Over-the-Rhine, often abbreviated as OTR, is a residential neighborhood located in the urban basin of Cincinnati, Ohio.

"[8] Eventually, the canal was drained and capped by Central Parkway; the resulting tunnel was to be used for the now-defunct Cincinnati Subway project.

[citation needed] Built in the nineteenth century during a period of extensive German immigration, first settled by Pennsylvania Dutch and bolstered by Rhinelanders and other Germans, Over-the-Rhine began to change demographically as residents moved to the suburbs following World War II.

[citation needed] In recent years, developers have renamed this portion of Over-the-Rhine as "The Gateway Quarter".

In 1955, the city decided to widen Liberty Street to connect with Reading Road as an east-west crosstown access point for the interstate highway system.

[10] Private development corporations and city officials have begun to address the problems that come with a neighborhood with low employment and high crime rates.

[citation needed] In July 2003, 3CDC was formed by former mayor of Cincinnati Charlie Luken and other corporate community members.

As of May 2018, those funds total over $250 million and have resulted in over $1.3 billion[22] invested in downtown and Over-the-Rhine real estate projects.

"[23] Its architectural significance has also been compared to the French Quarter in New Orleans and the historic districts of Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina.

[23][24] When Arthur Frommer, founder of the Frommer's travel guides, visited Over-the-Rhine he described it as the most promising urban area for revitalization in the United States, and claimed that its potential for tourism "literally could rival similar prosperous and heavily visited areas.

[23] The architecture of Over-the-Rhine reflects the diverse styles of the late nineteenth century—simple vernacular, muted Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne.

Woollen designed the Over-the-Rhine Pilot Center (1972–84), a group of four modern, mixed-use buildings within a two-block area.

[27] Over-the-Rhine was included in the 2008 book, Frommer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear, which noted the district's "shocking state of neglect".

[32] According to WCPO in 2001, some of the worst-kept properties at the time were owned by Over-the-Rhine's non-profits,[33] which let the buildings sit vacant and deteriorating because of lack of funds[34] or volunteers.

[35] With some buildings on the verge of collapse, investors and real-estate developers are trying to restore them before deterioration to the point of requiring demolition.

[23] According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, part of Over-the-Rhine had one of the highest rates of abandoned and vacant homes in the country.

[citation needed] Recent gentrification has changed the demographic makeup of the area as residents moving in tend to have a higher income and are more likely to be white.