No Need To GTC: It's Toledo

[ofos]

Although this thread is well past it's half-life and decomposing at an increasing rate, does anyone else (Bear, perhaps?) remember a place called the Peppermint Lounge? It was the 60's and the twist was the dance du jour. Underage Michigan students would drive to Toledo to party and drink 3.2% Buckeye beer.

[Bear Up North]

Although this thread is well past it's half-life and decomposing at an increasing rate, does anyone else (Bear, perhaps?) remember a place called the Peppermint Lounge? It was the 60's and the twist was the dance du jour. Underage Michigan students would drive to Toledo to party and drink 3.2% Buckeye beer.

Yes, this Bear remembers The Peppermint Lounge. Hard to believe.....a bar in this area that I didn't get my bruinish paws in to. If I remember correctly, it eventually morphed into a country bar.....and it COULD BE the country bar that is referenced in the song "You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me, Lucille" (Kenny Rogers).

Same Topic, Slightly: 3.2 beer was popular for Michigan folks. Buckeye beer was atrocious.

Bear

[ofos]

Yes, this Bear remembers The Peppermint Lounge. Hard to believe.....a bar in this area that I didn't get my bruinish paws in to. If I remember correctly, it eventually morphed into a country bar.....and it COULD BE the country bar that is referenced in the song "You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me, Lucille" (Kenny Rogers).

Same Topic, Slightly: 3.2 beer was popular for Michigan folks. Buckeye beer was atrocious.

Bear

Historical Note: 3.2 was only popular because the drinking age in Michigan was 21 but you could drink 3.2 in OH at 18. No argument about the quality of Buckeye, 3.2 or full strength. Probably the worst beer I had ever experienced until I had Pearl Light here in Texas.

[Super Amputee Cat]

Just guessing.....the Auburndale neighborhood was closer to and adjacent to Monroe Street, numerous abandoned storefronts and warehouses. Auburndale was also a traditional grid pattern, for the most part. Parkside seemed to morph (as one moves west) into a neighborhood with larger homes, grand boulevards, and the presence of a huge Catholic plot of land.....Calvary Cemetery, Gesu Church and school, and the former CYO (Catholic Youth Organizations) playing fields. Correct me if wrong.....was the neighborhood between Parkside Boulevard and Upton Avenue called "Westmoreland"?

Bear

No actually I mean Parkside Addition - nothing to to with Parkside Blvd. It's not even next to the park.

Platted around 1915, Parkside is bounded by Upton, Oakwood, Calumet and W. Bancroft and includes the interior streets of Joffre and Parkdale. It was originally in Washington Twp and annexed to Toledo around 1923. The population was all white in 1960 but the first blacks began moving in about 1961. By 1970 the neighborhood was predominantly black.

[Bear Up North]

When the St. Lawrence Seaway first opened, giving the ports of the Great Lakes access to the oceans of the world, Toledo's port enjoyed a considerable jump in tonnage shipped. The port was already the world's largest shipper of coal, loading thousands of tons from the huge KING COAL docks at the mouth of the Maumee River (adjacent-to Maumee Bay, Lake Erie) and sending it to electrical-generating plans throughout the lakes.

Toledo used the Seaway access as a wedge to significantly increase the types of cargo that was inbound and outbound. For a few years, the Port of Toledo was the 9th largest port in the USA.

Fast-forward to the present-day. Toledo is still a shipper of coal, the huge grain elevators lining the Maumee River still provide grain storage for the shiploads that are outbound, and the general cargo docks enjoy "good" years and struggle through" bad years.

This year has been relatively good for general cargo. Even though imports are down (primarily from Germany, usually construction materials) because of the housing slump, the port is enjoying the importing of many shiploads of large metal pipes, being sent to the heartland for construction of a major natural gas line. The huge steel pipes are loaded on railcars for shipment west.

The port has also become a transfer station of sorts. Taconite pellets from iron ore miles in Minnesota (not from the YooPee, dang!) are shipped in the huge lake ships and stored in Toledo. From those storage piles the taconite pellets are loaded onto ocean ships, bound for China. The "Red Commies Who Found Capitalism" need the iron pellets for their working-overtime steel mills.

For those not in the know.....the locks and the Welland Canal are not big enough to allow lake freighters through. That is why the transfer to ocean ships.

Awhile back, the Port of Toledo was also being considered for a huge wind turbine components site. Giant parts from overseas would have been unloaded at the port, additional work and processing would have taken place, and the final assemblies would have been shipped to wind turbine farms in development around the country.

Toledo was not chosen. To my knowledge, warm-weather ports were chosen. That is the big drawback to shipments from and to Great Lakes' ports.....winter weather.

Bear

[tinkerbelle]

I didn't read the whole topic, but during the summers I spend time with relatives in Toledo and I've never gotten a chance to really explore the city. I've been to the Old West End and to the areas around Franklin Park Mall and Maumee Country Day School (which is basically sprawl though I LOVE Franklin Park Mall). I also got lost once in an area under a large bridge near downtown Toledo with a large Latino population. I have NO idea what part of town I was in though. What other areas of the city are worth exploring? I've heard that the East and North sides are to be avoided (are they really that bad or better yet what areas of Cleveland do they compare to?)

[Bear Up North]

tinkerbelle.....The bridge you were under was most likely the Anthony Wayne Bridge, named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, a military man with a ton of influence in the Maumee River valley (from Fort Wayne, IN downstream to Toledo, OH). That area has a mix of old housing stock, apartments, some industry, railroad yards, grain elevators. It is known as "the old south end" and it does have a large number of Latinos.

If you move toward downtown Toledo from that under-the-bridge location you will slide into an area of old warehouses that have been converted to lofts, the Maumee Bay Brewing Company, a few other restaurants and taverns, and the world headquarters (built on the river) of Owens-Corning. You know them by the Pink Panther used in their advertisements.

About a dozen or so years ago there were brand new condominiums standing where Owens-Corning is now. Because Toledo can be a "fun" town, politically, those condos were moved (just like you move a house) onto big barges and floated to somewhere around Sandusky, OH. The Owens-Corning building is an ultra-modern and somewhat strange structure. When OC moved into that building they abandoned their 30-story tower in the center of downtown Toledo's grid street pattern. That building remains an empty 30-story skyscraper.

You mentioned that you have been through the old west end.....what a beautiful neighborhood. Considered one of the largest collections of Victorian residences in the states.

North Toledo can be tough. Because Toledo is much smaller than Cleveland, driving through seemingly tough neighborhoods only take a few minutes. East Toledo is very independent.....the folks on that side of the river tend to disassociate themselves from the west side of the river.

Both north and east Toledo have older housing stocks, some high-crime areas, gang problems, and comfortable and well-kept streets smack in the middle. East Toledo has a ton of industry, including a huge Sun Oil refinery, one of the largest flour mill elevators in the world, extensive brownlands (waiting for redevelopment), and the Port of Toledo's General Cargo facilities.

Do these neighborhoods compare to your Cleveland "hoods".....perhaps on occasion, but so much smaller geographically.

Next time you are in Toledo, check out the usual tourist items, including Tony Packo's (watch 1970s MASH for info on this), the highly-rated Toledo Museum of Art, the wonderful Toledo Zoo. Cruise around the-surrounded-by-Toledo little village of Ottawa Hills. Check out some of the mansions.

Toledo's parks are generally okay (Ottawa Park is great, but stay away at night). The metroparks, though, are incredible. Swan Creek and Wildwood are within the city limits, and a bunch more (including the huge Oak Openings Preserve) surround the area.

If you are in to history, check out Fort Meigs in Perrysburg (a suburb).....largest rebuilt wooden stockade in the country.....or wander over to the site of "The Battle Of Fallen Timbers". That battle here solidified the western expansion of a then-very-young USA.

(If you like or dislike shopping.....just south of the battle site they are building a large shopping center.)

Toledo has a mini-version of The Flats (Cleveland's famous riverside watering hole line-up).....in Toledo it is called "The Docks". Quite popular in the warmer months, not as popular in the colder months.

For real adventure, drive across the new Veteran's Skyway in Toledo (I-280). It just opened a few months ago and it is the largest single expenditure in Ohio highway funding history. (Finally, some state dollars came our way.)

If you are looking for an authentic Ohio State Buckeyes bar, go to Dale's Bar in the inner-ring suburb of Maumee. This Bear is a Michigan fan but I have been a regular at that "Buckeye" place since Richard Nixon was President.

Hope you enjoy Toledo the next time you are in town.

Bear

[Bear Up North]

Metropolitan Toledo now has a second "lifestyle center" retail complex. It opened its' doors yesterday (10-3-07) to huge crowds. It is known as The Shops At Fallen Timbers. Not all of the retail venues are open, as construction continues.....but the eventual site will have about 85 stores in over one million square feet.

Evidently, the economy in the area is strong enough to support two new lifestyle centers. The other is only a few miles away, in the same southwestern suburbs portion of the Toledo metro.

The Fallen Timbers complex will also eventually have an office building park, movie theaters, and at least one new hotel. The site is just south of the area's only full cloverleaf interchange, the junction of I-475/US23 and US24.

The site has been in the news for about ten years. Originally, Toledo officials purchased land in this area as a possible site for a new Jeep Assembly Plant. To keep the proposed plant within Toledo corporate limits, they planned on an easement slice, cutting in and around the suburb of Maumee, OH. After numerous legal battles, the city of Toledo gave up on that plan.

The land was purchased by a businessman from Bryan, OH.....a small city about an hour west of Toledo. He eventually worked out a deal with one of the nation's largest shopping center developers and construction began.

Adjacent to the site is a historic battlefield, where "The Battle of Fallen Timbers" effectively changed the course of USA westward expansion.

Meanwhile, Toledo's huge (and very successful) Westfield Franklin Park Mall continues to expand. Retail watchers are having some fun seeing how all of this will turn-out, especially because what was once south Toledo's premier shopping destination, Southwyck Mall, is so close to death you cannot hear it breathing.
_____

Meanwhile.....Fedex has a large distribution center located in west Toledo. The property is somewhat landlocked, with no room for expansion.....and is not as close to an interstate highway as the owners would prefer.

For awhile, Toledo government officials played hardball in their attempts to force Fedex to stay within the corporate limits. When that battle failed, Toledo officials displayed a rare moment of regional cooperation, assisting with Fedex' detail planning for a new distribution center in Rossford, OH, a suburb with immediate access to I-75.
_____

Always fun to watch the events in my old home town.

Bear

[Bear Up North]

Random 1 - Just-in-case-you-didn't-know Department.....the sandy soil in parts of NW Ohio and SE Michigan are great for growing Christmas trees. There are a good number of Christmas tree farms in the area. Good friends of mine have a Christmas tree farm in Deerfield, MI, about 25 miles northwest of Toledo.

Random 2 - One of the largest corporations in the world that is involved in retirement centers, Manor Care, is located in downtown Toledo. As of this writing it is the 4th largest Toledo corporation.....but that is expected to change this week, when a private equity firm assumes control.

Random 3 - Phoenix-based First Solar actually has its' roots in the Toledo area. Because of Toledo's long involvement with glass.....especially flat glass.....the technology for solar panels was oft-blessed with the technological know-how of some famous area inventors.

One of the largest manufacturing plants for solar panels is located in suburban Perrysburg.

Random 4 - Toledo is a wonderful location for distribution. The area is at the junction of two of the busiest interstate highways in the country (I-75 & I-80-90), is one of the largest ports on the Great Lakes, is the nation's 3rd largest rail center, and is very-centrally located for distribution to major population centers.

The area does have a signifiicant number of distribution centers and more are under construction or on the drawing board.

If you have contact with folks in your business community who may be making decisions regarding a new midwestern distribution facility.....take a strong look at the benefits to the Toledo area.

(Yes.....I understand that you will be pushing YOUR area first and foremost. But if you hear of "additional" centers, look toward the friendly areas of northwestern Ohio.)

Random 5 - Kind of interesting.....Toledo is a typical rust-belt city, with all of the problems that falling into that category bring. Yet.....the area is home to companies that will certainly make a difference in the future.....retirement homes (for our aging population).....solar panel technology.....high-tech high-throughput distribution (such as Walgreens DC).

Bear

[lopsidedfrock]

regarding toledo's sandy soil: it makes my yard a great giant anthill in the summer!

[Bear Up North]

A week or so ago, Toledo finished 3rd in a competition for "most liveable community", at the Global Liveable Community Awards held in London. Interesting.

You could argue that many (much more "liveable") communites did not even bother to enter the competition. The judging included scores for community sustainability, enhancement of landscape, heritage management, environmentally-sensitive practices, healthy lifestyles, and planning for the future.

First place went to Malmo, Sweden and second place went to Lyon, France.

Reading about Malmo, there are some interesting similarities.....and some major differences.

Malmo was primarily a typical factory town, with shipbuilding as the big component. As that industry moved away from Malmo, the city experienced very tough economic conditions.....including the highest unemployment in Sweden (in the 1980s and early 1990s).
Malmo's population dropped during the tough times but has surged of late.

Toledo has the same sort of industrial background, peaked in population in the 1970s (nearly 400,000) and now continues to lose citizens at a fast pace. Malmo now has 270,00 and Toledo now has 295,000.

Big difference? Young people "dig" Malmo. It is considered a "hip" place to be, it has a youth-oriented culture, the citizens are almost-all avid bicyclists, the downtown area is filled with apartments.....on and on.

Another big advantage for Malmo.....it is now a bedroom suburb (even though it is its' own metro) of Copenhagen, Denmark. A huge bridge was built that links Malmo and Copenhagen.

Congratulations to Toledo for a nice effort.
_____

Waterville, OH, a bedroom suburb of Toledo, was recently placed on a list of (not excactly sure of title) "Best Small Towns To Raise A Family". It finished in the Top 10.

It is a nice little town, hugging the Maumee River.
_____

I am a regular Googler, but I cannot find a site that lists ALL of the different awards that cities receive. There are so many awards, contests, lists, etc.

Bear

[Bear Up North]

Ooops......double-post......make this one go away, pulleaze....

Bear

[craines]

I entered into this late but my moms side of the family is from Toledo. My uncle, Charlie Browm (no kidding) was a prominent attorney there that live in Ottawa Hills ( i may be mistaken but it was a well to do area on the west end of town). I loved the area and my cool anuts and uncles still live there. Totally sweet architecture and what always struck me as interesting in that, at least in ottawa hills, there was no fencing seperating the lots.

[Traveler]

Just spent the weekend downtown. Nice area at the Docks. Food pretty good - have been to this City several times.
Gut wrenching to see the empty buildings and stores.
Looks like some Leadership is required....
Just an outside observation. The City seems very clean and tidy. Some roads could be remedied....to prevent hurt to drivers of smaller vehicles.
Hope it gets back on track. The people we spoke with are all very concerned.

So- Toledoins: Go for it! You can do it.

[Bear Up North]

Traveler.....Leadership is a tough find in Toledo, although there are occasional snippets. Many Toledo folks know (and brag about) the many assets BUT head on down the highway at the first opportunity. Not unlike many other places in the midwest and Great Lakes.

craines.....Ottawa Hills is a pretty classy place. When I was in Catholic grade school (Gesu) our parish included Ottawa Hills, so I knew a ton of those rich dudes. Good friends even had a bowling alley in their basement.

Ottawa Hills is still considered a prestigious address in this area. (Menioned before.....Tom Sholz, front man for the classic rock group Boston, was from OH. I used to play basketball with him, before he got rich and famous and before I got old and not rich and famous.)
_____

This past week, Dana Corporation, one of the few remaining Fortune 500 companies in the Toledo area, emerged from bankruptcy. They are now going to concentrate on auto and truck parts that are located UNDER the vehicle.....drive trains, trannies, axles, etc.

Bear

[Bear Up North]

The Metropolitan Toledo Area is becoming a center for the manufacture of solar panels. Even though (obviously) not a sun-belt location, metro Toledo now has three plants that will be manufacturing these panels. The attachment is related to our community being a center for glass manufacturing for about a century, a leader in research in the glass-related technoligies (of which solar panels can relate to), and the solar panel developments that have gone on at the University of Toledo.

Last year's fastest growing stock was First Solar. That Phoenix-based corporation has a plant in suburban Perrysburg. If you are on I-80/I-90 (Ohio Turnpike) you can see the new plant from the road.

Another corporation is going to be producing solar panels at a plant on Nebraska Avenue, in Toledo. And this week another corporation announced that they will be building solar panels at a relatively-new manufacturing plant in Perrysburg. That plant was originally built to manufacture components for television sets.

Bear

[illinoisplanner]

So, I was bored last night and browsing through news bloopers on You Tube, and happened to come across this blooper from a Toledo station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDM9CLDSrAM

[Bear Up North]

Not certain exactly how many street potholes our unusually tough winter has left us with. The numbers thrown around by Toledo officials and county officials certainly are in the tens-of-thousands.

For those of you who live in climates that don't enjoy the 4-season nature that we here in NW Ohio enjoy (and many other areas)......those street potholes occur when there is continual freezing and thawing, especially when accompanied-with moisture.

The streets and roads with potholes beat the hexx out of you when you motor your way to wherever you are headed. Some potholes can be 6 to 8 inches deep. Imagine hitting that with your front tire while you are going 45mph !!!

In Toledo, the mayor has declared "war" on potholes and had city crews working mucho-overtime to provide temporary patches.

Bear

[Bear Up North]

Toledo has just announced that they have entered into an agreement with a planning firm to develop a "riverwalk" along a small Toledo creek. Details.....

The California-based planning group, Tetra Tech, developed the San Antonio Riverwalk, developed similar projects in Memphis, Owensboro, and Kansas City, and is working on a major Los Angeles project. Sounds like Tetra Tech will eventually grab ownership of some Toledo properties, as part of the deal.

The proposed riverwalk.....actually a "creekwalk".....will include a waterfront promenade, retail, offices, and homes. As with all proposals, the drawing looked very good......but there are some realities that have to be faced.

Swan Creek enters the Maumee River in downtown Toledo. The final mile or so of the creek, upriver from the mouth, has been a favorite dumping ground for old washing machines, an occasional vehicle, once-in-a-while a body, and other assorted goodies. The water clarity has improved, though, thanks to tighter environmental restictions.

Many years ago I read in Michigan History Magazine that the original site for the University of Michigan was going to be at the mouth of Swan Creek. That was in a period before statehood and Michigan and Ohio were almost at war for what was called "The Toledo Strip".

Critics of this new plan argue that the deal has too many loopholes that would allow Tetra Tech to abandon the project. Because of Toledo's finicky weather, I would argue that a "creekwalk" may not be successful.

Bear

[DetroitPlanner]

Bear,

Will they be doing the all that links Owens Corning/Portside with the zoo? I can see that being a great benefit as there would be great nodes along the way such as parks and the farmer's market. I looked into this and it looks like Tetra-Tech will be taking over the operations of the Market as part of the deal. The last time I was there, the Market was not doing so good. Lets hope that they can turn it around.

There are literally thousands of folk who walk along the Detroit Riverfront every day. I don't think cold will be much of a factor, though days with ice on the walk is a different story. Detroit has a similar type of project that will link our Eastern Market with the Waterfront/GM Headquarters. It is being built along a below grade railroad right of way. http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/dequindre.aspx

[Dan]

Sounds like Tetra Tech will eventually grab ownership of some Toledo properties, as part of the deal.

Tetra Tech does a lot of wireless site acquisition. Hmmmmm ...

[Bear Up North]

This Bear was at a dinner banquet this past week and the keynote speaker was Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon-Wozniak. Her presentation, co-presented with a construction company executive, focused on the now-under-construction Lucas County Arena. She proudly proclaimed that Toledo will be the smallest city with an entertainment "trifecta" in the central business district. That "trifecta" includes.....

Lucas County Arena
Under construction.....on the site of what was one of this Bear's favorite Chinese restraurants (Golden Lily).....the nation's first "green" arena

Fifth Third Field
Opened about six years ago.....considered the "best" minor league baseball park by national publications.....always at or near capacity

Seagate Centre
Convention center that opened about twenty years ago.....a little small, so did not get bigger convention biz.....that should change with Arena opening

All three of these venues are in the same general area of CBD. Check out this link.....

http://www.lucascountyarena.com/

Toledo ain't so bad. (Can that be our new slogan? )

Bear

[DetroitPlanner]

Bear, what will happen to the old arena? Will the City/County extend the riverwalk area?

[Bear Up North]

Bear, what will happen to the old arena? Will the City/County extend the riverwalk area?

The Toledo Sports Arena, built in 1948, has been removed from this earth. The building was a joke, although it was appropriate for minor-league hockey, primarily because of the small ice surface and the crowds virtually on-top of the skaters. This Bear attended many concerts in that facility. The acoustics were horrible, the ceilings were way too low (maybe 30-feet), creating line-of-sight issues with the concert stage.

The parcel that the Sports Arena sat on what will be part of the quite-impressive Marina District. That district, apparently using a combination of private developer and public funding, will eventually include more riverwalk areas, a small ampitheater, retail and (hopefully) housing. There is even discussion of establishing a mooring facility for cruise ships that ply the Great Lakes.

When all is said and done, Toledo's eastern side of the Maumee River (not the downtown side of the river) will include the Willis Boyer (a lake freighter, open for public tours), The Docks (six on-the-water restaurants, open since the late 1990s), and the Marina District. My guess is that this is about a 2-mile stretch of public access to the riverfront and riverfront attractions.

Attachment (link) is a couple years old. There have been some changes and construction continues.

Bear
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...EWS09/51012002

[Bear Up North]

Last night this Bear attended a special intermodal presentation. It was presented by one of the members of an investment group that purchased land adjacent to Toledo Express Airport. That purchase took place about a dozen years ago. The property has excellent potential for an intermodal center. And now local newspapers and one of the local talk radio stations have been pushing for area officials to start making the moves to make this staggering project a reality.

What Is An Intermodal Center?
An intermodal center is a large facility with railyards and highway access. Containers filled with products manufactured overseas are off-loaded from the trains and placed on special sets of wheels, creating a road-ready trailer.

Toledo Express Airport
Passenger service at Toledo Express Airport continues to plummet. It has lost 50% of its' passengers since 2001 and with the present state of the airline business it will continue to lose passenger traffic. However, Toledo Express (with very long runways) is home to the huge BAX Global distribution hub, creating more than 1000 jobs for area residents. BAX is now owned by a European company that specializes in intermodal logistics. Every day and night the area skies are filled with the huge jumbo freightliners going to-and-from BAX Global.

The airport's master plan calls for a parallel runway (also at 10,600 feet) and considerable development, south of the present airport. The areas to the south and west of Toledo Express are primarily forest land, so the facility is not boxed-in like so many other airports. If the airport experienced considerable growth there is plenty of acreage for warehousing and value-added services (such as a Foreign Trade Zone).

Also important to note that Toledo Express' air traffic controllers control only two airports.....Toledo Express and a small rural airport. This allows quick access to-and-from the skies, as compared to giant airports in Detroit and Chicago.

The Intermodal Property
The land in the proposal is directly across Airport Highway from the airport. It includes frontage on the Norfolk & Western Railroad's main line and is directly adjacent to the Swanton/Toledo Airport Ohio Turnpike Interchange. That link with I-80/I-90 would include a special access for the intermodal center, providing direct access to the nation's transportation network.

Some Demographics
I-80/I-90 is considered by most to be the nation's main east-west interstate. Just a short distance to the east is I-75, considered by most to be the nation's main north-south interstate. A huge percentage of the nation's manufacturing is located within a 2-day drive of the proposed center. A large percentage of the nation's population is located within a 2-day drive of the proposed center.

Moving The Container Trains
If the intermodal center was now functioning, railcars with double-stacked containers (double-stacked on special "low-boy" flat cars) would arrive via the adjacent-to-the-property tracks. Containers would be unloaded in Prince Rupert, BC or Vancouver, BC, both excellent ports and both at a much-shorter distance from Asian shipping ports than southern California ports. Canadian National Raiload would transport those containers across Canada and (most likely) enter the states through Michigan. Canadian National has a huge railyard in north Toledo that would be part of the logistical routing for the containers.

CN could also enter the U.S. through the northern plains and proceed to Chicago for sortation (including sortation to Toledo's Intermodal). Routing from southern California ports and routing through Chicago adds a number of days to the transit time, so the most efficient service is across Canada.

Nova Scotia Container Port
A huge container port is being built in Nova Scotia, capable of off-loading the world's newest and largest "super" container ships. CN will transport those containers to a number of distant locations, including across Canada and into the U.S. in Michigan. That routing, with another couple shipping days lopped-off, would follow the path through CN's Toledo Yard and over to the Intermodal Center.

In a world that needs to maximize logistic efficiencies, ocean ships that transport the St. Lawrence Seaway would be retrofitted to carry a number of containers in addition to their regular cargo. The best choice for those containers would be to unload at the largest port (in acreage) on the Great Lakes, Toledo. The Port of Toledo also has the largest cranes on the lakes.

Exports
Containers can be used to export products from the states and the NW Ohio area has a ready stockpile of regular exports: grains, hardwood lumber, and coal. "Back-hauling" is an efficient part of global trade and that efficiency could be grabbed with very few problems.

Alliance Global Logistics
The group that presented last night's program met with Ross Perot, JR......ten years ago! In those years, Perot's Alliance Global Logistics has transformed a declining-passenger airport (Ft. Worth) into a huge intermodal center with hundreds of companies and 27,000 employees. The data for Toledo Express and Alliance is very similar.

And the Toledo intermodal has the advantage of the nation's busiest interstates and the large Port of Toledo!

Ten years ago Ross Perot, JR said, "What are you waiting for?"

Politics
The comments and fireworks at last night's session underline the fact that the "powers" in Northwestern Ohio really struggle to get things done. Included in the political mix is the Mayor of Toledo.......with his head in the sand as he stalls on providing any kind of leadership for this important project.

Ultimately, the intermodal decision will be made by the railroad. With all of the obvious benefits to the proposed location it is hoped that local officials can get their act together and present their case......now!.

Personal Note
My distribution company gets most of its' containers via Vancouver via Detroit. We are bringing in 3-9 containers per/week.

Bear