Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

97 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 NORWOOD , OHIO growing.” With the city demographic changing, the current administration is concentrating on revitalization of the downtown district, known as The Pike. “It was very vibrant, and we are trying to regrow that,” says Tom Perry, Executive Assistant to the Mayor. “That has really been the focus of this administration, creating more pedestrian- friendly spots and growing businesses. The Pike has always been kind of the heartbeat of the city as far as small business goes.” A grant for a project titled Heritage Park has recently been obtained, with the intention of adding an improved outdoor space beside City Hall. Perry, adds, “We see a lot of energy building around these one or two blocks around City Hall. We have a big event center that’s going to be opened down the street. It’s beautiful what they have done, and we think it’s going to be very successful. The city has made a few preliminary infrastructure improvements to try to supplement that. We recently redid the city through challenging times. Another important resource, the Norwood Chamber of Commerce, offers business and professional support to local enterprises. They host the Norwood Day Parade that has been going on for over 127 years! Housing prices are on the rise in Norwood, where many homes are over a century old. Sale of these older homes is creating changes throughout the city. As Mayor Schneider explains, “Our housing stock is older housing stock, my house was built in 1911. That is the age of the homes in this area. A lot of the homes have been second and third generation owners, meaning that three generations of the family lived here. We are seeing a lot of those homes sold to young families and because of that our median age has changed from an older demographic to a much younger demographic. Our median age is now around 33. That was a major change in the number of children and families. You had older families with elderly people living in these huge homes, and now it’s young families that are