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Business is booming as 'hipsters', entrepreneurs come back to downtown Toledo

For fifteen years,  folks have been invited to come and wander the Warehouse District every September in Downtown Toledo. It seems every year there is more and more to see.

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - For fifteen years,  folks have been invited to come and wander the Warehouse District every September in Downtown Toledo.

It seems every year there is more and more to see.

With the amount of new business and with all the new downtown residents moving in, places to shop, and eat, have become more numerous.

You can buy a pita wrap, a piece of pizza, sushi rolls or a cup of coffee as you wander the area.

Maddie and Bella's Coffee Roaster moved in fifteen weeks ago.

It's become a popular hangout for warehouse hipsters.

"More younger people are moving downtown now and they love coffee. So we have been doing wonderful down here," said shop manager Sarah Stewart.

Young people like Erin Peterson.

She lives in an apartment at the Oliver House.

Erin is a Toledo native who came back home after living  in bigger cities.

"I like the diversity of the people. I like the fact I can walk to my clients and I can walk to a lot of activities I like to do," said Erin.

The annual 'wander', which was held on Sunday, is intended to show folks what it's like to live and work in the downtown area.

Some folks like checking out the historic, renovated buildings, like Ted Brackett, who plans to do some urban renewal himself.

"I do have a building built in the twenties; an old bank. I got some great ideas today to put forth to that building," said Ted.

As businesses and people keep moving here the demand for office space and housing space continues to expand.

"It's really booming. We're really excited. You see a lot of people down here. I'm thinking of moving downtown to live here. We've had our business down here for one hundred years. Great to see people downtown," said Ken Knight of Knight Insurance, which sponsored the event with the Toledo Warehouse District Association.

And it's hoped that wandering the Warehouse District on a Sunday afternoon will entice folks to come down more often, and possibly even move in.

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