Tuesday, June 04, 2002
Census has new richest community
By Jennifer Edwards, jedwards@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WEST CHESTER TWP. — Wetherington's census ranking as the Tristate's wealthiest community is expected to increase already high demand to live in this booming Butler County suburb's gated subdivision.
Some called the rating a welcome surprise on Monday, especially since it puts Wetherington above the Village of Indian Hill, long the region's richest suburb.
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WETHERINGTON FACTS
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• Size: 305 homes, 79 condominiums
• Unit sizes: Condominiums, 2,200 to 3,500 square feet; houses, 3,000 to 10,000 square feet
• Cost of homes: $350,000 to $1.2 million
• Population: Roughly 1,000
• Developer: Great Expectations, Homerama site, 1992
• Amenities: Gated entrances, golf, pool, tennis, clubhouse, 3.5-mile hike/bike trail which extends outside the residential community. The pool, tennis and golf course are owned by the country club. Seventy percent of homeowners belong to the club. Club memberships are open to outsiders.
Sources: Wetherington Homeowners Association, Enquirer research.
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“This is great. It's something I will probably use in my sales,” said real estate agent Debbie Boehner of Sibcy Cline Realtors, who lives in Wetherington with her husband, U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester.
About 20 Wetherington homes are for sale, but they don't stay on the market too long. Many people are attracted there by the gated, golf-and-country-club lifestyle, proximity to Interstate 75 and Lakota schools.
“All you have to do is drive through the neighborhood and see it's a good neighborhood,” Mrs. Boehner said.
“You have everything right there. You have a restaurant, swimming, golfing, friendships.”
But some residents declined to discuss the ranking.
Many are still stinging from publicity when their gates closed in March, shutting out some 11,000 motorists who used the subdivision as a shortcut.
While some non-Wetherington citizens grumbled about the upper crust keeping out the common folk, Wetherington homeowners said they were simply tired of an endless stream of cars zooming through their subdivision, adding noise and danger.
“Wetherington is the first of its kind around here,” said Carlos Todd, a prominent developer and one of the first homeowners in what was a Homearama community a decade ago.
“A lot of people want to be in a private neighborhood because they have small children. People look at us now as snobs, I guess, due to the privatization, but that's not the case.”
Township leaders were careful Monday to note that while Wetherington certainly heightened West Chester's profile and added to its boom, it isn't the only game in town.
“It's just one more facet of our diversity,” Administrator Dave Gully said. “Without Wetherington, we wouldn't be the same community; but we aren't known solely by Wetherington. They bring a uniqueness to our community that makes West Chester a place where families can grow and businesses can prosper.”
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