Biohazard Cleanup for Madisonville, Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights

Bungalows, older frame houses and apartments

Most homes here are single-family: early 1900s frame and brick houses, bungalows and postwar homes on modest lots. Apartment buildings line parts of Madison Road and Montgomery Road.

Kennedy Heights has an older population, with about 18 percent of residents 65 or over in 2020. Older homeowners living alone are a common situation behind unattended-death cleanups, and their families may live elsewhere.

Kennedy Heights is also home to two parks, Daniel Drake Park and Kennedy Heights Park, and many houses back onto wooded lots, which can mean longer walks from the street to the door.

Who responds and who decides

Madisonville, Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights are in Cincinnati Police District 2, the same district that covers Oakley and Hyde Park. The suburbs that share these ZIPs, such as Fairfax and Mariemont, are separate municipalities, so ask which agency responded.

A death that needs a closer look is the Hamilton County Coroner's responsibility. Since 2021 that office has worked out of Blue Ash, and it handles the investigation, the hand-off to a funeral home and the return of personal items. It does not clean, so after release the owner, the landlord or the estate hires the company.

Where 45227 and 45213 run

ZIP 45227 covers Madisonville and the edge of Oakley, along with the suburbs of Fairfax and Mariemont and parts of Madeira, Plainville and Silverton.

ZIP 45213 covers Pleasant Ridge, Kennedy Heights and the northern edge of Oakley. Pleasant Ridge borders Norwood, Golf Manor, Amberley Village and Columbia Township.

Main roads through the area

Montgomery Road and Ridge Road, once called Columbia Road, run through Pleasant Ridge. Madison Road and Red Bank Road serve Madisonville. The Red Bank Expressway was built through western Madisonville in 1970.

Streets are mostly flat to rolling with driveways, which usually makes access easier than in Price Hill or Mount Adams. Apartment buildings on the busier roads may still have tight lots.

To the west, Pleasant Ridge meets Norwood, Golf Manor and Amberley Village, so a single trip can cross several city limits.

What to do first on the northeast side

Check who has authority over the property. In Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights many homes are owned outright by older residents, so the executor or next of kin usually signs off. In Madisonville rentals, the landlord makes the call.

For a Madisonville or Pleasant Ridge house, call the homeowner's or landlord's insurer before work begins and get a claim number. Coverage often applies after a sudden event, but each policy is different, and the adjuster will want photos and an itemized estimate from the cleanup company.

If the home is near a busy stretch of Madison Road or Montgomery Road, ask the provider about parking and how waste containers will be handled so neighbors and businesses are not disturbed.

Old villages on the northeast side

Madisonville dates to 1809 and was named for President James Madison before adding -ville in 1826. Its first building was a log cabin raised in 1797 near what is now Whetsel and Monning avenues. Cincinnati annexed it in 1911.

Pleasant Ridge was settled around 1795, became a village in 1891 and voted 260 to 174 to join the city in 1912. Kennedy Heights is named for Lewis Kennedy, who built the Yononte Inn on Davenant Avenue in 1888. In 2020 Pleasant Ridge had 8,895 residents and Kennedy Heights 5,166.

Madisonville also carries a hard history. A Black community known as Dunbar stood in western Madisonville until urban renewal and the Red Bank Expressway cleared much of it around 1970, and the remaining land was rezoned for industry in 1995. Pleasant Ridge, meanwhile, has held its Ridge Day festival every year since 1971.