GOOD Ideas for Cities Cincinnati
In Silicon Valley, GOOD Ideas for Cities spurred development of new transit plans for buses with wi-fi, comfy seats and bike racks traveling business-friendly express routes. In Los Angeles and New York, and just this month in Portland, Ore., like-minded sessions have paired the area’s top design minds with pressing city concerns in an effort to reinvigorate civic problem-solving.

Cincinnati was marked as one of the stops of the GOOD Ideas for Cities tour, which pairs designers with city problems proposed by urban leaders and spotlights solutions at public forums. The University of Cincinnati’s Niehoff Urban Studio hosted the program, which culminated with a public event on May 16.

Cincinnati is the perfect city for us to go to next as part of the GOOD Ideas for Cities program, said Alissa Walker, Los Angeles-based writer and community members at GOOD. We’re seeing many of the challenges there that other mid-sized cities are facing, issues around urban renewal, transportation, and fresh food access. But there’s also such a vibrant and established creative community that’s already so engaged in the city.

Frank Russell, director of the Niehoff Urban Studio, looked for civic-minded designers who want to be a part of the program.Cincinnati has the benefit of a tremendous pool of design talent due to its place as a design and brand hub as well as its world-class design educational institutions, he said. Since 2008, GOOD has hosted 10 of these events in three cities and at three schools. Last year, GOOD added the urban think tank CEOs for Cities to the mix and changed the name to GOOD Ideas for Cities. This year’s outreach into five mid-sized cities is funded in part by ArtPlace, a collaboration of national foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts and other federal agencies.

We hope GOOD Ideas for Cities will be able to connect these creatives with local urban leaders to design some innovative and exciting ideas for Cincinnati, Walker said. We also hope to see some of those ideas become reality, as we've seen happen at several of our events across the country so far.

To view videos of "GOOD Ideas for Cities, Cincinnati" projects:

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: Cincinnatives

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: Mission Impossible

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: Design Cincy

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: 20 Somethings Doing

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: Hyperquake

  • GOOD Ideas for Cities :: Scout Camp

    • For examples of previous GOOD Ideas for Cities projects(including Cincinnati), click here.

    By Elissa Yancey, Soapbox Media