Over the Rhine is a neighbourhood of nineteenth-century Italianate brick buildings that was almost lost to urban renewal but survived, and over the past fifteen years has transformed into the most interesting part of Cincinnati. The National Register of Historic Places recognises it as one of the largest intact urban historic districts in the country, with over 900 buildings from the 1850s to 1900s.
The revived neighbourhood is centred on Vine Street and Main Street, where independent restaurants, bars, and coffee shops have filled the ground floors of buildings that were derelict a decade ago. Washington Park, at the corner of 12th and Elm, anchors the neighbourhood and faces Music Hall directly. The German heritage that shaped the area is still visible in the brewery buildings, the wide streets designed for beer wagons, and the dense mix of residential and commercial use that characterises pre-car urban planning.