If you’ve thought to yourself that Bellefontaine is growing at a rapid rate, you are not imagining things. 

According to the 2010 census, Bellefontaine had 13,270 residents. The 2020 census showed that 14,115 people called Bellefontaine their home, an increase of 845 people over that 10-year period.  

Expect to see that number pogo by the time the 2030 census rolls around. 

While many parts of the Buckeye State are showing a net loss in population, Bellefontaine is experiencing the exact opposite.  

Housing developments in and around the city are popping up like dandelions on a sunny spring day and these housing “units” (as they are called in the construction business) are selling like hot cakes.  

Villages, cities and counties in northeast Ohio, pejoratively known the Rust Belt, are losing population in droves, but Central Ohio is headed the opposite direction, as we are adding new residents every minute, hour, day, week and month, and at lightning speed.  

Consider both the city and county of Delaware, which rests just north of Columbus (aka “Boomtown”). It is one of the fasting growing counties, not just in Ohio, but in the entire United States. The transformation of Delaware over the past several decades has been nothing short of amazing, and to anyone who has visited the area recently, it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. 

How about Marysville, our neighbor to the southeast? Marysville, which is the county seat for Union County, had about 5,000 residents in the 1970 census, roughly half the number of people who lived in Bellefontaine at that time.

As of the 2020 census, Marysville’s population jumped a jaw-dropping 25,571 – a five-fold increase – making it now almost twice as populous as Bellefontaine. And it’s not stopping there.  

Marysville’s estimated current population is well north of 28,000 and is forecasted to easily breach the 30,000-person mark by the end of this decade. Housing developments of all kinds – single-family homes, townhouses, condos, apartment buildings – are popping up at all points of the compass in Marysville, with over 1,500 new units currently in the works or under construction.  

They can’t seem to build them fast enough. An apartment complex that was built in southeast Marysville several years ago – a development that can easily be seen from U.S. Route 33 and seemed to pop up overnight – reported a 98 percent occupancy rate before the construction on the units had even been completed. Would-be renters having to go on a waiting list to snag one of the units was commonplace. 

As for Union County as a whole, new housing projects are exploding near the Plain City area and they are not sitting empty, either, with the units filling up as soon as the last drop of concrete is poured on the driveway. Given all this construction, Union County’s population will likely top 70,000 people by the time the next census rolls around.  

Plain City, which sits in southeastern corner of the Union County, is quickly becoming a suburb of Columbus, and will likely no longer qualify as a village (less than 5,000 residents) in the very near future. 

For better or worse – given your individual view on the matter – Bellefontaine is soon going to be joining Delaware, Marysville and Plain City as an attractive alternative to the sky-high housing costs in Columbus and Franklin County. And with that, expect the city’s population to skyrocket. 

It’s already started. In recent years, housing developments in Bellefontaine have popped up all over the city, including Belle Meadows, High Point Apartments, Cross Pointe, Woodside, Southtowne, Brookstone and Stonebridge, just to name several.

Adding to this are the newer developments, such as Maris Park, which will, when finished, have 173 single-family units. Ludlow Ridge has plans for over 300 units, some of which are already occupied and many more of which have already been sold. Arbor Run is this very minute clearing out land to erect 81 units.  

Within the past year, Bellefontaine has annexed two relatively large sections of land, both of which are expected to become housing developments and both of which are likely to sell out even as the the plats are drawn and the foundations are laid.  

Of those two annexations, Liberty Landing is expected to build about 85 units near the Lake Avenue and Ludlow Road/County Road 1 intersection, while the as-yet-to-be-named project on the former Detrick property, located directly west of Southview Park near the Lake Avenue and Troy Road/Township Road 218 intersection, is planning to build more than 350 units, which may include apartment complexes, as well as single-family homes.  

In addition, there are the recently announced plans for Blue Jacket Farms, which will be located directly across State Route 540 from Ohio Hi-Point Career Center. Another 630-odd mixed-use units (single-family homes, apartments) are expected for this development. Leaving out the projects that have already broken dirt and have occupied homes, this makes for another 1,000 units that are being discussed for Bellefontaine. 

It’s no secret why developers are turning their eyes toward Bellefontaine as an attractive place to build housing.  

 Over the past decade, the City of Bellefontaine has pushed hard to revitalize and diversify the downtown area and has done so with wonderful results, thanks to no small part to the efforts the Bellefontaine City Council and of Small Nation. Bellefontaine residents no longer need to leave town to get a decent meal, do some high-end shopping or find affordable places to live.  

As far as making Bellefontaine a destination not just for visitors but for residents, the coordination between the public and private enterprise in Bellefontaine has been an unqualified success. 

Furthermore, ask any real estate agent the top selling points for any land, house, or rental on the market and top three answers will be location, location and location. With U.S. Route 33 now having a 70 MPH speed limit for most of the trip to and from a major metropolitan area, one can drive (traffic notwithstanding) from Courthouse Square in downtown Bellefontaine to the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus in just under an hour, and more importantly, make the return trip in the same about of time.  

This makes Bellefontaine an attractive location to live for those who work in the Franklin County area, where rent and mortgage prices dwarf those compared to the Logan County area. Home owners and renters will happily make that extra 20 or 25 minute drive to Dublin, Lewis Center or Worthington from Logan County if it means shaving hundreds of dollars per month off a mortgage or lease agreement. 

Right now, the average household size in Bellefontaine about 2.2 people. Should that average hold, with all of the new construction, Bellefontaine can expect to add at least another 2,200 residents in the next several years.