This evaluation only includes the more walkable/historic part of Grove City. My boundaries broadly included Haughlin Rd/Orchard Ln to the East, Ross Ave to the North, Curtis & the Railroad tracks to the west and Kingston/Woodlawn Ave to the south.
By 1853, the newly formed village of Grove City had only 50 residents. The town founders named the village for the remaining groves of trees left standing after their initial clearing. The City remained small in the 1800s reaching only 650 residents by 1900 and slowly growing in the early 20th century and hitting 1,800 souls in 1940. Like other Columbus satellite suburbs, the town exploded in the post War Era. Grove City officially become a City in 1958 on its path to reaching 14K residents in 1970, 27K in 2000 and 41K in 2020.
Fortunately the historic core, as small as it is has been pretty well preserved with an attractive main street (Broad Ave) with lots of locally owned shops, retailers, and food & beverage businesses. Dwtn Grove City also excels at a high level of safety, quality schools, good for sale housing diversity, quality park amenities, and pretty good ADA and sidewalk infrastructure. For Dwtn Grove City to become a great urban area it needs a lot more population and in-fill development, much better public transit and bike infrastructure, more rental options, better economic and racial diversity, and crucial retail amenities like a full service walkable supermarket.
Click here to view my Grove City album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Only 15-20 minute drive to Dwtn Columbus.
* Generally good sidewalk and ADA infrastructure but about 25 of roads are missing sidewalks. ADA modern curbs are pretty consistant when there are sidewalks.
* Lots of family households with children here.
* High levels of safety here in line with most exclusive suburbs.
* Several well rated walkable public elementary and middle schools. High school is more on the outskirts of Grove City.
* Pretty good for sale diversity with a handful of 1-beds available selling in the 100Ks and low 200Ks. Plenty of 2-beds that sell btwn 150K-the low 300Ks, 3 and 4 beds sell btwn 200K- 500K.
* Solid parks and recreational in Dwtn Grove City leading with the expansive Windsor Park with all its ball fields. A couple of small/medium sized parks.
* Solid tree canopy.
* Good cultural amenities with a good # of good & beverage biz, a brewery, a couple night clubs and live music venues, a local performing arts theater, and a couple local museums.
* Decent retail amenities including a drug store, lots of boutiques/gift stores, several locally owned businesses, dwtn public library, a couple antiques and home good stores.
* Solid architecture with quality historic homes and commercial and a decent amount of good urban in-fill.
* Pretty good urban form and streetscaping along Broadway Ave (the main street).
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Very low density for an urban area.
* Bike transit is pretty poor, although decent direct connection to Dwtn.
* Dwtn connectivity is so so.
* Some bike lanes in Grove City and the Dwtn area but none go through the heart of Dwtn nor connect it to the rest of Grive City. No dedicated bike stations.
* Poor economic and racial diversity.
* Some rentals Dwtn but more 2-beds than 1 beds. Moderately priced.
* Missing retail amenities include churches, doctor’s offices, post office, a supermarket, a hardware store, and larger retails.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 