The Observation Deck

Rick Uldricks wrote:However, I think the most glaring omission of this thread is the parking issue. There is nowhere to park!...

We went to Crocker Park to check it out. We parked and walked all around the place to look at every store and restaurant. We wound up walking a lot more than I had expected. We had dinner at a place that had been recommended by a friend. We bought nothing and wouldn't go back to eat unless someone else insisted.

When I bought DH's birthday gift, I did so at a shop on Madison. I could park in front of the store for free, since the meters give you a half hour.

When we had a meeting, we asked all involved to meet us in a local Madison Ave. coffee shop. We met there because it's comfortable, clean, smoke free, has wi-fi (we were teaching a group how to manage the web site we designed for them) and we could get sodas, coffee, tea, beer or wine. That perfectly fit the needs of this group. They came from Cleveland Heights, Cleveland and Lakewood. No-one complained about parking.

There was another group meeting at the coffee shop that night and I don't know where they're all from, but if anyone grumbled about parking, I didn't hear it (possible; I was either busy talking or outside smoking).

I usually walk farther from a parking place in Target's lot than I do if I park near a local Madison Avenue shop.

I can't think of a place where I go to shop where I expect to be able to park right in front of the store and not have to walk through a large parking lot except for Madison Ave. (or Detroit Road in Rocky River). Think about where you have to park to get to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

It's all about perception. I like to shop the different parts of Lakewood retail because I get to walk past different stores that I won't find anywhere else. If I have to park on a side street, I get to see different Lakewood homes. They look a lot better to me than asphalt parking lots.

James Kunstler would like Lakewood for the most part I believe

OK. I agree. There is some parking in Lakewood. However, parking in a lot or a garage, even if you have to walk is easier and more convenient than parking on the street, particularly if you have to back in to the space and parallel park. Perhaps this is just a personal preference of mine, but I think there are others who feel the same way

Rick-

I also think that we could use more "pocket parking" like the city lot near Belle and Madison.

It would be helpful if parking areas were better marked or if there was better signage directing people to parking.

This has nothing to do with Madison Avenue, but we know a woman who used to regularly use the "Y" and who was not from Lakewood. She needed gas one day and had no idea where to find a gas station, so she flagged down a cop. When she told me that story, she mentioned that she always took Clifton until she cut up Detroit. No gas stations along her normal route and no signs directing a visitor to them.