Lima, Ohio

[ZachariahDaMan]

Lima is the county seat of Allen County and has about 40,081 residents (2000 Census).

[xzmattzx]

Interesting place. The courthouse looks nice, but it looks like the town was gutted when industries dried up.

[Pilliod Njaim]

The town is pretty ghetto, and yes, was gutted by its economic collapse, which was more dramatic than in many of the Ohio big cities (save for Youngstown and Dayton). My nickname for it has always been "Compton in a Cornfield." There is very little chance of recovery in Lima. It's in the middle of nowhere.

Check out "Lost in Middle America":

http://www.crouseentertainment.com/p...america2.shtml

[hudkina]

Great set.

This is one gorgeous building!

[KidGibNick]

I heard the mafia used to run Lima, and had strong ties to Chicago. My impression from having been there a few times was that it's one of those small cities with decent high rise and density despite it's now lack of industry and activity. It seemed like the kind of sleepy place on a hot summer day that gives you the feeling drugs deals are going on behind the scenes...like a Rockford, Il per se.

[vwxy509]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing your point of view! I work on my net work evening shoes and ffl application.

[ragerunner1]

Thank you for the pics.

I recently visited downtown Lima and found it to be one of the most 'ghetto' downtown's I have every been in. The majority of the street level store fronts are empty, and Gangs were hanging around on the street corners (this was in the middle of a work day). Almost no workers or pedestrians were on the streets and I couldn't blame them. I have lived in south Florida, been to just about every major city in the US and this was one of the first times I actually felt unsafe. Amazing for a such a small town in the middle of the farm country.

[hudkina]

Gangs? What the hell does that even mean? Did they look like this:

[ragerunner1]

Originally Posted by hudkina

Gangs? What the hell does that even mean? Did they look like this:

I guess its apparently whatever you want it to mean. My point was this little town in the cornfields has some serious issues to deal with when it comes to their downtown environment from my observations. The locals must also have some concerns as well since the streets in the middle of the day were almost completely empty even during lunch hour.

[Paule]

I went through basic training in the Army in the mid 80's with a guy who was from Lima and he was very prideful of being from this place. And he wasn't a dumby, he was an intelligent guy who was one of the leaders of our group.

The pics look great, looks like a real clean and nice downtown.

[Pilliod Njaim]

Originally Posted by ragerunner1

Thank you for the pics.

I recently visited downtown Lima and found it to be one of the most 'ghetto' downtown's I have every been in. The majority of the street level store fronts are empty, and Gangs were hanging around on the street corners (this was in the middle of a work day). Almost no workers or pedestrians were on the streets and I couldn't blame them. I have lived in south Florida, been to just about every major city in the US and this was one of the first times I actually felt unsafe. Amazing for a such a small town in the middle of the farm country.

Like I said, Compton in a Cornfield. The place is pretty ghetto, no sugarcoating it, and the location in the middle of nowhere limits its potential. There also is the issue of many parts of the city having no sidewalks or sidewalks that have been completely overtaken by nature. There aren't enough crosswalks and lights either. The thing is, there is still some urban density left, but the town is just not pedestrian-friendly at all. It's one of the cities I expect will be a complete ghost town in the future. Lima is probably small enough that it literally could fall off the map.

Lima's twin is probably not Rockford (I never knew Rockford fell that hard), but more likely Jackson, Michigan. Jackson is very much like Lima, though I think Jackson is in slightly better shape. Interestingly, nearby oil town, Findlay, is still in pretty good shape. Lima and Findlay are the about the same size and share the same history, but Findlay has mostly escaped the ghettoization, though its economy has taken a hit too. Honestly, I think Northwest Ohio is going end up Toledo (assuming its economy recovers), Sandusky, and then the summer vacation spots. Everything else may vanish. Basically, the Great Lakes ports and vacation areas will survive because they're on the water, but it's going to be hard for the other places to ever recover.

[ScraperDude]

I agree Lima is weirdo central. It's one of those places where you go umm why is this town here?
People I know from the surrounding area call it Slima.

[hudkina]

Jackson at least has the benefit of a corporate tax base. It is home to CMS Energy (#369 on the Fortune 500 list). It also helps that Jackson is somewhat within the sphere of Ann Arbor. There are quite a few people who live in Jackson County to avoid the higher taxes in Washtenaw County.

While I've never been to Lima, if you are comparing it to Jackson, it can't be that bad. Jackson isn't that bad, and in fact I'd say it's on the nicer side for being a smaller Midwestern city.

[Pilliod Njaim]

^Jackson is nicer. Basically with Lima, think Jackson but more ghetto and without any significant business presence.

[Joe D]

Originally Posted by ragerunner1

Thank you for the pics.

I recently visited downtown Lima and found it to be one of the most 'ghetto' downtown's I have every been in. The majority of the street level store fronts are empty, and Gangs were hanging around on the street corners (this was in the middle of a work day). Almost no workers or pedestrians were on the streets and I couldn't blame them. I have lived in south Florida, been to just about every major city in the US and this was one of the first times I actually felt unsafe. Amazing for a such a small town in the middle of the farm country.

I am also living in SoFL and grew up in Lima. It was a very connected town back in the day and still is today. That is why it is know as "Little Chicago" It today is still the ghetto, dirty, small and a lot of dive bars. That is why I left right after HS and never looked back. But today thatis why I like to go back there (only once a year and in the summer) and visit all the dives and the awesome people that can stand living there.

[Mudhen419]

Im not to hip to Lima but Ive also heard from people that its "ghetto" but then again, Fostoria aka Fo-troit and Fremont aka Feakmont are also called ghetto by people... I assume that most of the people that make these claims have never been to a real ghetto before.

[Otto Racecar]

Originally Posted by Mudhen419

Im not to hip to Lima but Ive also heard from people that its "ghetto" but then again, Fostoria aka Fo-troit and Fremont aka Feakmont are also called ghetto by people... I assume that most of the people that make these claims have never been to a real ghetto before.

I think you're right on the money. Its almost a badge of honor like " You haven't seen nothing, I'm from fill in the blank small city or a vast over reaction from people who are used to either rural or much more wealthy areas. Its like don't go to fill in the blank small city because I heard there's all sorts of crime unless you of course stay in wonderful suburban sprawl of the city.

[Mudhen419]

9 times out of 10 its some racist ass person making these claims... just because a city has a significant number of black people in it doesnt mean its ghetto...

[cjfjapan]

Originally Posted by Mudhen419

9 times out of 10 its some racist ass person making these claims... just because a city has a significant number of black people in it doesnt mean its ghetto...

Agreed. I'd like to see the word "ghetto" retired.

[Lima/Arizona]

Ive lived back and forth between lima ohio and south phoenix all my life and ive lived in all parts of lima south end north end dont matter is it a run down city yes its shit and its falling apart fast. Are there gangs? where arent there gangs? was there a mafia here yes my great grandma used to run the old brothel off of i-75 way back when ive heard a lot of stories. If your some preppy whiny no life suburbian you might be frightened because yes there are a lot of african americans in this city but i can tell you from experience that this city isnt nearly as bad as some of these people make it out to be. the square being empty well thats because there is nothing in the square anymore hit the strips go out on elida road where the mall is and all the other business' are and check out harding highway those are limas hotspots not the square a lot of the buildings in the square have been turned into fixed income flats for the old and handicapped and what business' are still in the square are more of special occasion business's for the square fair. I lived in south phoenix just off of south mountain for a good period of time and if you all think lima is ghetto and scary then you have never in your lives seen a real ghetto where all night long all you hear is police sirens and helicopters and gunshots thats a ghetto you suburbians should pay the ghettos a visit so you can realize just what a real scary ghetto is

also i know this is an old dead thread but after reading these things i had to say something