Ridgewood

ridgewood

The Ridgewood neighborhood was developed by George Grier Kirkpatrick beginning in the 1960s.  Mr. Kirkpatrick was a founding member of the Gainesville Homebuilders Association, president of the Jaycees and the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, and developer of Kirkwood, Cumberland Circle, Ridgewood, Highland Court and other subdivisions of Gainesville.  He was also the father of Senator George Kirkpatrick, Jr., who was a Ridgewood resident.

With its abundance of trees, boundary with Possum Creek and the Hogtown Creek Greenway, and its proximity to Westside Park and the University of Florida, Ridgewood is a welcoming neighborhood of 84 well-maintained homes.  Neighbors enjoy hosting an annual luminary event on Christmas Eve, when hundreds of candles illuminate the neighborhood.  This tradition began over 50 years ago when the neighborhood was young.  Community members are invited to drive through, too, dimming their lights and joining residents in this peaceful homage to the holiday season.

Ridgewood is bordered on the north by NW 16th Avenue, on the east by Possum Creek, on the south by NW 10th Place and on the west by NW 31st Drive.  Possum Creek is a wonderful place to explore and numerous shark teeth have been found there by neighborhood children over the decades.  The neighborhood is further buffered by the Hogtown Creek Greenway, which follows Possum Creek’s eastern edge.

NW 10th Place is the border of the Ridgewood Park neighborhood, while NW 31stDrive is the eastern border of both Westwood Middle School and Westside Park.  Both the school and the park are easy to access via an easement which allows foot and bicycle traffic to avoid busy NW 16th Avenue.

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