Inside South Bloomfield, Ohio's fastest-growing community

The road leading to South Bloomfield's municipal building is a fitting metaphor: On one side, tractors harvest sprawling sod fields. On the other, modern homes line the horizon — and construction crews are still building more.

Why it matters: This is the fastest-growing community in all of Ohio, luring Columbus workers with vacant land, good schools and safe, affordable housing.

• The spike is redefining a once-sleepy Pickaway County village formerly on the fringes, where officials tell Axios they're working to balance growth with preserving its character.

The big picture: The geographic shift exemplifies how our region's population boom continues expanding toward the exurbs.

• The village about 20 miles south of downtown Columbus is nearly a city now, approaching a 5,000-resident milestone after nearly doubling its population in just the past five years.

For now, South Bloomfield is still small enough for its administrator to accommodate an impromptu pickup truck tour with his Dutch shepherd in tow.

• With about two dozen employees, everybody is used to wearing multiple hats.
• Joe Allen was South Bloomfield's utility operator before becoming its first administrator. Fittingly, he was fresh off troubleshooting a water tower pressure issue — a brief, minor growing pain — when he drove Axios through town.

Catch up quick: Until recently, South Bloomfield was a modest pit stop between Columbus and Circleville on Route 23.

• Then came the pandemic housing crunch, and Central Ohio's outskirts suddenly looked much more attractive.
• Developers started expanding developments that had been stagnant for a decade or longer. The village's first apartment complex debuted.
• More businesses are also taking notice of the 30,000 or so cars that pass through daily: Sheetz, Taco Bell, AutoZone and more.

The intrigue: Mayor Aaron Thomas, a lifelong local, is personally pitching the village to prospective businesses — in between his day job in the sheet metal industry and monthly email newsletters to residents.

• On his wish list: a grocery store, a health care provider and more sit-down restaurants.
• As land values rise, he's also talking to owners in hopes of guiding redevelopment toward residents' needs.

What they're saying: "We don't want a data center. We don't want warehouses," Thomas says, noting the village currently has no industrial zoning.

• "It's our job to stop these things that our residents don't want and bring the things they do want."

Between the lines: That also means ensuring developers contribute to building up infrastructure, Allen says.

• One example is an access road parallel to Route 23, to avoid the traffic snarls plaguing the highway on the other side of Columbus, in Delaware County.

What's next: The mixed-use redevelopment of two large farms is looming.

• One is the nearly 300-acre sod farm wrapping around the municipal building, giving village officials a front-row view to watch the future unfold.

The last word: "We can't stop growth," Allen says, "but we can steer it."

How growth is affecting Teays Valley schools

One of the clearest signs of Pickaway County's population explosion is a school district bursting at the seams.

Why it matters: The Teays Valley Local School District's growth is a double-edged sword.

• Like other districts in Central Ohio's outer ring, it bucks a nationwide trend of declining public school enrollment. But it also brings overcrowding that's hard to quickly overcome.

By the numbers: Overall, the district has added 454 students since fall 2020, per state data.

• South Bloomfield Elementary, the neighborhood school serving the village's new housing developments, debuted in 2010 and is already at capacity.
• The district has already redrawn attendance boundaries to redistribute students and some are learning in trailer classrooms, spokesperson Julie DeLisio tells Axios.

Friction point: Officials have twice asked voters to increase their property taxes to fund construction of new facilities. Both attempts, in 2024 and 2025, overwhelmingly failed.

What they're saying: "As more of our schools reach or exceed capacity, additional classroom space will be necessary to continue providing high-quality educational opportunities," DeLisio said in a statement.

• "The district continues to discuss and evaluate options for funding future facility expansion."

The village's history

While more people call South Bloomfield home today, it first made a name for itself as a place for passing through.

Flashback: Settled at the start of the 1800s, the village was a key stop on the first stagecoach line that ran from Chillicothe to Columbus and eventually became Route 23.

• Visitors could change horses, shop, eat and spend the night, and drivers could get repairs at blacksmith shops.
• The fare was 5 or 7 cents, depending on the vehicle's size, per the Scioto Gazette.

Yes, but: All good things must come to an end, notes the village website.

• As railroads developed, travelers between Columbus and Circleville passed through the nearby village of Ashville instead.
• South Bloomfield faded into quiet obscurity and there's little history recorded between the 1850s and 1950s.

Fast forward: Route 23's expansion into a four-lane highway in the 1950s has gradually increased traffic again — but until recently, few folks stuck around.

Where to eat in South Bloomfield

Here's another fun fact about the village: Bob Evans was the only sit-down restaurant within its limits when we visited this month.

Yes, but: That'll change soon, with local Mexican restaurant chain La Matraca opening a location "any day now," Allen tells Axios.

• For now, the next-closest options are 10 minutes east in Ashville.

Go deeper: We took a trip to the nostalgic Cherry Street Diner.

Final photos: The signs are everywhere ...

You don't need census data to know something is happening in South Bloomfield — just take a look at the signs dotting its main drag.

The bottom line: Route 23 between Columbus and Circleville is going to look a lot different in the years ahead.