Letters to the Editor
Housing funds need to go further
9/7/2013The 40 new homes to be built in the city’s Olde Towne neighborhood for $10.4 million will cost $260,000 each (“Toledo’s Olde Towne to get 40 new homes in 8 months; $10.4M project near Mercy St. Vincent,” Aug. 24).
I am a real estate investor. My company buys and renovates about 25 houses a year in Toledo and averages about $30,000 a house in total investment.
If the $10.4 million were spent smartly, 350 homes in Toledo could be purchased and rehabilitated, and the city would be much further ahead.
How does investing $260,000 a house in a neighborhood with home values of $25,000 make any sense? This is another case of government spending taxpayer dollars foolishly.
JEFF SAVAGE
Monclova Township
Rehab existing housing instead
It is nice that the city is promoting the construction of housing in the Old West End. But what about the abandoned, boarded-up housing along Franklin Avenue? Those structures were built a few years ago and vacated shortly after that.
It would seem more practical to recondition those properties and get them back on the market than going to the expense of constructing dwellings.
But I guess that when officials have access to government money, the thought is to see how fast it can be spent.
BUD CRARY
San Paulo Drive
Woodlawn’s upkeep lauded
Kudos to the management of Historic Woodlawn Cemetery. I have seen over the past year how bad trees were felled, weeds cut, grass planted, and fence line installed along Hillcrest Avenue and Jackman Road.
I drive both roads almost daily. It’s nice to see this area so tidy. I hope that other areas and businesses in Toledo will spruce themselves up.
JOHN SINKOVIC
Leybourn Avenue
Ottawa-Jermain bike trail a jewel
Cheers to the City of Toledo and the Ottawa-Jermain Park advisory board. I recently ran the new 5-plus-mile bike trail that snakes around Ottawa and Jermain parks.
It’s rolling and well-groomed, and meanders through gorgeous scenery — equal to or better than any Metropark trail. Add this to the jewels in Toledo.
PETER SILVERMAN
Barrington Drive