I visited Toronto, Ontario and made this modest photo essay about a town that another group of Torontonians call home.

Toronto, Ohio, population 6126 (from the 1990 cencus), was incorperated under that name in 1881. The Wikipedia article states, uncited,  "This was taken from the much larger Canadian city of the same name, which civic leader Thomas M. Daniels felt was a place worth emulating", but while a town website cites Daniels as suggesting the name it does not mention Toronto, Ontario at all.

The town is also the birthplace of the late actor Robert Urich [Vegas, Spencer for Hire]. He married Sound of Music star Heather Menzies, a Toronto girl. A union between a man from Toronto Ohio and a lady from Toronto Ontario.

I spent a couple of hours here with a camera. I had nice meal and caused a couple of police cars to slow down - I guess they don't see many people strolling their North 4th street with a camera.

The pictures here show an unimproved downtown. Please note the derelict but grand National Bank of Toronto building.

However, Toronto, Ohio is a economically thriving place. There are two steel mills. One is owned by the global giant Arcelor Mittal. The second has a sign in front proudly proclaiming titanium castings - an activity that hints at defense contracts. There was a rush hour of sorts of mostly late model cars and I had to beware of the traffic. Homes are immaculately maintained. Many dozens of them are located just off the downtown pictured below. There are blond coloured brick paved streets bordered by multi-coloured wooden houses in some areas - a striking appearance, but rain started before I could take a picture.

I found it odd that Toronto could turn its back on its central business area but perhaps they simply haven't gotten around to revitalizing it. There is a mall that serves the area so perhaps this is the simply the current reality.