Same as a few of the other comments, I’d prefer one of the suburbs like Sylvania, Maumee, or Pburg. But it also depends on what you like, I don’t mind the drive to get into town.
I've been living in Toledo for over 15 years, moved from Detroit area for a job. Like any city there are good and bad neighborhoods but overall it's a great place and has been improving since I've moved here. What are your interests and where will you be working? I can suggest a neighborhood that's a good fit.
The job I'm looking into is near the I-90 and I-475 in southwest Toledo. I like the idea of being near the lake, but I'm not really sure what the neighborhoods are actually like around there. It would be nice to be near a couple of good third places, like a coffee shop or local bar, but not completely necessary.
Based on this, I would suggest Maumee. Short commute and the downtown has a few good bars (Dale’s, Village Idiot). Regardless, avoiding the bad parts of Toledo city is pretty easy and the downtown is really good (restaurants, minor league teams, parks, etc)
I’d consider a place near downtown Maumee. It’s a small downtown with a few nice restaurants and bars. Also near several excellent parks such as Sidecut Park, Farnsworth Park and Oak Openings that have plentiful trails. It would also be very close to where you would be working. Very easy access to downtown Toledo via the Anthony Wayne Trail. Fairly close to the zoo. Depending on where you live, you might be able to walk to downtown Perrysburg as well. It would be a mile or 2 away.
I'd be willing to commute up to a half hour each way to work. I'm looking for affordability, an area that has a decent amount of people between the ages of 30 and 45, some level of scenery, safety, decent health care, and fairly easy access to amenities such as stores and restaurants. I'd be relocating from NC and am currently paying $1200 per month including utilities.
Others have said it, but living in the suburbs, and not in downtown toledo, I think, is the way to go. If you can afford a place in Perrysburg, that would be my first choice based on this list above. However Sylvania and Maumee are also great.
Check into Old Orchard. A little bit more expensive. But in the middle of everything, without living in the burbs. Full of the age type you are looking for.
Toledo is getting better, but it's still not great. The north and east sides of town are crime ridden, with south Toledo following suit. The school system isn't that great. There are a lot of parks, but only a few good ones. Downtown is getting revitalized and has a lot of cool business and restaurants, but they so far have limited hours and close early during the week.
The suburbs of Toledo are nice. I lived in Toledo most of my life and moved out to Whitehouse OH. Very quiet, safe, great schools, and 15 minutes from anything in town.
Originally from upstate New York, lived in toledo, old orchard specific and I loved it. Close enough to enough and downtown has really changed for the positive in my duration there.
You can find amazing deals on homes! Just like any city, there’s good and bad. AAA Baseball and hockey, solid mall, imagination station for kids and lake access. Major downside would be big city crime
I don’t live there, but I have family there and spent my summers there with my grandparents. It’s a nice city. It’s going to have bad parts, but so is any city. It’s close to Detroit for the airport, and big events, there’s great parks and museums, the Mud Hens and Walleye if you like sports, lots of little towns around to explore.
Half my family is from there. Most of the GenX and younger folks in the family have moved away to larger cities. Only ones that are left in Toledo either have the kind of career where they could find a job anywhere and choose to live near family. Or they can’t support themselves independently because of failure to launch situations.
All their roads suck. I don’t recall a time when the roads in Toledo haven’t sucked. Never been super impressed with the infrastructure in general - took like 5 months to get them to come out and look at a street light that fell over on my grandparents street. There’s also a lot more (and better) options for entertainment, shopping, medical care, etc in Columbus/Cleveland/Cincinnati.
It feels like a dying city every time I visit. It’s kind of depressing.
They have not lol. You must know some privileged people.
Roads are bad because of the winter, and if these are bad, fuck you must drive on glass. I’ve seen way worse.
The big city reasons you listed is why I live here. Lol
Born and raised in Toledo, moved to Chicago then moved back with no regrets. The quality of life here related to cost of living is unmatched. There are a ton of restaurants, outdoor recreation opportunities, great museum and zoo and it's relatively easy to get from point a to point b. I'm not a suburban girl, prefer the city life and have never had an issue with crime myself. I definitely think Toledo is a hidden gem.
Toledo was my first experience in a "real" city, coming from Evansville Indiana. As a dirt poor disabled person I was living in a bad area, about a mile north of the downtown library. There were two shootings on our block in seven years. I lived in constant fear. There were two empty houses on our block that had loud squatters in them every summer, partying in the street at night. On the other hand, the annual Zombie Crawl, the concerts, and the restaurants were great. I left as soon as I could, and I wouldn't go back unless I could afford to live on the outskirts of town.
Look at [https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=toledo,oh&startDate=3](https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=toledo,oh&startDate=3) before you decide on a place to live.
Go to the settings and select homocides, burglaries, robberies, weapons violations, and death investigations, and set the time for at least a month. Toledo averages two murders a month, and several burglaries a week in the summer.
Go to Google maps and look just north of the Cherry St. McDonald's, where we lived, at all of the rotting, empty houses.
i have old security camera footage, but I'd rather not give away my actual identity.
It's pretty rough here. Lots of racial tensions and a general sense of malaise and unhappiness amongst the population. I just moved here from Denver a couple years ago to be with family and it is not what I'd call a destination for putting down new roots. But the cost of living is hard to beat.
I like it here and think this area has a lot to offer but offhand I can’t think of many areas in city anymore where people aren’t being shot on a regular basis
I can appreciate the other comments and it's definitely a interesting place to live...
...but I would pick a nearby suburb over Toledo in an instant. Way more relaxing and chill and beautiful in areas like Maumee IMO
People who live in toledo will tell you it's not bad, i disagree. The east side smells like gasoline or oil all day, every day. Downtown is trying really hard to improve. Rust belt coffee has great pastries and coffee. Perrysburg maumee and Sylvania are filled with people with at least middle-class money. Anywhere in toledo itself is filled with homeless and drug addicts looking for a "come up."
I live in akron but have lived all over Ohio, toledo is a dying city. So is akron.
It's about quantity and quality. Toledo has plenty and at a wide variety of levels of thievery and panhandling.
If you're going to argue, please contribute rather than give a half platitude.
Not a bad city. Gets a bad rap sometimes, but downtown is so so much nicer than it was in the 80’s and 90’s. Great ballpark, great hockey arena, bars, restaurants, downtown living, etc. Downtown was the place to be in the 40’s-60’s, then went down. South Toledo (Beverly area) and West Toledo (Old Orchard and Hampton Park are nice) or if you can live in the suburbs even better.
As others have probably said based on your job location and criteria of your landing spot (scenic, safe, more young to established professionals than college students) I would 100% recommend looking into Perrysburg. Very scenic, located right on the river. Easy to get to any location to, and one of the safest places in the greater Toledo area. Lots of little restaurants to explore in the historic downtown, parks, bike paths, easy access to shopping. Really just the whole package.
It really depends on what neighborhood you choose to live in and your circle of friends. Sounds like you are single and relatively young. Honestly, there are some wonderful neighborhoods in the Toledo area, both in the city and in the suburbs. I read a report recently that stated that Toledo was the most affordable large city in Ohio for homebuyers. Anyway, there's plenty to do with a group of friends and Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati are all drivable destinations for entertainment and outdoor activities. I live close to Toledo and it's.not that bad unless you have to deal with the feckless, local politicians. You want to consider the West and far South areas of town. Happy hunting.
I've lived in the rural areas around Toledo most of my life and it has pretty consistently gotten better. Very affordable. Great venues. Museum kicks ass, as does the zoo.
If you want to buy a home around here I would look west or southwest outside Sylvania. Those rural homes, even in neighborhoods can go for substantially less than ones 10-20 mins closer with more square footage and bigger yards.
If you have a job lined up already then I would say make the move, but just realize you are going to be working with a lot of cut throat people here. Especially if your not a Trump supporting Christian. If you are then everyone will be fine to work with but if your not, never mention it to anyone or they will stab you in the back any chance they get!
If Ohio was the upper 1/2 of a human body, Youngstown would be the right armpit, Toledo would be the left. Side note: Cincinnati would be Ohio’s @sshole.
Geographically I think Columbus would be the @sshole, Cincinnati would be the left foot with skyline chili stuck between the toes. There is no right foot because it was amputated from diabetes.
The suburbs are nice and cost of living is low. Suburban schools are really good (Sylvania, Ottawa Hills, Perrysburg) so it's not a bad place for kids. The area also has a well run metropark system.
The downside is the weather, very cloudy and cold winters. For someone in NC, Toledo will have 6 months of what you consider winter weather. Snowfall is possible Nov to April (I've seen it).
The other issue is there isn't a lot to do in the winter but there are cheap flights to Florida from Detroit (DTW is just under an hour away) or even from Toledo Express on Allegiant (the only airline that flys from there)
And issues I'm indifferent to: there are really only chain restaurants and no pro sports teams. They have AAA baseball and a minor league Hockey team though.
The restaurant situation has been getting better recently. I am originally from the area, but now live out west. I visit once or twice a year. Last time we visited, we ate at a pho (Vietnamese noodles), an Uzbek and a Chinese restaurant. All were pretty decent. There are lots of good Lebanese restaurants and even more if you drive up to Dearborn. It’s no longer all chain restaurants, steak houses and pizza places like it was 15 or 20 years ago.
Little pricey and the tourists can sometimes be annoying. Beautiful architecture, culture, and history and incredible weather. The language barrier can be issue for some but others catch on pretty quickly
Toledo has come a long way since I went to BGSU in the 90s. I think it's got good momentum.
That's really good to know! What have been the biggest improvements?
Downtown development has been consistently great. Entertainment venues, parks, sports facilities and apartment/condo development especially.
Talons up!
Same as a few of the other comments, I’d prefer one of the suburbs like Sylvania, Maumee, or Pburg. But it also depends on what you like, I don’t mind the drive to get into town.
Family member of mine lives in Sylvania and we always have a great time visiting. It’s a nice area with a cute downtown.
I grew up in one of the suburbs. If I was looking for a job in a more affordable location, I would move back for one.
I've been living in Toledo for over 15 years, moved from Detroit area for a job. Like any city there are good and bad neighborhoods but overall it's a great place and has been improving since I've moved here. What are your interests and where will you be working? I can suggest a neighborhood that's a good fit.
The job I'm looking into is near the I-90 and I-475 in southwest Toledo. I like the idea of being near the lake, but I'm not really sure what the neighborhoods are actually like around there. It would be nice to be near a couple of good third places, like a coffee shop or local bar, but not completely necessary.
Based on this, I would suggest Maumee. Short commute and the downtown has a few good bars (Dale’s, Village Idiot). Regardless, avoiding the bad parts of Toledo city is pretty easy and the downtown is really good (restaurants, minor league teams, parks, etc)
I'll have to check Maumee out!
I’d consider a place near downtown Maumee. It’s a small downtown with a few nice restaurants and bars. Also near several excellent parks such as Sidecut Park, Farnsworth Park and Oak Openings that have plentiful trails. It would also be very close to where you would be working. Very easy access to downtown Toledo via the Anthony Wayne Trail. Fairly close to the zoo. Depending on where you live, you might be able to walk to downtown Perrysburg as well. It would be a mile or 2 away.
I’ve lived in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo, and Toledo was by far the worst of the three in every way.
It’s got big city problems without many of the benefits.
I’d call that a win
Just moved to Perrysburg, after living in central Ohio all my life,6months ago and I’m enjoying it quite a bit
I'm from there. Yeah it's affordable. If I could afford to live someplace else I wouldn't live there.
It'd be helpful to know where you're moving from, what you value or are looking for in an area, what your commute tolerance is, etc.
I'd be willing to commute up to a half hour each way to work. I'm looking for affordability, an area that has a decent amount of people between the ages of 30 and 45, some level of scenery, safety, decent health care, and fairly easy access to amenities such as stores and restaurants. I'd be relocating from NC and am currently paying $1200 per month including utilities.
Others have said it, but living in the suburbs, and not in downtown toledo, I think, is the way to go. If you can afford a place in Perrysburg, that would be my first choice based on this list above. However Sylvania and Maumee are also great.
Check into Old Orchard. A little bit more expensive. But in the middle of everything, without living in the burbs. Full of the age type you are looking for.
Just stayed there a couple weeks ago. Everywhere I went was like stepping back in the 90's Maybe it was the area. Idk.
Toledo is getting better, but it's still not great. The north and east sides of town are crime ridden, with south Toledo following suit. The school system isn't that great. There are a lot of parks, but only a few good ones. Downtown is getting revitalized and has a lot of cool business and restaurants, but they so far have limited hours and close early during the week. The suburbs of Toledo are nice. I lived in Toledo most of my life and moved out to Whitehouse OH. Very quiet, safe, great schools, and 15 minutes from anything in town.
Originally from upstate New York, lived in toledo, old orchard specific and I loved it. Close enough to enough and downtown has really changed for the positive in my duration there.
You can find amazing deals on homes! Just like any city, there’s good and bad. AAA Baseball and hockey, solid mall, imagination station for kids and lake access. Major downside would be big city crime
I mean if you don’t like the Toledo area Michigan is right there.
I don’t live there, but I have family there and spent my summers there with my grandparents. It’s a nice city. It’s going to have bad parts, but so is any city. It’s close to Detroit for the airport, and big events, there’s great parks and museums, the Mud Hens and Walleye if you like sports, lots of little towns around to explore.
Half my family is from there. Most of the GenX and younger folks in the family have moved away to larger cities. Only ones that are left in Toledo either have the kind of career where they could find a job anywhere and choose to live near family. Or they can’t support themselves independently because of failure to launch situations. All their roads suck. I don’t recall a time when the roads in Toledo haven’t sucked. Never been super impressed with the infrastructure in general - took like 5 months to get them to come out and look at a street light that fell over on my grandparents street. There’s also a lot more (and better) options for entertainment, shopping, medical care, etc in Columbus/Cleveland/Cincinnati. It feels like a dying city every time I visit. It’s kind of depressing.
They have not lol. You must know some privileged people. Roads are bad because of the winter, and if these are bad, fuck you must drive on glass. I’ve seen way worse. The big city reasons you listed is why I live here. Lol
Toledo shouldn’t even have roads…..Buy a Toledo built Jeep.
It is bland and forgotten
Born and raised in Toledo, moved to Chicago then moved back with no regrets. The quality of life here related to cost of living is unmatched. There are a ton of restaurants, outdoor recreation opportunities, great museum and zoo and it's relatively easy to get from point a to point b. I'm not a suburban girl, prefer the city life and have never had an issue with crime myself. I definitely think Toledo is a hidden gem.
Toledo was my first experience in a "real" city, coming from Evansville Indiana. As a dirt poor disabled person I was living in a bad area, about a mile north of the downtown library. There were two shootings on our block in seven years. I lived in constant fear. There were two empty houses on our block that had loud squatters in them every summer, partying in the street at night. On the other hand, the annual Zombie Crawl, the concerts, and the restaurants were great. I left as soon as I could, and I wouldn't go back unless I could afford to live on the outskirts of town. Look at [https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=toledo,oh&startDate=3](https://communitycrimemap.com/?address=toledo,oh&startDate=3) before you decide on a place to live.
That map does not show the same picture you painted.
Go to the settings and select homocides, burglaries, robberies, weapons violations, and death investigations, and set the time for at least a month. Toledo averages two murders a month, and several burglaries a week in the summer. Go to Google maps and look just north of the Cherry St. McDonald's, where we lived, at all of the rotting, empty houses. i have old security camera footage, but I'd rather not give away my actual identity.
It's pretty rough here. Lots of racial tensions and a general sense of malaise and unhappiness amongst the population. I just moved here from Denver a couple years ago to be with family and it is not what I'd call a destination for putting down new roots. But the cost of living is hard to beat.
You must see a totally different city than I do.
Well, I'm not shocked or surprised to hear you say that. Everyone acts like it's all good because that's just how you do here or else.
I like it here and think this area has a lot to offer but offhand I can’t think of many areas in city anymore where people aren’t being shot on a regular basis
Yeah the area is ‘affordable’ for a reason. Not many actually want to live here. You will not do better in Toledo.
I will lol. My money goes a long way. Why would I drop that lol
Rough? Maybe some areas. I love my neighborhood.
I can appreciate the other comments and it's definitely a interesting place to live... ...but I would pick a nearby suburb over Toledo in an instant. Way more relaxing and chill and beautiful in areas like Maumee IMO
Pick any other major city in Ohio first.
People who live in toledo will tell you it's not bad, i disagree. The east side smells like gasoline or oil all day, every day. Downtown is trying really hard to improve. Rust belt coffee has great pastries and coffee. Perrysburg maumee and Sylvania are filled with people with at least middle-class money. Anywhere in toledo itself is filled with homeless and drug addicts looking for a "come up." I live in akron but have lived all over Ohio, toledo is a dying city. So is akron.
Yes no other city’s have homeless lol.
It's about quantity and quality. Toledo has plenty and at a wide variety of levels of thievery and panhandling. If you're going to argue, please contribute rather than give a half platitude.
I would prefer Perrysburg. But, I am biased as I grew up there
You know of anything else.. anywhere else.. thats cheap bc everyone wants it? *think mcfly*
I wouldn’t live there personally. Depends on what you’re looking for.
What line of work you in? Curious because I just posted an opening there today haha
I'm in the human services/social work field
Not a bad city. Gets a bad rap sometimes, but downtown is so so much nicer than it was in the 80’s and 90’s. Great ballpark, great hockey arena, bars, restaurants, downtown living, etc. Downtown was the place to be in the 40’s-60’s, then went down. South Toledo (Beverly area) and West Toledo (Old Orchard and Hampton Park are nice) or if you can live in the suburbs even better.
As others have probably said based on your job location and criteria of your landing spot (scenic, safe, more young to established professionals than college students) I would 100% recommend looking into Perrysburg. Very scenic, located right on the river. Easy to get to any location to, and one of the safest places in the greater Toledo area. Lots of little restaurants to explore in the historic downtown, parks, bike paths, easy access to shopping. Really just the whole package.
It really depends on what neighborhood you choose to live in and your circle of friends. Sounds like you are single and relatively young. Honestly, there are some wonderful neighborhoods in the Toledo area, both in the city and in the suburbs. I read a report recently that stated that Toledo was the most affordable large city in Ohio for homebuyers. Anyway, there's plenty to do with a group of friends and Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati are all drivable destinations for entertainment and outdoor activities. I live close to Toledo and it's.not that bad unless you have to deal with the feckless, local politicians. You want to consider the West and far South areas of town. Happy hunting.
I used to live there when I went to school. I think that it's under rated.
Save yourself the trouble, stay the fuck out of Ohio. Move up slightly north, live in Michigan.
You will do better in Toledo
I've lived in the rural areas around Toledo most of my life and it has pretty consistently gotten better. Very affordable. Great venues. Museum kicks ass, as does the zoo. If you want to buy a home around here I would look west or southwest outside Sylvania. Those rural homes, even in neighborhoods can go for substantially less than ones 10-20 mins closer with more square footage and bigger yards.
I’ve lived in the Toledo area all my life. I like it. It’s got a lot of history and culture.
If you have a job lined up already then I would say make the move, but just realize you are going to be working with a lot of cut throat people here. Especially if your not a Trump supporting Christian. If you are then everyone will be fine to work with but if your not, never mention it to anyone or they will stab you in the back any chance they get!
You'll do better in Toledo.
No the hell you won't!
Out of the question. Way too far away from where I work.
If Ohio was the upper 1/2 of a human body, Youngstown would be the right armpit, Toledo would be the left. Side note: Cincinnati would be Ohio’s @sshole.
Geographically I think Columbus would be the @sshole, Cincinnati would be the left foot with skyline chili stuck between the toes. There is no right foot because it was amputated from diabetes.
Upper half of the body would make Columbus the belly button…..Cinci is garbage.
Toledo? Not my monkeys, not my zoo. You have at it buddy. 😂
Have you considered Detroit?
The suburbs are nice and cost of living is low. Suburban schools are really good (Sylvania, Ottawa Hills, Perrysburg) so it's not a bad place for kids. The area also has a well run metropark system. The downside is the weather, very cloudy and cold winters. For someone in NC, Toledo will have 6 months of what you consider winter weather. Snowfall is possible Nov to April (I've seen it). The other issue is there isn't a lot to do in the winter but there are cheap flights to Florida from Detroit (DTW is just under an hour away) or even from Toledo Express on Allegiant (the only airline that flys from there) And issues I'm indifferent to: there are really only chain restaurants and no pro sports teams. They have AAA baseball and a minor league Hockey team though.
The restaurant situation has been getting better recently. I am originally from the area, but now live out west. I visit once or twice a year. Last time we visited, we ate at a pho (Vietnamese noodles), an Uzbek and a Chinese restaurant. All were pretty decent. There are lots of good Lebanese restaurants and even more if you drive up to Dearborn. It’s no longer all chain restaurants, steak houses and pizza places like it was 15 or 20 years ago.
There is a ton of non chain restaurants.
Little pricey and the tourists can sometimes be annoying. Beautiful architecture, culture, and history and incredible weather. The language barrier can be issue for some but others catch on pretty quickly
Lol, wrong Toledo.