GROVEPORT, Ohio — Finding green space in the middle of development is not easy. But central Ohio leaders are making sure it’s part of their master plan.
“We require a certain number of bushes and trees and yes, green space,” Groveport City Council member Becky Hutson told 10TV Anchor Angela An during a recent visit to a new pocket park. “We try to incorporate and mandate that there be trees and buses with any new build,” she said.
This story is part of 10TV's "Boomtown" initiative — our commitment to covering every angle of central Ohio's rapid growth. This includes highlighting success stories, shining a light on growing pains and seeking solutions to issues in your everyday life.
In 2023, Groveport Council approved a small park at the corner of Front and Main in historic downtown Groveport. With benches, trees and a concrete patio, the park is a place for people to gather.
“You see a lot in the mornings, people that are taking their children over to school,” explained councilmember Shawn Cleary. “You see a grandma and grandpa here also watching them out there in the park and at recess and stuff,” he added.
Pocket parks are the newest trend in major boomtown cities as developers gobble up land. Columbus Recreation and Parks provided 10TV with a list of nearly 50 pocket parks sprinkled throughout the city, but mostly in densely populated areas where green space is lacking.
Nora Gerber spent the past two years taking community input and turning it into action.
“Two of our big key takeaways were people wanting a better sense of belonging and community,” she said while standing in a new pocket park at corner of Iuka and Waldeck.
Gerber, the executive director of the University District Organization, said not long after the study, she received a phone call from the pastor of Indianola Presbyterian Church, located at 1970 Waldeck Avenue, asking how she could help turn its front lawn into a community space for people to gather.
“We have so much development going on,” Gerber said. “We have all of these apartments that don't necessarily have maybe as many backyards or community spaces within them, and we want people to come out of their house and meet their neighbors.”
In Upper Arlington, city leaders dedicated a new pocket park on Oct. 1 called "Edwards Green," located at 2491 Abington Rd.
“We're a land-locked community with little opportunity to grow,” said Jessica Grisez with the Upper Arlington Community Foundation, which will maintain the property. “It's important to cherish the spaces we have available.”
The green space was gifted to the UA Community Foundation by Michael and Phaedra Edwards in honor of their parents Pete and Suzie Edwards who love the outdoors. The hope is that Edwards Green gathers neighbors and community members outside, away from screens, and fosters a love of nature and human connection.
It's a mission Gerber understands after growing up her whole life in the University District and seeing growth consume her childhood.
“The park that I used to go to would have been my elementary school, which is now torn down in a bunch of condos,” said Gerber. “So that is a green space that is no longer.”
The park is planning a dedication event sometime later this month.