Great Places – August 2016

Covington’s Historic Licking Riverside Neighborhood was highlighted as one of America’s “Great Neighborhoods” in 2013 through APA’s Great Places in America program. Three years later this neighborhood remains one of only three Great Places across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Historic Licking Riverside Neighborhood sets prominently on the west bank of the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers.  It features exquisite architecture, national historic landmarks, park space, six miles of tree-lined sidewalks, and the city’s original business district; it is overseen by a strong neighborhood civic association.

New developments since the 2013 award include the emergence of RedBike, the metro area’s bike share program that has saved the Greater Cincinnati area more than 18,000 gallons of gasoline since 2015.  Curb’d has brought the Parklets program to Covington and converted several on-street parking spaces to interactive pocket parks throughout the city.  Finally, Riverfront Commons has continued to develop in phases, with the final vision being an 11-mile uninterrupted multi-use trail that will extend from Ludlow to the west to Fort Thomas in the east, linking all six Southbank cities.

“There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.”        – Jane Jacobs

POSTSCRIPT: The Story Map of which this map illustration is a part may be found here. By the end of this Story Map experience, viewers will have a better understanding of the Historic Licking Riverside Neighborhood.