Introducing Place: Northfield
Northfield, Ohio is a small area but part of a big district. Located virtually between Akron and Cleveland, route 82 gets you anywhere you need to be. The town really seems to be a force to be reckoned with. Northfield is a rapidly growing area to the point that it’s confusing, with some small town pride.
Northfield is expanding at unprecedented rates. As I learned from Garry, Northfield used to be considered a small farm town with not much to it. However, in the past five years it has been growing in population and size like never seen before. With diversity at approximately a 70/30 split of Caucasian to other, it is rising with a direct correlation to the population. Super highways with bow-tie ramps and overhead passings are becoming a common thing in this once small farm town. As the town has grown along with the surrounding ones which are: Northfield Center, Macedonia and Northfield Village, the school system has as well. All four of these towns share the same High School which has recently moved up from Division II to Division I in athletics, which shows growth in the school district.
Northfield’s relation to its three neighboring cities makes it hard to understand the area. With the expansion of the cities coming so close together to one another it’s hard to tell which area you are even in. Constant construction makes it hard to drive around with detours everywhere. The community as a whole isn’t too fond of this because it makes driving tedious, which really doesn’t help when it snows and it snows a lot. The only place to escape the confusion is if you leave to just outside the city to one of the many surrounding metro parks, which are used by many.
In Northfield, pride is one of the easiest things to find. There is a great sense of community pride, being part of a school district with excellent ratings for the past five years. Having installed one of the best stadiums in the area last year for their rather good football team gives them something to boast about as well. You will always find a crowd at Farinaccis Pizza, one of the best places to eat in town. All of these great amenities of the community really help you picture a great big-little town. I’d imagine this as a great place to move back to later in life, especially with all the growth. Business opportunity is probably soaring, I wouldn’t mind living at a place like this myself.
Northfield’s unprecedented growth, leading to hectic commuting, all while keeping a small town sense makes you wish you could’ve been there from the beginning. Northfield sounds just like a place I came from. To watch a small town turn into a large suburban area really is something unimaginable, especially in just five years.
