HOWEVER, it appears the city may have other plans for South Fairmount. The Cincinnati MSD is under a federal mandate to manage storm , rainwater runoff and deal with the separation of the combined sewer system. Cincinnati is just one of hundreds of cities facing this issue. Cincinnati's proposal seems to not only address the watershed issues but also have an economic development component that would , if successful, result in what appears to be a new "gentrified" South Fairmount.
This is how the MSD views Queen City Blvd near the intersection of Queen City and Harrison. Currently a stretch of check cashing stores, empty storefronts and section 8 tenements the city plan looks more like Hyde Park, with Victorian street lighting, bike lanes and upscale retail with a park on the left. This illustration is from the Human nature website which apparently is a consultant for MSD. More info here:http://humannature.cc/index.asp?page=greeninfrastructure_watershed_lick_run
In addition to may "rain garden" projects to deal with runoff, the most ambitious part of this project is the "day lighting" of Lick Run creek. Many years ago Lick Run ran through the valley and the area routinely flooded. The city in effect "buried" Lick Run below ground and that eliminated the flooding problem. According to the map I saw at a the Westside Preservation summit it would appear this would be the area from Grand to Harrison between Queen City and Western Hills. A 1200 foot stretch. I have, based on their map, came up with a closer look at the area which now is a city park and a largely industrial area (outlined in red) . I was initially concerned about a loss of historic fabric but it appears that has been gone for many years. I would imagine, much like Washington Park, the pool and baseball diamond would be replaced with dog parks and other "upscale friendly' development. Essentially the proposal would open up the creek and it would be surrounded by a large pedestrian friendly park.
This kind of development in other cities has almost always resulted in the wholesale gentrification of the area around it. South Fairmount has the housing stock to make this possible. This entire development is overlooked by streets of houses all with the valley view. In fact Knox Hill "overlooks' this area. Personally the idea of overlooking an upscale "green park witha creek" certainly adds to my property value. It is not difficult to imaging that a development of this scale with this view will bring in developers to quickly fill vacant lots along Queen city and Westwood with upscale housing and retail. The existing houses will sprout rooftop decks to take in the views. It all makes sense that the city wants to turn the area around when you also look at other projects, like Mill Creek and a proposal offered by some to turn the Viaduct into a Green Park. http://zfein.blogspot.com/2010/02/viaduct.html
In fact one need only look to Indianapolis where the canal restoration project transformed a once 
But if this illustration is any indication of what South Fairmount could look like, then I'm in favor of it. How the city justifies the inevitable uprooting again of the poor that they shuffled off to Fairmount when OTR was cleared out for development remains to be seen. But a upscale ,crime free South Fairmont is something I could definitely appreciate. 
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Rating : 4.5
