Good places between Sandusky and Toledo? (Cleveland, Bowling Green: violent crime, vacation home, neighborhoods)

[chevere33]

My husband has a job opportunity near Sandusky. What I'm seeing on city-data and other sites is not very encouraging as far as crime.

Please give me some encouragement. What areas within half an hour of Sandusky have crime that's at least lower than the national average and are diverse (or at least where my very dark-skinned husband would not face issues), with homes in the $150-350K range? Ideally, we'd like a largish backyard or acreage. Water views would not hurt at all. Schools are not a concern.

[Tobias C]

Welcome to the area! I lived in Sandusky for a few years but that was a decade ago now. I'm still in that area all the time though and everywhere in between Toledo and Sandusky.

It's hard to say if what you're specifically looking for exists completely. You should be able to find a home in your price range easy enough. Maybe not lakefront+with ample land at that price...but you can definitely find a decent house with a good size yard.

The only truly diverse place within a half hour radius of Sandusky, is...Sandusky...in my opinion. Most of the smaller towns in the area dont have noteworthy crime issues. They're also pretty homogeneous demographically. Sandusky does have a lot of crime issues but what I would say about that is...your budget will allow for you to not have to live in a rough area. Sandusky is honestly similar to larger cities. Its downtown area on the waterfront is nice and revitalizing and has a lot going on. Move outward of downtown and you get into some of the older neighborhoods where crime can be present. Nothing terrifying but theft and burglary are probably occasional realities, and theres occasionally violent crime. If you move further out into the outskirts of the city....the burbs so to speak...(Sanduskys only real suburb is Perkins Township) theres way less to worry about. Sometimes businesses out in the main business corridors (Perkins Ave, Rt 250, etc) see some issues but its sporadic and nothing noteworthy.

Since racial acceptance/tolerance is big for you I would really just consider Sandusky itself. It's a great town. You could get a place on the outskirts of town, or just outside of town in the country and you could easily just cruise 5 mins into town for anything you want to do.

[dodeca]

Originally Posted by Tobias C

Welcome to the area! I lived in Sandusky for a few years but that was a decade ago now. I'm still in that area all the time though and everywhere in between Toledo and Sandusky.

It's hard to say if what you're specifically looking for exists completely. You should be able to find a home in your price range easy enough. Maybe not lakefront+with ample land at that price...but you can definitely find a decent house with a good size yard.

The only truly diverse place within a half hour radius of Sandusky, is...Sandusky...in my opinion. Most of the smaller towns in the area dont have noteworthy crime issues. They're also pretty homogeneous demographically. Sandusky does have a lot of crime issues but what I would say about that is...your budget will allow for you to not have to live in a rough area. Sandusky is honestly similar to larger cities. Its downtown area on the waterfront is nice and revitalizing and has a lot going on. Move outward of downtown and you get into some of the older neighborhoods where crime can be present. Nothing terrifying but theft and burglary are probably occasional realities, and theres occasionally violent crime. If you move further out into the outskirts of the city....the burbs so to speak...(Sanduskys only real suburb is Perkins Township) theres way less to worry about. Sometimes businesses out in the main business corridors (Perkins Ave, Rt 250, etc) see some issues but its sporadic and nothing noteworthy.

Since racial acceptance/tolerance is big for you I would really just consider Sandusky itself. It's a great town. You could get a place on the outskirts of town, or just outside of town in the country and you could easily just cruise 5 mins into town for anything you want to do.

Great advice. I don't know that Sandusky has a terrible reputation for crime, certainly no worse than Toledo or Cleveland. I did some sociological research in small towns between Toledo and Sandusky, and while you'll find some racial diversity in Fremont, for example, most of the people of color there are blue collar; the professionals of color who tend to work there live in Perrysburg or Toledo, not Fremont. i don't know much about other small towns like Oak Harbor, but those lakeside towns tend to have very wealthy vacation homes, and an otherwise lower-income population. Sandusky or the area east of there, around Vermilion, might be good options for you. Best of luck!

[Jackie.2022]

Port Clinton is a charming small town on Lake Erie, closer to Sandusky than Toledo. It's a gateway to the Lake Erie islands and "the north coast." The "Jolly Roger" restaurant has the best perch sandwiches.

Fremont is conservative small town and a county seat, about halfway between Sandusky and Toledo. The Rutherford B. Hayes Center has the home, grave, and museum of President Hayes, who returned to Fremont after his administration. His home was restored a few years ago to its look in about the 1880s, and they did an excellent job.

Bowling Green is a liberal college town that is 25 miles south of Toledo. The school is Bowling Green State University, which is known for its education, journalism, and business programs. The population doubles, from about 25,000 to 50,000, when the college is in session. Be sure to visit "Grounds for Thought" coffee shop and bookstore on Main St.

You can get a big yard in any small town in northwest Ohio. :-)

Avoiding crime in any of those towns is a matter of staying out of the "bad" areas and steering clear from drugs.

As for racism, it's there; but things have improved. Fremont has reelected their first Latino mayor, for example. Nevertheless, if you want the most racial diversity and inclusion, you would find it either in the cities (Toledo and Cleveland) or in the college towns near them (Bowling Green, south of Toledo; or Oberlin, west of Cleveland).