Toledo isn’t short on amenities. It’s got a world-class art museum, an award-winning library system, a zoo that could rival any across the nation, and an ambitious parks system looking to revitalize the city’s riverfront. That, coupled with the low cost of living, makes it — in theory — the perfect place for anyone to build the life they want to live. In this episode, we take a closer look at Toledo’s calling card and ask whether it’s enough to continue to define this city.
Jake Vriezelaar loved being a creative in Toledo, but after a stint in LA, realized the scale of his ambitions in the film industry would lead him elsewhere. Now, he lives in New York. Alyssa Brutlag grew up in Toledo, and dreamed of one day being a professional dancer — but Toledo just didn’t have a big enough appetite for the arts. Now, she lives in Chicago. In this episode, we explore what it takes to make room for the arts — and young people looking to work in the arts — in Toledo’s post-industrial economy.
The Toledo region is known for its affordability. The promise of having it all — a family, a house, a job — combined with the possibility of remote work makes moving to Toledo a no-brainer. Right? Even in the midst of a tech spring in the Midwest, remote workers in America would rather pay skyhigh rent to live in New York City or Chicago than move to much more affordable places like Toledo. In this episode, we explore Toledo’s efforts to attract the workforce of the future.
In 1973, John Denver sang a song about Toledo to an estimated 30 million viewers of the Johnny Carson show. It was not flattering. “Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio, is like being nowhere at all …” What follows describes a place where there is nothing to do except “sit in the park and watch the grass die” and where “great entertainment” is watching “the buns rise” in the bakery. In this episode, we explore Toledo’s efforts to create an exciting and social urban scene.
In 1868, Jesup W. Scott claimed that by the year 2000, “Toledo would be the largest city in the world.” Unfortunately, Scott’s vision of Toledo never came true. At least, not fully. In 2000, Toledo, Ohio, was not the largest city in the world.
Welcome to Brain Drain, a brand new Midstory podcast that looks at an average American city through the eyes of the people who’ve left it behind. The decision to move away from home is often difficult and charged with deep and complicated emotions, and people have a wide range of motivations for leaving. But they all stem from the same, central question: When is home no longer enough?
As the owner of Kay’s Table, Kay Xiong is on a mission: to bridge different communities through authentic Asian cuisine. But to build this bridge, Xiong had to cross her own — a journey of hope, hardship and everything in-between. From fleeing Laos at the height of the Vietnam War to defining her own Hmong American identity, this is Xiong’s story.
He may have been born in Edmonton, Alberta, and his parents may have been Cantonese Chinese from Hong Kong — but today, Merwin Siu firmly declares himself a Toledoan.
Gabriel Kramer is an Ohioan, through and through. He entered into this world at a hospital in Medina — the same one as his father. He walked the stage at Medina High School — the same as his grandfather. Three generations here in the Buckeye state, and yet, he still found himself searching for ways to fit in while growing up— ways that sometimes required him to neglect parts of his mixed-race identity.
Lee Wong has long served his country: he spent two decades in the U.S. Army, has been a trustee of West Chester Township since 2005 and is a chairman at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati. Some would say Wong is a textbook patriot. But as the U.S. continues to grapple with anti-Asian hate, Wong has had to prove himself again and again throughout his life.
