HEATH − Mike Purington moved into the third house built in the Linnview Crossing subdivision in 2009, expecting a couple dozen more homes to rapidly fill up the streets.
The Great Recession quickly halted homebuilding, giving him a more secluded environment than he ever could have anticipated.
Then, in January 2022, Intel announced plans to build a $20 billion (now $28 billion) computer chip manufacturing facility in Licking County, just south of Johnstown.
“This whole thing changed 2 ½ years ago when Intel announced,” Purington said. “Just a few weeks after they announced, crews were in here digging up basements. It was a constant stream of dump trucks and cement trucks.
“My biggest complaint now is there’s a lot more traffic. It was nice having almost nobody coming down here. I used to know anybody going through here. We’ve been really fortunate for 15 years. We always knew this was going to happen.”
The subdivision, between Second Street and Linnville Road in Heath, had about 10-11 homes when Intel announced, Purington said. Things changed in a hurry.