Cincinnati Skywalk, Pedestrian skyway system in Downtown Cincinnati, United States
The Cincinnati Skywalk is a network of enclosed elevated walkways in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, linking several office buildings, hotels, and a convention center above street level. The passages run mostly indoors, crossing between blocks at the second-floor level of the connected buildings.
Construction started in 1971 with federal urban renewal funding and expanded gradually over the following decades. After 2002, parts of the system were removed as the city shifted its focus back to encouraging activity at street level.
The walkways were built with the idea that keeping people off the streets would make downtown more appealing to shoppers and office workers. Today, the sections that remain open feel more like corridors inside private buildings than parts of a shared urban space.
The sections that are still open are generally accessible during normal business hours of the buildings they pass through, so many entrances close in the evening and on weekends. Carrying a map is helpful since the signage is uneven and not all connections are still intact.
Cincinnati's system was among the first of its kind in the United States and directly influenced similar projects in other cities, including Minneapolis. While Minneapolis expanded and maintained its version, Cincinnati moved in the opposite direction and began pulling its network apart.
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