My friend has just graduated and will be relocating to Lima for a couple years.  He is looking for a place to rent but has no idea where to start.  Any suggestions of neighborhoods and towns in the area he should consider would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not THAT familiar with Lima but I know the area west of downtown is the "nicest."

^I'll second that. Gave myself a self-guided tour of Lima about a year ago. The West Elm/West Market Street was definitely the nicest part of the city that I saw, with a number of two-story homes, fairly well-maintained. Not to say that there was much "wrong" with other parts of town, but I did get the general sense that there hasn't been much in the way of new economic development or investment going on around town for many years, as is typical for a smaller rust belt city. Downtown Lima was pretty quiet with little traffic, even for rush hour.

 

The majority of the housing stock throughout Lima appeared to be small cape cods built during the post-WWII era, some better maintained than others. I honestly can't imagine that your friend would have too much trouble renting one.

Well, I wouldn't really say there is a hot spot in Lima for solid urban living, but the Market St. area west of downtown is nice.  I grew up in Delphos which is about 20 miles West of Lima so I am familiar with the city.  If it were me I would just find a place to rent that's close to work and convenient for you.  I mean, downtown is kind of charming, but there isn't a lot of activity there aside from some summer festivals and such.

The neighborhood surrounding the intersection of State and Cole (SW of downtown) is pretty nice.