The Ohio Magazine selected Bowling Green as the best hometown in Ohio, alongside four other cities. These cities are Marietta, Milford, Mount Vernon and Wooster. Ohio Magazine said Bowling Green won because its “strong connection between campus and community and a shared vision for the future.” Wendy Chambers, executive director of the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau, played a big part in getting Bowling Green the award.
“You actually are able to submit online, and there’s all kinds of categories. From everything from business industry, community spirit, your schools and obviously education with the University,” Chambers said. “There’s all kinds of categories that all of those things fall under, and a couple of the things we highlighted was Not in Our Town, the fact that the council passed us as an all-inclusive community. So those are the kinds of things (the Ohio Magazine) are looking for. A progressive downtown, we’re very lucky with all the restaurants and retail that we have in our downtown. We’re pretty vibrant for a community our size.”
This isn’t the first time Bowling Green has won the award. Bowling Green was awarded best hometown ten years ago as well in the Ohio Magazine.
About the difference between the 2007 and 2017 Bowling Green, Chambers said, “I think it’s a lot of things. Our green energy, I mean, look at the BG wind farm. We were the first in the state of Ohio. Look at our recycling program… I think it was first in the state of Ohio… The solar fields, green energy is one of the things I’m very proud of and the Not in Our Town and the all-inclusive community.”
Junior broadcast journalism major Parker Kern has reasons to believe Bowling Green is the best hometown.
“I think BG is the best hometown because it’s just a very welcoming and warming atmosphere,” Kern said. “There’s a lot of great people that live in this city. You go out to the store or just walking around town; there’s a lot of smiling faces here. And I think that goes hand-in-hand with the number of students that live off-campus that are also very friendly faces. I feel very comfortable walking around at all hours of the day in this wonderful city. And I know that I’ll be safe, and that I have a lot of great people that live around me, not only in my apartment complex but in the neighborhoods and other places around the city.”
Junior sports management major Matthew Hards also knows why Bowling Green was selected as one of the best hometowns in Ohio.
“BG, in my opinion, is a good hometown because downtown, Main Street, is a beautiful place to be at,” Hards said. “All the stores and shops on the storefront are great, and at times it just makes me want to walk downtown and take some time off… Another reason why is because of the sports that are here. Football has been my favorite sport since I was young, so going to football games has been out of this world.”
Bowling Green was selected as one of the five best hometowns in Ohio because of its connection between the community and the college and its progression from what it was. There will be features in Ohio Magazine about Bowling Green, and the other cities, in the November, January and July editions.
