Willoughby, OH

The only town in the nation's history to have belonged to six different counties, Willoughby, Ohio, is a unique city. This town of slightly less than 23,000 people is located 20 miles east of Cleveland and is nestled on the Lake Erie shoreline. Downtown Willoughby is a bustling historic district and has a lot to offer visitors and residents alike.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

Willoughby is neither a white-collar nor a blue-collar town. There is a unique blend of workers in a variety of occupations. Although manufacturing positions account for 20 percent of the city's workforce, an almost equal number of employees work in administrative support jobs. Other top employment opportunities in Willoughby include sales, management and health care. More people in this city work in computers and math than in 95 percent of the cities in the United States.

Some of the city's largest private employers are Marous Brothers Construction; G E Quartz, a manufacturer of fused quartz products; Giant Eagle supermarkets; and Deepwood Industries, an assembly and packaging contractor.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

• City Center: This urban-style part of town is generally home to midsize single-family houses that were built between 1940 and1962. There are also some historic homes that were constructed in 1939 or before. Apartment buildings and row houses can be found here as well. This artsy area is great for walking and has a mix of all age groups.
• Lake Shore Boulevard/Lost Nation Road: Mostly smaller single-family homes that were built from 1970 to 1994 are found in this suburban neighborhood. There is a mix of renters and owners.
• Lakeland Freeway/Vine Street: This quiet, suburban neighborhood consists mostly of residents who own their homes. These medium-size homes (three to four bedrooms) were mostly built from 1940 to 1962 and house a blend of age groups.
• Johnny Cake Ridge Road/Som Center Road: The majority of homes in this neighborhood were built between 1940 and 1962. Renters and owners alike enjoy this walkable area of town.
• Euclid Avenue/O M Center Road: This part of town contains mostly high-rise and complex-type apartment buildings that were built between 1970 and 1994. The quiet neighborhood is a mix of renters and owners of every age group.

LOCAL CULTURE AND CUISINE

The town of Willoughby has worked hard to preserve its history:

• Willoughby Historical Society collects and maintains important area artifacts.
• Downtown Willoughby is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is lined with shops and restaurants.
• Public Square is located downtown and consists of a landscaped park and a gazebo where it is not uncommon to witness a wedding or another event. The square turns into a winter wonderland in the winter with holiday décor.
• City Hall hosts a farmers market in its parking lot every Saturday throughout the summer.
• The Willoughby Brewing Co. is not a historic destination in itself, but the building it is located in is. The bar and restaurant are housed in a building that is more than 100 years old and was once a functioning rail-car repair depot for the Cleveland Ashtabula Interurban Rail Line.
• Another downtown establishment, Gavi's Restaurant, is located in a historic building that was built in 1896 as a power plant to generate electricity for the area's streetcar system.

BEST BETS

• The Fine Arts Association: A place for art instruction as well as a venue for live performances. The association is in collaboration with area parks and schools to create the best possible educational experience in the arts.
• United States Aviation Museum: A nonprofit organization located at the Lost Nation Airport and run solely by volunteers. The mission of this museum is to obtain and restore historical aircraft and other aviation artifacts.

EDUCATION

The Andrews Osborne Academy is a college preparatory day school and boarding school located in Willoughby. The multicultural setting offers education to early childhood, elementary, middle and high school students. The school consists of approximately 300 students from around the world. It maintains a student-teacher ratio of 5 to 1, and 100 percent of graduates from the academy are accepted to four-year colleges and universities around the United States.

GETTING AROUND

Due to the small nature of this town, Willoughby does not have its own public transportation system. This results in a community where nearly 97 percent of the population drives an automobile every single day. However, Willoughby is one of the stops on Laketran, which is Lake County's public bus system that stops at quarter-mile intervals and includes stops in neighboring communities such as Painesville and Mentor.

EVENTS

• ARTSFEST is an annual event held in Willoughby's downtown district. For 18 years, the community has hosted this event to highlight entertainers, artists and the community's history. Every year this event attracts nearly 10,000 people.
• At the Andrews Osborne Academy Horse Show, participants compete for recognition in jumping events at the local, regional and national levels.
• The Chili Con Comedy Improv Troupe is The Fine Arts Association's in-house entertainment group. The group provides a variety of improvisation performances for the whole family.