On the edge of the city, Franklin Park is the zone between Toledo and the City of Sylvania. Its boundaries are Secor Road, the Michigan State Line, Toledo’s city limits, and Interstate 475. This neighborhood has experienced major growth since its annexation in the 1960s.

Homes in Franklin Park were built from the 1950s through the early 1980s. Their architectural styles are Ranch, Prairie, split-Level, Neo-Colonial, and Neo-Tudor in design. The lot sizes for these homes are some of Toledo’s largest, and the streets are a mixture of straight and curvilinear patterns with limited access to major streets.

Just west of Franklin Park along Central Avenue is the Wildwood Metro Park, a natural setting on the Ottawa River featuring observation platforms, trails and paths for bicycling, jogging, running, walking, jogging, or cross-country skiing, and the preserved esatate of one of Toledo’s historical figures, R. A. Stranahan. The park also has a playground, picnic area, garden, and a nature center where local recreational clubs meet. The R. A. Stranahan Arboretum, on Sylvania Avenue, is a park featuring indigenous hardwood trees and walkways that provide a spectacular view in the fall. Westwood Park, in the northern portion of Franklin Park, offers a baseball diamond and basketball court for residents to enjoy, while Foxglove Park has facilities for tennis and basketball.

Franklin Park experienced a substantial boom of commercial growth in the 1980s. Home of the Franklin Park Mall, the neighborhood has a large commercial corridor featuring dozens of stores and plazas from the Interstate 475 intersection to the city of Sylvania.

With the Monroe Street Corridor, transportation for local residents is fairly easy. Sylvania Avenue runs east to the Five Points area, while Secor Road heads south to the Westgate Shopping Center and The University of Toledo. Laskey and Alexis Road lead east to shopping centers and Toledo’s industrial sector, and Interstate 475 can be accessed via Talmadge and Secor Roads.

Homes in Franklin Park, based on 1990 census data, average from $60,000 to well over $100,000 in price, and have an owner occupancy rate of 70%. Almost 20,000 people live in Franklin Park, and their average annual household income, based on 1990 census data, is about $35,000.