Crocker Park a huge success, to the chagrin of many

[Jeff Endress]

Shawn

What Mainstreet has is a series of guidelines and principals that can be used in formulating your economic devlopment plan.....It isn't a plan per se. And I would tend to agree that the concepts that Main Street espouses could be helpful in actually formulating an economic development plan. Hopefully in year two we will see something beyond the flower pots.

Jeff

[Shawn Juris]

True, it doesn't have the specifics of which business will occupy the SW corner of Detroit and Warren. Maybe they'll be working on that on the 8th when the design committee meets.

[Jim O'Bryan]

As for why we moved to Lakewood (I was joking when we passed in the hallway! ), my wife and I had Lakewood in mind when we lived in Cincinnati in 1999 and were ready to move back to the NE. To be honest, it was due to its old rep from when I grew up in Cleveland...urban, diverse, good schools, nifty Detroit and Madison Rd. store front businesses, and, in many ways, a more liberal stronghold than a lot of Ohio. It was very convenient to I-90, the Shoreway and downtown, which is very important to what we had planned to do job-wise and socially. It was also close to Westlake where my mother lives, which was important to be close to family (but not so far from downtown). In short, it was and continues to be a perfect balance for the lifestyle we want to live. We made it permanent when we went from renting to buying our current home a few years later. Still don't regret it, either!

Phil

Good to hear, glad we have not let you down yet.

So how does the mom reason work for shopping?

The best thing the WestEnd did for people is got them involved. It also put the term "responsible" development into the discussion.

C. Dawson

While I wouldn't mind seeing Crocker Park survive I have to think you could also add Legacy Village to the dying list. People getting out as soon as their leases come up.

At Crocker Park, it would appear to be doing well but the word from workers and owners, "busy streets but no one is buying."

Kills me though, Apple stores have a small enough footprint to fit in many Lakewood locations.


.

[c. dawson]

Jim,

I actually don't wish ill thoughts on Crocker Park ... I want it to succeed, because I like being able to drive 10 minutes, shop there, and then retreat back to the peace and quiet of Lakewood. I grew up in Mentor, which is WALL to WALL shopping centers, and having lived through that, I don't wish it anymore. I have no trouble driving there to shop, but I wouldn't want to live around it! But I do think it's a flavor of the month; the flashy stores will stay there as long as it is the flavor of the month, and they'll pull out and move on to the Next Big Thing, whatever that is.

I'm quite delighted that Apple is going to put a store there. I've been an Apple believer since I was a kid playing with an Apple II. Sadly, while Lakewood would be a great place for it, they tend to also aim for the biggest, most flashiest locations for their stores. So 10 minutes to get to an Apple valhalla is fine by me, better than driving to Legacy Village.

Now if only we could get an IKEA in Cleveland ... preferably over on the West Side!!

Chris Dawson

[Tom Bullock]

Returning to Ken's apt question:

[quote]“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.â€Â