LUCAS COUNTY AND THE CITY OF TOLEDO
County Offices
419-213-4500
www.co.lucas.oh.us
Chamber of Commerce
419-243-8191
www.toledochamber.com
With a strategic location along the scenic Lake Erie shoreline, Lucas County excels in highway, rail, air, and water transportation efficiencies that are enabling the region to emerge as a manufacturing powerhouse. The county is home to Metropolitan Toledo with its first-rate healthcare and educational systems, highly developed cultural enrichment, and regional or even international attractions. Throughout the county, bustling cities, wonderful small towns, quaint villages and rolling townships provide a kaleidoscope of options for home settings and lifestyles. Affordable, convenient, and brimming over with big-city advantages: Lucas County has it all.
Services
Exceptional healthcare is one of the many quality-of-life advantages in Lucas County, anchored by ten hospitals with a 2,000-bed capacity in Metropolitan Toledo alone. Residents have easy access to comprehensive services that integrate the latest medical and technological developments. This premier healthcare sector is the region’s largest employer, and many of the skilled professionals practicing in this area are among the nation’s most experienced and expertly trained. The presence of far-reaching, multi-faceted health systems including Mercy and ProMedica ensure that even those living in Southeast Michigan can access an unrivaled selection of renowned facilities including Mercy Children’s Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital. The University of Toledo Medical Center stands in a class of its own as an academic institution with the expertise and resources to handle the most complex cases. UTMC is consistently recognized for quality care, including accolades in US News and World Report for high performance in seven clinical specialties and maintains the area’s only accredited primary stroke center. Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center is another distinguished regional referral and teaching center, holding the highest designation for treating high-risk mothers and infants and home to the region’s only Burn Care and Reconstructive Center. The hospital is nationally recognized by US News & World Report for high performance in eight areas, an unsurpassed achievement.
Educational opportunities in Lucas County are equally exceptional, beginning with award-winning public schools and options for parochial or private schools including college-prep academies. The county is home to several institutions for higher learning, crowned by the University of Toledo. More than 100 major buildings covering 1,400 acres provide outstanding curriculums to more than 20,000 students. The university’s undergraduate engineering and business programs are consistently ranked among the finest in the nation by US News & World Report, along with many other programs such as nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, law, and education. The University of Toledo Medical Center serves as the Health Science campus, while the UT Center for Visual Arts is encompassed within the Toledo Museum of Art. The city of Sylvania is home to the beautiful campus for Lourdes University with an academic culture deeply rooted in the Franciscan Catholic tradition. Offering a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and some pre-professional programs, Lourdes University is consistently recognized as a “Best in the Midwest” college by the Princeton Review. Those who desire an affordable start on a four-year degree or career training programs have a number of schools from which to choose, including Owens Community College with its main campus in Toledo and a learning center in Maumee.
Lifestyle
Whether your passion is boating and water sports, exploring fine museums, attending Broadway shows, shopping in exclusive boutiques, or supporting the arts—Lucas County delivers. Metropolitan Toledo provides opportunities to enjoy performances in wonderful venues that host the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Art Tatum Jazz Society, the Toledo Opera, the Toledo Ballet, and the Toledo Repertoire Theatre as well as Broadway shows and star-studded entertainment. Throughout the county, community-based visual and performance arts groups provide venues for emerging talent and promote cultural appreciation. The Toledo Museum of Art draws international visitors to quality collections and innovative programming, particularly the stunning Glass Pavilion with a globally recognized “see through” design and 5,000-piece collection. The Toledo Zoo is rated among the finest in the nation, with 5,300 animals from 760 species in exciting displays from the Arctic tundra to a tropical rainforest. The Imagination Station in downtown Toledo inspires children with the wonders of science and technology through hand-on displays. Other family attractions include the 60-acre Toledo Botanical Gardens with special exhibits and activities for children and the Butterfly House in the community of Whitehouse.
Sports enthusiasts will find abundant reasons to support their favorite collegiate or professional teams including the Toledo Mud Hens baseball and the Toledo Walleye hockey at the dazzling new Huntington Center. One of the county’s newest attractions, this $105 million venue provides an 8,000-seat arena for professional sports events and national headliners. The city of Sylvania adds several other distinctive venues, including one of the nation’s largest outdoor ballroom dance floors at Centennial Terrace. Lourdes University hosts world-class performing arts in the beautiful Franciscan Center and invites the public to enjoy 3-D and other viewing experiences at Appold Planetarium. Even some of the historic sites in Lucas County are entertaining, like mule-drawn canal boat rides in Providence Metropark where living history characters tell stories about life in the 1800s. The Toledo Firefighters Museum is located in the Old Number 18 Fire House built in 1920, while the village of Grand Rapids features the Seven Eagles Historical Education Center filled with recreated artifacts from the area’s pioneering history. Outdoor adventures are abundant in the vast Toledo Metroparks system, city and community parks, sports and recreation centers, fitness facilities, Lake Erie watersports, and miles of multi-purpose trails and paths. Farmers markets, wonderful libraries, active neighborhoods, and a calendar filled with local and special events bring Lucas County residents together and preserve the friendliness of small-town living. Nationally celebrated Great Lakes attractions like Cedar Point Amusement Point Park, Put-in-Bay, and Lake Erie islands are just minutes from home. Regardless of the vision you may have for your new home, Lucas County has the right ingredients to move that dream into reality.
Maumee
City Offices
419-897-7115
www.maumee.org
Chamber of Commerce
419-893-5805
www.maumeechamber.com
Situated along the shore of the scenic Maumee River southwest of Toledo, the city of Maumee has developed several outstanding features that attract new residents and businesses alike. An excellent school system, two local hospitals, a vital business park, and community engagement make Maumee a popular choice for young adults and families alike. The city has garnered accolades that include one of Ohio’s Five Best Hometowns and inclusion in Frommers’ guide, Best Places to Raise Your Family—Top 10 Affordable Communities in the U.S. The well-developed neighborhood park system is complemented by the regional attraction of Side Cut Metropark with river access and a sledding hill. Great walleye fishing each spring, a waterslide park for summer fun, and indoor attractions from a restored movie house to a performing arts center and a new shopping mall ensure four-season activity. Contemporary development harmonizes with the grand architecture of older neighborhoods and the uptown business district for an attractive cityscape.
Oregon
City Offices
419-698-7095
www.oregonohio.org
Chamber of Commerce
419-419-698-5911
www.embchamber.org
Proud of its status as a Lake Erie Circle Tour community, Oregon blends small-town friendliness with a quality of life associated with much larger cities. Two major healthcare facilities are available to meet most medical needs close to home, Bay Park Community Hospital in the ProMedica Health System and Mercy St. Charles Hospital. Oregon City Schools provides an award-winning public education system that features a strong emphasis on early childhood education but also operates an adult education center and an innovative charter school. The city also offers options for private education that includes a local college-prep academy. Other unique advantages include the regional attractions of Maumee Bay State Park & Resort and Pearson Metropark, which add a medley of recreational opportunities from golfing to camping. The city of Oregon hosts the “Biggest Week in American Birding,” the German American Festival, and softball tournaments that include state championships.
Sylvania
City Offices
419-885-8925
www.cityofsylvania.com
Chamber of Commerce
419-882-2135
www.sylvaniachamber.org
Dedicated to providing the highest possible quality of life, the city of Sylvania demonstrates the fulfillment of that mission throughout its residential, educational, healthcare, and business communities. The 311-bed ProMedica Flower Hospital has earned Ohio’s premier award for exceeding safety and quality standards, the only organization in the state to receive the Governor’s Award for Excellence. In addition to exceptional public schools, Sylvania provides options for a private education that include the Franciscan Academy associated with Lourdes University. Cultural enrichment is enhanced by the presence of the Sylvania Community Arts Commission, promoting both visual and performing arts for all ages through projects from public art to Music in the Park, the Sylvania Community Orchestra, and creative theater for kids. Lourdes University expands the access to world-class performances in its state-of-the-art Franciscan Center theater and draws regional crowds to the Appold Planetarium. The Centennial Terrace claims one of the nation’s largest outdoor ballroom floors for stellar entertainment. Throughout the city, beautiful neighborhoods showcase a wide variety of architecture, from historic properties to custom homes.
Toledo
City Offices
419-936-2020
www.toledo.oh.gov
Chamber of Commerce
419-243-8191
www.toledochamber.com
Ohio’s fourth largest city, Toledo is the metropolitan center of Lucas County and the surrounding northwestern region. Bordering Michigan, the city hugs the western shoreline of Lake Erie, giving it unique transportation advantages that include highway, air, rail and water. Home to the University of Toledo and its associated Health Sciences Center at the University of Toledo Medical Center, the city is nationally recognized for the exceptional caliber of its healthcare services. Parents can choose from public or private schools for their children, while adults of all ages are able to access a world of affordable higher education opportunities within the city including a community college campus and career training centers. Recreational, entertainment, and cultural attractions are first-class, including a world-renowned art museum, a nationally ranked zoo, acres of botanical gardens, an interactive science museum, sprawling metro parks, professional sports action, and a new spectacular sports venue. Permanent performance companies for opera, ballet, theatre and symphony combine with national headliners and Broadway shows. From its welcoming neighborhoods to its impressive skyline, Toledo manages to deliver the best of all worlds in an affordable package.
Waterville
City Offices
419-878-8100
www.waterville.org
Chamber of Commerce
419-878-5188
www.watervillechamber.com
Taking for its slogan, “Love at first sight,” scenic Waterville along the banks of the Maumee River enjoys quick and easy access to Interstates 75/475 and the Ohio Turnpike. The often photographed and painted historic trolley bridge at Roche de Boeuf has become an icon for Waterville, a city that has long attracted talented artists. For more than three decades, the small city of Waterville has welcomed visitors who want to tour studios or purchase the work of local artisans. In recent years, Waterville has emerged as an increasingly popular bedroom community for professionals employed in Toledo. Residents enjoy excellent public schools and the charm of small-town living within minutes of colleges and universities, professional sports, the Toledo Zoo, and the Toledo Museum of Art. The residential options in the Waterville area are attractive and diverse, from lovely homes along tree-lined streets to rural subdivisions or spacious lots for custom homes.
Lucas County Townships
Wonderful rural townships sprawl over much of Lucas County, providing opportunities for newcomers to enjoy country living in close proximity to world-class attractions and expanded metropolitan amenities. This expansive landscape is dotted by sleepy villages that provide commercial conveniences and claim unique histories, including the charmingly restored historic canal town of Grand Rapids. Some townships in this water-rich region feature marshes teaming with wildlife and easy access to Lake Erie, the Walleye Capital of the World. Those who long for the serenity and openness of the countryside will find beautiful residential communities and multi-acre properties for custom construction or quaint older homes filled with character.
