As summer continues to scorch the region, Cincinnati will set up "cool spots" in the city's hottest neighborhoods.
On Sept. 2, the city will start placing portable misters and the city's own canned tap water at locations suffering the most under the summer sun.
The city will use the end of this summer to test a variety of designs for the cool spots, some misters with fans, some that have multiple spigots and look like a hydra. Some locations will also have the canned tap water.
Who's paying for the cool spots?
The city will recruit residents or businesses to set up these publicly accessible cooling stations. Within a month, officials hope to have 20 or 30 of these cooling stations. Private donations to Cincinnati Toolbank, a nonprofit tool rental organization, will pay for the misters
and water, not city money, said Nia Baucke, director of Cincinnati's Innovation Team that has led the project, dubbed "Stay Cool Cincy."
Where are the cool spots?
As of Sept. 2, there will be two cool spots in Evanston and two in Walnut Hills: two homes in Evanston and two businesses in Walnut Hills. The businesses are: Spruce Nail Shop, 905 E. McMillan St. and theYMCA's Music Resource Center, 3032 Woodburn Ave.
The city isn't releasing the residential locations of the misters. They are meant to serve the residents in the neighborhood who pass by there every day, Baucke said.
"They know there's going to be water available for them," Baucke said. "So that's another piece of it, the familiarity and the confidence knowing that you can get comfort and some hydration along your walk and along your route is something that I think will be really beneficial."
The city hopes by next summer, hundreds of "cool spots" will be dispersed throughout the city's most sun-drenched neighborhoods These are often neighborhoods with fewer trees and shade. The number of cool spots next year will depend on how effective this pilot program is in the next month.
Based on three trial runs earlier this summer in Evanston and Walnut Hills, people used them, Baucke said. Vancouver and other cities that have similar programs that inspired Stay Cool Cincy.
City targeting 'heat-burdened neighborhoods'
The program will use a 2020 study by the city's Office of Environment and Sustainability to identify the neighborhoods most in need.
That urban heat study used volunteers who drove around the city and took temperature readings. The study also looked at the amount of area covered by trees and other factors to determine which of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods suffered the most during the summer heat.
"We would begin targeting even heavier those heat-burdened neighborhoods like a Bond Hill, like an Avondale, like a Walnut Hills, and getting more volunteers involved in the neighborhood," Baucke said.
City looking for volunteers
The program relies on residents and business owners to volunteer to put the misters out on their property and supply the water through a hose. The city will reimburse the volunteers with a gift card, she said.
The city is looking for additional volunteers, who are asked tofill out a form on the city's website.
This report will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati tests 'cool spots' to help residents beat the heat
