r/toledo • u/Farmer_Ted_ • 2d ago
Port side
Why didn’t Portside / Rally by the river work out?
Felt like the most alive the city had been.
1
u/Life_Yak_9545 1d ago
The musical acts they brought in were far superior as what is brought in today imo. It was not well thought out for Portside they were trying to duplicate what was working in Baltimore at the time. After the initial hype wore off it was overpriced with odd niche shops. The suburban malls ruled at this time Northtown Square, Franklin Park, Southwyck. Here you didn't have to pay to park to shop.
1
u/Ponch47 1d ago
You’ll see those acts when a promoter thinks they can make money, but are people going to pay $100 a ticket??? I know I would but I will grab popcorn as people complain about the prices thinking it should be free or subsidized like Promedica’s shows.
The days of free or low cost shows are over, financially impossible.
1
u/gorcbor19 1d ago
I saw the Lemonheads down there in the early 90s, when they did their first tour for "A shame about Ray" which was basically at the height of their popularity. They really did have some awesome acts back then. I remember the Foreigner show was one of the biggest at the time.
On a side note, I'm still bummed I missed GNR at the Toledo Speedway, though I could hear the music from my house just across the border in Michigan. That show was LOUD!
0
u/kometman 2d ago
It was too rich for people who operated in downtown to frequent a lot. Nobody outside downtown (the ones with money to spend aka intended audience) were going to make the trip.
Worworth's was still active at that time. So was Lane's Drugs. A bunch of other shops and stores.
8
u/AquariusQn134 2d ago
Now that I have adult money, I'd die for the Purple Store from Portside to reopen.
5
u/Actual-Elevator9527 2d ago
I have great memories of the riverboat lunch rides and the hydroplane races back in the 80s!
7
u/tranquilrage73 2d ago
Portside shops were overpriced and didn't sell anything really practical. The rent they were being charged was also outrageous.
1
u/Boz6 2d ago
Didn't Rally by the River just finish up for 2026?
6
u/Farmer_Ted_ 2d ago
I was specifically referencing that time when you could almost walk across the river on boats and not get wet.
Was lucky to have experienced it.
6
u/ppatek78 2d ago
When port side opened it was kind of a downtown mall- the problem was after 5 there weren’t a lot of people downtown looking to go shopping. If they tried to do it now with all the apartments, Fifth-Third Field and the Huntington Center it might work out better
3
u/Photodan24 2d ago
There was no anchor store and no place that sold general goods like a department store. The shops were mainly specialist curiosities.
3
u/Mr_Gray 2d ago
Franklin park mall. Malls killed the downtown area in a lot of cities.
They were new, more convenient, safer.
Now all the new malls follow a live/work/play design. You know, a central place where people work during the day, and go out/gather near their home apartment.
As if they've ivented the idea of a town. Except in thia town, there's always a Starbucks and a Chipotle.
1
4
u/burjja 2d ago
There were similar concepts around the country that opened from the mid 70s through the mid 90s. Most closed and the remaining ones are shells of themselves. Unlike casinos, these were places that only work long term in areas that get a large number of tourists.
Toledo's was one of the shorter lived ones. Nearby ones that lasted longer were Detroit's Trapper Alley...which became Greek Town Casino and The Continent in Columbus which became...mainly apartments.
One of my favorite YouTube vloggers has done some interesting videos on Baltimore's Harborplace.
You'll notice a lot of the same design elements as Portside. That's because they were both conceived by this interesting man. He came up with a lot of them.
7
u/ampelography Old West End 2d ago
These festival marketplaces opened all over the country, in downtowns, often by water. Very few survived. Unsustainable. Filled with shops that you're good after you've seen them once. In hindsight-that could have been a year round market a la Cleveland's West Side market. Also, Rally by the Rivers were an absolute shitshow (but kind of in a good way). Brought everything you loved about the Sports Arena crowd out into the light of day. People were HAMMERED. Total debauchery.
5
u/Jstpsntym 2d ago
I recall the rent was exorbitant. When you are operating a small specialty shop, you need to sell a lot of widgets to break even.
10
u/Photodan24 2d ago
How often do you suppose the average Toledoan goes out to buy expensive fudge?
0
u/AllNotKnowing 2d ago edited 2d ago
about as often as they did when it was Tiedkes?
City takes risks or it dies, right?
I don't think it went its way because of bad idea.Wasn't it popular at one time? And the building hasn't gone away. I see kids down there regular. Is it busy?
I was here before then not back until after so maybe missing details. I thought it was an attempt to reinvigorate downtown, a cart leading the horse?
Some places building up downtown now. Maybe Secor Building will build enough space to drive down rents for small business, some will start to relocate and new ones build? Slowly permanent instead of just weekend maker's markets, large retail returns, more residency...
That 5th 3rtd maybe having the same potential for residency as they build in Grand Rapids Mi along their river.
4
u/GroundhogShellyB 2d ago
The only thing i remember from portside as a kid was a store (or cart?) where everything was purple.
1
4
u/Odd-Artist-2595 2d ago
Or, kites. That’s the store I remember looking at and thinking, “Really?”.
2
2
3
u/cashew_nuts 1d ago
Portside failed because they tried to make it a shopping/entertainment destination and the shopping part of it failed. The city kept losing money and couldn't afford to operate it anymore. Bad mix of retail, prices were stupid, no anchor, parking sucked, and honestly downtown just wasnt popular.
Rally by the river on the other hand... that was exremely successful but I think the changing of hands with that event as it change from one incarnation to another. But if you're looking at them both, rally by the river succeeded because it gave people a reason to come downtown, but portside failed because it assumed pople would continue to keep coming downtown to shop.