As the rail lines of Toledo’s streetcars expanded further away from the downtown in the 1860s, development of Toledo’s first suburbs had begun. On the Adams Street Line, a new suburb, the West End, was growing. As space there became less available and more costly in the 1880s, people began to fill in the space on the east side of the streetcar line, closer to the downtown. This area, the Olde Towne neighborhood, was home for many of Toledo’s upper middle class businessmen, artisans, lawyers, and doctors. They built homes that rival even the great mansions of the Old West End. Their lavish Victorian and Edwardian homes lined the Ashland-Collingwood Avenue corridor, making Collingwood Avenue known as "the" avenue of Toledo.

Many of these homes still stand today, lining the Ashland-Collingwood Avenue corridor. Their designs are practically identical to their Old West End neighbors, with Victorian Second Empire, Richardsonian Romanesque, Shingle, Stick, Folk, and Edwardian Prairie, Italianate, Neo-Colonial, and Arts and Crafts. These homes are constructed with hardwood floors, stained glass windows, wrought iron fences, decorative facades, and fireplaces. This neighborhood is making a turnaround in property value through the help of its citizens and historical preservationists, who helped to place the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places as an Historic District in 1989. The Toledo Olde Towne Community Development Organization (TOTCO) is currently undertaking housing restoration projects and has initiated a one-way street system to improve neighborhood safety. New single family housing constructions are available at Columbia Place.

Although there are few parks in the Olde Towne neighborhood, the large lots with long front lawns gives a park like setting to the neighborhood. Commercial areas around the Olde Towne neighborhood include the Franklin-Bancroft Plaza and the Swayne Field Plaza at Monroe and Detroit.

Transportation is fairly easy for residents of Olde Towne. Downtown Toledo is just minutes away by bike or car, and Cherry Street offers quick access to west and east Toledo. The Interstate can be reached through a short drive on either Cherry Street, Bancroft Street, or Collingwood Avenue.

Homes in Olde Towne, based on 1990 census data, range from $20,000 to $50,000 in price. Olde Towne has an owner occupancy rate of 30%. About 5,000 people live in the neighborhood, and their average annual household income, based on 1990 census data, is around $15,000.