Hi,
Last May we bought a house in Westgate. We used to reside on the north side near Worthington. We do like it here in the Westgate area but we have already noticed some differences. The mainstream retail stores just don't seem to carry as much merchandise, and dining out seems to be lacking in variety. We have also noticed that in these mainstream
shopping areas not much effort seems to be put in its landscaping. How is it that the North side can enjoy these nicer things but the Westside cannot? What does it take to change this?

West side plauge

I totally agree, the West side seems to be nearly shunned. But we also seem to have some of the best value in housing, are the two connected?
After all being in Westgate you are a 10 minute drive to downtown, German Village, North Market.. but you still get to live in a 'quaint' affordable truly diverse neighborhood.

I wonder why the Hilltop Business Association has encouraged & endorsed projects like Rite Aid who has bulldozed a key location on the Hilltop.

in response

I'll agree the Hilltop could use some beautification efforts. Maybe that would help bring in better businesses other than the somewhat lacking ones we have now. We'll need to be prepared for affordable housing to become isolated though as well as crime to be located with it. Sounds like a catch 22 and I feel bad for those pockets as well as the people who will have to eventually make those decisions.
Anyway...if beautification is at least part of the answer, why wait for the City or the Hilltop to provide it? Many of the Hilltop communities and neighbors are working together and using their own funds as well as grant funding and retailer support to pretty up their area. I suggest we could all get a little busier in "doing" and less busy in "wanting."
Call the Hilltop Resource Center for advise on beginning a community effort
to help make things better or you could organize your neighbors on your own and make a day of it. I've done it and we're planning more. It's up to you.
Thanks!

By R. Mathess

Let's get things to change

I have also noticed this problem as well. Why don't we use our website to help us improve our community. Lets add to this discussion with everyone voicing there opinions. Once we have a list of discussions the website coordinator should contact the area business associations and have them review our website to see our discussions. The same thing should be done with the city of Columbus. Maybe they can come out and improve our community landscaping if they know we are concerned about its appearance. Maybe these organizations think that nobody cares.

By anaonymous