Victorian Village: Successful rebirth
The Dispatch wrote
Rescued from rougher days, neighborhood thrives as it did a century ago
Sunday, September 7, 2008
BY SHERRI WILLIAMS
Queen Anne manses tower over quaint cottages and rentals on the streets of Victorian Village. The diverse housing stock dates to the late 19th century, when the mix of large homes, row houses, doubles and cottages resulted from “a mix of people with money, and people who worked for people with money,” said Rob Pettit, a Victorian Village Society board member.
Today, Victorian Village is still home to a diverse group: families and singles, owners and renters, and gays and straights, many of whom describe the community as cosmopolitan, progressive and tolerant.
But where today there are stately homes and a cosmopolitan charisma, 20 years ago there was blight and crime. The decline began 80 years ago, according to the Victorian Village Society, when the automobile helped create suburbs to the north and northwest. By the 1970s, large houses had been divided into apartments. Others were boarded and vacated.
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Related Tags: Development • historic • homes • neighborhood • rebirth • the dispatch • urban • Victorian Village
September 8th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Nice little article.
Bought a house in Vic. Village almost a year ago, haven’t regretted it since.
After years of living on High St. in the Short North, it’s nice to live on a quiet, residential street and still have all the action of the Short North just a couple blocks away.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
The Dispatch is always the first to notice the fast-breaking stories…
September 8th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Ha! I don’t think they meant this to be “breaking news”. Nice to see them focusing on an urban neighborhood that doesn’t seem to usually get a whole lot of media attention. Probably due to the the fact that it’s primarily a residential area, and there’s not really any room there for new newsworthy development.
I’m willing to bet that there are thousands upon thousands of gallery hoppers each year who hit the Short North and never venture the two blocks west to see what a beautiful neighborhood is there.
Plus it’s a great reminder that this neighborhood was very rough a mere 30 years ago. To hear stories of individual pioneers investing in an area like this should hopefully be encouraging for anyone looking to invest in other areas of the inner city. Who wouldn’t want to triple their investment in 10 years? ;)
September 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
VicVillage got a lot more media attention in late ’90s, around when/just after things there were really well broken into a revitalized neighborhood.
These days I don’t think it gets as much talk just because it’s been in good shape and going strong for awhile now. Still a great Columbus success story.