The Observation Deck

I did not realize that this was the ABR's mandate. I assumed that the building was set close to the street to maximize parking.

The Arthur intersection with its buildings set back (until now) was a natural and welcome break from the streetcar aesthetic of nearby blocks. A practical application might have been to place the building at the corner of Lakeland where all of the other buildings at that intersection are close to the street.

No change in building orientation or setback would make a difference to me. The loss of the steeple in our modest skyline cannot be replaced by even the finest CVS or healed by its goods.

The whole of Detroit Ave. is set back a full lane from Marlowe to Giel. I like that the ABR is sticking to the streetcar look for consistency. But I may not have much support on this.

I just wanted to say that I actually like the streetcar look of our business districts and would like to see it maintained where it makes sense. I favor preservation/repurpose over demolition/rebuild.

At the intersection of Arthur & Detroit the library & church buildings have been set back from the street for nearly 100 years. To apply the "streetcar mandate" to the new CVS building at this location seems odd to me. I think there should be exceptions made for situations that warrant them.

Grace

You are absolutely correct. Not just a Drugstore, but a Drugstore chain that will take money
out of Lakewood.

But CVS, as is true with everything in this town, is a look into so many things. I was talking
with one of the many "movers and shakers" in this community, and I mentioned we can ask
for more from the people coming to town. He could not see how or why. Well CVS can
underline that point. Now if we can just get city hall to believe it.

CVS knows what it takes to be a participant in Lakewood, and have given more than we asked
each time they have developed. Reaching into their pocket to pay for a little bit more. So
what if we use that as the measure, and ask people from now on to do that as the
minimum? Do we get more? Can we now ask McDonalds for more? We have seen what they
have done for other communities. I doubt that McDonalds came in with these unique approaches
for their buildings which fit in, and do not even look like a McDonalds.

Lakewood, while it seems we are in a panic mode, desperate for anyone that brings food to
Lakewood, to set up and get going. I have to think, as a place with 300 places to get prepared
food, that we can afford to be slightly selective. As the "Best" city we can afford to be selective
as to what is next on our menu.

I would argue, that CVS proves we are not asking enough from the start, and that we are
demanding the wrong things, if we are to believe what we have been told.

CVS while just a drugstore chain, has shown us, we deserve more than most are willing to
give. For that, I thank them.

Peter

You are wrong.

.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Jim - Wrong Yowzah!! I've just been painted with a mighty wide brush. Can you narrow that down a bit?

Peter

Sorry, catastrophic computer failure!

""We" know exactly who we are! Don't we?" I do not believe that we do. Actually I think
Lakewood, City Hall, Residents, LakewoodAlive, VAL Members, Kiwanis, Churches, and well
everyone has very different views on what were are and who are. However, if you were to
follow trends and numbers patterns emerge.

The last great look at Lakewood was Ken Warren's Prism Report, as many people did not
like what it was underlining it was suspended after Ken was run from town. Here is a look
at it and other documents.
http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3208

I would say this town is afraid of knowing itself, that is one reason "they" are so set on change.

And, I do not think Nadhals' dad ever told him that.

.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Jim -

"everyone has very different views on what were are and who are"

My point EXACTLY!!! (Did y'all notice the " " around We in my reply? Isn't it about time The Collective We (sans " ") coalesce?

I'm not so Pollyannish to realize that not every mind/heart/soul will agree on everything, but becoming a WHOLE, HEALTHY, STRONG, VIBRANT community will take immense discussion, foresightedness, compromise, passion, and - dare I say - compassion.

Is the Community Vision meeting scheduled for May 14 (6:30PM - 8:00PM) a good place to start to restart?

Okay Peter,

Where did you hear of this Community Vision meeting and why is it such a secret? It's not on the City of Lakewood website, not in Lakewood Alive's calendar, not in the Lakewood Observer's calendar--

It has a location and a time, how did you find out about it? What makes you have such high hopes for it? The name of it? We know the Planning Commission revisited the Community Vision plan from 1996 or whenever it was. I think you were at that meeting, but you refused to divulge what was said at the meeting, the discussion was not reported on at a City Council meeting, or in a news release, or anything else. Maybe because you went to that meeting, you are the only one who is not in the dark.

Because you have such high hopes for this meeing-- a group working on an actual inclusive definiton of "We" with passion and compassion-- you could describe what you would like to have happen at this meeting, and how you think it would work.

The Welcome to Lakewood meeting had a lot of passion and compassion, I agree with you that we have all the elements, yes we do. How do we hook them up? How do YOU think they could be hooked up? What would be your first step?

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy - here ... straight from Lakewood Ohio Ward 3 facebook page: "Would you like to contribute your perspective as the Lakewood community Vision is updated? Mark your calendars for Monday May 14th at University of Akron, Lakewood from 6:30 to 8pm. Details to follow."

Sorry it was not "reported on" by any city offical or media oulet. I am neither.

Again with the "how do your feel?" questions! Oy!

Wow, so the only place this exists is on Councilman Juris' Facebook Page?

So you would have to be a "Friend" to even know about it? I just looked quickly, Ward 3 is the only ward with a Facebook page. Is it that Councilpersons Anderson and Smith and Madigan and Powers and Nowlin and Bullock don't want their constituents to know about this meeting?

Or do they even know about this community meeting? How about the mayor? Are only members of Ward 3 supposed to "contribute their perspective?" Is this Sean Juris' meeting? If it isn't, why doesn't the city "report" on it, in time that residents can make plans to come?

Do you see the irony in talking about a "community meeting" that the community at large is not notified about, and has no way of knowing about?

This is the meeting where we're going to get our collective "We" together?

Maybe Councilman Juris is just proactive, and the rest of the city and his constituents who are not his Facebook friends, or who don't go online, will hear about this soon.

You seem to have a notion in mind of how this could work. That's why I keep asking you. I'm not asking you how you feel. I'm asking you how you would do it. Yeah just you. It's a start. You don't have to be a reporter. Being a resident of Lakewood is good enough.



Betsy Voinovich

"This is the meeting where we're going to get our collective "We" together?"

I dunno ... just reporting the facts, ma'am!

J--- This has made me smile more than anything this week. Picturing Councilman Juris leading a secret band of citizen city planners--- then again... nobody asked anybody about wanting to spend extra money replacing all of our light poles with more decorative ones when we have this huge debt to pay for the sewers.. Nobody asked us about losing traffic lights, closing parks, not having Light up Lakewood at Lakewood Park anymore..

Now I'm thinking it was all secret meetings and secret citizen city planners: "Shhhh, what's the password? 'Community Vision'..."

Peter---

Thank you for the info of course. Thank God you posted it or no-one ever would have known. (See above.)

Betsy Voinovich

J - I don't believe in conspiracy theories!

Betsy - Don't thanks me ... thank Shawn for posting it on his facebook page (and then scratch our collective heads as to why no other City Hall person/department has made it public.)

The initial Community Vision meeting back in February was billed as: an "initial worksession is an orientation to the Vision and is the beginning of an iterative process for public review and discussion." I'm guessing the May 14 session will be some sort of next step.

Peter

Conspiracy is nothing more than two or more people talking and making a plan. "To conspire."
It is not a dirty word, until the actions are either taken, or then regurgitated as now being
from "the community."

Lakewood, is ripe with long time friends with deep inbreeding, that forms the fertile fields
needed to take simple ideas and plans to the next level. When I look at many of our civic
leaders, I see lifetimes of these actions, and plans.

How they manifest themselves into the next level is always interesting. The simplest proof
of "conspiracy" would be the Downtown signage where the final sign actually appears in a
printed piece that was not just designed before the first meeting to see if we needed a new
logo for Downtown, but was printed and the artist died before the first meeting. I mean it
is hard to argue with that form of proof.

Recently we have the School closing meetings. Where the desired results were talked about
in detail by some of the players 5 years before the Phase 3 meetings. Then all through the
year long process, the deck and rules were reshuffled and reshuffled until no one but a few
could actually keep track. Finally when it still seemed the "committee was not going their way"
the conspirators in this instant made last minute calls for a whole new crop of "committee members"
to come forward to make sure "the right school was closed."

Ed FitzGerlad had CSU come in to do a study for what Lakewood needed. They met with
different people, at different schools. In the end a list was put forward though many of the
meetings ended up canceled. What was put forward, never was listed at any of the meetings.
Each group then believed it must have happened at the meeting they were at. Yet when
"Observers" gathered that had been at each meeting and compared notes, it became obvious
The deck was once again stacked.

So let's not be too naive here, history should help on our road to the future and help light
the way.

J Hrelc

Love the sign, can I buy them by the gross?

.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama