Just Another Ohioan Town
By Andrea Parisca
Most people in the United States of America live in small towns in different states. Of course, depending on the state, these towns differ in characteristics, for example in Florida the towns have nice weather year round and are somewhat close to the ocean while in Maine the towns are cold most of the year. Now in Ohio, most of the towns are small, flat, and cold. I'm not saying that living in Ohio is a nightmare but it isn't anything like living in New York City or any other big city. The towns are usually next to big feilds and suburbs. In Ohio, many of the towns and small cities adopted names from other well-known cities around the world. These towns include; Lima, Dublin, Hamilton, Lebanon, Macedonia,Toledo and more.
Toledo, Ohio is a small city that I know very well. I lived in Toledo since I was 2 until I was 15. I lived on the border of Toledo and Sylvania, the town that I did most of my activities. It's a pretty calm place to live and most of the people who live there were born there and will die there. I didn't exepcionally like Toledo and if you talk to the people living there now, they will tell you that life there is pretty boring. Toledo was once the great city of glass, famous for its glass and car factories, but now, it's just an old rundown city with many different ethnic groups and gangs. Fortunately, I did not live in the center of the city because it is dangerous and education wise, it doesn't have much to offer. I was lucky to live in the outer suburbs next to Sylvania, a very small, educated, and wealthy town. Most of my friends, activities, and my school were in Sylvania. The center of Sylvania is very charming although it only consists of about a couple brick streets with litlle commerce. The one inevitable trait is the fact that most neighborhoods wind and twist trapping you in between the immense houses.
Where I lived, there was an enourmous lack of sidewalks, but since there is no need or use for sidewalks in Toledo, they have very few. The distances are so large it's almost impossible to not drive around all day in a car. Houses are huge and they have huge yards and next to these gigantic neighborhoods there are enormous supermarkets with huge parking lots. As you can see, space in Toledo is not an issue. My favorite supermarket was Meijer. It was full of everything you could ever need. I could spend hours walking around it's fun isles. Of course, that is not what I did with my friends for fun. My friends and I usually just had sleepovers and hung out at eachothers' houses but when we went out in big groups it was hard to find something to do. Sometimes we went go-karting which was great fun but it was 15 dollars for 3 minutes. Other than that there is not much else to do in Toledo. Walking throug parks, eating icecream, and going to country clubs in thwe summer can be a source of amusement but the weather only allows three short months of these activities. The one thing that never fails to give amusement is just hanging out with friends.
Even though I didn't love Ohio there are great things to do and great people to be with. When i moved I realized that in reality living there wasn't all that bad and I knew that I was going to miss my old home. Know when I visit I know exactly where I want to go and with who and I can enjoy myself more.
