Toledo Anyone?

[vader]

Vader: Since you are now attending UT, is Toledo your home or would you consider staying there after graduation?

I've checked around a bit and it looks like jobs are not readily available. It could be the summer slowdown, or is it typical for Toledo?

Toledo is my home, and the short answer is yes I would consider staying after graduation BUT that decison is not up to me, its up to Toledo. The professional job market in Toledo is perhaps the worst thing about the city. The conventional consensus I get from my peers is that they were pretty much forced to leave Toledo for better job opportunities. Infact a survey was recently done on why young professional people leave Toledo and the results can be found on the link below. The Regional Growth Partnership of NW Ohio has recently hired IBM to take over NW Ohio economic development to address this.

http://www.ci.toledo.oh.us/images/B%20&%20B%20Survey%20Responses.pdf (broken link)

I see that there is a lot of talk about building an arena and developing the waterfront. Also, the new glass museum should be wonderful.

The arena will be built as they now have the funding. Ground has already broken for a cruise ship terminal on the waterfront. Along with this a "San Antonio style" riverwalk, amphtheater, condos, retail, and expanison of the "Docks resturants" is planned. Today I drove by the Glass Pavillion and the area looks very vibrant now the facility looks beautiful at night.

I'm looking for a stable, safe, mellow area. Not noisy yet not completely lifeless.

Old Orchard, Point Place, Old West End. If your into suburbs Maumee, Springfield twp, or Sylvania. I cant think of anymore at the moment.

[paintballer1708]

Originally Posted by AZrider
Why do you keep bashing Phoenix? Just because you dont like what I say about Toledo doesnt mean you have the right to bash where Im living now-- besides you dont even know, youve never been to Phoenix! Also, youve just "been thru" Toledo, and I lived there for 24 years! Yes all cities have their problems big or small but if you dont know about them or have never been there, please dont comment on it! This forum is for honest experienced opinions of cities--not sugar-coated or degraded way out of porportion--the way it shoulf be. Also, in this particular forum, Ohio! Some posts are negative some positive. I feel mine have been both. If you want to bash Phoenix go to the Arizona forum!

The only thing I do agree with in your post is driving thru Detroit and Flint after leaving Toledo.

BTW, on the "landlocked" thing-- I dont consider a 4 hour drive to an Ocean being land-locked--nor a 2 1/2 hour drive to the freakin grand canyon.... Theres lake erie yes, but its 12 hours to the nearest ocean in Toledo!!.... My apologies, this is not the proper forum for this. But I had to say it.

First off you dont know me. Second off, yes i have been to Phoenix to visit friends, im just saying i was not impressed. Your making it sound like im bashing Arizona when im not, Phoenix to you, but i didnt think i was. If you want to say im bashing it then you mine as well say your bashing Toledo too. The Grand Canyon is awesome and Flagstaff is a very nice city. Northern AZ is nice, southern AZ on the other hand can work out some of its problems. I remember you telling me the same thing earlier about people expressing their opinions. Now your telling me the same thing you fought against. Really doesnt make sense to me. Im glad you were able to move to Arizona because you needed a better job outlook. Im glad that you like southern AZ. I know a lot of people recently have been moving there and then moving out because of the problems i listed earlier. If i were to go to the Arizona forum and "bash" Phoenix im sure you would have a cow about it, and so would other AZ forumers.

Overall, every major city is going to have its problems. But, i just look at a city like San Diego that is right on the Mexican border and is not near as bad in crime, drugs and pollution as Phoenix. I know a lot of my friends from Pittsburgh living in Phoenix are getting out and moving to Denver and Dallas. And if Phoenix is 4 hours from the ocean Toledo is only like 45 mins from some really nice beaches on Lake Erie, and some 2-3 hours from other great beaches on the Great Lakes in other states. Arizona is a great state, I really liked the northern park of the state and the mountains. But dont say that i havent been there or the other things you were saying against me when you dont even know me. Once again im sorry for starting this, in no way did i mean to "bash" Phoenix like i did.

[Azrider]

Paintballer, where I live is irrelevant here. This is about Toledo. Like I said, go to the Arizona forum. We can talk there. It just seems everytime I post, and its negative, you start talking about Phoenix. This is about OHIO!

As far as me saying you had never been there, if you would have said "i visited Phoenix and I was not impressed" in the first place, I would have had no problem. Thats your opinion. It just irritates me when someone talks about somewhere and has never been there-- Im sure it does you too. Its like saying I hate Toyotas but I have never driven or owned one.

Otherwise, fair enough. Everyone IS entitled to their opinion like I said before. I am not "bashing" Toledo either. I am simply stating the good and bad that I experienced during the years living there.

Lets both agree to end this here and now. I have no problems with you. Just need to set this straight. From now on, lets talk about Ohio here. If you would like to talk about Phoenix, your welcome to come over to the forum.

[paintballer1708]

Your right and im sorry. Just sent you a PM.

[EuroTraveler05]

Paintballer mentioned Sylvania, I am a life long Sylvania Resident. Sylvania Schools are top notch, there are plenty of places to shop, tons of restaurants within a 15-20 minute drive, and the expressways (barring any construction delays) get you pretty much anywhere within Lucas county in no time. The north end and east side of Toledo are pretty run down (north end is where the riot happened last year, first time there has been anything of that sort during my lifetime), and the south end has some run down areas too. The subburbs of Sylvania, Maumee, Perrysburg, Oregon, and Waterville are your best bets. Sylvania has almost no crime, and the police department (Sylvania City or Township) has an average response time of less than 5 minutes for an emergency, compared to Toledo's 15-20.

Some of the areas best assets are it's Metroparks (11 in all), the Toledo Zoo which is one of the best in the country, the Toledo Museum of Art, and a number of great colleges/ universities.

I have friends who have attended the University of Toledo, and most students seem to have reasonable luck in finding work within their career field, but higher prices, and large class sizes, have lead to many recently graduated high school students choose Owens Community College, which has grown to surpass the student population of UT and Bowling Green State University as well. UT's fees for undergrads is $7,500 for in state, and $16,300 for out of state per year (compared to $3,000 in state at Owens). One drawback of UT is the lack of bars or other entertainment within a walking distance of campus. If you are looking for that, Bowling Green is much more of a "College Town", and is about 30 minutes south of Toledo on I-75.

Toledo's down town, despite other comments posted on this page, is more of a ghost town than a vibrant area. Recent developments, such as the Toledo Mudhens new downtown stadium, and the possability of a new downtown arena have done more to change that fact than anything in the last 20 years, but the fact remains that the downtown night life and shopping are at this point non existant. A few restaurants have popped up across from the new ball park, but downtown still consists of mostly offices, abandoned warehouses, and government buildings.

In all the job market is not as bad as some say. If you plan to have a job working in a factory, or working for a retail outlet that could be closed down by a Wally-World (Walmart) you may not have good luck, but most other fields are doing business as usual. Toledo is said to have a "Brain Drain" of college students once they graduate and decide to move to other areas, but I think alot of that has to do more with a lack of night life for young recent graduates, rather than the job market or the area not being a great place to raise a family.

Overall I think the Toledo area is a fine place to live. It may sound like I am putting the area down with some of the disadvantages of Toledo, but in the long run I'm sticking around, and I'm the 8th generation of my family living in north west Ohio, so it can't be all that bad.

[flinty]

Sylvania and Perrysburg are upscale suburbs of Toledo with higher property tax bases.

Toledo's downtown is gradually perking up since Fifth Third Field (Mudhens baseball) was built. Nearby, a 2-square block area is being razed to be the site of an $80M hockey arena. This will replace the old Sports Arena which was across the river and also is being razed. Thus, the Toledo Storm hockey club is held in abeyance for a couple years.

Toledo has a fine Museum of Art, Zoolgical Gardens, a good Metropark System, is close to many golf courses, has over 700 eateries. Westfield Shopping Town is the most vibrant mall right now but lo and behold- a few miles to the south are two newer malls; Levis Commons, and Fallen Timbers. These are layed out like little villages with intersecting avenues.

The Public school system is essentially doing a good job but each year TPS wants a new tax levy or a renewal of a former levy.

[Blonde John]

After living it Toledo for 40 years, I have seen some Urban Decay and the downhill spiral with gang activity, but, for the most part, Toledo is still vibrant... Despite the fact that it was a factory town that has become part of the mid-west rust belt. The people living here are interested in "new green" technology and the future of this city... They are working on new shipping in the great lakes and the highway hubs of this area...The diversified cultures of Toledo add general interest with their festivals and events... Our art museum is one of the top-ten in the world! Aside from some of the abandon factory locations, Toledo stands proud of its industrial beginnings... And the hope of a bright future~

[c207money]

I also go to UT and I am in my 4th year. I really enjoy the UT community and the areas surrounding UT. Like everyone else said, Sylvania is the best neighborhood around probably and there is many different things to do nearby such as the franklin park mall, the university, downtown isn't too far, a huge park, and about anything you can think about food-wise on monroe street