3 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

So, this post by @OhioFinest in the Ohio population thread has a screenshot of the number they're talking about.  I don't really know what we're looking for, but maybe this can help clear it up.

 

 

 

I posted that same screenshot further up this thread. It shows the population of Newark as of April 1, 2020 was 49,934. That's the number that was released in the official decennial census results yesterday. It is not the same as the estimate as of July 1, 2019, even though @OhioFinestis claiming that it is for some reason. 

 

This file, obtained directly from the US Census Bureau, provides further proof that no official census estimate was ever the same as the population for Newark released in the official decennial census which was released yesterday. 

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

I posted that same screenshot further up this thread. It shows the population of Newark as of April 1, 2020 was 49,934. That's the number that was released in the official decennial census results yesterday. It is not the same as the estimate as of July 1, 2019, even though @OhioFinestis claiming that it is for some reason. 

 

This file, obtained directly from the US Census Bureau, provides further proof that no official census estimate was ever the same as the population for Newark released in the official decennial census which was released yesterday. 

 

 

 

So, April 1, 2020 is 16 months ago, as @OhioFinestkeeps saying.  I think the confusion is that @OhioFinestisn't aware that the official census numbers that were released yesterday are the numbers as of April 1, 2020.  It has just taken this long to release them.  So, they think the 49,934 on that page is some number from last year, and the number released yesterday is a different measurement in 2021 and should be a different number.  But the 49,934 listed on that page for April 1, 2020 IS the number that was released yesterday.  If you look at the label for that 49,934 number, it says "Population, Census, April 1, 2020", meaning it is the official census number and not an estimate.  The estimate for 2019 is higher up and has "Estimate" in the label.  We won't see estimates for 2021 until next year.

Edited August 13, 20213 yr by TH3BUDDHA

12 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

So, April 1, 2020 is 16 months ago, as @OhioFinestkeeps saying.  I think the confusion is that @OhioFinestisn't aware that the official census numbers that were released yesterday are the numbers as of April 1, 2020.  It has just taken this long to release them.  So, they think the 49,934 on that page is some number from last year, and the number released yesterday is a different measurement in 2021 and should be a different number.  But the 49,934 listed on that page for April 1, 2020 IS the number that was released yesterday.  If you look at the label for that 49,934 number, it says "Population, Census, April 1, 2020", meaning it is the official census number and not an estimate.  The estimate for 2019 is higher up and has "Estimate" in the label.  We won't see estimates for 2021 until next year.

 

Exactly. This is what I've been saying. 

1 hour ago, OhioFinest said:

that has that 49,934 was released in April of 2020.

If you look at that number again on that page, you will see that the label for that 49,934 number is "Population, Census, April 1, 2020."  It isn't an estimate, but the official number.  The official census results are the population as of April 1, 2020.  That's why you're seeing the same number being mentioned by people yesterday as the one "from 16 months ago."  The official number released yesterday IS the number as of 16 months ago.

Ok, you are right, i am wrong....my goodness

Newark is rather unique in that it never has really had a dramatic population decline like most older industrial cities. It was stagnant for many decades but never emptied out even as Heath and Licking County saw gains.

3 minutes ago, ink said:

Newark is rather unique in that it never has really had a dramatic population decline like most older industrial cities. It was stagnant for many decades but never emptied out even as Heath and Licking County saw gains.

 

Lancaster is very similar. Both cities have only ever had one decade of very minimal population decline, Lancaster in 1990 and Newark in 1980. 

 

 

1 hour ago, OhioFinest said:

Ok, you are right, i am wrong....my goodness

I wasn't trying to "prove you wrong."  I was just trying to clear it up in a more detailed way so everybody could stop being hostile to each other over it.

1 hour ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Lancaster is very similar. Both cities have only ever had one decade of very minimal population decline, Lancaster in 1990 and Newark in 1980. 

 

 

I wonder if this has to do with both cities being close enough Columbus but also far enough away where they feel like their own places far enough removed from the more sense parts of the metro area. Also both Lancaster and Newark are right on the edge of SE Ohio where the scenery gets really awesome. If you don't need to be within 15min of downtown Columbus, both cities can offer than "we are within an hour of absolutely everything you could want or need and within 30min of not being another single human anywhere near us". If that's something you're looking for, both these cities would be a great option to consider moving to.

11 minutes ago, TIm said:

I wonder if this has to do with both cities being close enough Columbus but also far enough away where they feel like their own places far enough removed from the more sense parts of the metro area. Also both Lancaster and Newark are right on the edge of SE Ohio where the scenery gets really awesome. If you don't need to be within 15min of downtown Columbus, both cities can offer than "we are within an hour of absolutely everything you could want or need and within 30min of not being another single human anywhere near us". If that's something you're looking for, both these cities would be a great option to consider moving to.

 

I think this is true. While both are very much part of the Columbus metro area due to their proximity to Columbus and increasingly development between each city and the other suburbs, they each feel much more independent and self-sustaining than the suburbs hugging 270. 

So….I’ve been reading this forum for YEARS, but just decided to create an account. 
 

I bought a house in Newark in December. I grew up on the far west side of Columbus and my only experience with Newark was when I attended Ohio State Newark in 2008 (that was the only year I attended). 
 

Let me just say, I was blown away by how different the city looks now compared to then. This could be perception, but the downtown now compared to then looks and feels different. Granted, my wife and I only frequent Elliots and Barrel and Boar, but I feel the area is just now beginning it’s true development stage and will only get better in the coming years. 
 

On another note of why I love Newark so much now is the fact that I’m only 5 minutes from downtown Granville and 5 minutes from the main strip in Heath. We couldn’t have asked for a better location in Newark. I’m excited for all of the development coming our way. 

Edited August 14, 20213 yr by Columbus

7 hours ago, Columbus said:

So….I’ve been reading this forum for YEARS, but just decided to create an account. 
 

I bought a house in Newark in December. I grew up on the far west side of Columbus and my only experience with Newark was when I attended Ohio State Newark in 2008 (that was the only year I attended). 
 

Let me just say, I was blown away by how different the city looks now compared to then. This could be perception, but the downtown now compared to then looks and feels different. Granted, my wife and I only frequent Elliots and Barrel and Boar, but I feel the area is just now beginning it’s true development stage and will only get better in the coming years. 
 

On another note of why I love Newark so much now is the fact that I’m only 5 minutes from downtown Granville and 5 minutes from the main strip in Heath. We couldn’t have asked for a better location in Newark. I’m excited for all of the development coming our way. 

It’s about time you finally create an account and make a post! Lol

4 hours ago, cbussoccer said:

It’s about time you finally create an account and make a post! Lol

No joke. I read this forum almost every day, but felt like I didn’t have much to add to the conversation. I’m just a fan of watching Columbus and the surrounding areas grow. 

On 8/14/2021 at 11:08 AM, Columbus said:

No joke. I read this forum almost every day, but felt like I didn’t have much to add to the conversation. I’m just a fan of watching Columbus and the surrounding areas grow. 

Welcome to the board!  I am glad you posted and I agree that Newark has so much potential. I think this next decade is going to be huge for Newark.

Pair of Newark Projects Bringing New Life to Old Buildings

 

A pair of redevelopment projects tackling prominent historic buildings in Newark are now moving forward.

 

A plan to renovate the Newark Arcade at 29-35 N. 3rd St. was awarded Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency earlier this summer. Fifteen apartments in the building will be renovated, as will the historic storefronts and terrazzo floor of the glass-roofed arcade itself, which was built in 1908.

 

The credits were awarded to the nonprofit Newark Development Partners, which owns the property and is working with Schooley Caldwell and Newark-based Northpoint Ohio Architecture on the project.

 

More below:

https://www.columbusunderground.com/pair-of-newark-projects-bringing-new-life-to-old-buildings-bw1/

 

44 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

Pair of Newark Projects Bringing New Life to Old Buildings

 

A pair of redevelopment projects tackling prominent historic buildings in Newark are now moving forward.

 

A plan to renovate the Newark Arcade at 29-35 N. 3rd St. was awarded Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency earlier this summer. Fifteen apartments in the building will be renovated, as will the historic storefronts and terrazzo floor of the glass-roofed arcade itself, which was built in 1908.

 

The credits were awarded to the nonprofit Newark Development Partners, which owns the property and is working with Schooley Caldwell and Newark-based Northpoint Ohio Architecture on the project.

 

More below:

https://www.columbusunderground.com/pair-of-newark-projects-bringing-new-life-to-old-buildings-bw1/

 

Sorta sad to be losing that northernmost warehouse building, but it is literally on top of the sidewalk so it'll bring back a lot of breathing room with it gone. Excited to see the design for the park area -- having recreational connections to Racoon Creek will be really great

 

This is absolutely fantastic what is going on in Newark.  The owner of the building in the article (Tom Atha) has put so much money and work into renovating and restoring beautiful buildings in downtown Newark...its absolutely remarkable whats going on.  This project will be located directly next to "Thirty One West" in Newark.  It will be a mix-used development called "Newark Organization for Creative Arts"...or NOCA for short.  It will specialize in all sorts of hands-on activities for local youth.  Music classes, art classes, photoshop classes...while also running a classic vinyl record store with all kinds of merchandise from music artists.  This is going to be a one of a kind space.  These buildings are super cool and have amazing character.  Cant wait to see this unfold.

 

 

 

So many cool old buildings like this in Downtown Newark. Has been awesome to see them renovated and repurposed over the years.

This is kind of a weird question, but....is Newark really nice? I've never been there and I've rarely opened this thread to stay updated on what's happening. Maybe I should give it a visit soon!

33 minutes ago, Zyrokai said:

This is kind of a weird question, but....is Newark really nice?

 

Nope!

 

Signed,

 

Kid from Watkins Memorial

 

P.S. It's a gritty blue-collar county seat with a lot of older, tired housing stock.  It has potential, and the work they've done downtown is intended to start nudging things in that direction and bringing out that potential.  But you'll note that most--not all, but most--of the developments talked about recently in this thread are more sprawl.

12 minutes ago, Gramarye said:

 

Nope!

 

Signed,

 

Kid from Watkins Memorial

 

P.S. It's a gritty blue-collar county seat with a lot of older, tired housing stock.  It has potential, and the work they've done downtown is intended to start nudging things in that direction and bringing out that potential.  But you'll note that most--not all, but most--of the developments talked about recently in this thread are more sprawl.

 

Wow...If its so "Nope!"...then why is it growing, investing and heading in such a positive direction?  Sounds like you haven't really driven around the city lately, because if you did, you would know that many of the neighborhoods you mentioned, have improved or are in the process of being renewed.  Sprawl is NOT always a bad thing either.  I don't understand how the 5 housing developments being built right now are anything but good for the city of Newark?  Newark is 100% going through a renaissance. 

53 minutes ago, Zyrokai said:

This is kind of a weird question, but....is Newark really nice? I've never been there and I've rarely opened this thread to stay updated on what's happening. Maybe I should give it a visit soon!

Newark is a great city. Like any big city, it has its problem spots, but Newark has such a unique downtown, amazing neighborhoods with character and truly has a lot of good, hard working people.  Do yourself a favor, go downtown, have dinner at one of the many restaurants (highly recommend 1922 On The Square) and then go check out a concert or comedy show at The Midland Theater or Thirty One West.  You wont be dissapointed. 

45 minutes ago, Zyrokai said:

This is kind of a weird question, but....is Newark really nice? I've never been there and I've rarely opened this thread to stay updated on what's happening. Maybe I should give it a visit soon!

 

You could definitely have a nice Saturday visiting downtown Newark and Granville. There are plenty of nice shops and restaurants in both places to keep you busy for the day. 

10 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

You could definitely have a nice Saturday visiting downtown Newark and Granville. There are plenty of nice shops and restaurants in both places to keep you busy for the day. 

Me and some of my friends totally did this earlier this Summer.  It was a great day and we hopped around to multiple places in both towns.  Newark had a great BBQ joint and a steak house of sorts on the square that was delicious!!  It was a nice place to visit.  I'll definitely be going back to get out of the city, which is always nice to do from time to time...

1 hour ago, cbussoccer said:

 

You could definitely have a nice Saturday visiting downtown Newark and Granville. There are plenty of nice shops and restaurants in both places to keep you busy for the day. 

 

Agree!!  The entire area is really becoming a place that is nice to live.

I will have to somehow get some construction pics of the new Owens Corning Distribution Center that is currently under construction.  That place is MASSIVE!!!! It is going to completely transform the entire SW region of the Newark/Heath/Granville areas. 

3 hours ago, Zyrokai said:

This is kind of a weird question, but....is Newark really nice? I've never been there and I've rarely opened this thread to stay updated on what's happening. Maybe I should give it a visit soon!

I might be able to provide a completely different perspective here.

 

I moved to the Newark area in 2016 from the east coast. Was sick of battling for work in the most expensive part of the country to only get paid a wage which wouldn't allow me to live my life so I uprooted everything and got a job with Licking County.

 

My job there had me basically driving around the streets of Newark every single day so I'm intimately familiar with the entire city as well as a major portion of Licking County as a whole.

 

Newark is like a mini melting pot city. You've got your rural Ohio types who are their own breed (this is not meant in a negative way either), you've got your lower class riding the poverty line types (city has a decent drug/homeless problem but they're working on it) and then you have a ton of middle class+ people who are just living average lives and probably work in Columbus.

 

There are some really nice areas, some really rough areas and a lot of areas that are just alright. The city itself has improved immensely in recent years. The amount of change and positive improvements I've seen in just 5 years is astounding and not something you ever witness on the east coast. Areas people use to avoid are now destinations. The downtown square is absolutely beautiful and only getting better. There's a great variety of good food, you have easy access to Columbus and easy access to the Hocking Hills area (aka best city in the state and most scenic part of the state imo). And it's just improving month in month out with no signs of stopping.

 

It's certainly a very interesting place to live and absolutely has its' own flavor, but as far as I'm concerned that's a positive. People complain that Columbus doesn't have culture or character, well I can say with certainty Newark has its' own special version of both which make It a very unique part of the state.

 

Overall, Newark is what you make of it. If you're living next to the homeless shelter in a run down old house on the east side you'll probably have a bad opinion. If you're living in one of the nice new neighborhoods, you'll probably have a good opinion. I would absolutely consider the Newark area if I was looking to buy a house.

24 minutes ago, TIm said:

I might be able to provide a completely different perspective here.

 

I moved to the Newark area in 2016 from the east coast. Was sick of battling for work in the most expensive part of the country to only get paid a wage which wouldn't allow me to live my life so I uprooted everything and got a job with Licking County.

 

My job there had me basically driving around the streets of Newark every single day so I'm intimately familiar with the entire city as well as a major portion of Licking County as a whole.

 

Newark is like a mini melting pot city. You've got your rural Ohio types who are their own breed (this is not meant in a negative way either), you've got your lower class riding the poverty line types (city has a decent drug/homeless problem but they're working on it) and then you have a ton of middle class+ people who are just living average lives and probably work in Columbus.

 

There are some really nice areas, some really rough areas and a lot of areas that are just alright. The city itself has improved immensely in recent years. The amount of change and positive improvements I've seen in just 5 years is astounding and not something you ever witness on the east coast. Areas people use to avoid are now destinations. The downtown square is absolutely beautiful and only getting better. There's a great variety of good food, you have easy access to Columbus and easy access to the Hocking Hills area (aka best city in the state and most scenic part of the state imo). And it's just improving month in month out with no signs of stopping.

 

It's certainly a very interesting place to live and absolutely has its' own flavor, but as far as I'm concerned that's a positive. People complain that Columbus doesn't have culture or character, well I can say with certainty Newark has its' own special version of both which make It a very unique part of the state.

 

Overall, Newark is what you make of it. If you're living next to the homeless shelter in a run down old house on the east side you'll probably have a bad opinion. If you're living in one of the nice new neighborhoods, you'll probably have a good opinion. I would absolutely consider the Newark area if I was looking to buy a house.

 

That is very well stated.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  All in all, the one thing i will say that is very encouraging...is the overall optimism within the city.  You can feel the energy with the residents. There is a level of joy and optimism over the last 5 years that has been truly felt by everyone.  Thanks for stating that the way i couldn't!! 

To my last post about the newest development in Downtown Newark....this entire block of West Church has transformed over the last 5 years. Its quite remarkable.  The area in Yellow is where the new project is under construction.  It is going to be awesome!!!

 

 

Before: (building was completely vacant)

 

 

 

After: (building will be completely full with JUST opened condos upstairs)

 

 

For anyone that is interested.  The condos upstairs that just recently finished are AMAZING!!!

 

https://newarklofts.com/

 

That is a great website to see all of the lofts that have been completely renovated the last 5 years or so.

 

 

57 minutes ago, OhioFinest said:

To my last post about the newest development in Downtown Newark....this entire block of West Church has transformed over the last 5 years. Its quite remarkable.  The area in Yellow is where the new project is under construction.  It is going to be awesome!!!

 

 

Before: (building was completely vacant)

 

 

 

After: (building will be completely full with JUST opened condos upstairs)

 

 

For anyone that is interested.  The condos upstairs that just recently finished are AMAZING!!!

 

https://newarklofts.com/

 

That is a great website to see all of the lofts that have been completely renovated the last 5 years or so.

 

 

My major gripe with considering Downtown Newark as a potential place to live is the parking situation. If you lived here you would likely need to leave your car in that garage which is a decent walk away.

 

I also got to tour the apartments above the new cornerstone/Subway on the reverse side of this when they were almost done. They honestly might be even cooler than these ones and these are pretty cool. There were talks about an old bank building getting demolished and building another parking garage right around the corner from here as well which would make living in this area more accessible.

4 hours ago, OhioFinest said:

 

Wow...If its so "Nope!"...then why is it growing, investing and heading in such a positive direction?  Sounds like you haven't really driven around the city lately, because if you did, you would know that many of the neighborhoods you mentioned, have improved or are in the process of being renewed.  Sprawl is NOT always a bad thing either.  I don't understand how the 5 housing developments being built right now are anything but good for the city of Newark?  Newark is 100% going through a renaissance. 

 

LOL I've been there more this year than I have in the previous 20, since I'm involved in a court proceeding in Licking County and the Licking County court system is among the least online-capable of any I've encountered (Stark, Summit, Medina, Cuyahoga, Franklin, federal).  Snapped a decent number of photos on one of those trips earlier this year, too, and posted them on your Newark photos thread, in case you've forgotten:

 

 

And like I said above, I do like what the city has done with downtown.  I'm excited about the possible gut-to-the-studs renovation of the arcade there, too.  But I still stand by what I said about the housing stock even just on the edges of downtown (and we're talking mere blocks, not a mile or even half a mile, from the downtown developments that you've been posting).  I walked some of those neighborhoods myself--e.g., on one more recent trip, I walked from downtown up Granville Street past St. Francis church.

 

Zillow and the Licking County Auditor's Web site both back me up on this.  By central Ohio standards, Newark is still cheap--borderline dirt cheap.

 

I can be excited for what is there, and the sporadic quality development slated to go in there, without overselling it.

1 minute ago, Gramarye said:

 

LOL I've been there more this year than I have in the previous 20, since I'm involved in a court proceeding in Licking County and the Licking County court system is among the least online-capable of any I've encountered (Stark, Summit, Medina, Cuyahoga, Franklin, federal).  Snapped a decent number of photos on one of those trips earlier this year, too, and posted them on your Newark photos thread, in case you've forgotten:

 

 

And like I said above, I do like what the city has done with downtown.  I'm excited about the possible gut-to-the-studs renovation of the arcade there, too.  But I still stand by what I said about the housing stock even just on the edges of downtown (and we're talking mere blocks, not a mile or even half a mile, from the downtown developments that you've been posting).  I walked some of those neighborhoods myself--e.g., on one more recent trip, I walked from downtown up Granville Street past St. Francis church.

 

Zillow and the Licking County Auditor's Web site both back me up on this.  By central Ohio standards, Newark is still cheap--borderline dirt cheap.

 

I can be excited for what is there, and the sporadic quality development slated to go in there, without overselling it.

Most of those neighborhoods immediately bordering Downtown are the lowest income neighborhoods in the entire city. Old run down places rented out by slum lords. There are way nicer places to live in Newark, my personal favorite is the North Newark area where you can be on 21st street in under 10 minutes but live far enough away from all the hustle and bustle of the major shopping areas and not be in an area people travel thorough unless they live there. Opossum Hollow might be my favorite residential street in the city.

On 9/10/2021 at 3:27 PM, Gramarye said:

 

LOL I've been there more this year than I have in the previous 20, since I'm involved in a court proceeding in Licking County and the Licking County court system is among the least online-capable of any I've encountered (Stark, Summit, Medina, Cuyahoga, Franklin, federal).  Snapped a decent number of photos on one of those trips earlier this year, too, and posted them on your Newark photos thread, in case you've forgotten:

 

 

And like I said above, I do like what the city has done with downtown.  I'm excited about the possible gut-to-the-studs renovation of the arcade there, too.  But I still stand by what I said about the housing stock even just on the edges of downtown (and we're talking mere blocks, not a mile or even half a mile, from the downtown developments that you've been posting).  I walked some of those neighborhoods myself--e.g., on one more recent trip, I walked from downtown up Granville Street past St. Francis church.

 

Zillow and the Licking County Auditor's Web site both back me up on this.  By central Ohio standards, Newark is still cheap--borderline dirt cheap.

 

I can be excited for what is there, and the sporadic quality development slated to go in there, without overselling it.

Let me ask you, would you consider Columbus to be a nice city? it has awful neighborhoods too! Newark is just like Columbus, but on a smaller scale.  Columbus has amazing places to live...and at the same time has bad areas.  Newark is no different...so why the two distinctions?  I wouldn't consider Columbus to be a run down city, nor do i consider Newark to be a run down city. Yes, there are rough areas, but i chalk that up to Newark being a lot bigger than what people on here think and suffering from the same issues many large cities in our country do.  There are many nice areas of Newark. The North end and West end and many blocks of other areas are really nice as well.  But to categorize Newark as a "Nope" when it comes to being a nice city is just false.  There is a reason why people are moving here...i'd like to think its because Newark IS a good place to live.  That's not "overselling" anything. 

3 minutes ago, OhioFinest said:

Yes, there are rough areas, but i chalk that up to Newark being a lot bigger than what people on here think and suffering from the same issues many large cities in our country do.

 

Why do you keep referring to Newark as a large city with large city issues when it's very obviously not even remotely close to being a large city? I completely get your desire to defend Newark and I agree with many of your points, but saying ridiculous things like "Newark has big city issues" is simply not helpful. It's population is just below 50k. According to Wikipedia there are 326 US cities with populations over 100k. Newark is only halfway to that mark and will never make it there. There are probably ~450 US cities with larger populations than Newark, so let's be a little bit more realistic here. 

Being relatively cheap and with the connections to Columbus and with the area growing and North and East being the favored quarters, will that not eventually help Newark and maybe get some of the older inner areas redeveloped? If(and I mean "if" as we don't know how these projection will pan out)the region adds the half million or so people it is expected to to reach that three million mark predicted by MORPC, won't Newark be in a good position to gain significantly from that? Besides the obvious Marysville and Delaware, won't Newark and Lancaster also have to significantly add people at some point? 

 

I would imagine that not only new people coming into the area might choose Newark or Lancaster, but some actual Columbus "refugees" who feel the city is getting too-big, crowded, crime ridden, "dense", "urban" etc-take your pick-will move to places like Lancaster and Newark to get a slower pace but be near the bigger city and it's amenities?

 

I am just pleased to see Newark healthy and growing-not that many places in this state can say that.

Newark may not be a large city, but it is an older, mid-size post-industrial city that has similar challenges to larger cities. Our state is filled with these towns. Most have beautiful architecture, walkable neighborhoods, and a robust history, but not all are on the road to restored vitality. 

 

Revitalization is a long journey, but it has to start somewhere--and it usually starts with the core. I would suggest that Newark, Sandusky, and Hamilton are making the greatest strides right now towards changing the narrative of their cities. There are good things coming from Springfield, Middletown, Lima, and Lorain that are also encouraging, but the momentum seems mixed. Elyria should be doing so much better.

37 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Why do you keep referring to Newark as a large city with large city issues when it's very obviously not even remotely close to being a large city? I completely get your desire to defend Newark and I agree with many of your points, but saying ridiculous things like "Newark has big city issues" is simply not helpful. It's population is just below 50k. According to Wikipedia there are 326 US cities with populations over 100k. Newark is only halfway to that mark and will never make it there. There are probably ~450 US cities with larger populations than Newark, so let's be a little bit more realistic here. 

Well I think he probably has a different definition of "large city". Compared to London England it is tiny; compared to London Ohio it is large. Both of the Londons mentioned are cities. Newark is certainly more of a "big city" than some of those 326 US cities over 100,000 that you mentioned. Spokane Valley, Washington, Downey, California, etc.-those are just suburbs with no real downtowns. I would say that Newark is "bigger" than the ones like that. 

 

But I also get your point that he is a big fan of the city and tends to go overboard a bit. I can cut him some slack though.

52 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Why do you keep referring to Newark as a large city with large city issues when it's very obviously not even remotely close to being a large city? I completely get your desire to defend Newark and I agree with many of your points, but saying ridiculous things like "Newark has big city issues" is simply not helpful. It's population is just below 50k. According to Wikipedia there are 326 US cities with populations over 100k. Newark is only halfway to that mark and will never make it there. There are probably ~450 US cities with larger populations than Newark, so let's be a little bit more realistic here. 

It is the second largest city in Central Ohio only behind Columbus. It's also only about 20sq miles so it's very dense compared to the 240 sq miles Columbus covers. So theoretically if Newark was the same size as Columbus and kept its' current density it would have 600,000 people in it.

1 minute ago, TIm said:

It is the second largest city in Central Ohio only behind Columbus. It's also only about 20sq miles so it's very dense compared to the 240 sq miles Columbus covers. So theoretically if Newark was the same size as Columbus and kept its' current density it would have 600,000 people in it.

 

If the Columbus city limits covered the same area Houston's does but maintained its current population density across the entire area, it would have 1.3 million more people than Houston. Ipso facto, Columbus is now a mega-American city. 

 

 

17 minutes ago, TIm said:

It is the second largest city in Central Ohio only behind Columbus. It's also only about 20sq miles so it's very dense compared to the 240 sq miles Columbus covers. So theoretically if Newark was the same size as Columbus and kept its' current density it would have 600,000 people in it.

The Columbus land area is only 219 square miles. Just sayin' and all. And 20 square miles at 50,000 people is only 2,500 persons per square mile. Columbus is densifying and is over 4,100 per square mile at this point. Newark is significantly less dense than Columbus. 

Edited September 13, 20213 yr by Toddguy

6 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

If the Columbus city limits covered the same area Houston's does but maintained its current population density across the entire area, it would have 1.3 million more people than Houston. Ipso facto, Columbus is now a mega-American city. 

 

 

Except if Columbus were 640 square miles it would encompass almost the entire urban area if not all of it and basically would be a Jacksonville! lol.-city equals city population and almost all of the metro population. 

 

*But if you have spent anytime on Skyscraperpage, then being a Jacksonville would mean our skyline would automatically rival Toronto's

9 minutes ago, Toddguy said:

The Columbus land area is only 219 square miles. Just sayin' and all. And 20 square miles at 50,000 people is only 2,500 persons per square mile. Columbus is densifying and is over 4,100 per square mile at this point. Newark is significantly less dense than Columbus. 

Yes, this can be seen by my theoretical population being 300,000 less than Columbus.

34 minutes ago, TIm said:

Yes, this can be seen by my theoretical population being 300,000 less than Columbus.

Well I was responding to the bolded only. It is not dense in any comparison to Columbus really. And that is not a knock on Newark, it is just the facts regarding the part of your comment that I bolded. I am a fan of Newark and want the best for it and I think it has a pretty bright future based on if nothing else it's location and transportation ties to the rest of Central Ohio. The area also offers hilly terrain that most of the rest of Central Ohio lacks-that should also be in it's favor. You just don't have that kind of topography in Union or Delaware Counties, right?  Attractive natural surroundings do count.

 

*Newark should play up both it's proximity to Columbus and it's more hilly terrain and greater proximity to hillier areas and places like Buckeye Lake, the Dawes Arboretum there(LOVE! that cypress bog!), etc. I really wish they would go ahead with some of those plans for recreational/amusement expansion on Buckeye Lake. It is a very pretty area IMO. Newark needs to be more aggressive in stealing more of the Columbus metro population growth for itself.

Edited September 13, 20213 yr by Toddguy

23 minutes ago, Toddguy said:

Well I was responding to the bolded only. It is not dense in any comparison to Columbus really. And that is not a knock on Newark, it is just the facts regarding the part of your comment that I bolded. I am a fan of Newark and want the best for it and I think it has a pretty bright future based on if nothing else it's location and transportation ties to the rest of Central Ohio. The area also offers hilly terrain that most of the rest of Central Ohio lacks-that should also be in it's favor. You just don't have that kind of topography in Union or Delaware Counties, right?  Attractive natural surroundings do count.

 

*Newark should play up both it's proximity to Columbus and it's more hilly terrain and greater proximity to hillier areas and places like Buckeye Lake, the Dawes Arboretum there(LOVE! that cypress bog!), etc. I really wish they would go ahead with some of those plans for recreational/amusement expansion on Buckeye Lake. It is a very pretty area IMO. Newark needs to be more aggressive in stealing more of the Columbus metro population growth for itself.

I was not specifically talking about population density, more so the size of the city. It's small and compact which means it's dense. Everything you could ever need is packed into that 20sq miles.

(Sorry this is a bit long...)

 

In my mind, Newark is a medium city by Ohio standards, and a small city by national standards. I was surprised when I moved to the area (having grown up in greater Cincinnati) how unexpectedly urban downtown Newark is, and I'm thrilled with everything happening down there. I've found Newark to be kind of a smaller-scale mirror of the development and growth trends found in the larger cities throughout Ohio. That in itself is actually pretty interesting from an urbanist perspective.

The formerly prosperous, fairly dense downtown went through a few rough decades thanks to commercial sprawl in parasitic suburban municipalities. However, Heath is looking pretty tired/outdated these days, the trend of moving away from malls and chain retail really shows. Newark is doing a great job seizing the opportunity, and fortunately much of what made downtown Newark feel "authentic" seems to have been spared becoming a parking lot like so much of urban Ohio.

The older, fairly dense, smaller single family residential neighborhoods within walking distance of downtown are what need the most work. There are also some "factory town" neighborhoods throughout the city along the same lines, within walking distance of a current of former industry. These neighborhoods have a long way to go before they are conventionally desirable places to live, but some are okay enough and most are quite affordable.

There are some formerly wealthy areas with amazing bargain-priced houses (Hudson Ave, West Main, Granville St) in decent enough condition. The city is bisected by divided highways, which (like in much of Ohio) cut off the upper-middle class automobile and streetcar neighborhoods from to core, and pushed the growth further out. Some of these neighborhoods are rough but many are mostly fine, for an old house enthusiast there are some real gems hidden around town.

Most of the recent residential development and wealth is in post-war "sprawl" suburbs, which at least are mostly within the City of Newark. There are some very cool mid-century or otherwise interesting houses in the neighborhood to the west of OSU-N, and the prices are great for what you are getting. Most of the current development is in the City of Newark/Granville Schools areas (Park Trails), the prices are quite high for new but otherwise meh houses thanks to the desirability of Granville schools.

I like that Newark is traditionally a pretty blue-collar city, and hasn't fallen to nearly the extent that many industrial cities in Ohio have. I think that the "sprawl within" helped keep city finances and overall population pretty stable when most comparable cities in Ohio were rapidly declining, and now we're (hopefully) starting to come out the other side of the suburbanization trend. There are a lot of good things happening in Newark right now and a lot of potential to work with. With easy accessibility to metro Columbus, it isn't hard to see Newark becoming a bargain-priced bedroom community that still is fairly independent as a community. I think the biggest obstacle for getting to that point is getting the schools (especially at the High School level) to the level where families are comfortable relocating to the area. 

An Amtrak stop at the very cool train station (Pittsburg to Chicago?) could also drive desirability to live in the area, particularly near downtown and for those without kids. Newark also seems relatively ripe for an immigrant community to gain critical mass in a few of the dense/walkable/cheap neighborhoods, which would definitely drive growth and make the city more unique and interesting. I recall this being pretty common throughout southern New England, driving though Newark-size cities it wasn't uncommon for all the businesses signs to suddenly switch to Portuguese.  

15 minutes ago, mrCharlie said:

An Amtrak stop at the very cool train station (Pittsburg to Chicago?) could also drive desirability to live in the area, particularly near downtown and for those without kids.

 

An Amtrak stop in Newark would be great for the city. Even better, but probably much less likely, would be a commuter rail from Newark to Columbus. It would really unlocked Newark's potential and take it to the next level.

 

The same could be said for Lancaster, which is very similar (although slightly smaller) to Newark in many ways. It's a historically blue collar town. The anchor city in its small region of the state. Connected to, but somewhat independent of, the Columbus urban area. Has a solid downtown commercial area with fairly dense historic neighborhoods surrounding it. Has a somewhat separate identity from Columbus. Has never really had a decade of material population decline. 

37 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

An Amtrak stop in Newark would be great for the city. Even better, but probably much less likely, would be a commuter rail from Newark to Columbus. It would really unlocked Newark's potential and take it to the next level.

 

Commuter rail would certainly be fantastic, but (sadly) we've got some time to go before that becomes viable in metro Columbus. Either way, assuming the existing station would be reused nearly all of downtown Newark is an easy walk to hop on a train. Along with the current trends of things to do, cool lofts, etc happening down there, downtown Newark would be immensely appealing to younger people and empty nesters alike.

 

41 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

The same could be said for Lancaster, which is very similar (although slightly smaller) to Newark in many ways. It's a historically blue collar town. The anchor city in its small region of the state. Connected to, but somewhat independent of, the Columbus urban area. Has a solid downtown commercial area with fairly dense historic neighborhoods surrounding it. Has a somewhat separate identity from Columbus. Has never really had a decade of material population decline. 

 

Definitely lots of parallels between the two cities, for better or worse. We cut through Lancaster on the way to Athens pretty regularly (via 37/22/old 33) and downtown really seems to be coming alive in much the same way Newark is. I think Lancaster also benefited from not having a Granville or Heath next door to pull away wealth or development from the core city, and the (old) highway is better positioned and better integrated into the city than the fully separated highways in Newark.

3 minutes ago, mrCharlie said:

Commuter rail would certainly be fantastic, but (sadly) we've got some time to go before that becomes viable in metro Columbus. Either way, assuming the existing station would be reused nearly all of downtown Newark is an easy walk to hop on a train. Along with the current trends of things to do, cool lofts, etc happening down there, downtown Newark would be immensely appealing to younger people and empty nesters alike.

 

It might become so appealing that Millennial Tower could get built there instead of Columbus....lol

 

4 minutes ago, mrCharlie said:

I think Lancaster also benefited from not having a Granville or Heath next door to pull away wealth or development from the core city, and the (old) highway is better positioned and better integrated into the city than the fully separated highways in Newark.

 

Great point on the wealth being pulled away from Newark.  Lancaster definitely has a leg up on Newark in terms of the downtown area being connected to its nicer neighborhoods. Lancaster has many beautiful historic houses directly north of its downtown/commercial. This area is easily walkable to the commercial strip. The entire area north of "downtown" Lancaster and south of the fairgrounds is housing that ranges from decent to very nice. Newark, unfortunately, doesn't have anything like that directly connected to its downtown, but hopefully the nearby neighborhoods will improve as downtown continues to improve.

 

This is no way supposed to suggest that one city is better than the other. It's merely a comparison of the two with respect to a single attribute. Both are nice and are "better" than the other in various manners. 

On 9/10/2021 at 1:42 PM, TIm said:

I might be able to provide a completely different perspective here.

 

I moved to the Newark area in 2016 from the east coast. Was sick of battling for work in the most expensive part of the country to only get paid a wage which wouldn't allow me to live my life so I uprooted everything and got a job with Licking County.

 

My job there had me basically driving around the streets of Newark every single day so I'm intimately familiar with the entire city as well as a major portion of Licking County as a whole.

 

Newark is like a mini melting pot city. You've got your rural Ohio types who are their own breed (this is not meant in a negative way either), you've got your lower class riding the poverty line types (city has a decent drug/homeless problem but they're working on it) and then you have a ton of middle class+ people who are just living average lives and probably work in Columbus.

 

There are some really nice areas, some really rough areas and a lot of areas that are just alright. The city itself has improved immensely in recent years. The amount of change and positive improvements I've seen in just 5 years is astounding and not something you ever witness on the east coast. Areas people use to avoid are now destinations. The downtown square is absolutely beautiful and only getting better. There's a great variety of good food, you have easy access to Columbus and easy access to the Hocking Hills area (aka best city in the state and most scenic part of the state imo). And it's just improving month in month out with no signs of stopping.

 

It's certainly a very interesting place to live and absolutely has its' own flavor, but as far as I'm concerned that's a positive. People complain that Columbus doesn't have culture or character, well I can say with certainty Newark has its' own special version of both which make It a very unique part of the state.

 

Overall, Newark is what you make of it. If you're living next to the homeless shelter in a run down old house on the east side you'll probably have a bad opinion. If you're living in one of the nice new neighborhoods, you'll probably have a good opinion. I would absolutely consider the Newark area if I was looking to buy a house.

 

Just now coming back and reading this! Thank you so much for this breakdown and your heartfelt experiences. Definitely above and beyond what I was expecting, but it gave me a great idea of what Newark is like.

55 minutes ago, Zyrokai said:

 

Just now coming back and reading this! Thank you so much for this breakdown and your heartfelt experiences. Definitely above and beyond what I was expecting, but it gave me a great idea of what Newark is like.

No problem! Feel like I'm in an incredibly small minority of people who aren't from Ohio, moved here as an adult and ended up moving to Newark as the first place they ever lived in Ohio haha. Definitely a different perspective since the locals seem to either hate it so much that they would prefer to move to Florida and are constantly insulting the place or love it so much they rarely even leave the city limits but also never talk about how great Newark can be.

Edited September 14, 20213 yr by TIm