period, wages only increased 37%. People looking to buy or rent in Cincinnati are struggling to find housing options they can afford. In 2022, around a third of Cincinnati households were “housing insecure,” or spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
Changing consumer preferences have increased demand for housing near urban centers, like Cincinnati’s downtown and neighborhood business districts. But supply hasn’t kept up with demand. When demand outpaces supply, prices increase. 1
Cities that build more housing see lower rent increases than the national average.
To address Cincinnati’s housing shortage, appropriately accommodate the transitioning desire of our population, and follow best urban planning practices, our outdated development regulations and zoning code must be modified. It’s time for Cincinnati to become part of the national conversation and be a member of the leading wave of action.
The following draft policies will shift the needle and rebalance overly restrictive zoning in key areas of the City. Focusing on existing centers of activity, most of the policies impact areas around major transportation corridors, including future BRT routes , and neighborhood business districts. Each policy recommendation is targeted toward one of the following target geographies.
“Middle Housing” refers to housing types that fall somewhere between detached single-family homes and large-scale, high density apartment complexes. This style of housing was common prior to the introduction of strict zoning regulations and can be found in many older neighborhoods throughout the city. In fact, many buildings in Cincinnati could not be built today under current regulations.
The Middle Housing policy bucket would allow 2-, 3-, and 4-family buildings to be permitted within the Connected Communities target geographies. Additionally, rowhouses would be permitted in the densest single-family zoning district in Cincinnati (SF-2), and rowhouse regulations in certain multifamily districts (RMX) would be more permissive.
For example, take a single-family home next to a neighborhood business district.
Under the proposed policy change, housing types like 2-family buildings would be allowed to add gentle growth to support businesses and transit services while still maintaining the form of single-family zones.
Development regulations mandate things like minimum lot size, density, height, setbacks, and frontage. Height and setbacks tell you what the limits of the building envelope can be, while density tells you how many units can fit into that envelope.
Policies in this focus area primarily focus on changes to allowable density, generally keeping the building envelope the same.
The Reduced Regulatory Barriers policy proposal would remove density restrictions in Neighborhood Business Districts. Density restrictions would also be removed in the Major Corridor areas, except for in single-family zones, and a one-story height bonus would be granted. Allowing more density in these areas takes advantage of existing infrastructure, stabilizes businesses, and supports transit services.
Increasing density doesn't mean major changes to the building form. Take this building for example.
You could create two large 2,400 sq ft apartments...
...or six 800 sq ft apartments in the same space. More residents mean more support for nearby businesses and transit.
The Zoning Code mandates a minimum number of parking spaces depending on the type of activity in the building—housing, shopping, office activity, etc. These calculated parking minimums tend to overestimate actual demand by at least 33%. 2
The space taken by excessive parking is a cause of increased driving. 3 Parking requirements push buildings further apart, making neighborhoods less accessible without a car. If people can only access a place by car, parking demand increases. More parking is built, walkability decreases, and the need for cars increases again.
Parking minimums also increase building costs, and those costs get passed on to the consumer.
The typical renter pays around $140 per month for parking. Even when residents don’t pay for parking directly, an additional 17% of a unit’s rent can be attributed to parking costs. 4
The Parking policy proposal has three levels that build on each other. The base level would be applied Citywide—parking minimums for existing building renovations would be eliminated, and commercial and residential requirements would be relaxed. For Neighborhood Business Districts, parking minimums would be relaxed for new construction. Finally, for Major Corridors parking minimums would be eliminated, since there is more frequent transit service which allows the market to determine parking demand.
Let's look at an example of how the proposal might impact development.
Consider this vacant storefront. Like many retail spaces in Cincinnati, this store has a difficult time attracting tenants due to parking requirements that the site doesn't have space for.
Under current parking requirements, a developer may have to demolish the next-door building to make space for a surface parking lot. The cost to build the parking would be transferred to tenants of the building.
With Connected Communities, renovating existing buildings would not require additional parking to be built, making restoration projects more feasible.
While everyone needs housing affordability (meaning housing costs are no more than 30% of a household’s income), “affordable housing” usually refers to subsidized housing reserved for low- and very low-income households. Cincinnati has a severe shortage of this type of housing.
2023 Area Median Income Levels (Source: HUD)
When new housing is built, the increase in housing supply helps lower costs overall—but not enough to make housing affordable for low-income residents.
One federal tool for low-income housing developers is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Because of the cost of applying for the program and the extensive compliance requirements, the program is best suited for rental housing developments with 25 or more units. 5
Explore active LIHTC projects in Cincinnati:
Under the Affordable Development policy proposal, if a project secures LIHTC funds through the existing review process, it is automatically allowed regulation "bonuses." These bonuses could eventually be expanded to affordable housing projects that use other city funds in the future, such as HOME , CDBG , or the Affordable Housing Trust Fund .
Automatically awarding regulatory bonuses removes uncertainty for projects awarded LIHTC funds and allows LIHTC applicants to create a stronger application.
By proposing additional studies and regulations that focus on creating places for people, not cars, Connected Communities will invite development that contributes to vibrant, healthy, and walkable communities.
Human Scale Development policies complement the other housing-focused policies and include a zoning study for automotive districts along with additional development regulations such as increased landscaping and bicycle parking.
The proposed changes promote pedestrian-oriented design and aim to mitigate potential impacts of new development.
Ambiguous language leads to uncertainty. The same is true for the Zoning Code. Making changes to the Zoning Code like adding more definitions and streamlining regulatory processes can reduce uncertainty for residents and developers.
Proposed Process Improvement policies fall into three categories: Vibrant Business Districts, Housing Production, and General Improvement. Any changes that make the code more understandable can help save time and money, increasing housing potential.
Putting the pieces together
Middle Housing
Allowing for the next increment of development in single-family zones around existing activity centers...
Reduced Regulatory Barriers
...while targeting greater growth in already denser zones to contribute to vibrant, healthy, and affordable communities...
Parking
...and relaxing or eliminating outdated parking requirements to let the market, not government, determine parking need...
Affordable Development
...while also smoothing the path to creating subsidized affordable housing that the market will not build...
Human Scale Development
...and including additional policies to promote pedestrian-friendly, active, safe, and connected communities...
Process Improvements
...and making changes to the current regulatory process to expand accessibility and provide clear guidelines to reduce uncertainty for residents and developers.
What could Connected Communities look like?
Click the blue circles to explore further.
Explore Connected Communities
Use the map below to explore how the draft policy package could apply to different parcels throughout Cincinnati. Type in an address and click on the property to pull up a list of policies that would apply. This is not the final map, just a draft reference to give an idea of how the policies may be applied. To look at the policies more conceptually on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, check out the individual posters our team created.
