The community of Forest Park consists of almost 2900 private residential properties (single-family homes and duplexes), plus apartments, condominiums, commercial properties, city-owned parks and schools, in approximately 1.4 square miles of the Northland area of northeast Columbus, Ohio. These properties adjoin a total of 132 distinct streets and courts maintained by the city of Columbus. The communityʹs approximate center is near the intersection of Karl Road and Sandalwood Place in Columbus.
Forest Park is located in the Northland region of northeast Columbus, Ohio (Franklin County), north of Morse Road, south of State Route 161, east of Interstate 71, and west of Cleveland Avenue. Karl Road separates Forest Park East and West. Forest Park is approximately 8 miles NNE, and 12 miles by highway, from the center of downtown Columbus (Broad & High Streets). Nearby communities include the cities of Westerville (to the northeast) and Worthington (to the northwest) and the village of Minerva Park (to the east). The entire community is within the Columbus city limits, Sharon Historic Township, the Northland planning district, the Columbus City school district, area code 614 and ZIP (postal) code 43229. The approximate geographic center of the community is located at 40.0765 (N) latitude, -82.9705 (W) longitude.
Nearly every street in Forest Park is lined with trees (hence the name) in city-owned tree lawns, and most individual parcels also include one or more mature trees. Street names are mostly derived from species of trees (though not necessarily descriptive of the trees found along them). Virtually every street in Forest Park has sidewalks on both sides of the street, which was not typical of construction during the early 1960’s in Columbus.
The Forest Park Civic Association (FPCA) was founded as a not-for-profit Ohio corporation in April 1962 and continues to provide services to and advocate for residents of the community. It is funded by voluntary dues paid by households and businesses in the community during an annual membership drive. The Forester, the Forest Park newsletter, averages 8-16 pages and is currently delivered to more than 2800 homes in and around Forest Park every month except January. It is free of charge to area residents and largely self-supporting through advertising by local businesses. The FPCA also publishes a Forest Park Directory of residents, provided at no additional charge to paid member households, every 3-5 years.
Kenneth B. Gilbert, Representing Forest Park
Ken is the NCC Representative and Vice President of the Forest Park Civic Association. He has been Vice President of the FCPA since January 2012 and before that served as an Area Representative with his wife Catherine, a Northland native. The Gilbert’s moved “home” to Northland in 2002. Ken has been a Technical Editor with the American Chemical Society since 1983 and graduated with degrees in Chemistry from Penn State in 1978 (BS) and The Ohio State University in 1981 (MS). He also attended the University of Cologne, Germany, and speaks fluent German. He is active with the Forest Park Block Watch, his church, Xenos Christian Fellowship, and the Central Ohio Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association. He is current President of Chapter 20, Germany Philatelic Society. He has attended every Opening Day in Cincinnati since 1982, though he is a die-hard Phillies fan, and is a supporter of the Columbus Crew, where he and Catherine have served as volunteers with the Crew Soccer Foundation as Crew Chiefs for many years.