Hands on the neighbors glass door, we let them out eventually. (photo by Toby Boyce)
As we sit here early in the New Year, I have been doing a lot of planning and goal-setting for 2009.
Looking through the notes from last year, there were several questions that kept coming up in conversations. One of them, was “Why should I choose to live in Delaware Ohio?”
Hence, the latest in my “features” on Delaware begins, and weekly we will look at a piece of Delaware that makes me – and others – proud to call this community home. Okay enough of my rambling …
Why Delaware? The Community
My wife and I moved to Delaware in 2002, shortly after both taking jobs in town – me at Ohio Wesleyan and her at Grady Memorial Hospital.
We lived in Trotter’s Landing apartments the first year and were “typical” commuters. We had very few ties to the area, other than our jobs, and spent a lot time either in Columbus or at one of the parental-unit locations.
When it came time to buy our home, we had a challenge, where did we want to live?We weighed the options and looked at moving to Upper Sandusky, Marion, Apple Valley, and almost anywhere in between.
At about this same time, a few of my work functions got me involved in the local community — and I liked what I saw.This is a community – if you choose to make it one.
To prove my point …
- When I walk into a lot of the downtown businesses they know me by name and I’m not the only one. It is how they do business.
- There are “communities” within each of the neighborhoods. We spent New Year’s Eve and had a Holiday Party with many of our neighbors in our little corner of Locust Curve, and I know we were not the only ones.
- The sheer number of people involved with the Andrews House on some level makes it a wonderful and amazing proof of our community.
Don’t believe me yet?
I challenge you to go for breakfast at any of the “real” diners in the area from Sunbury Grill to Hamburger Inn to Corner Cafe and you’ll find members of the community sharing their lives and meeting with each other.
One cool thing is that Delawarians don’t care if you become involved or not. If you want to be a commuter and spend all your money in Columbus they’ll accept you with open arms. But if you decide you’d like to be involved in the community, they are more than willing to step-up and give you everything they can offer to make it happen.
We are now honored to call ourselves Delawarians.
“Why Delaware” is a weekly series, published every Wednesday, that features some of the community’s best features and what makes it a great place to live.
Photograph by Toby Boyce, all rights reserved 2008(c)
While I don’t spend much time in Delaware, every time I have been there I have found what you say to be true.
I love the downtown architecture and it does have a bit of that college town atmosphere that is attractive. I’d like to see the old downtown commercial district fill up with hustle and bustle again.
Excellent entry! I’m been looking for topics as interesting as this. Looking forward to your next post.
-Ella
sorry i still believe in heart i am a Republican….hence being from Republic…but Delaware is close second