Piatt Park

4.5 stars Pretty cool park I stumbled across while walking towards Findlay Market. Cool arches line both sides of the park with very nice water features and at the end of the west side a statue of William Henry Harrison on his steed and James Garfield on the east.

Cincinnati Public Space + Homeless Support Plan Goal: Help people experiencing homelessness and mental health crises without allowing public parks like Piatt Park to become unsafe, dirty, or unusable for everyone. 1. Move services out of parks and into a “Service Hub” Create or expand a downtown day-service center where people can get food, clothing, showers, bathrooms, charging stations, case management, mental health support, addiction referrals, and housing help in one place. Cincinnati already has systems like Strategies to End Homelessness, Homeless to Homes, Street Reach, GeneroCity 513, and the City’s Alternative Response Program that could be coordinated better. � Strategies to End Homelessness +3 2. Require coordinated outreach permits for park feeding Do not ban people from helping. Instead, require groups serving food/clothing in public parks to register, follow cleanup rules, provide trash/security support, and connect with outreach workers. Simple rule: If you serve, you stay until the space is clean. 3. Create mobile outreach teams Pair social workers, mental health professionals, addiction specialists, and non-police crisis responders to visit parks daily. Their job is not just to move people along, but to connect them to shelter, treatment, IDs, benefits, and housing. 4. Protect parks as shared public spaces Piatt Park and similar areas should remain welcoming to office workers, families, downtown residents, visitors, and people experiencing homelessness. That means clear expectations: no open drug use, no alcohol abuse, no dumping clothing/food waste, no blocking sidewalks, and no unsafe behavior. 5. Add public bathrooms and cleanup crews A lot of the “dirty park” issue comes from lack of bathrooms, trash options, and sanitation. Add staffed portable restrooms, handwashing stations, sharps containers, and scheduled cleanup after outreach/meal windows. 6. Create a “Give Smart Cincinnati” campaign