Tell me about Lima (Findlay, Kent: crime, hotels, safe neighborhood)

[Stephanie56]

My family may have to re-locate to Lima, Ohio. Anyone, please tell me anything you know about it. Have a 3 and 4 year old--anyone know anything about schools??

[paintballer1708]

Im not a big fan of Lima. It is facing many problems with drugs moving down from Detroit. There are many nice towns outside of Lima though. I really do like Lima's downtown though. Very clean with beautiful historical buildings. I know the healthcare sector has been booming in Lima. The city has four hospitals, and the most progessive one is Rita's Medical Center. It currently just built a $130 million expansion, and hired 500 more employees. Check out the towns of Van Wert and Wapakoneta

[Joanie]

Stephanie56,
Lima has some good points. Some nice restaurants - Applebees, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, etc. Some nice stores - Macys, Penneys, Elder-Beerman. I know of only two hospitals - St. Ritas and Lima Memorial. Both are expanding. St. Ritas is the larger. I wouldn't hesitate to live in Lima. I would be careful to check out the neighborhoods. I'm sure that there are a couple that I wouldn't want to go into at night.
I live about 25 minutes from Lima and must go there for the better stores, restaurants and specialists in health care.
If you'd like to live in a smaller community to avoid the crime aspect, consider Wapakoneta. I've taught in their system for 29 years. (about 15 minutes from Lima)
If you'd like me to check into Lima schools for you, I'd be happy to check with staff who live there or have more of a connection than I do. My guess is that they will say that you don't want a city school, that you want one of the outlying areas - Shawnee is one.

[mortgageguyKY]

Joanie is right on here....Shawnee is a good school district, my niece and nephew both go there. My wife is a Lima native....If you go to Lima grab a Kewpee hamburger

[Joanie]

MortagageguyKY,
thanks for the second to my comment about Shawnee schools.
i do disagree on one thing - when at Kewpee - get the PIE!

Joanie

[Fallon3]

Your best bet would be Wapak, Delphos, Ada, and Kenton if you want to stay out of crime and drugs. Lima has been known for a long time for crime. My grandfather wanted me to promise him for me to stay out of Lima due to the gangs his Uncle Samuel told him about this was even back in the 1930's. Grandpa's family was from the Delphos/Van Wert area. Even Elida is a good area to live in.

[erinkate]

I agree with the others--I probably wouldn't live in Lima proper. Shawnee or Bath are two of the better areas and better school districts. I've lived in Ada for 23 years, and its probably one of the better places to live in the area (only about 15 minutes from Lima). It is small, but there is a small university here, so the town benefits from that. The schools here have always been very good, and are now being entirely rebuilt (all new facilities in 2008). You are somewhat limited in nightlife, dining out, etc. but it is a short drive to either Lima or Findlay for that.

Oh, and as for Kewpee, cheeseburger and a frosty are a must.

[AudreyW]

Lima Is Great. I Grew Up There And I Love It! And Kewpee : ]

[hippo4fat]

While the small towns around Lima are nice, I have lived in the city limits most of my life, and it is very easy to find a safe neighborhood. I would suggest the west and southwest ends of town. Shawnee, Elida, and Bath also offer suburban living on the outskirts of Lima, with the perk of much shorter driving times. As for schools, the best in Lima are Shawnee and LCC, a private Catholic school, and bluffton as well is an excellent school, and is about 20 minutes away.

[hrahrig]

Having lived in the Lima area for the nearly 69 years of my life I am bemused at the negative feelings I sometimes see and hear about our community. The city of Lima is as are many fair size towns the center of a larger metropolitan area which includes the well populated townships of Shawnee, Bath, Elida and Perry and the contiguious village of Fort Shawnee. Without the boundaries as given on a map one cannot distinguish travelling from one to the other and the whole picture is referred to as Lima. Some accept that ,others do not. General statistics refer to the city proper with attached skewed bad (and good) and scary things that usually belong to larger cities and the opinions formed are sometimes not so good about LIMA. One must keep in mind that is actually the inner city of this area and the so called inner city is actually a very nice place.We are provided with a first class museum; a New York-Chicago style civic center and auditorium that brings us numerous Broadway events throughout the year; the Encore theater, at yet another playhouse in town which presents outstanding periodic plays by local thespians; four large nationally aclaimed high tech hospitals; large downtown office buildings; the annual Square Fair-lots of entertainment and fun; movie theaters, one of which is a twelve screen stadium seat modern Regal cinema; several large shopping centers, two of which are enclosed and containing national chains; wonderful schools private, catholic and public to choose from;youth activities galore; the finest of police and fire protection; a county fair that is rated as likely the best in the state of Ohio, which by the way annually brings in national talent to perform at the grandstand; restaurants of all ethnics that draw patrons from all directions;ski slopes 35 minutes away; fishing and boating on large lakes too numerous to name here;Plenty of class hotels, both downtown and on the rim; an airport that is large enough to accept presidential candidates jet carriers (president Reagan); and industry large and small. Churches everywhere representing all faiths; We are the media center of this part of the state (ten surrounding counties) with a large newspaper, television stations and radio stations. municiple bus service and taxis provide transportation needs just like any other of the larger cities. Crime? yes, doesn't any city of 110,000 people? It's not necessary to walk the dark alleys of some districts. But a fun drive exploring the many, many new subdivisions would offer an education to the naysayers of Lima, Allen County Ohio. I love my hometown and our close neighboring cities of Delphos, Wapakoneta, Kenton, Van Wert, Ada and Findlay. We welcome everyone to our fine community, Oh! and did I mention the Lima Symphony Orchestra or Lima area Concert band?