New community development leaders have big plans for Northside, Price Hill and Walnut Hills
Northside
Sarah Thomas became executive director of NEST, which stands for Northsiders Engaged in Sustainable Transformation, in September. She and her family live in the neighborhood, and she and her husband own Grey Rock Development, a Northside-based business.
For much of the 13 years that NEST has existed, the organization has focused on residential development and targeting the neighborhood’s vacant properties.
Now that the housing market there has gotten stronger, NEST is realigning its goals, Thomas said.
“We’re going to be focusing a lot more on large-scale development and commercial development,” she said. “We want to spruce up the business district on Hamilton Avenue and have a higher retention rate there.”
NEST will continue to be involved with single-family housing redevelopment, with a focus on affordable housing at different levels, Thomas said. The group also would like to see more large-scale apartment development, she said.
“With a lot of houses being renovated in Northside, a lot of people are purchasing homes that had a few apartments and turning them into a single-family home,” she said. “Rental units are lost in the market, and we have a great need for rental units at affordable rates.”
Thomas said NEST would love to help create some live-work artist housing in the neighborhood, too.
“For me personally, what I love about Northside is of anyplace I’ve ever lived, it’s the most I’ve ever felt like it’s a true community,” Thomas said. “We have all these wonderful assets here, but we’re closing people out if we allow things to become more expensive.”
