Best affordable Toledo neighborhood for a family (Delaware, Sylvania: best neighborhood, rentals)

[tallguy1984]

Hi everyone. I currently live in western Washington State with my wife and two young boys. My oldest who is 4 has autism. From doing research I’ve learned there are two tuition-free autism schools in Toledo. We are considering relocating to your city for the autism resources available. What would be the best neighborhood in Toledo to buy a house under $100,000? I’ve read about Franklin Park, Deveaux, Beverly and Whitmer-Trilby based on a previous post rating the neighborhoods of Toledo. I was just wondering which of these would be the best choice for us as far as safety, public schools and access to employment and things to do. I have a background in sports writing and warehouse work, while my wife has a background in social work. Any help or recommendations would help a lot. Thanks!

I should add that I’m originally from northwest Indiana, so I am familiar with Midwest weather, etc., but not Toledo as a city.

[Tobias C]

Welcome to Toledo. I'm assuming since your basically a traditional family of 4.....you probably want 100k max....but still a comfortable enough size house (like 1100 square feet wouldn't suffice).

You're pretty much looking in the right places already with the neighborhoods you suggested (I was the author of that neighborhood rating thread by the way, lol). Everything from the state line down to Laskey....and from Jackman as far west as Talmadge is fair game. Those are the Franklin Park and Trilby areas. Most of Deveaux is decent too but the closer you get to Upton to the east, the hairier it gets. But the Deveaux neighborhoods off of Sylvania, between Douglas and Secor are all decent, and you might be able to find a deal if you keep your eyes peeled.

In South Toledo, Beverly is nice but itll be hard to find anything below 100k in the areas east of Detroit, off the AW Trail. Right by there though, a lot of the neighborhoods off Byrne Rd down there are affordable and fairly safe. I would just stay south of Glendale as its rough up by Byrne and Airport. But Byrne @ Heatherdowns areas are all decent. You may even find a decent house just under 100k across the border into Maumee as well if you're lucky.

As far as public schools go....looking in the areas north of Laskey....puts you in Washington School District, instead of Toledo Public Schools....even though it's the city of Toledo. Probably not as good of schools as the suburban towns but better than TPS.

[tallguy1984]

Thanks for the response. I’m seeing a lot of affordable places in Reynolds Corners, Five Points and some in Point Place. What do you know about those areas?

[Tobias C]

Originally Posted by tallguy1984

Thanks for the response. I’m seeing a lot of affordable places in Reynolds Corners, Five Points and some in Point Place. What do you know about those areas?

Those are still all decent areas. But as a general rule....the price of houses in an area kinda tells you something about the area. I live in Five Points (Library Village). My house cost 40k. My house is historic (1920s) but in relatively good condition. I'll probably try to sell it for 60-70k since I've upgraded and replaced a lot of stuff. Our area is generally safe for the most part. Mostly just working class neighborhood, (true of the other 2 as well). There are issues with occasional property theft and sometimes burglaries. While not common, every once in a while you'll hear about a robbery.....and even rarer, gunshots sometimes. A lot of homes around here are rentals, and with that comes lower incomes, and subsequently issues with crime and drugs but I definitely wouldn't say the areas seething with crime or anything. I worry that the neighborhood is in decline but It's still a decent family neighborhood and if the price is right for you, it could be a viable option.

I think the majority of the residential streets/neighborhoods off like Reynolds&Bancroft or Reynolds & Dorr are decent. Theres occasional crime but nothing alarming. Crime tends to trickle out into west Toledo from the inner city via Dorr, Nebraska, Hill.....but that's mostly contained to businesses on the main roads of anything.

Point Place is pretty safe as it's kind of isolated up in the Northeast corner of the city along the Ottawa River and the lake. It almost feels like a separate little town even though it isn't. Its affordable though because the area hasn't seen a ton of investment in recent years/decades....and it is relatively close to what most people would refer to as the "north end" beginning with Manhattan Blvd, onward......where it's much rougher with high crime rates. Point Place is somewhat segregated from the north end by Detwiler Park. Point Place itself doesn't experience too much serious crime though so it's probably worth consideration if you're okay with the neighborhood location wise in relation to your work or the things you like to do.

The only reason I emphasize crime so much is because you seem to be trying to strike a balance between affordability and safety.....and like I said, home prices often reflect the situation in a given area.

[Rebek56]

Tobias, what are your thoughts on Historic Westmoreland? I see occasional homes there for less than $100K; though they are no doubt fixer-uppers, they have plenty of room for a family.

[Tobias C]

Originally Posted by Rebek56

Tobias, what are your thoughts on Historic Westmoreland? I see occasional homes there for less than $100K; though they are no doubt fixer-uppers, they have plenty of room for a family.

Westmoreland is a hidden gem in my opinion. The houses are beautiful and it feels like a bunch of houses in a park. It seems like a lot of people I talk to dont even know the neighborhood exists....besides maybe some older folks who have lived in the city for a long time.

It's kind of a situation similar to the Old West End as I see it though. The OWE is technically everything to the west of Collingwood, all the way up to the roundabouts by Berdan and Manhattan but most people dont really think of the areas north of Central or along Detroit Ave as " THE Historic Old West End District" That's mostly like Collingwood, Park-Scott-Robin-and Glenwood from Monroe to like maybe Delaware or Islington? Westmorelands kinda like that in my opinion.

The nice streets are like, Richmond, Mt Vernon, Potomac, and Shenandoah...and those streets are lined with super cool, big old houses with tons of mature trees, etc. but once you go south to about Oakwood or so.....the style of homes and lot sizes and density changes kind of abruptly the neighborhood takes on a little more of the character of the adjacent neighborhoods across Upton and Dorr. And that's the thing. To live in area like that.....you have to be comfortable spending 150+ thousand on a home.....where literally 2 or 3 blocks away is rough neighborhoods with gangs and everything. It takes a certain type of comfortable and open minded person to live somewhere like that....similar to the Old West End.

Its definitely a treasure of a neighborhood though.

[tallguy1984]

Thank you for all your help. It looks like North Towne might be another decent option for us. I’m gonna be in Toledo in October to look around and tour the two schools I mentioned. It’ll be nice to get a feel of the city in person.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Tobias C

Westmoreland is a hidden gem in my opinion. The houses are beautiful and it feels like a bunch of houses in a park. It seems like a lot of people I talk to dont even know the neighborhood exists....besides maybe some older folks who have lived in the city for a long time.

It's pretty small isn't it? Only around 200 homes or so I think.

And that's the thing. To live in area like that.....you have to be comfortable spending 150+ thousand on a home.....where literally 2 or 3 blocks away is rough neighborhoods with gangs and everything. It takes a certain type of comfortable and open minded person to live somewhere like that....similar to the Old West End.

Do you know if Westmoreland hires private security services like the Old West End and a few other Toledo neighborhoods do?

[Tobias C]

Originally Posted by ferraris

It's pretty small isn't it? Only around 200 homes or so I think.



Do you know if Westmoreland hires private security services like the Old West End and a few other Toledo neighborhoods do?

Yeah the nice area with the big homes and all that is only about 4x4 blocks. You can kinda tell just by looking at the neighborhood on satellite view on Google maps. You can see the difference in lot sizes.

They dont have private security that I'm aware of....but I dont think they have a lot of problems over there either though.....at least that I ever hear about.

[canudigit]

Like the other posters here, I've lived around Toledo my entire life and my husband grew up there. I would rate the neighborhoods that you mentioned based on safety in this order:

1.) Point Place - stay away from the southern most part near Manhattan Blvd. as others have said, with Point Place as a rule the further north the safer and less blighted. It has a cute downtown that does have the feel of a smaller town. The down side to Point Place is that it isn't close to very many amenities due to the fact that it is really a peninsula. It is quiet and peaceful, though, with some very nice homes.

2.) Five Points - but definitely not the streets east of Lewis Ave., the Library Village side where Tobias lives which is bordered roughly by Lewis Ave. to the east, Sylvania Ave. to the south, Jackman Rd. to the west, and Laskey Rd. to the north is much better and safer. My DH grew up in that neighborhood and it has changed some but it is still generally a safe, blue collar neighborhood. As Tobias mentioned, after the recession/ housing crash in last decade, many of the homes that used to be owned by families with pride in ownership have been bought by landlords who just want to make a buck and don't care nearly as much, but there are still some very quaint areas with pretty 1920s architecture.

3.) Reynolds Corners - like someone else said, I think the side streets in this area are still quite safe but the main streets like Reynolds Rd. and Dorr St. are looking tired and a bit rundown with very little new business investment.

I don't know enough about Historic Westmoreland to offer an opinion. The homes are gorgeous, obviously inhabited by wealthy people about 100 years ago, but I don't know anything about crime stats or overall safety. I think it borders some pretty rough areas as others have said, but so does the Old West End and it is considered to be a desirable place to live. Probably a lot depends on if they have a private security force like the OWE.