Blue Ash, Ohio, United States

🇺🇸 Blue Ash is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is an inner suburb of Cincinnati.

History The area that is now Blue Ash was settled around 1791. In 1797, the first settlers built Carpenter's Run Baptist Church out of blue ash logs, giving the area its eventual name.

In the late 19th century, the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway provided narrow gauge commuter rail service to Blue Ash.

Blue Ash was the site of Cincinnati–Blue Ash Airport from 1921 to 2012. Originally a private airfield called Grisard Field, it was sold to the City of Cincinnati in 1946, becoming Ohio's first municipal airport. Cincinnati desired to expand the airport for major commercial service through the 1950s, but Blue Ash fought the city by incorporating first as a village in 1955 and then as a city in 1961. Eventually, through Reed Hartman's Community Improvement Corporation, Cincinnati developed the surrounding area as an industrial park and golf course. The airport closed on August 29, 2012, and the property was sold to the City of Blue Ash, which opened Summit Park on the property.

In 1998, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority proposed a MetroMoves light rail system with a Green Line that would initially run 19-mile (31 km) from Blue Ash to Covington, Kentucky. A future phase would have extended the line further north to Kings Island and south to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. However, MetroMoves was rejected by Hamilton County voters.

On April 9, 1999, Blue Ash experienced an F4 tornado that caused four deaths.

Geography According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of 7.59 square miles (19.7 km²), of which 7.58 square miles (19.6 km²) (or 99.87%) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.026 km²) (or 0.13%) is water.

Blue Ash can be reached by Interstate 71 to the east, Interstate 275 to the north, and Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway to the south.

Education Blue Ash is mostly served by the Sycamore Community School District, which has had the most National Merit Scholars of any public school in Ohio for the past four years and has been given the highest rating of "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education for eight consecutive years. The Princeton City School District covers a western portion of the city. Moeller High School, located just outside the city limits, is a Catholic private high school for boys, while Ursuline Academy is a Catholic independent high school for girls. Blue Ash is also home to UC Blue Ash, formally called Raymond Walters College, a satellite campus of University of Cincinnati.

Blue Ash is served by a branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Culture Blue Ash offers two summer events each year: "Red, White, and Blue Ash"; and "Taste of Blue Ash". "Red, White and Blue Ash" is held annually in celebration of the 4th of July and features the biggest Independence Day firework display in the region. These events draw internationally popular headlining rock acts. On July 4, 2010, the bands Yes and Peter Frampton drew a record estimated 150,000 people to that year's Red, White, and Blue Ash event. Due to budget constraints the city decided to suspend their "Summerbration" event for 2010–2013, with hopes to resume the event in the near future.

Blue Ash and the neighboring city of Montgomery partner to support the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, which performs at local events. In addition, the City provides an annual Concert Series each year during the summer months.

Blue Ash is a sister city of Ilmenau in Germany.

Economy Blue Ash's "daytime population" reaches approximately 55,000 due to the 2,000 businesses within the city limits. The city's industrial and commercial parks are home to many corporate headquarters, including: • Belcan Corporation, an engineering consulting firm • Citigroup (North American Information Technology Division) • Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a medical device manufacturer • F+W • The J. Peterman Company, moved its headquarters to Blue Ash in 2011 • Milacron • Sunny Delight Beverages, manufacturer of Sunny Delight • Apollo Integrated Systems, High definition electronic frequency locking equipment designer • Kroger Technology, headquartered here and with two facilities here, is the technology and computer system management division of the Kroger supermarket corporation, headquartered in nearby Cincinnati.