Riverfront
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The Great Miami river is a tremendous asset to the City of Franklin. It offers beautiful views and vistas and is home to the Great Miami River trail, which is highly successful and brings many visitors directly through Downtown every year. In addition to attracting bike traffic, this riverfront area also presents numerous recreation and passive leisure opportunities from which the community can benefit.
Currently, few established attractions encourage people to visit and enjoy the Riverfront. The thick brush along the river edge provides ample shade for the bike path and obstructs clear views of the water. Another missed opportunity is the bike path that only cuts through the edge of the river without checkpoints that might guide people Downtown. Public surveys indicate that the community would like to see the Riverfront grow into a safe environment that is family-friendly and evolves from a private corridor to a public campus-like development. While Main Street should remain the commercial core of Downtown, the Riverfront can flourish as the heart of Franklin’s social life with access to the water, breweries and outdoor dining overlooking the water, various public amenities, and programmed events to set Franklin apart from other communities in the region.
FUTURE RECOMMENDED USES:
- Restaurants and Breweries that offer various cuisines and experiences should be encouraged to support those who live, work or visit Downtown.
- Commercial uses of varying scales and intensities, such as banks and grocery stores, should be encouraged here. Such
uses bring revenue and steady activity into this area. - Retail uses of varying scales are desired to support those who live, work or visit here. Boutique stores, ice cream vendors, and record shops help create a unique character for the area.
- Cafes that provide coffee, refreshments, and social meeting opportunities are desired here. Such uses can encourage more people to visit and enjoy spending time in the Downtown area.
- Residential uses are a key proponent for a safe and active Downtown. Residential uses in this area should be incorporated into mixed use buildings or to serve as a transition from higher intensity to lower intensity uses.
- Plazas and Parks that encourage and support pedestrian activity along the riverfront is desired. Outdoor seating, gathering, interactive elements, bandstands, and celebration spaces bring opportunity and life to the riverfront.
