The western half of Toledo Third Ward includes a large portion of the area of Toledo known as Whitmer-Trilby. Geographically, more than half of the Whitmer-Trilby area lies within Toledo Third Ward.
Whitmer-Trilby lies to the west of North Towne.
The Third Ward of Toledo at one time was a nice blend of residential neighborhoods, retail and commercial districts, and well maintained industrial sites. BUT, not any more!
The economic decline during the period of time of the Presidential administration of George W. Bush, the corporate greed of big business, and the total lack of resident citizen support from Toledo and Lucas County elected officials and governmental bureaucrats have all contributed to the blight that exists in Toledo's Third Ward today!
In the past several years, the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio has been spiraling into an industrial wasteland replete with numerous auto junk yards and recycling scrap yards lining the length of Detroit Avenue within the Third Ward.
We lost the once vibrant North Towne Mall shopping center and theater complex that was located north of Alexis Road west of Detroit Avenue east of Telegraph Road. It was razed to the ground with the exception of a stand-alone physical fitness center. A multi-structured residential apartment community remains on the immediately adjoining property at the north. Rather than advocating redevelopment of the former Mall property for mixed commercial, retail, residential use, the City of Toledo decided to stiff area residents with reckless disregard to the interests of nearby neighborhoods. In December of 2017, the City of Toledo administration and the clueless Toledo City Council in a resident-be-damned attitude decided to rezone that property for industrial use.
Not long before the City of Toledo rammed that zoning change down the throats of area residents, they had also rezoned the property on the south of Alexis Road west of Detroit Avenue east of Telegraph Road. For years, harness racing was the center of attention in what was known as Raceway Park. Before being used for harness racing, Raceway Park had been a car race track. Immediately south of this property is a neighborhood of homes consisting of three blocks on each of four streets, the neighborhood in which I was raised during my youth. Well, Raceway Park closed up and the lackluster city officials of Toledo decided the property should become a huge fenced in parking lot for Jeeps awaiting shipment out of the Toledo.
Picture, for a moment, this precise area north and south of Alexis Road between Detroit Avenue and Telegraph Road. We have retail, commercial, and restaurants running along Alexis Road itself. North of it, The City of Toledo has created an industrial wasteland to serve as a buffer between the north side of the Alexis Road businesses and the apartment communty to its north. Then on the south side of the Alexis Road business properties, the overseers for the City of Toledo have injected a gigantic parking lot with prison-looking solid fencing topped with barbed wire to buffer the tesidential neighborhood from the businesses. BUT WAIT -- don't stop there, ADD THIS to the picture. In a dictatorial move by the three-member Board of Lucas County Commissioners performed without the advice and consent of the citizenry, the Commissioners have purchased green space property on the southeast corner of Alexis and Detroit to build (are you ready?) a JAIL
Well, those concerns expressed above are just a few of the issues and are in just one area of the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio. There are many issues in the Toledo Third Ward that are in need of attention, but have had an extremely low priority with the local governmental political hacks in Toledo and Lucas County.
One example is in regards to a so-called flea market on the northeast corner of Alexis Road and Lewis Avenue. The appropriate local governmental officials need to inspect Stormin Norman's Trading Post located in Alexis Park Shopping Center, 5860 Lewis Ave, Toledo, Ohio 43612.
The structure itself is crumbling and the roof is leaking into the interior with black mold growing on the ceiling tiles that are falling out. The contents contained therein are literally piled all over the interior. Litter and trash are strewn throughout. Stormin Norman's poses a serious environmental health risk and fire hazard. This business enterprise should be condemned, vacated, and closed to occupancy.
The needs, wants, and desires of the residents of the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio cannot be ignored anymore!
Clean up the junk yards and scrap yards along Detroit Avenue.
Have the owner(s) of Northwest Trailer Sales & Services located at 120 W Alexis Road clean up their area; the same for the retail and commercial corner on the northeast of Laskey and Lewis.
Require badly needed repairs to the crumbling buildings, walkways and parking lot be made by the owner(s) of the Alexis Park Shopping Center on the northeast corner of Alexis Road and Lewis Avenue.
Find re-use of the now vacant Dick's Sporting Goods Store at the southeast corner of Alexis and Lewis, the vacant K-Mart property in Ramco Plaza Shopping Center at the southwest corner of Alexis and Jackman, the vacant Banner Mattress Store at the southwest corner of Alexis and Douglas that abuts theThird Ward, the long abandoned buildings that once housed Cub Foods and other stores on the north side of Laskey across from Miracle Mile Shopping Center in the Laskey/Jackman area, the long abandoned row of retail stores in Consumer Square Shopping Center on the west side of Telegraph Road just north of Alexis Road, and the vacant retail store fronts in the shopping strip adjacent to the east of Lowe's at the northwest corner of Alexis and Lewis.
Enhance and improve facilities, equipment, services, and recreational opportunities in Greenwood Park and Northgate Park.
NO MORE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BLIGHT.
NO MORE HEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES NEGLECT.
NO JAIL.
It is time the City of Toledo and for Lucas County to pay attention to the desires and needs of the Citizens of Toledo's Third Ward.
The following provides a description of the Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association.
The goals of Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association are:
* To preserve and strengthen the residential qualities of Toledo Ohio's third ward.
* To foster and promote the economic well-being of the residents and the businesses in Toledo Ohio's third ward.
* To advocate and support services and programs that will enhance Toledo Ohio's third ward.
Objectives of the Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association:
* To serve as an advocacy conduit for the residents of the third ward of Toledo.
* To encourage the rehabilitation of aging and/or deteriorating housing structures within the third ward of Toledo.
* To support the development, renovation, and rehabilitation of existing neighborhood business and shopping districts and centers within the third ward of Toledo.
* To achieve stability in land use and actively oppose specific land use changes that would adversely affect the existing nature of a given neighborhood within the third ward of Toledo.
* To maintain appropriate green areas with proper development throughout the third ward of Toledo for park and recreation purposes.
* To upgrade major, secondary, and residential traffic arteries within the third ward of Toledo.
* To improve public services and facilities in the third ward of Toledo for health, safety, education, cultural, and socialization activities.
2 comments:
I am so happy to see this Commentary online! Maybe if the elected officials read it, they will get a true picture of what is going on in this area of Toledo! Everyone is fixated only on the Jail, but it is only a part of our issues! We must all do our part in helping each other keep these issues in the face of our local government officials!
As I have said to on several forums, the Toledo Government only cares about downtown. It is turning into Detroit, where everything is about the downtown area and the rest of the city will be left to crumble. There are those that support the halo theory, that by revitalizing downtown, the rest of the city will get better as the area surrounding it will steadily grow also. This will create an ever increasing radius of rebuilding. This is nonsense because those living outside the radius will suffer from decay faster than the so-called rebuilding and even if it happens, the residents outside the halo will not be able to afford the new structures for either business of residential living. Continual focus on downtown is nothing more than class warfare that is creating a place for the wealthy to roost over the blight of the city.
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