Tag: Toledo

Maumee, OH- Historic Toledo suburb near the Battle of Fallen Timbers

In general I included in this evaluation the pre-WWII fabric between Anthony Wayne Trail and the Maumee River.

Maumee is the site of Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne’s final fort, Fort Deposit, built in Aug. 1794 on his way to the battle of Fallen Timbers. Shortly after the war of 1812 a town plat was laid out at the begin of the Maumee River rapids and within a decade, the Maumee was gaining recognition as a major trans-shipment point connecting Lake Erie and lands to the west. The town quickly reached 840 residents by 1840. Yet dreams of greatness began to fade in the 1850s, when ships too large to navigate the river were introduced for use and railroads began to replace water transport. The town stagnated and only grew to 1,856 residents by 1900. The City did start to see steady growth in the early 20th century growing to 3,100 by 1920 and 4,600 in 1940. But it took its integration into Toledo’s outer belt system to really propel its growth. Maumee reached 15,747 in 1970 and  has slowly lost residents since then.

Similar to Perrysburg, Maumee has a compact main street running along a couple blocks Conant St. surrounded by several blocks of 19th century historic home. Its pre-WII fabric then sprawls out to the east more or less following the Maumee River. Central Maumee’s greatest assets are its park amenities, quality walkable schools, compact & attractive main street, tree canopy, and affordable for-sale housing. It lacks quality public transit and bike infrastructure, a central supermarket, racial diversity, and could use significantly more rental options and housing in general as Maumee’s density is very low.

Click here to view my Maumee album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* ADA Curbs- Generally good but some spots without ADA current curbs and a couple spots without sidewalks.
* Generally good connectivity but plenty of dead ends and disconnected blocks.
* This is a very safe City and consistantly on the top of most safe cities in Ohio.
* Excellent generational diversity with a high % of households with kids. Decent economic diversity.
* Very attractive historic architecture in Dwtn and in the core residential areas.
* Overall very good tree canopy.
* Cultural amenities are modest including a couple restaurants & bars, several cafes & art galleries, the Historic Maumee Theater, and the Wolcott House musem.
* Also modest retail amenities including a drug store, a dollar store, a couple of boutiques, a couple home good stores, several banks, a florist, several dessert joints and gyms,  and a dwtn public library.
* Great park access including several small parks, the mediun size Tow Path Park and River walk, and the expansive Side Cut Metropark.
* Good walkable schools options including quality k-12 public school options and a Catholic grade school.
* Lots of affordable & modest for-sale hsg option including some 1-bed homes selling in the low 100ks, 2-bed selling anywhere btwn 100K- the low 300Ks, 3 & 4 beds btwn 150K-400K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Pretty poor transit access.
* Poor density. More in-line with a suburb.
* While there are limited transit options to Dwtn it is only a 18 minutes drive. One can bike it along River Road in about 50 mins.
* Some bike lanes connecting Dwtn to the metro parks but really nothing else bike infrastructurewise.
* Poor racial diversity.
* Some half decent urban infill along Conant St but plenty of crummy auto centric bldgs along Anthony Wayne Trail.
* No supermarket nor post office Dwtn.
* Rental hsg is modestly priced but very limited.

Perrysburg, OH- Historic Toledo suburb and home to Fort Meigs

The evaluation area includes Boundary Streets to the west and east, 7th St to the south and the Maumee River to the north.

By the War of 1812 Perrysburg was a settlement of 67 families. The town quickly grew to 1,000 in 1840 and served as the county seat from 1822 to 1868. Things remained pretty unchanged in the 19th century with the population only reaching 1,766 by 1900. The town’s population steadily grew in the early 20th century reaching 2,400 by 1920 and 3,457 in 1940. Perrysburg’s population really took off after 1960 with suburban sprawl and its connection highway connection to I-75. At this points Perrysburg became integrated into the Toledo metro and the City now has 25K souls.

Fortunately historic Perrsyburg has retained its charm and is in-tact. This includes an attractive several block main street along Louisiana Ave, the Perrysburg Historic District along the Maumee River including lots of great 19th century housing, and many blocks of attractive early 20th century housing. Perrysburg also has excellent schools, quality ADA infrastructure, lots of moderately priced housing, and decent cultural, retail, and park amenities. For Perrysburg to become a great urban environment it needs more density and housing. I sense a fair amount of exclusivity here as there are few residents living in poverty and very limited rental options. Perrysburg also needs better public transit and bike connections.

Click here to view my Perrysburg, OH album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Generally very good ADA and sidewalk infrastructure.
* Quality tree canopy.

* Connectivity is good an even includes a couple diagonal roads.
* High number of households with families.
* Lots of quality walkable schools in the core of Perrysburg, both private and public options. High schools is unfortunately located on the edge of town.
* Good range of for-sale housing. A handful of 1-bed options selling in the low-mid 100Ks, 2-beds btwn 150K-250K, 3 & 4 beds 175K-500K with some of the mansion selling in 600 & 700Ks.
* This is a very safe community.
* Decent # of bars & restaurants along Louisiana Ave (Main St), a local brewery, and a couple of cafes. Also a couple of art galleries. The Fort Meigs Historic Site is located just outside the historic core.
* Decent park amenities with a couple nice riverfront parks and the expansive Woodland Park on the Eastern Edge.
*  Good retail amenities including a grocery store, lots of boutiques, a couple of consignment stores, home good stores, banks, gyms & floral shops, several dessert joints, a dwtn public library, and several churches.
* Pretty good urban massing in the biz district and quality streetscaping overall.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* While there are limited transit options to Dwtn it is only a 15 minutes drive. One can bike it along River Road in about 50 mins.
* Very low density of an urban area.
* Public transit access is very limited.
* Bike infrastructure is very limited.
* Racial and economic diversity is so .
* Rental hsg is very limited. Really no studio and 1-bed options. Some 2-beds leasing in the low to mid $1,000s.
* Affordable hsg exists in Perrysburg but is relegated to the outskirts of town.
* Missing retail amenities include a drugstore, a bookstore, and hospital is about 1 mile outside of town.
* Urban in-fill is a half-hearted attempt for urbanity as buildings are generally historic looking but still often pretty autocentric. Not terrible though.