| North Clintonville is the northern half of Clintonville north of Henderson/Cooke. It includes the sub-district of Old Beechwold, East Beechwold, and Sharon Heights. Old Beechwold is a historic development from the pre-WWII era that was developed after the failure of an early Columbus Zoo. Here, single family homes using stone, brick, and stucco are set on well canopied curvilinear streets. East Beechwold is a bit newer mixing homes from the 1920s-1950s. Sidewalks in both neighborhoods are hit or miss. Sharon Heights is consistently the most suburban of the sub-districts with housing squarely between the 1940s-1960s and limited sidewalks. The Beechwold business district along High Street between Henderson and Morse Road is the most urban in North Clintonville. It has clusters of businesses with urban orientation and walkability but lacks consistently. Remaining commercial districts are pretty auto centric across the district. North Clintonville excels in providing quality amenities such as good parks, quality housing, low crime, and good retail amenities, although often oriented towards cars. Because the neighborhood bridges the early 20th century streetcar era and the full auto centric era, it has a lot of suburban tendencies that prevent it from being a viable urban district. But with some intentional urban commercial overlays and densifications, North Clintonville could become a viable urban district. It certainly has the enough quality public transit access and connectivity to pull it off. |
URBAN STRENGTHS:
| * Some very nice stretches of historic homes old Beechwold and East Beechwold sub-districts. Nice 1920s-1940s brick housing with some older woodframe. Plenty of blah 1950s-1960s housing as well. * Good access to Dwtn and surprisingly good transit access. * A pair of north-south bike paths running along the western and eastern edges of the district. * Plenty of housing product selling between 200K-500K depending on condition and size. Vast majority of this are SF homes but some condos mixed in as well. Top of the market is larger SF homes selling btwn 500K-700K. The majority of these are in the Old Beechwold subdistrict. * Several nice park and recreational amenities including the Olentangy River Trail, Beechwold Ravine, Overbrook Ravine, Kennedy Park, Broadmeadows Parks, Rush Run Park, and Sharon Meadows Park. * Very safe neighborhood. Limited blight. * Cultural amenities include a good array of restaurants (although many are fast food joints), bars, and some cafes. * Good neighborhood amenities but most of them are auto centric. A couple supermarkets & drugstores, a post office, a couple bookstores, several boutiques, plenty of banks, a hardware store, a target, and other general retail especially in the Graceland Shopping center. * Other than the Graceland Shopping Center and some WWII developments, great tree canopy in North Clintonville. |
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
| * Poor Density. More similar to a suburb. * Commercial districts are mostly auto centric but some climbs of good urban form along High Street between Cook and Morse Road. * Some ADA infrastructure and sidewalks south of Morse but its really hit or miss. Sidewalks are mostly non-existent north of Morse in the Sharon Heights sub-district. * No dedicated bike stations though in this portion of Clintonville. * Some rentals but almost all of them are 2 & 3 bedrooms. s generally at moderate rents. Mix of moderate and more expensive rentals. * Pedestrian traffic is pretty limited. * Really no museums here although there are several old historic sites just north in Worthington. No theaters and limited live music and art galleries. * Hospitals and library are located in adjacent districts, but one most drive there. * Lots of quality schools south of Morse Street. Only one in North Clintonville. * Some decent commercial infill built to the street but also lots of unattractive auto centric buildings. |
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 