From the 7/6/05 Toledo Blade:

 

Uptown owners have some big ideas

Huge entertainment district is envisioned

By TOM TROY

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

A group of property owners centering on Toledo's Uptown area wants to create a new "community entertainment district" - a really big community entertainment district.  Spreading out from Uptown on Adams Street, the 230-acre acre plan stretches from the edge of the downtown central business district to the Old West End, and from I-75 to Jackson Boulevard.

 

The purpose of the district is to allow the state to issue up to 15 new liquor permits.  The 20 business owners who signed the application hope it will trigger the growth that has eluded the Adams Street-Uptown area in the last few years.  The boundaries encompass at least 224 businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit establishments.  Of those, nine are restaurants or bars, in addition to several private clubs, including the Toledo Club.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050706/NEWS16/507060481

 

From the 7/21/05 Toledo Blade:

 

Uptown Association seeks arts village status

Council asked to formally set up district

 

A group of Uptown business owners are trying to create an "arts and entertainment village," and yesterday they went before Toledo City Council to ask that a new entertainment district be formally established to help them do it.  Members of the Uptown District Association, a collection of business owners, appeared before council's economic development committee with a proposed ordinance establishing an entertainment district in the area.

 

If established, it would allow for 15 discounted liquor licenses to be sought from the state by new business owners.  The 230-acre district would extend from Michigan Street to Collingwood Boulevard, and roughly from Jackson Street to Washington Street, including the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, but stopping just short of the Toledo Museum of Art.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050721/NEWS16/507210450

 

From the 8/10/05 Toledo Blade:

 

PHOTO: William Black, a supporter of Neighborhood Property Inc., listens at a Toledo City Council meeting. An Uptown housing proposal was among the items on council’s agenda.  ( THE BLADE/ALYSSA SCHUKAR )

 

Uptown housing proposal examined

Dwellings would aid homeless, mentally ill

 

Advocates for housing for the homeless as well as those representing business interests in the Uptown area near downtown Toledo crowded City Council chambers last night, bringing with them their distinct - and at the moment disparate - visions for the area's future.  About 100 people wearing T-shirts with such slogans as "Won't you be my neighbor?" and "Blessed is he that considereth the poor" sat in support of a Neighborhood Properties Inc.-backed proposal to get zoning clearance for a 13-unit residential building to be built at 219 21st St. in the Uptown area.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050810/NEWS16/508100474

 

From the 8/24/05 Toledo Blade:

 

 

Council OKs transition housing in Uptown area

 

Advocates for the homeless and mentally ill applauded yesterday as Toledo City Council approved construction of an Uptown residence for people transitioning from life on the streets.  Neighborhood Properties Inc. had requested rezoning for a 13-unit apartment building at 319-333 21st St., against the initial opposition of a local business association.  The proposal passed unanimously.

 

"Council did the right thing," said a beaming Jacqueline Martin, executive director of the Lucas County Mental Health Board, which received approval of a $400,000 state grant for the facility to house the chronically homeless and mentally ill.  But John Hoover, president of Neighborhood Properties, gave the city only grudging credit.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS16/508240400/-1/NEWS

 

From the 9/6/05 Toledo Blade:

 

 

UPTOWN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

Creative community mulls 2-pronged plan

By TAD VEZNER

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

Some might think it’s easier to plan a community than nurture an arts scene.  But the Uptown Association is trying to do both at once.  The group’s efforts to create an “arts and entertainment village” across a swath of land on the western edge of downtown Toledo has provoked a variety of reactions — hope, interest, confusion, and skepticism — from many in the arts community.

 

The first step occurred several weeks ago, when the Uptown Association succeeded in having a 230-acre plot of cityscape extending from Michigan Street to Collingwood Boulevard, from Jackson Street to Washington Street, designated as an “entertainment district.”  The title allows for 15 discount liquor licenses to be secured by new businesses in the area.  But some of the district’s natives wanted more than bars and bistros; they wanted a “village.”  And they wanted art.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050906/NEWS16/50906023

 

(NOTE: Also posted by noozer and moved into the Warehouse District thread.)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published October 28, 2005

 

Meetings called to solicit ideas for growth

Warehouse District, Uptown seek vibrancy

By TAD VEZNER

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

Dreamers and designers looking to develop the outskirts of downtown Toledo will get together this weekend in hopes of creating a tight package of ideas to attract developers and future residents.  Representatives of the Uptown Association and the Toledo Warehouse District Association will hold a two-day brainstorming session, starting tonight, with the goal of drawing a focused, saleable picture of their districts' futures.

 

"We want the best ideas we can get on ways to envision future development in this neighborhood, but more importantly to actually package those ideas into tools to give to developers and people who want to move there," said Martin Lahey, chairman of the Uptown Association's arts and entertainment committee and owner of Manhattan's restaurant on Adams Street.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051028/NEWS16/510280337/-1/NEWS

 

From the 5/9/06 Toledo Blade:

 

PHOTO: Accountant Tom Baird is banking on nostalgia for the storied Ottawa Tavern as he prepares to open a new 'OT' in the Uptown neighborhood's arts and entertainment district. He expects to begin remodeling the site at 1817 Adams St. in six weeks, and neighboring businesses are cheering him on. The former Ottawa Tavern on Bancroft closed in 1999.  ( THE BLADE/AMY VOIGT )

 

PHOTO: The popular Homewreckers band played regularly at the Ottawa Tavern before the Bancroft Street bar shut down in 1999.

 

MAP: Adams corridor

 

Storied bar to be resurrected on Adams Street

Local man's goal is to recapture nostalgia of the Ottawa Tavern

By CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

A black-and-white news photo sings of an earlier time as band members in shiny suits and thin ties pose in retro-1950s glory.  Above them, the marquee beams "Ottawa Tavern" in neon cursive on the front of the storied West Bancroft Street haunt.  The tavern - which closed and later burned in 1999 - wants another curtain call.  This time it's on Uptown's Adams Street, a corridor increasingly visible for its night life and always hoping to increase its cultural stock.

 

Business dreams are tied up in old brick and high ceilings on the street.  And business owners lately have reason for optimism with several ventures and changes, including:

 

● The opening of Pub St. George. The bar is above Manos restaurant at 1701 Adams St.

● The sale of Wesley's Bar & Grill, 1201 Adams, to Michael Roberts, 34. Wesley's has been open weekends and late weeknights, unlike past practice.

● Market-rate condominiums with ground-level retail space at 1301 Adams.

 

Full story at http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/NEWS16/605090313/-1/NEWS

 

interesting idea for t-town, it could help capitalize on the mudhens area redevelopments nearby:

 

 

Article published Wednesday, August 22, 2007

 

Toledo creates an 'arts zone' over 22 blocks downtown

By JC REINDL

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced yesterday the formation of a new downtown arts district to centralize the city's present scene of spread-out studios and galleries and lure new artists to town.  The 22-block "arts zone," which has yet to be delineated by signs or officially named, also will serve as a catalyst for economic growth, making Toledo a more desirable place for businesses and young professionals, proponents said.

 

"Art is not only about improving the ambiance of a city. … It is also about economic development," Mayor Finkbeiner said during a news conference. "We are not any longer the blue-collar, working class-exclusive community we once were."  The art district is in a southeast portion of downtown and covers parts of the warehouse district on St. Clair Street.  It is bounded by Huron Street, I-75 and the Amtrak station, and the Maumee River and the planned Middlegrounds Metropark.

 

Full story at http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070822/NEWS16/708220393

 

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/NEWS08/70902001

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published September 2, 2007

 

Short North in Columbus offers vision for Toledo

By JC REINDL

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

 

COLUMBUS — There’s a 14-block neighborhood north of downtown in the state capital that has a look and feel unlike anything in northwest Ohio.

 

Known as the Short North, this mile-long strip of galleries, pubs, restaurants, condominiums, and independently owned shops is strung together with wide tree-lined sidewalks and an art-infused atmosphere. It draws thousands of visitors a week and has become city leaders’ bourgeois-bohemian showpiece for attracting talented and creative people to live and work in Columbus.

 

Contact JC Reindl at:[email protected] 419-724-6050.

But honestly, does Toledo have the artists and gay population (and urr..the economy) required to duplicate such a thing?

Finally had a chance to walk around the neighborhood yesterday and loved it!  I'd driven through dozens of times over the years, but never really got out and explored.  I'm sure it's come a long way in the 10 years I'd been passing through, but I was wowed.  Goodale Park and the neighboring blocks of beautiful old and new homes were the most impressive to me.  High Street was great too, but most of the action was in the park.  Good job Columbus!

During my first visits in the 1980s and into the early 1990s, Short North was a dump. There were prostitutes on the corners, boarded up storefronts, cages and other determents on storefront windows and doors, trash in the street, broken sidewalks, and etc. Some still say that the gentrification and cleanup of Short North into a thriving arts, retail, dining and student district is a bad thing, but I see it as one key piece of the retailitization of central Columbus that will only spread outward.

 

"Not so long ago the Short North was a place many in Columbus avoided. The neighborhood became known for crime, prostitution, and drugs during the 1970s and part of the 1980s."

The problem is that gentrification on the level of the Short North solves nothing for the "big picture". Those prostitutes, drug addicts etc are most likely living off of Hudson or Cleveland Ave. somewhere. Somewhere less walkable, and walkability tends to come in handy when you're poor.

 

I just don't want to see any more franchises move in. If it's going to be yuppyland it should at least have character.

You could always do what San Francisco did... and ban franchises outright. But as "liberal" as that is (remember: liberals love freedoms), it is restrictive on the free market economy and reduces the freedom (and incentive) to invest in a certain city.

You could always do what San Francisco did... and ban franchises outright. But as "liberal" as that is (remember: liberals love freedoms), it is restrictive on the free market economy and reduces the freedom (and incentive) to invest in a certain city.

 

That is a misconception...it is Libertarians who are all about freedoms, and they are about as far right on the political spectrum as you can get.  Since liberals are typically associated with favoring big government it wouldn't really make sense that they also favor all freedoms.  But I digress.

The "remember" part, for the record, was based on my opinion. I consider myself to be a liberal, but not to the extreme that I don't believe free market and capitalist principles cannot apply to areas like Short North ... or to an entire city. If Starbucks moves in, it ought to have every right to, just as every resident or guest has the right to refuse to use the facilities.

The "remember" part, for the record, was based on my opinion. I consider myself to be a liberal, but not to the extreme that I don't believe free market and capitalist principles cannot apply to areas like Short North ... or to an entire city. If Starbucks moves in, it ought to have every right to, just as every resident or guest has the right to refuse to use the facilities.

 

I see...I just forgot about your weirdness for a second.  :laugh:  :wink:

UpTown Toledo thirsts to market the area as a ‘destination’

By JC Reindl, Toledo Blade, February 23, 2009

 

J.P. Smith has been president of the UpTown Association for eight years, but the former Toledo police officer has been walking the beat since the late 1970s.  “For six years, the UpTown area — before it was called the UpTown area — was my police district,” recalled Mr. Smith, now a general practice attorney.  “So I know every alley, every nook and cranny around here.”

 

Prostitution and crime were big concerns in what was known in police parlance as Unit 20.  So was the rising number of vacant and decrepit buildings.  Much has changed over three decades in the present-day arts and entertainment district and neighborhood, which spans more than 50 blocks between downtown Toledo and the Old West End and includes several popular food and drink establishments along Adams Street.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't 475 and 75 slice through Uptown as well?

i'd say 75 skirts uptown, 475 doesn't really come close

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=toledo&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.214763,56.601563&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.655856,-83.546047&spn=0.014365,0.027637&z=15

 

^map centered on uptown, just the part where the grid is 'tilted'

 

also move the map a bit east to where it starts when you click it.  it scrolls west and that is annoying me immensely :shoot:

Thanks, what is the area that I guess runs from Art Museum along the expressway into DT or is it a sad part of the Old West End?

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=toledo&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.214763,56.601563&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.655856,-83.546047&spn=0.014365,0.027637&z=15

 

also move the map a bit east to where it starts when you click it. it scrolls west and that is annoying me immensely :shoot:

 

Why does Google Maps think "Toledo" is at the corner of Dorr and Detroit rather than somewhere downtown?

"Cleveland" is at Public Square

"Columbus" is at High and Broad

"Cincinnati" is at 4th and Plum

"Akron" is at Market and High

 

Inexplicably "Dayton" is across a bridge from downtown.?.

Man . . . Dorr and Detroit - the heart of what was the 'hood.

<a href="http://vimeo.com/49725886">Toledo Loves Love Mural - TimeLapse Progress Video - Art Corner Toledo</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2454536">Matt Taylor</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.

 

toledoloveslove.com

 

Another example of the Adams Street/Uptown Arts Scene.

It was started it July 23rd and finished August 3rd.

City’s UpTown district poised for renaissance

New small businesses, development filling up entertainment corridor

BY TAYLOR DUNGJEN, BLADE STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, 3/10/2015

 

For decades, UpTown, one of Toledo’s central-city neighborhoods, has been described as the next big player in the city’s comeback story.

 

It’s back at it again.  The district is abuzz with new businesses and planned development projects that could finally make this the UpTown renaissance that sticks.

 

MORE: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2015/03/10/City-s-UpTown-district-poised-for-renaissance.html

 

^Lots of good news with the new businesses in that article. When I worked in Toledo, I don't think any of that would have been viable. Uptown has slowly, but steadily been growing. While most attention has been in Downtown and Warehouse District, Uptown has a small community of die-hards and a few decent bars that have probably become staples by this point (I think Wesley's, Manhattan's, and Attic if I remember correctly).

 

The most important thing at this point is to secure and preserve what's left of the historic building stock. On my last visit to Toledo, I noticed new holes where arsons took out buildings (a problem all over the city). I also noticed that Old West End had some new abandonments and also lost some buildings. Downtown looked pretty much the same as I remembered it- not up to its potential, but early signs of a comeback. Uptown is really what could hold together a larger urban core. With good infill along Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe, it could reconnect Downtown to Old West End. All of it is walkable too. Uptown could be a good spot for retail and a much-needed grocery store.

 

If Toledo could get a small string of core neighborhoods stabilized (Downtown, Warehouse District, Vistula, Uptown, Old West End, East Toledo, Old South End), it could be a decent urban core with potential for spillover to other key neighborhoods like Lagrange and Birmingham.

Uptown Toledo Grocery store opens its doors

Updated: Tue 5:35 PM, Dec 08, 2015

 

Toledo, Ohio ProMedica celebrates the grand opening of Market on the Green at the ProMedica Ebeid Institute. The store is a full service grocery store located at the corner of 14th and Madison. It has local produce, meats and dairy products and everything offered at the major grocery stores.

 

CONTINUED

http://www.13abc.com/home/headlines/Uptown-Toledo-Grocery-store-opens-its-doors-361053561.html?device=phone&c=y

Toledo City Council votes to create outdoor open container district Uptown

Holly Tuey

Posted: 12/08/2015 5:57 PM

 

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Toledo City Council voted Tuesday to create the city’s first outdoor entertainment district on Adams Street in the Uptown area.

It is not yet known when the change will take effect, but it will allow people to carry open alcoholic beverages outside within the district.

The proposal restricts the times when people can carry open containers to starting at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon on weekends, with the final sale at 1 a.m. each day. All beverages will have to be finished and disposed of by 2:30 a.m.

 

CONTINUED

http://www.wtol.com/story/30699263/toledo-city-council-votes-to-create-outdoor-open-container-district-uptown

All good news.

https://www.toledoblade.com/business/development/2020/04/06/toledo-uptown-new-apartment-complex-village-on-the-green/stories/20200406128

 

Apartment complex proposed for UpTown neighborhood

Hints of Brush Park/City Modern there.

12 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Hints of Brush Park/City Modern there.

I hope this is the future for Uptown; the area is primed and ready for this kind of development. 

 

Also: I hope the city coordinates the preservation of Uptown's brick streets. Many remain in their original condition, and a few have been paved over. When the inevitable investment in streetscapes happens, the brick streets should be central to those plans. 

On 12/10/2015 at 5:54 PM, C-Dawg said:

Uptown Toledo Grocery store opens its doors

Updated: Tue 5:35 PM, Dec 08, 2015

 

Toledo, Ohio ProMedica celebrates the grand opening of Market on the Green at the ProMedica Ebeid Institute. The store is a full service grocery store located at the corner of 14th and Madison. It has local produce, meats and dairy products and everything offered at the major grocery stores.

 

CONTINUED

http://www.13abc.com/home/headlines/Uptown-Toledo-Grocery-store-opens-its-doors-361053561.html?device=phone&c=y

Note here: I live right next to Uptown and this grocery store has been a godsend, particularly during quarantine...prices are reasonable and selection is good. I also feel a little safer knowing a health care company has invested in this store...hopefully keeping it a little freer from the virus.