From Vacancy to Vitality Presentation

at APA National Planning Conference

PlusUrbia’s Juan Mullerat, APA, will present solutions that prove even our densest cities have room to grow without demolition.

He will be part of the From Vacancy to Vitality panel presentation at the American Planning Association’s National Planning Conference in New Orleans.

The program, featuring examples from PlusUrbia Design’s work in Little Havana along with examples from New Orleans’ Canal Street, — will take place at 8:30 AM – 10 AM CDT on Tuesday April 24.

Professionals attending will learn how new planning approaches can remove regulatory barriers and provide incentives to conserve valuable older buildings and encourage reuse and infill.

Mullerat has spoken at the last two APA Florida annual conferences. PlusUrbia has been honored with national, regional and local APA awards, the highest honor in the profession.

https://plusurbia.com/vacancy-to-vibrancy-presentation-at-apa-national-planning-conference/

HOCKING HILLS -- 6

OHIO HEARTLAND 

Hocking Hills — $410-$500

• Hocking Hills – Ash Cave & Conkles Hollow (free admission); 740/285-6842, parks.ohiodnr.gov/hockinghills

• The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls (Redbud ADA cabin — big enough to split cost with second, nondisabled family sleeping upstairs — from $170 low season, Sumac accessible cottage — smaller than cabin — $40 cheaper per night than Redbud); 800/653-2557, innatcedarfalls.com

• Hockhocking-Adena Bikeway (free admission); athensohio.com/wheretoplay/hockhocking-adena-bikeway-2

• Lake Hope Lodge (Sunday brunch $15); 740/596-0601, lakehopelodge.com

• Washboard Music Festival (free admission); 740/380-2752, www.washboardmusicfestival.com

• Nelsonville Music Festival ($75 one day admission); 740/753-1924, nelsonvillefest.org

Listed first after each destination name is the approximate cost for three days, two nights including lodging, six meals, park admissions and gas money to drive between attractions.

HOCKING HILLS -- 5

OHIO HEARTLAND 

The Hocking Hills area, at the foothills of the Appalachians, has no shortage of roots music. 

Every year, from Friday through Sunday of Father’s Day weekend, the downtown streets of Logan come alive with the celebration of the washboard as a musical instrument. 

Everything from jug bands to Dixieland groups play the Washboard Music Festival in the hometown of the Columbus Washboard Company, the only remaining washboard manufacturing company in the U.S.

Over four days, usually in late May or early June, the Nelsonville Music Festival offers multiple stages of music along with local art vendors, food and a beer garden. 

The eclectic list of past performers — Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, John Prine, Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo, George Jones and Gogol Bordello — is a slice of Americana in itself.

HOCKING HILLS -- 4

OHIO HEARTLAND 

While the majority of the glacier-carved area’s state park trails are too rugged for the average wheelchair user to negotiate, the quarter-mile paved trail to Ash Cave is very wheelchair-friendly.

Commencing at accessible parking spaces, the trail ends at a massive shelter cave and 90-foot waterfall. 

The Conkles Hollow Gorge Trail extends a half mile from the parking area on Big Pine Road into the upper end of the gorge, below a waterfall.

It is paved, very easy for wheelers to roll along and is an absolute must-do with the deepest gorge and the highest cliffs in the Hocking Hills. 

The Hockhocking Adena bikeway is a paved, level bike path located on the old Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad bed.

It runs from the Nelsonville Historic Square Arts District 22 miles south into Athens, home of Ohio University.

HOCKING HILLS -- 3

OHIO HEARTLAND 

Lake Hope Lodge offers another dining opportunity focused on locally-sourced comfort food. 

The accessible lodge, located in a state park, has a famous Sunday brunch with made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits, cinnamon rolls, brisket hash, pulled pork, smoked turkey and berry cobbler with fresh whipped cream. 

Lunch and dinner feature scratch made soups and chili, grilled Ohio chicken, beef brisket, fried catfish and wood-smoked ribs.

HOCKING HILLS -- 2

OHIO HEARTLAND 

At the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls, one can linger outside, day dreaming on the porch swing and taking in the wooded vista, or come inside to the aroma of cedar and a plate of homemade cookies on the kitchen table.

Take a seat in the cozy living room by the gas fireplace. Forget the distraction of television — there is none in the cabin, but it does have wi-fi for those who cannot entirely unplug from civilization.

The spa, meeting place and dining room are all accessible. Breakfast includes fare such as: fresh fruit, homemade granola, Applewood smoked bacon, potato scallion soufflé and house made muffins or breads. 

Seasonal lunch and dinner features soups, salads, sandwiches and entrees ranging from crispy striped bass to spiced rack of lamb.

HOCKING HILLS -- 1

OHIO HEARTLAND 

Sometimes the place of lodging is simply a small room for sleeping. 

Sometimes the place of lodging is the attraction.

The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls, in the heart of the Hocking Hills, is such a place. 

Longtime innkeeper Ellen Grinsfelder created this accessible paradise when she invited a friend who uses a wheelchair to do a walk-through.

The result is wonderfully accessible accommodations nestled along a gorgeous, wooded ravine where the nighttime sky dazzles with its display of heavenly bodies so bright that visitors feel as if they’ve entered a brilliant cathedral of stars.

A roll-in shower, with grab bars and space enough to allow sufficient room for both a wheelchair user and personal care attendant, is the main feature of the Redbud cabin. 

The cabin itself is big enough to live in, with a full kitchen, sitting area and accessible bedroom on the first floor reached by a ramp.

Kitchen items — flatware, silverware, tea bags, salt and pepper, even flashlights — are located where they can be accessed from a seated position.