CINCINNATI — More than 100 people crowded Westwood Town Hall park Saturday evening to see the first ever live concert hosted by the Business Association.
Town Hall Live, a new monthly live concert series, was designed to capitalize on the growth the small business district has experienced in the last half decade.
Business Association President Larry Eiser said the concerts would "activate the park" for the benefit of young surrounding businesses.
"That kind of activation is the lifeblood of that makes this district so successful," Eiser said.
The association declined to bring in vendors or food trucks for the concert making nearby restaurants and bars the only places for people to get food or drinks that could be brought out to the park thanks to its DORA designation.
Tim Abrosius's EP Investment group has been involved in helping several businesses develop in the region.
"It's a great up and coming area," he said. "It's just getting better and better."
Eiser said an event like Town Hall Live wouldn't have been believable five years earlier.
"Five and a half years ago there were two places you could go to eat or drink in this district," he said, "and now there's nine."
Two more restaurants are expected to open around the park on Harrison Ave. in the Spring of 2024.
Eiser said the development has only been possible through making the area significantly more walkable by dropping speed limits, adding crosswalks, and adding bump-outs but more needs done.
"We want to do some raised crosswalks and other techniques," he said.
Eiser said the town has been working with Cincinnati city officials to transition the region away from a fly-through spot to get from downtown to the suburbs to a slower destination zone.
"We want to be safe, so we want you to slow down, and, if it's an inconvenience, please take the highway," he said.
Town Hall Live will continue to present local bands the fourth Saturday of the month through October:
• May 27: Jake Speed & The Freddies
• June 24: Jess Lamb and The Factory
• July 22: The Ben Levin Blues Band
• August 26: Jamwave
• September 23: Tracy Walker Band
• October 28: Static Falls
