Spring in Our Steps

09/04/2026

‘Nuff said. Join us for our next bike ride of alleys in Mohawk and Brighton areas of Over-the-Rhine and West End respectively, starting at Deeper Roots Findlay and ending at KANTINE Biergarten!

11am gather at Deeper Roots
11:15 roll out
back to KANTINE before 1pm

Please remember to bring water—and a lock if you’re planning to hang afterward.

Need a ride?
Cincy Red Bike has stations near Findlay Market.

08/30/2026

This is Saturday! We need your help! Let’s match the community turnout planned. If we make enough progress, we might be able to bike through it over the same weekend!

Saturday, September 5 • Let’s clear the path, uncover the bricks and curbs, and make Peck Alley a place for walking and biking again. We’ll register as a Great American Cleanup event through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to arrange pickup by City of Cincinnati Government, rent tools from Cincinnati ToolBank, offer coffee and pastry bars from Deeper Roots Coffee, and band together to do something great.

More info: https://tinyurl.com/PeckAlley

08/26/2026

The culmination of a vision that sparked over three years ago has brought us to this announcement: Spring in Our Steps has secured a 7-year lease of city-owned land at 2125 Vine St, along the full length of the Fig Alley Steps!

What begin with our collaborative work with Step Up to Art, to bring wayfinding and art to this stairway and at Ohio Avenue, led us to pursue official naming of the Fig Alley Steps. We then sought to activate this alley stairway in a different way while meeting community needs. We will soon hire a form to clear invasive growth from the land. Then we will work with YOU to manage the site in advance of fruit tree planting. (Primary access will be right off the Fig Alley Steps.)

We’re so excited and can’t wait to have you join us to build this exciting neighborhood amenity.

08/25/2026

Saturday, September 5 • Let’s clear the path, uncover the bricks and curbs, and make Peck Alley a place for walking and biking again. We’ll register as a Great American Cleanup event through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to arrange pickup by City of Cincinnati Government, rent tools from Cincinnati ToolBank, offer coffee and pastry bars from Deeper Roots Coffee, and band together to do something great.

More info: https://tinyurl.com/PeckAlley

08/15/2026

A look a Peck Alley over the years reveals that public walking access has been compromised for more than a generation. Even dating back to 1985, when dumping further eroded connectivity here. We’re collectively going to change that.

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟱 • 𝟵:𝟯𝟬𝗮𝗺
Peck Alley at Hamburg Street
We’ll join community members to restore access to Peck Alley, from Manchester Avenue to Hamburg Street. One of the first brick-paved alleys in Cincinnati will see a path forward.

Recommending closed toe shoes. Coffee and snacks from Deeper Roots. Let’s make it clear that this public corridor will languish no more!

08/02/2026

Embracing entropy is critical to caring about—and caring for—walkable public corridors. There’s only so much we can do to counter private property actions, which may include the spread of invasive growth. We are working to ensure that Wendell Alley remains walkable and bikeable. While we may still be one of its only active stewards, we find it to be a giant gem in the massive crown of Cincinnati. And we will be even more active along Vine Street Hill in the weeks, months, and years to come. Cherish these wonderful alleys. // 📷: Ella Schultian

07/28/2026

Peete Alley and the Peete Street Steps are walkable again! Thanks to Ella Schultian and company for cutting through the invasive overgrowth to make it happen. Since the building fire at 2016 Vine and surrounding demolition in 2021, and subsequent years of intermittent grounds maintenance by Vision + Beyond, direct sunlight on Peete Alley has made our own maintenance that much harder. Fortunately, we have good people on our side. Be patient with us, as each year becomes harder to keep the overgrowth at bay!

07/02/2026

On Monday, June 22nd, for just a couple hours, a determined group of volunteers came out to Merton Street and Montrose Street (at the base of the abandoned Lima Alley Steps) in South Fairmount to carry 33 tires out to Queen City Avenue for pickup/removal. We took out quite a bit more: a recliner, a sofa, a deteriorated mattress, and numerous wooden boards. Thanks to Keep Cincinnati Beautiful for coordinating pickup of this massive amount of material by City of Cincinnati Government Public Services. This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the decades-old dump site along Lima Alley, but it’s a determined start! We’ll continue to work with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful on strategies and funding to address more of the problem. South Fairmount became just that much mightier after that afternoon.

06/27/2026

Last Saturday (June 20th), we had an incredible group of volunteers come out and turn up for part two of our Bartlett Street Steps! So much was cleared in just three hours. One can now walk end to end without much impediment. Special thanks to Deeper Roots Coffee for amazing strawberry apricot bars and coffee, and always thanks to Cincinnati ToolBank for tool rental to make it happen! We’ll now update Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering on site progress and work to get handrails and repair made on the stairway, which will lead to a full reopening of this vital walking connection in North Fairmount.

05/25/2026

If you are to wander Cincinnati neighborhoods on foot, you may find more alleys than stairways depending upon a variety of factors. Lack of steep topography, platted pre-1930s, and density come in to play. These neighborhoods top the list of having the highest proportion of alleys to stairways.