Recent College Grad Looking for a Neighborhood (Toledo, Monroe: apartment complexes, for rent)

[hoskinkd]

I am a recent college grad looking to move to Toledo. I am looking to live in an area with a younger population and some great entertainment (Bars, restaurants, festivals etc.). Safe area preferred and apartments available for rent. I will be working at a Toledo Area YMCA/JCC and I would prefer to be close and I will be teaching at Toledo Central Catholic but I am willing to commute some distance. Any advice would be appreciated Thank You

[Tobias C]

If you're working at Central Catholic, but you want to be around decent nightlife, I would consider living Downtown, or at least in the adjacent Old West End. You would only be about 5 mins from work. You could get a really cool loft apartment, within walking distance of bars and restaurants and the ballpark and arena. Even though you would be close to CCHS, I wouldn't recommend walking or biking to work because its kinda rough around there. It's a nice school though.

If you had to be more specific, what do you ideally want for an apartment? (style, neighborhood, etc). I don't know if youre into a more suburban type of atmosphere or city/urban atmosphere. You have a variety of choices as anywhere in the metro area will be less than a half hours drive from your work.

[SMinTOL]

First Post!

23 year old UT grad here...I'm Kind of in the same position (recent grad looking for a place to stay) and i have to admit that based on what i've read on here about the Old West End (close to entertainment lots of character)that the neighborhood sounds like an appealing place for me to live, however i'm not really sure where to go to view some loft style apartments and or research pricing vs other types of apartments... could anyone steer me in the right direction? I work downtown so if i can find something within my price range and fairly nice/ good setup i would love to live in the OWE.

PS i took a little joyride this morning to look at i'm also thinking about the apartments on airport across from the swan creek metro park, anyone know about those?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Tobias C]

SM, you don't even want to consider the apartments on Airport. Lots of crime around all of those complexes. Even if your budget is little, there's better options.

You work downtown so if I were you I would consider living there. Old West End is a good choice as well. Just depends on how close you want to be to what, and what type of apartment you want, exactly. I don't really know of any good websites or anything that list lots of Downtown and OWE apartments. Most apartment websites mostly focus on the more suburban style apartment complexes. Check Craigslists frequently. Other than that, you might have to actually just look at buildings in search of apartments for rent.

So all things considered, where do you ideally want to be and what kind of apartment ideally? You'll be able to find decent to awesome apartments from like 400 dollars to 1400 dollars.

[ferraris]

I'd agree with avoiding those complexes on Airport if you're able to. Many of those places advertise no deposits and/or 1 - 3 months rent free. That sounds great, but as a rule of thumb, I'd be very leery of places offering those sorts of deal. It typically means that they are catering to the poor, or for some reason or another, have trouble keeping & attracting tenants.

Rent is cheap enough in Toledo that it isn't worth messing with those places.

[SMinTOL]

Ideally i'm thinking its going to be somewhere close to downtown, however since downtown is less than 15 minutes from a lot of places, i'm also considering some other areas such as maumee/ south toledo/ glendale area. I want somewhere thats close (not necessarily walking distance) to some good general entertainment (bars, restaurants, movies, etc) and also close to grocery shopping. I would like to spend a max of 500 per month on rent and would like to look at a loft downtown/ Old west end... however i feel they are a bit out of my price range.

The Airport apartments seemed appealing because they were across the road from Swan Creek Metro Park and not too far from a lot of eating and drinking spots. However those are apparently crime-ridden. What about something on the other side of the park?

I think that Glendale Village looks nice... any input there?

and how about this one...2820 Fulton Presented by Skip Gaynor of Danberry Realtors (http://toledo.craigslist.org/apa/2887926312.html - broken link)

i would think the neighborhood around it is sketchy, but it may be Old west end, i dont have much grasp on the boundaries of the OWE

[Tobias C]

I'm not sure what complex Glendale Village is particularly, but anything off Glendale should be safe. The south side of Swan Creek Metropark is much better.

As far as the place you listed on Fulton St, that apartment obviously looks cool, and a lot of the housing stock around there is cool historic buildings. The only problem is that area has not seen a resurgence yet and while only being blocks away from the nice area of the Old West End, Old Towne is more rough. There's more crime on that side of Collingwood. I can't recommend that specifc property on that specific street. You should be able to find something for less than 500 in the Old West End (Parkwood, Scottwood, Robinwood, Glenwood).

[drosenseo]

You might be able to find a duplex in old orchard, or the area right near Ottawa park Toledo hospital for sure. Close to old orchard, but old orchard is far superior. Also, check for a duplex on haughton btwn central and monroe... I know there are a few duplexes on that block bc my dad owns one, rented tho by long term tenants who've been there for over twenty yrs. there is one closer to central I know my cousin used to rent it, it was 2 beds , fireplace, maybe even a garage for about $500.
Otherwise, if you want safe and nice area look in sylvania, but check out some of the bigger apt complexes and watch out bc those are now beginning to have ppl from the inner city so their kids can go to the schools.
Not sure if u would have interest in a house... But I know of a few really small homes you can rent for roughly $500. You just need to know the particular streets to look for. There are a few choice streets where the street is quiet. if you have interest I can let you know of one that a friend recently bought and is fixing up nicely now. It will rent for $475-500.
Good luck, Toledo is going down the drain in my opinion though overall. Also... Check out standard lofts downtown if u wanna live down there (I personally would not live down there even if it was free, simply due to the fact that there is o grocery store or even a rite aid or Walgreens without having to drive across the river or into the hood)... I think standard lofts has at their cheapest loft at $500 and they r brand new just opened in January. I've been inside its really nice, but I stated my personal opinion about downtown Toledo...

Goodlick

[Rebek56]

There are some interesting-looking older apartment buildings in the area between Monroe and the interstate as well. (Some of the side streets are Maxwell and Rushland.) I've walked in the neighborhood and felt perfectly safe; people out walking their dogs and working in the yards were willing to chat. I second Old Orchard, though; it's a great neighborhood, and there are some pre-1960 apartment buildings and duplexes in the area. You would probably need to wander around and write down phone numbers of places for rent, though.

[SMinTOL]

Thanks for all the input everyone! i have until the beginning of may in my temporary place now so i'm glad i have plenty of options to research. Just for some clarification... where exactly is old orchard? is it above bancroft across from UT's campus?

Also, a good friend recommended that i try driving around looking for condos/duplexes in the area of Southwyck and north of heatherdowns around southwyck... anyone else agree?

And i know that its a very contested subject from reading on here before, however can someone give me a guideline for the boundaries of the old west end? i plan on going this weekend to scout for phone numbers/for rent signs/ apartments this weekend.

Thanks again for all the help

P.S. off track but...this forum is awesome. its cool to see so many people actively discussing the development of Downtown Toledo. I work downtown and can say firsthand that the area has tons of potential, but as of now is less than attractive in most areas. As a young person i'm obviously excited about possible development of entertainment (drinking and eating) and living downtown.... and i really hope it happens because right now i'm working to establish my career and can see myself in toledo for the next 3-5 years... maybe longer if the downtown development comes through.