I will be re-locating to Toledo in the fall of '08 after my wedding. My wife-to-be is in residence there at St. V's until June of '09. I have been up there many times to visit her and have enjoyed getting to know the city. I love the Old West End and the warehouse district downtown by the ballpark. Are there any websites out there pertaining to Toledo's downtown & neighborhood development (besides this one :-)), history, what's happening, etc. that anyone would reccomend? My fiance-to-be lives in the 5-points neighborhood right now.

Can any Toledoans out there add anything or make any reccomendations that might be helpful? Thanks in advance for any info!

Try skyscrapercity.com for development news. Click on midwest under continental forums, then development news at the top and then Toledo. Another great site is Dotoledo.org. This has pretty much everything to do in Toledo from museums to restaurants to shopping etc. I hope this helps.

Thanks! I will check those out.

Try skyscrapercity.com for development news. Click on midwest under continental forums, then development news at the top and then Toledo. Another great site is Dotoledo.org. This has pretty much everything to do in Toledo from museums to restaurants to shopping etc. I hope this helps.

 

yeah, you can get all two toledo forumers theres.

i live in toledo.  i go to detroit and bowling green a lot, so i am of no help.  what's your wife's specialty?  i'm about to start 3rd year of med school after finishing the big bad usmle step 1 next week. 

She'll be starting her second year of residency next month at St. V's in podiatry. When I get up to see her we like to head to Ann Arbor, what a cool town. We went to Detroit last mo. and I was pleasantly surprised (hadn't been there in 10 yrs).

She'll be starting her second year of residency next month at St. V's in podiatry. When I get up to see her we like to head to Ann Arbor, what a cool town. We went to Detroit last mo. and I was pleasantly surprised (hadn't been there in 10 yrs).

 

Detroit: Not nearly as crappy as you think!

in toledo the city paper advertises concerts, cultural events, restaurants, etc and i think 'cool i should check that out' and most of the time they are in ann arbor or detroit. 

 

the first time i went to detroit in my 20s (i've been there as a child also) i felt pretty at home.  the bridge on 75 over the area kinda like the industrial flats had the same industrial pollution smell of cleveland. 

^ Speaking for someone who had never been to Toledo before my lady moved there, I've come to most of the same conclusion(s) you have; having grown up in the country (ashtabula county) and lived in the city (jcu, cleve hts, tremont, lakewood) I need to be in the city, and I could NEVER live in a suburb. If my lady chooses to stay in Toledo after her residency, we've got our eye on some old homes in the OWE (we both love that nabe) and I've got my eye on a few old commercial bldgs in the warehouse district that I could play around with (I'm a carpenter). I would love nothing more than a cool urban loft down there that I could put together.

Some of my thoughts from my time up there:

*One word for Ann Arbor: awesome. I love big college towns.

*M' lady and I have made it a point to explore the restaurants and bars of downtown Toledo and it's environs(I will not patronize places in the burbs or chains) and I will say this about "the docks" complex: It should've been built on the other side of the river!! I can't count the # of empty storefronts in that block of beautiful fronts on the e. side of summit st. downtown where this development should've gone.  :?

*El Camino Real on Sylvania is the greatest mexican restaurant I've ever been to. We love that place!

*The 5 points nabe is just ok to me. Nothing real bad, nothing real good. Not much you can walk to. Very busy roads.

*We went to Detroit for a concert at the Magic Stick that ended up being postponed, but we had already booked the hotel room so we headed up anyway planning to just explore and bar-hop downtown. I love urban architecture and rust-belt topography so the ride into Detroit on 75 was something I could appreciate. I loved the view of the Rouge-area industrial complex. We got off early so we could drive thru Corktown and old Tiger Stadium (that place is still standing!?!) We had dinner/drinks at Detroit Brewing Co. and just wandered around downtown on foot and the people-mover. It was cool, but it really needs to run into the burbs (maybe up woodward?) I was really surprised at the amount of vacant land on the immediate periphery of downtown(especially along Woodward). A few new condo's/townhouses, but an immense amount of prime developable land exists very close to the city core. Greektown(the nabe; I'm not a gambler)was cool. We make it a habit to take a weekend and head to other cities in the region to explore/see concerts (Buffalo, Pittsburgh [love that town too], Louisville,etc) and I can say I was impressed enough with Detroit to want to head back there for a weekend in the summer.

All in all, as a native Clevelander, I've been impressed with what Toledo/SE Michigan has to offer, and I have no problem relocating there.  :-)

eat/drink at slow's next time you're in detroit.  excellent beer selection.

Dont know if you know or not but Toledo has no sportscomplex to hold events. So all of the big events will be in Detroit. I went to Wrestlemaina this year in Detroit and it was great.

^Yes, that is kind of a bummer for me. Musicwise, I usually catch about a dozen shows a year between the Grog Shop and the Beachland, and I haven't found or noticed a comparable place in Toledo. I like the fact that the Sports Arena is moving downtown by the ballpark, but it doesn't address the lack of a club that hosts touring national/regional indie rock/altcountry/rockabilly acts that I love so much. Unless there is such a place and I've missed finding it?

Sportswise, Cleveland is close enough to make it back for a game on the weekend, and Detroit is only an hour away. Not so bad in this department.

C-Dawg, I'm going to make it a point to check that neighborhood out next time I'm up there. I love the ethnic neighborhoods and eateries. I also love Mexican food.

Really good stuff, guys. Keep it comin. :clap: