I am NW Ohio born and bred. Except for my college years in Nashville, TN, I’ve lived my whole life here. I grew up in Toledo’s Point Place (Best Place Any Place!) area and figured I’d stay there.
However, my grandparents lived in Waterville and I loved visiting them there so when it came time to buy our own home and set down roots, my husband and I chose Waterville. Many factors and variables went into that decision, but where we wanted our children to grow up was a major one.
Waterville is a small city in the Toledo Metropolitan area, but it is far enough from the city limits to feel maintain some of its rural characteristics and charm while being close enough to all the things and places we want in our larger neighboring communities. It is a safe city with an exceptional school district that provides our children with a lot of opportunities that they may not have access to elsewhere.
I’ve got a lot of things I love about our city, but here are a few of my favorite things…
The Proximity
As I mentioned before, Waterville is outside the limits of the bigger surrounding cities, but still close enough to get where I want fairly quickly. Maumee and Perrysburg are about 15 minutes from home and Sylvania and Downtown Toledo take about a 20 minute drive to get to. This makes it running errands or heading out for entertainment a pretty reasonable commute.
The Beauty
I absolutely love that visual appeal of our downtown– its got that small town charm locked down with local restaurants and little shops. Even better that though, is how we are surrounded by nature. The Maumee River runs along our city and drive 5 minutes outside of town and you’re among farm fields and open sky.
The Parks
We are lucky to not only have a nice little park system here in our city, but we are very near several Metroparks If you drive just a bit past downtown out River Road, you will find Farnsworth Metropark. Our kids absolutely love the playground there and I love walking the trails along the river. Side Cut, Blue Creek, and Oak Openings are all within a 10 minute drive from home.
The Small Town Living
I absolutely love the events in our that bring the community together. Be it Friday Night Lights in the fall over at Schaller Stadium cheering on the Generals or Food Truck Tuesdays at Conrad Park in the summer, there always seems to be something going on. Our Chamber of Commerce hosts a Rock the Block Party in downtown in June and my personal favorite, the Roche de Boeuf Festival in September– a full day of small town complete with a parade and craft fair, food trucks, and family fun. The Chamber also puts on a Trick or Treat event for families the week prior to Halloween. There are fireworks in July and local business and community members partner together to put on an Easter Egg Hunt for kids and “A Christmas to Remember” in December.
Waterville is a great place to live and play. I’ve seen it grow and change a lot in the last 30 plus years as our city continues to grow. Some of the farm fields are now new subdivisions and new businesses have come along with new residents. Change is inevitable and I can only imagine how things will look in 30 years from now, but I sure do enjoy living and raising my family here.