ellimere

I'm in Indiana at the moment, living in a *small* town and am considering moving there and job hunting (just basic admin). Can only find part time work here and I'm kind of missing the city life (from Brum originally).

Does anyone live there and have comments on the city from an expats viewpoint? I have a friend who lives there hence thinking of the move.

I know the job market is pretty much tough everywhere. Not a great time to be job hunting but I figure doing something is better than standing still and hopefully there would be more opportunities to at least get turned down than in a 7000 pop. town!

Duncan Roberts

Maybe more than a 7000 town but Toledo isn't exactly a hot spot!

tamms_1965

Toledo has most traffic accidents per capita in the nation, one of worst cities in the nation for women's health and to find a mate, and it's in the rust belt. My grandpa left during the depression. I think you could probably find a few better places to go....I live in Ohio so I'm allowed to diss it.

Duncan Roberts

Toledo is OK. For a visit. To family or friends. Who live in a nice area. And it's summer.

ellimere

LOL. Surely it can't be that *bad*. I understand it has it's run down areas like any city but it seems for a large city the crime rate is in reality lower than the other large cities in Ohio. My friend lives near the uni.

Brum had it's bad spots too (okay, we didn't have to deal with so many guns) - Balsall Heath (where I lived for a year, no comments about red lights ) and New Town which was the worst area in the UK for a while but I never felt unsafe there - you just had to have a little sense about you.

As for auto accidents, I don't drive (yet), so probably won't have a car even when I get my license here.

Duncan Roberts

Some of my wifes family live in Ottawa Hills which is a nice area (also close to the uni) and my wife grew up around there too. Once her uncle was minding his own business and washing his car at a car wash, a car drove by, opened the window, shot him in the leg and drove off! Oh, and in terms of a car you will need one there.

NC Penguin

I believe Manc now lives in Toledo but he's a trucker so I'm not sure how much time he actually spends in Toledo really.

Hopefully, he'll post in this thread.

Manc

I live in Akron.


some nice area's of Toledo, like Sylvannia and Maumee and what not.

some god awful area's too though.


it's Mini Detroit.

AdobePinon

I was there for a short while in the early 90s. The comments above ring true with my memory. Unless something big has changed, I wouldn't move there for 'the city life'. We spent a lot of time driving to Detroit, Cleveland, and even little Ann Arbor in an attempt to find that.

Kaffy Mintcake

Not an expat, but I was born and raised in Toledo. For what it's worth, I've never heard that statistic about traffic accidents before, and have never thought that driving was worse than anywhere else in the US. We always blamed bad driving on Michigan drivers.

It's an affordable place to live, and not a bad place to raise a family. It's not very transient, so it can be a bit tough for newcomers to break in, but not impossible. I will tell you that most people from Toledo talk about wanting to go elsewhere, unlike Cincinnati (where I live now) where most people born here have no intention of ever living elsewhere.

Pluses? You're right by Lake Erie. We had a sailboat when I was little and went sailing often in the summers. You're 2 hours from Cedar Point (Sandusky) - a must visit in the summer. Lots and lots of local metroparks that are well maintained, an excellent zoo (voted best small zoo in the US in the past) with free classical music concerts in the summer. Also an excellent art museum that's very worth visiting.

Toledo also has some good jazz and good restaurants. You just need to know where to look. The minor league baseball team, the Mud Hens, is well known as far as minor league teams go.

Commutes aren't bad at all - nothing like what I drive on a daily basis here.

Is it the best city in the world? Absolutely not, and the mayor is a complete idiot. That being said, I think you can do a lot worse.

Kaffy Mintcake

Tamms - with all due respect - you live in Dayton.

Kaffy Mintcake

Shot in the leg in a random drive-by in Ottawa Hills? That's where all the rich people live. It's a wonder I made it out alive ...

Edited to say - agree about needing a car.

Duncan Roberts

The event wasn't in Ottawa Hills, that's where they live. I forget the street but it was close and on the opposite side of the road to the ice cream place that's built like an igloo.

Kaffy Mintcake

I'm just giving you a hard time. If it had been in Ottawa Hills I would have been flabbergasted.

tamms_1965

And it's a sh*thole. My ex made me move here! I've been downtown less than 10X is 6 years....yes it is that bad. It is one of America's emptiest cities. I would move back to Cinci in a heartbeat but have too much vested in the school I work and DH has a great job here. We are already talking about where we'll move (if we do) when we retire.

The only saving grace is that the burbs here are great and it is not far to get "out in the country." And the people are really nice!