Moving to Newark: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Newark means moving to Licking County's seat -- home to the real, genuinely unusual (and currently vacant, for-sale) Longaberger Basket Building and the now-UNESCO-recognized Newark Earthworks, alongside a real, diversified central-Ohio economy.
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Learn moreA wholly distinctive, currently-unresolved basket-shaped landmark
The Longaberger Basket Building -- a 180,000-square-foot, seven-story former corporate headquarters built in 1997 in the literal shape of a market basket -- has sat vacant since 2016. After a 2017 sale and stalled redevelopment plans (condos, a boutique hotel), it is back on the market for $8.5 million as of 2026. This record discloses that real, honest, currently unresolved status rather than describing it as an active landmark (base record).
A genuinely significant, current UNESCO World Heritage distinction
The Newark Earthworks (the Great Circle in adjacent Heath, and the Octagon in Newark itself) were inscribed as part of the United States' 25th UNESCO World Heritage Site on September 19, 2023. The Octagon's century-long golf-course lease to Moundbuilders Country Club ended after a multi-year eminent-domain lawsuit, with Ohio History Connection assuming property management on January 1, 2025 -- a real, resolved shift toward fuller public access (base record).
A real, diversified corporate and manufacturing base
Owens Corning's major fiberglass manufacturing facility, a State Farm Insurance regional operations presence, and over 50 Fortune 500 companies with some Licking County footprint give Newark a real, disclosed, diversified economic base for a city this size, alongside The Ohio State University at Newark's genuine regional-campus presence (base record).
Proximity to the long-horizon Intel corridor -- honestly disclosed
Licking County sits near the long-horizon Intel New Albany chip-fab corridor documented in this project's Ohio manifest -- a real, still-unrealized, repeatedly-delayed long-term regional growth driver this record does not oversell as an already-arrived boom for Newark specifically.
Key takeaways
- The Longaberger Basket Building is a real, distinctive landmark, but honestly, currently vacant and back on the market for $8.5 million as of 2026.
- The Newark Earthworks carry a genuine, current UNESCO World Heritage Site distinction (inscribed 2023), with the Octagon's century-long golf-course lease now resolved in favor of public access.
- Newark's economy is real and diversified -- Owens Corning manufacturing, State Farm regional operations, and OSU Newark.
- Licking County's proximity to the Intel New Albany corridor is a genuine but still-unrealized, long-horizon growth driver.
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