Community Vision Workshop - May 14

[Peter Grossetti]

so ... who attended? Impressions? Thoughts? Comments?

[J Hrlec]

so ... who attended? Impressions? Thoughts? Comments?

It was a start, nothing too formal... they were trying to see how they can approach the review and renewal of the Lakewood Vision.

They split everyone into groups to get an idea of Lakewoodites thoughts on topics such as the following:

1) Why do you love Lakewood?
2) What do you want to see in Lakewood's future?
3) What worries you about Lakewood?

Each group had a chance to add to the lists and at the end we were asked to note trends.

They are to review the information collected in this initial meeting to determine how to move forward and have more of these meetings.

[Betsy Voinovich]

Hi Peter,

I couldn't go to the meeting because I was at the Lakewood Schools' 29th annual Celebration of Excellence that night watching our kids, my son among them, get recognized for academic achievement.

Margaret Brinich attended and wrote this story for the Lakewood Observer:

Community Vision Begins To Come Into Focus
by Margaret Brinich

Nearly 20 years since the last formal Community Vision plan, various stakeholders within City Hall including City Council, Mayor Summers and the Planning Commission began preparing back in January of 2012 for the formulation of a new vision for Lakewood's future by first re-evaluating the 1993 plan.

On Monday May 14, in the first Community Vision meeting open to the general public, 75 Lakewood residents proved that they were ready to have their voices heard. In an effort to narrow down the hopes and dreams that its residents have for their City, Director Siley divided the opinionated crowd into thirds and asked each group to react to three broad based questions related to their understanding of Lakewood's past, present and future. The questions were as follows:

1- What do you love about Lakewood?

2- What worries you?

3- What are your hopes for the future?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the groups found that all three questions elicited similar answers. As one attendee pointed out, "What we worry about, what we hope for and what we love are all the same thing."

While there was some consensus over key topic areas to address as the process moves forward, ultimately, the group agreed that by and large Lakewood was a "uniquely undefinable" community.

Over the next weeks and months, the City will invite Lakewood residents to do just that-- define the undefinable. Drawing upon the themes extracted from this first meeting, committees will take shape and delve deep into Lakewood's identity around topics from sustainability to diversity. All Lakewood residents are strongly encouraged to participate and should contact the Department of Planning and Development for more information or to get involved in the process moving forward.




I think I was expecting that there would be an overview of "where we are now" at the beginning of the meeting-- that Dru Siley would address the city's position on situations like replacing the Detroit Theater with a McDonald's, or tearing down houses to build a new Drug Mart. These aren't the most perfect developments, but they are better than nothing, aren't they? Or would there have been something a lot better than nothing at the Detroit Theater? Can the city afford to wait for the perfect development? Does the Planning Department do proactive things like looking for tenants that would support the unique city that Lakewood is. Do they realize that some projects promote a "freeway off ramp" feel and some present a walkable, interesting city full of businesses that serve residents.

Big stuff. Fat stuff. Stuff that a professional could talk about to civilians for a start.

"Lakewood has too many empty storefronts! Lakewood has two many huge empty lots!" But Dollar stores, Beauty Supply shops, Value Worlds, do they do the job?

Dru Siley is clearly a smart guy. I'd love for him to start out with HIS perspective. He has the job. He gets paid for it. What does he see? "Sustainability" is a part of the puzzle, what we think about "diversity" is also.

But do we destroy the value of houses that are near unattractive developments like McDonald's because that's the best we can do with our commercial districts? It seems like there are crucial things that should be the leading themes for this discussion.

Anyway, maybe there were. I wasn't there. I said earlier in the thread if it's not basic, if it's not simple, in its most elemental terms, it won't go anywhere.

I don't really know. I've never been a city planner, I've never been in a Community Vision workshop.

I have spent some terrible time being divided up into groups in Committees.

I heard from a friend that it was a great meeting. I remain hopeful.

Betsy Voinovich

[Kristen Bindel]

The next step, themes and committees.

From the comments at the May 14th meeting, 6 themes were proposed to frame the next step in the process. The themes are Commercial Development, Community Wellness, Housing, Safety, Education & Culture, and Mobility. Each of these themes will be topic of discussion for a committee. There are two nights of session for committee work, June 25th and June 27th.

If anyone would like to be added to the list to serve, send an email from here:
http://www.onelakewood.com/Development/CommunityVision.aspx


Get involved!

[Peter Grossetti]

TONIGHT!

Grab a quick bite to eat on the Detroit Avenue Chow Line, then join the ...

Lakewood Community Vision Workshop

Join us as representatives of all six committees report out on the results of sixteen (16) Community Vision workshops over the past seven (7) months. Whether you have been involved from the start or are just curious about the Vision, all are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012
6:30 – 8:00 pm
University of Akron Lakewood, 1415 Warren Road