WARREN COUNTY, Ohio -- The recent apartment and condominium boom in Deerfield Township started with Latitude at Deerfield Crossing, followed by The Grandstone on Wilkens Boulevard.
Soon The District at Deerfield will be built, along with the new Mercy Health complex that just broke ground.
"We want to make sure we are attracting development so that people want to be here and live here," said Jim Flick, the township's economic development director.
New apartments, condos and hip eateries like Maplewood Kitchen & Bar are part of the township's long-term plan to keep young professionals and their money right where they work.
"We want to make sure that we are offering the community amenities to make sure that our residents and our future residents are happy," said Flick.
Fifty percent of Deerfield Township's residents ages 25 to 34 have a college degree, and those graduates have a median income of $66,000. With employees moving into the new Procter & Gamble facility this year and next, those numbers are expected to trend upward.
"We understand there is a lot of commercial business, whether it is in Mason or Downtown, but we think that Deerfield is a wonderful community -- a great place to raise your family," said Flick.
The township also wants to make sure that potential residents know it's not all bricks and mortar, either. The new trustees who swept into power in the last election are working to try to elevate the park system, too.
"We are very much in tune or attempting to be in tune with what the community wants so, for example, we're doing a parks master plan right now," said Flick. "And we've held numerous public engagement sessions and focus groups to get them engaged and to really understand what's going on."
