Oakwood Overview

It is easier to understand the role of Oakwood's Business Districts when we consider them in the context of the city as a whole. To this end, some facts about Oakwood are presented here.

• The city borders Dayton and Kettering.
• The city borders on large park areas and connects through these to the Great Miami River.
• State Route 48 (Far Hills Avenue) forms a major north/south artery that serves as the primary thoroughfare through the community. It was originally surveyed in 1797, on a slightly different course where it enters Oakwood from the south. Along with another contemporary road, which intersected Far Hills at Schantz Avenue, it provided the intersection around which Oakwood developed.
• State Route 48 divides the city into two basic architectural districts: a tightly knit community of fine, urban style homes, and a meandering suburb of higher scale homes on larger properties. This division has been maintained throughout the annexation process, which expanded from the Far Hills and Schantz intersection toward the south.
• The Far Hills Avenue Business District has a very different character than the Neighborhood Business Districts.
• Oakwood's first settlers arrived in the late 1700s. The memory and contribution of many of these early landholders is preserved by means of district or area names, such as Rubicon Park and Oakwood itself, and local street names, such as Patterson, Brown, Far Hills, Runnymede, Maysfield, Lookout Drive, and Shroyer.