Barbara Sondgerath

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Working hard to make it easy for you!

Edgewood, Down Home city full of fun options

Close to Home: by Jane Prenergast, from the KY Enquirer, Jan. 1998

Introduction

• Mostly Residential
• Steady Growth
• Plethora of Parks
• Firehouse Added
• The Talk of Edgewood

Introduction

For recreation here, you can take tennis lessons, do aerobics, or play softball and volleyball.  More leisurely folks might take to the summer evening concert series or mystery dinner theater.

This is no cruise-ship itinerary.  These are the regular recreation deparment offerings of the city of Edgewood.

"This is our philosophy - we just want Edgwood to be a city people really want to live in, " said City Administrator Lou Noll.  "We look out there and say, 'What can we do to make people want to  live here?' And fortunately, we're able to do it.

As this Northern Kentucky city celebrates its 50th birthday throughout this year, residents and officials can reflect on a half-century of prosperity and increasing development.

"The people here, even though they're the upper echelon, so to speak, they're really nice," said Jim Flynn, a volunteer firefighter.  "Edgewood is close to all the conveniences, yet it's still down-home."

The city, as it is today, was formed in 1968 when Edgewood and the former Summit Hills Heights and Pius Heights combined after residents voted the previous year to merge.  Edgewood, established in 1948, was the  oldest and largest of the three.  Pius Heights was named for St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, another community touchstone.

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Mostly Residential

Now, as then, the city is virtually all residential, with the major exceptions being St. Elizabeth Medical Center's south unit, an adjacent medical complex, and the Edgwood Square retail center.

The hospital is by far the city's largest employer.  Its workers provide city coffers with a big portion of the more than $1.5 million taken in every year in payroll taxes - a big help for the city's $3.9 million budget.

Some of the poshest houses in Northen Kentucky sit along Edgewood streets.  One house on four lots in the Homestead subdivision off Dudley Road is valued at $2.6 million.

Contrast that with the Heritage Lane house built by original Edgewood landowner Col. Thomas Buckner in 1839 - thought to be the oldest house in the city.

And though subdivisions have cropped up all over the virtually landlocked city, using up most of the land, some residences still sit on nice peices of acreage.

Mr. Flynn, a landscaper when he's not at the fire deparment, maintains what he said is thought to be the largest private residence, a 59-acre estate.

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Steady Growth

The population of Edgwood has grown steadily over the years, from about 375 in 1948 to more than 4,000 in 1970, more than 7,000 in 1980, and more than 8,100 in 1990.

Mr. Noll, also a former mayor, arrived in 1967 when his house in Southgate got too small for what would ultimately be a family of 10 children.  In need of a large house, he and his wife decided to build in Edgewood.

Things were different then.  Turkeyfoot was just two lanes.  Its intersection with Dudley Road required only a stop sign.  When he became a councilman six years later, the city budget was just about  $100,000.

"We've been blessed with a lot of development, good development,"  Mr. Noll said.  "But that's going to come to an and at some point."

That may be the city's biggest challenge for the future - what to make of itself when the rest of the land is used up.  Mr. Noll estimated there is 10 percent to 15 percent of the city left now.

That upcoming time is part of the reason the city maintains a healthy pot of money in savings - about $3 million now, with a third of it committed to capital improvements.

Some have been critical of the city administration over the fund, but Mr. Noll insists the Edgewood of the future will need it.

Even now, Edgewood has the tax base to be able to offer its residents more than most cities can - in the recreation deparment, for example.  Also offered are such things as a winter dance for fifth and sixth-graders and Shakespeare in the park.  Next week, a woman dressed as Cupid will deliver valentines around the city.

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Plethora of Parks

The city has also succeeded in developing parks, a struggle for some of its neighboring communities.  There are two in Edgewood, President's and Freedom.

"Recreation's not just sports, it's leisure," said recreation director Kim Wolking.  "We do plays and concerts.  We try to give everyone something."  The Easter egg hunt keeps  growing, with 8,000 hidden last year.

More than 300 runners showed up for the annual July 4 5K race.  Even Mayor John Link was pressed into action during the annual Turkey Bowl flag-football game in November.  And the twice-a-week aerobics classes are a huge hit.  One session last week drew 70 people.

"We just feel like, 'Let's have a little razzle-dazzle; let's have a little fun,'" the mayor said.

A host of activities are planned to mark the city's birthday.  Unveiled last week at a kickoff party, they include a school "What My City Means to Me" contest.

A history committee, led by Councilman Jeff Schreiver, is gathering nforamtion to use in a book about the city's past.

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Firehouse Added

The firehouse is becoming a community centerpiece now that the department is part of the city.

The change from Southern Hills Volunteer Fire Deparment to ownership by the city took place last year beause Kentucky law prohibited the former fire protection board from contracting with non-profit groups such as  the fire department.

The change actually gives the deparment a bigger budget and Edgwood residents the coverage a little less expensively than before.

A new police chief will hit town soon, too - Forest Park Chief Steve Vollmar arrives in April.

His reputation for watching over kids at crosswalks and taking off-duty neighborhood strolls to meet residents will fit in well with the kind of city Edgewood want to be, Mr. Noll said.

"This is a great place to live," he said.  "I guess that's obvious.  I certainly stayed."

Said Mayor Link: "It's cozy and comfortable.  We're nestled with fine cities around us, and we're comfortable in that we're able to do things other places can't."

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The Talk of Edgewood

"For me, it's accessibility.  You can get to everywhere very easily - the interstate, Dixie Highway, the hospital.  It's home." -----Randy Childress, 24.

"It's a small community with lots of green space." -----Linda Christensen, 50, a lifelong resident

"Ther's not much crime.  You feel safe here." -----Mark Albrinck, 25

"It has the atmosphere of a small city with the accessibility of all the things a large city has to offer." -----Mary Jo Germann, 51, an Edgewoodian for 18 years

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