The City

This city seems to be mired in mediocrity. There is a serious shortfall in the budget. Residents flee for the suburbs (much the way my parents ran to Michigan). Businesses seem to not want to stay, and sports teams are disappearing (if only temporarily). Despite all this, Toledo has been chosen as one of the most business-friendly cities in the states. The Financial Times group, publisher of fDi magazine, has awarded Toledo as a City of the Future. Out of a record 108 nominated cities, Toledo managed to make the top ten in North America, and was top five in the US in the Large Cities category (populations of 500k-1million). Major Cities are above the million-man mark, and below are Small Cities and Micro Cities.

Now, with all the things wrong with Toledo that you can find just about anywhere, I'm going to tell you what is good about this city, and what is great. To be perfectly honest, I am a little bit surprised by Toledo being named (cue deep voiced movie announcer) a "City of the Future." But there we are. Business-friendly and ideally located, Toledo has some major strengths. Now if only they could play to them.

First, and most obvious to anyone staring at a map, Toledo is centrally located. It is the midway point between Pittsburgh, PA and Chicago, IL. Detroit is 45 minutes northward. Cleveland sits two hours to the east. Columbus and Cincinnati are mere stones' throws to the south, and Indianapolis is not much further. We are also at the mouth of the Maumee River, which feeds directly into Lake Erie, Ohio's Great Lake. I75 and I80/90 intersect in Toledo. US23 and US24 run through as well. Numerous train lines also cross through, helping to feed one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes.

The city itself, of course, has a number of things which help to capitalize on its location. It is the center for commerce in Northwest Ohio and much of Southeastern Michigan. The Franklin Park Ma- I mean Westfield Mall at Franklin Park is a shopping mecca. So many stores, anchored by an eighteen-screen (maybe it's 19, or 17, I can't really remember but it's a lot) stadium-seating movie theater, Macy's, Dillard's, and Penny's, and a huge food court with a number of upscale (read: expensive) restaurants near the exits. This is a shopper's dream. It is a clean and bright place, with just about everything you can imagine for sale (heh, within reason).

Additionally, I have two words for you, a proper noun: Mud Hens. The Toledo Mud Hens are the AAA team to the long-suffering Detroit Tigers, and many of your favorite Tigers can be seen playing ball at 5/3 Field in the Glass City. The stadium is routinely chosen as minor league's best venue, integrating existing warehouses into the architecture. The field is actually below street level, and the bleachers (uh, mostly comfy, spacious box seats angled properly towards the action infield) rise in the upper deck about four or five stories. Our Mud Hens gained fame in the 1970s thanks to Toledo native Jamie Farr. He mentioned the Hens (and the Blade and Tony Paco's-more on that later) quite often during MASH. Thanks, Jamie! The Hens wear those sleeveless jerseys, the ones with the dark-colored t-shirt underneath. They've been good, too. Toledo is home to back-to-back Governor's Cups, thanks to aggressive and always improving Detroit Tiger drafting and prospect development.

The other much-loved sports team is the Toledo Rocket football team. The Glass Bowl is located a hail-mary from the Ottawa River in the middle of the University of Toledo campus. It is a horseshoe-shaped stadium running north-south, with a snazzy pressbox above the west side bleachers. From certain angles in the Glass Bowl you can see the iconic University Hall belltower, the one Mead uses for its logo. UT is always at the top of the list of teams vying for control of the MAC, and next year we should see a much faster and improved team (more on this later). The 2003 season was a perfect example of UT's ability to compete. Early in the season, the Rockets engineered a second-half comeback to defeat top-ten ranked Pitt to gain a coveted spot in the Polls. For a mid-major team, UT can play. And everyone has to be careful with those mid-majors.


Eateries? Fancy restaurants? Probably Toledo's greatest strength is the tasty food you can find. And you can find it all. There are no less than a half dozen Indian restaurants, three Thai food places, sushi bars, great steakhouses, Italian food, seafood, Mexican, Mediterranean. My mouth waters just thinking about it all. You would literally have to stay here for months in order to try it all, and even then, you cannot just eat one dish. You have to try them all. Kafta and kabobs at the Beirut. Fried rice and curry at Rose Thai. Everything at Tony Paco's.

Ah, Tony Paco's. Just like the Mud Hens, the World Famous Tony Paco's. Hungarian fare, notably chili dogs. Not just chili dogs, damn m-f'ing good chili dogs, including the whopping Mother Of All Dogs MOAD, piled high with the best chili sauce in the world. It is a Toledo institution, and all who come to Toledo stop here. As a bragging point of its centrality to the Glass City culture, there are hot dog buns in glass cases signed by famous people who are passing through. There are some great names up on those walls, a lot of them musicians. But oh boy are those some good chili dogs. Yummy.

Speaking of culture, we also have the Toledo Museum of Art. There are many fine pieces contained within the walls, including an impressive array of originals. There is also the brand-new Glass Pavillion, a one-story glass buliding across the street from the main building. Included in this building in addition to the glass art are studios in which glass is blown and art is created. With the glass walls to go with the whole glass theme, spectators can observe the process. It is pretty neat.

There are actually quite a few neat things to do in this city, but with a city this size, traffic must be a huge problem, right? Not as much as you would think. I75, I475, I280, and US23 ring the city to make travel to the main hubs easy. Wide avenues such as Monroe Street and Cherry Street also help drivers move at a decent pace. The TARTA bus system also runs a number of routes through the city, giving an additional option to cross-town travel.

The Glass City has a lot of things going for it. It is perhaps one strong leader with a sound strategy away from gaining true greatness, just a step away from becoming the City of the Future than it can be.