South Fairmount, Cincinnati

South Fairmount is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. Located in the western part of the city, it contains one of the highest concentrations of Section 8 housing in Hamilton County. The population was 2,181 at the 2020 census.

History

Fairmount began as a sprinkling of farm homes in the early 1800s. Later as the Mill Creek valley became industrialized, the creek bed was spanned and factories were located at the base of the hill. A brewery was established as early as 1825, and several more beer makers arrived in the next decades. The first newcomers were a few French and German immigrants. The community attracted Italians near the turn of the twentieth century. Fairmount developed distinct neighborhoods: North Fairmount, South Fairmount, Millvale, and English Woods.

Geography

South Fairmount lies just south of the North Fairmount neighborhood.

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 2,181 people living in the neighborhood. There were 1,096 housing units. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 33.2% White, 58.8% Black or African American, 0.0% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 3.5% from some other race, and 4.3% from two or more races. 4.9% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 853 households, of which 36.1% were families. About 58.3% of all households were made up of individuals.

19.4% of the neighborhood's population were under the age of 18, 71.3% were 18 to 64, and 9.3% were 65 years of age or older. 49.1% of the population were male and 50.9% were female.

According to the U.S. Census American Community Survey, for the period 2016-2020 the estimated median annual income for a household in the neighborhood was $19,343. About 26.3% of family households were living below the poverty line. About 16.0% of adults had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Infrastructure

The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) completed a stream daylighting project to restore the Lick Run which used to flow between Queen City Avenue and Westwood Avenue. MSD is required to remove 85% of the annual 14 billion gallons of the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that occur each year in the outdated sewer system during rain events. The largest contributor to the overflows is CSO 5 in the Lick Run Watershed which dumps 1.7 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Mill Creek annually. By separating the storm water from the sanitary sewage most of the rain water can be sent straight into a creek, thus alleviating the watershed from CSOs.

Two plans have been proposed by MSD to solve the issue. The preferred plan is to daylight the stream, allowing the rain water to collect in the restored Lick Run and discharge into the Mill Creek. This option is anticipated to cost approximately $195 million. Some community opposition has been raised for this alternative with a few residents likening it to an "open drainage ditch" and concern about the existing businesses and building stock between the two thoroughfares.

The alternative "grey" solution would consist of constructing a new 25-foot diameter tunnel to replace the 19.5-foot tunnel currently in place. This alternative would not separate the storm water from the sanitary sewage so MSD would still be responsible for treating the storm water as if it is sewage. This alternative is expected to cost about $312 million.

References

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Neighborhoods in Cincinnati