Advice about Toledo suburbs - for a family with young children (Oregon: crime, mortgage)

[annealmeida]

Hi! My family and I are (more than likely) relocating to Toledo next summer for my husband's job. It is for a good job and the move is something we look forward to. We've lived in a lot of cities in a lot of states - we know there are good and bad points to every city. This job will put us near family. We have young children and we would like to find a family oriented neighborhood. We actually have 3 toddlers, and a fourth on the way this spring. So we will need a house that can hold all of us!

What does anyone know about Ottawa Hills? Or the Sanctuary in Perrysburg? We really would like to be involved in the community and around others our age with young children as well. We would also like good public schools as we will have children attending them soon! And as I said, we are just learning about Toledo. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[jrm2811]

Ottawa Hills is an older, in-city suburb. Great school system, lots of huge houses, but it seems to have many older people living there - Dr.s, lawyers, etc. Perrysburg may be more what you are looking for in regards to younger families. Perrysburg is an outer suburb with a mix of newer housing and older neighborhoods. It also has a nice 'downtown' area near the river. Perrysburg also contains the usual suburbia stuff- big shopping centers, strip malls. Traffic can be sticky at rush hour, but not too bad. You might want to check out Maumee also. Kind of the same setup as Perrysburg. Both burbs seem like a fairly nice place to raise kids.

[AnytimeAnywhere]

Ottawa Hills is getting ready to shoot their deer. Maybe. Ottawa Hills is a fine place to live. Perrysburg and Maumee are nice too. I don't know anything about the Sanctuary. Most of the Toledo suburbs are fine and so is southern Michigan. They're usually better than Toledo.

[Tobias C]

From my experience, from when I used to work for a lawn care company, The Sanctuary to me seems like any other newer subdivision on the outskirts of Perrysburg. If you like the common, large, suburban style homes, its basically like that. I dont personally care for that style of living, but it might work for you. If you lived there you wouldnt be too far away from Rt. 25 and the businesses there, including a Bassetts grocery store, and a whole outdoor/walkable retail complex called Levis Commons, which you might enjoy. Most of the typical big box businesses you might require, such as Walmart, Target, Meijer, Kroger, Kohls, Home Depot, etc are out on Rt. 20 off of I-75, but thats just a little bit of a drive, nothing major. Traffic can kind of be a pain, but whatever.

As far as the family aspect of any of the subdivisions on River Rd (like the Sanctuary) goes, you would have to elaborate on what exactly you value out of a neighborhood as being "family friendly." Im certain theres rarely any crime and that its perfectly safe there. Theres absolutely nothing for your kids to do in that area (parks, playgrounds, etc) but thats might not be of any concern to you. If you enjoy being within close proximity of your childrens school, youre not really that close, absolutely not within walking or biking distance, but probably only a few mins drive. Perrysburg has some of the best public schools in the area though, so thats definitely a plus for you.

Like they said before me, Ottawa Hills is a separate town, thats kinda surrounded by Toledo. I think Ottawa Hills is aesthetically superior to any other suburb, it almost feels like the town is one big park. The roads are all curvy and its all completely wooded and the Ottawa River runs through it. It can definitely be expensive though, and it is an older community. Its not really a place where 30 somethings look to settle down, I dont think. But the Ottawa Hills schools are excellent, the neighborhoods 100% safe for being in close proximity to lesser areas of Toledo, youre right next to the University of Toledo for whatever that might be worth, and close to the Franklin Park Mall which is the main shopping center of Toledo.

I, personally, would suggest maybe looking to see what homes are available in Downtown Perrysburg. I think youre kids, as well as you guys as a family would enjoy the proximity of amenities to you, living in historic Perrysburg. Theres lots of beautiful old homes, and while im not expert on their prices or availability, I would suggest checking that out. Theres a Churchills (a nice grocery store) right downtown, not to mention as your children grow and mature they could walk to school, and to the parks, and to the library. Your husband and you could walk right downtown in the evening and have a few drinks or dinner at one of the several nice restaurants/bars or the whole family could walk uptown when theres little festivals going on. Its all a matter of what appeals to you. Im just a young adult in my 20s and cant afford a home there really but I definitely picture that as an ideal life once I have children and am more established.

Good luck!

[JLWM]

My husband and I just purchased a home in Ottawa Hills, we have a 5 yr ld and 2 yr old...excellent school system, better than most private schools. There are alot of young famillies around us. It depends on what type of home would suit you, do you prefer the charm of an older home...or the more modern style which you would find in a sub-division? Most of the homes in Ottawa Hills are brick, an on a wood lot. It just depends on your particular taste (: I personally don't care for the "cookie-cutter" homes you find in sub-divisions. Good Luck!

[ToledoKathy]

Ottawa Hills is nice, and has a great school system. Many moms are stay at home moms, which lends itself well to being involved in both the schools and the community. Also, other areas are Perrysburg, Sylvania and Oregon...all are good areas and provide excellent opportunities for your kids and yourself to become involved.

[ryansmith]

I am not impressed with the sterile atmosphere in the Sanctuary, personally. I would go more for Ottawa Hills...

[313 TUxedo]

Originally Posted by JLWM

My husband and I just purchased a home in Ottawa Hills, we have a 5 yr ld and 2 yr old...excellent school system, better than most private schools. There are alot of young famillies around us. It depends on what type of home would suit you, do you prefer the charm of an older home...or the more modern style which you would find in a sub-division? Most of the homes in Ottawa Hills are brick, an on a wood lot. It just depends on your particular taste (: I personally don't care for the "cookie-cutter" homes you find in sub-divisions. Good Luck!

Glad to hear that! It would be lovely to see Ottawa Hills "cycle" with good new families taking the place of older people retiring and moving away.

One thing a lot of people do not know: The newest suburbs (of virtually any city), even though they may be full of kids, are not good for them. Most have deed restrictions that restrict (or even forbid) outdoor play, and are very car-dependent, both (by design) keeping children indoors.

The Detroit area has a big problem - inner suburbs that 10 years ago offered solid homes, within walking distance of local stores, that looked like they may "cycle" into nice communities for young families mixed with empty nester homes, were hit hard by the sub-prime mortgage boom/bust and have become disadvantaged inner-city communities instead. Now there are no really good communities in the Detroit area to start a family, just Mcmansions for the old and rich and the disadvantaged neighborhoods.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by 313 TUxedo

Glad to hear that! It would be lovely to see Ottawa Hills "cycle" with good new families taking the place of older people retiring and moving away.

One thing a lot of people do not know: The newest suburbs (of virtually any city), even though they may be full of kids, are not good for them. Most have deed restrictions that restrict (or even forbid) outdoor play, and are very car-dependent, both (by design) keeping children indoors.

The Detroit area has a big problem - inner suburbs that 10 years ago offered solid homes, within walking distance of local stores, that looked like they may "cycle" into nice communities for young families mixed with empty nester homes, were hit hard by the sub-prime mortgage boom/bust and have become disadvantaged inner-city communities instead. Now there are no really good communities in the Detroit area to start a family, just Mcmansions for the old and rich and the disadvantaged neighborhoods.

I find that hard to believe. Maybe if you're talking about Detroit itself and the areas right next to it, but it wouldn't be completely unreasonable to commute to Detroit from Ann Arbror and Ypsilanti, or even from someplace like Monroe.

[313 TUxedo]

AA is expensive and Ypsi may have some safety issues, but much of Monroe would actually fit the bill nicely. The commute would be reasonable if one's job is in the Downriver subs, but the price of gas can be a doozy if the job (like many) is in Oakland County.

St. Clair Shores, Southgate, Wyandotte and Trenton seem fine now - predicting the long-term health of these cities is harder to assess.