NYC Transplant to Toledo
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9/24/2018
I’m from NYC and now live in Toledo. It was a culture shock to move here. Obviously you cant compare the two in terms of things to do so I won’t get into that. If you have a little kid you can keep them entertained with a really nice zoo, art museum, great playgrounds and metropark system and Cedar Point (nice amusement park) is fairly close. For adults it’s dismal. BUT the great part is the housing cost. You can get a decent 1 bedroom for $750.00. You can get a luxury one bedroom in Perrysburg full of great amenities for 1500.00. This is half of what I paid in Manhattan for a much smaller place. When I told my friends in NY that I was moving here they said Toledo was the armpit of the country. This is not true, there are far worse places to end up. The people are a little simple and backward and I was amazed at how much racism there is from white people. They make racial slurs that you could never say out loud in a professional setting back East. I miss having a more racially mixed and international group of friends. Ann Arbor MI is one hour away, home of University of Michigan. Many more cultural things to do, international crowd and cool bars and restaurants. A lot of people who live there are not from the Midwest which is nice. ( I like midwesterners but not all the time.) MY ADVICE: if you are going to live here and from a larger city, enjoy how far your money can get you in terms of a nice apartment or house. Enjoy the extra space and amenities that you’d have to pay triple for in major cities. Make your home your refuge for the long winters. Don’t expect a lot in terms of culture but enjoy the simple things. And remember that it’s not great but certainly not the “armpit of the world”.
Mary Ellen | Maumee, OH