The Observation Deck

With so many bars in Lakewood I am surprised there aren't more breweries.

I predict a big rise in the popularity of Corn Whiskey. We can skimp on the oak barrel aging process by adding ground acorns to the fermentation tanks.

Dan Slife wrote:Master Jim,

Thank you for chopping at the soul of a youthful vision.... back to Monkey Island I go.

I would add just one qualifier: the meta-neighborhood Lakewood vision you are articulating is contingent upon the sinking administrative apparatus's ability to continue delivery "good enough for now services", as individualist homies in the Wood are not ready to shed libertarian tendencies in favor of collectivist buffering strategies. As such, I sense there may be a generational gap, between the caplitalized Boomer Homie, and the 3rd-world-ready uncaplitalized Young Bloods.

...My long winded point, a city that has the capacity to eject crack heads requires a certain level of caplital accumulation and collectivist tendencies (whether feudal Catholic or Turquoise Shaman) that the city-wide organizing principle (i.e. city hall) has the smarts and resources necessary to look out for the best interests of every neighborhood simultaneously.

Dan er Young Grasshopper

I am not here trying to chop anything out from anyone. Though it did seem like you, Tom, Steve and others went to the same meeting and came back full of ideas.

I agree with the American rush to third world. As you know it is something that has been preached by myself and others, Ken Warren and Ryan Costa come to mind. Others laugh at our predictions yet in the three years of this board they continue to come true like clockwork. I see it slightly different. We are going third world but we are going thrid world together.

As you missed yesterday's field trip to the villages of Mt. Carmel, Tremont, Ohio City, unused state parks, as well as the line of the land we should annex from Cleveland. We found the youthful vision to be good but sorely lacking in a couple places.

Birdtown, a natural evolving area is about 1/4 to 1/8th the size of Tremont, but like Tremont bordered on three areas that help define it. Also saw the the homes just out of Tremont might have well as been a million miles away for the social and economic differences a few feet make.

So the first question is how many districts do we make? Who makes them? What is the criteria? How do they interact with other areas, zones and wards that might overlap into the areas? Who manages the transformation or even the walls of security?

Now I have been told that this will not be used to let some areas go to the dogs, so what happens when no one in that zone can be activated for block watch, recycling, block party etc?

How many people do you see in this town as doers? How many do you see as dreamers? How many are generals and how many are soldiers? This has to be taken into account when you divide the city into divisions.

Also in your vision of tomorrow and the need to move on it NOW! Do you want grants, are your ready to pony up and pay now? Do you stick to the cheap, or do you go for the quality? While Birdtown raises a prison style masonry block wall with art and soon graffiti, the WSL puts up a beautiful flower garden wall with rocks and texture. they hirer the illegals to make everything nice and perfect and the divide grows, and energies are wasted.

Which brings us back to energy and time-banks. A block watch, the kind we are all talking about. Not the group that trade marked "BLOCK WATCH" which indicates a safe home for kids to go to if in trouble, but neighbors on the street walking night after night for months maybe years. OK who is ready for that. Who puts little Bobby to bed and then takes to the street as a second volunteer job? Who does it in winter?

Lakewood has a finite group of people that actually back ideas with actions. When you start to subdivide that group you start to lose power, momentum, and things fall to the side. So how many action people are there? 20 to a block? 5 to a block? 1 to a block? 1 to 5 blocks? 1 to ten blocks? Lakewood is small enough that much of this can and has to be handled together.

With all this said, there is nothing wrong with blocks getting together, if that is the way it occurs. But that generally happens too late, and it becomes the "let's force the hookers out of our neighborhood." Which just moves them a couple blocks not out of the city.

Who decides and why? Yesterday I was speaking with a person that moved to a house in the middle of Lakewood. While talking she mentioned I wish we moved to Tremont. At the time I was standing in the very unimpressive but very proud area called Tremont. We had just checked on a friends double that had still not sold, and were checking the prices. I asked why, and the answer was "It is cool." I was flabbergasted as it was strictly the kind of cool generated by a friend that jumps into a pond and finds it bone chilling cold, looks back at the bank and has enough strength to say, "Come on in the water is fine." It is a manufactured cool, an illusion, all smoke and mirrors. It is no cooler than Applebees if that. I asked "why didn't you move there instead of Lakewood?" The answer came, "I couldn't afford it."


Outside of manufactured cool, looks like some of the rundown areas of Lakewood. Must be the view.


Well maybe not, has to be the neighborhood.


A little more rustic than I thought. Must be the quality.


Tremont Bluffs walls. Please note the lack of sound deadening studs that are used in Rockport and Rosewood. A second staggered row of studs make a house stronger and much more quiet. Not in the quality, maybe the finish work.


Well come on the place is nearly 6 months old what do you expect. It has to be the price point.


Damn, that is more than Rockport! All of these photos were shot on The Bluffs. The road is actually a finished road that runs through the Bluffs, but the homes and yards shown are finished. The single exception is the garage shot. That is from a new home, for sale. It;s back door was open, and had been used by homeless, and the second floor smelled like urine. But as we have discussed some leave us used books at Borders to buy, maybe this is acceptable as a "new" house for some.

Field trip over.

So the question who decides what area, why and how. Is it someone changing a complete neighborhood to chase cool. Their brand of cool. Is it a neighbor using the "stone soup" theory of development. Is it a person that is looking to speed up the gentrification of a neighborhood at the expense of the neighborhood next door or across town. Are they well meaning people that got involved for lack of anything else to do, with no background or clear vision? Is it a hobby?

Having driven through Tremont, I think the biggest lesson we could learn is at the next cocktail party mention. "I live in Lakewood it is cool." In thirty years it will be. (About how long the transformation of Tremont was.) Dan, Steve, Tom, you looking to finish by the age of 55?

Sorry for the rambling, but so many points.

As I said if they can rake their leaves for a entire fall, take care of their home over a year, shovel their walks, and cut their grass bring them on, let's hear the ideas, and hear what they are willing to do. My neighbor stops me every other day, "Jim I have an idea for you..." This year his idea was put up one string of lights on half of his house, then he got tired, sidetracked, whatever. Ideas in this town are a penny a hundred, workers to do the job on the other hand...

The amazing thing about Tremont is back in the 1960s, it was also slated for "urban renewal," and the plan was to essentially bulldoze the neighborhood completely, and replace it with high-rise apartment blocks, kind of like the "worker's paradise" apartments you'd see in the Soviet bloc. Fortunately, the plan went away, because it would have been too expensive, and people at the time didn't want that sort of money being spent on the poor folks in Tremont at the time.

I think the "coolness" factor comes from all the artists who moved in there during the 80s. I used to hang in the neighborhood while attending grad school at CSU, and my buddy's house could have been had for $13,000. It wasn't the safest place; we'd sit on his porch and estimate what caliber of bullet we just heard fired, but it did have a certain quality that was explain ... in a way, the neighborhood WAS cool, and we couldn't figure out exactly why. Perhaps part of it was its isolation, its small size, the ethnic diversity, the church and saloon on every corner, the architecture, the strange timewarp quality (like the Lincoln Park bathhouse, which bespoke of a time not so long ago when the Tremont houses did NOT have indoor plumbing), and the fiercely loyal residents.

And yes, there are similarities to Birdtown, though I'm not sure why Birdtown doesn't have the same "cool" cachet that Tremont has. Perhaps it's the artists ... maybe if Birdtown would get more artists, that would add to the "cool factor." Certainly if we follow Richard Florida's dictum, then somehow we need to bring in artists and other members of the "creative class" (whatever that really is ... or isn't) and market Birdtown to them. Could any unused industrial space in that vicinity be converted to live/work lofts for artists? Once that area can attract a "cool" population, then it'll become "cool."

Though the trouble is ... "cool" is a fleeting phenomenon. Few places or things rarely remain "cool" over a long period of time!

c. dawson wrote:Though the trouble is ... "cool" is a fleeting phenomenon. Few places or things rarely remain "cool" over a long period of time!

CD

Ain't it the truth. Some people's cool even more fleeting than others. I remember in 1974 Joe Warren bought a nice house on Scranton for $27,000. The place was a palace with hand painted walls and murals. Joe then attracted friend to the area, and that block started rebuilding.

Those homes are still outside the Tremont "cool" but have a nice price associated with them. Still not the $300,000 for a Tremont fixer upper.

Two things have happened in Tremont. The first is much of the cool has come and gone. In the case of original cool. Literary Cafe was owned by Steve Garee who just passed away. Steve worked with many bands in the area, so the bar became a late night hot spot. Just opposite was Lemko Hall, besides the scene of a great once a year party was also the office of John Malmb. John and his business managed Nine Inch Nails, Marylin Manson (for a short time), Prick and other "cool" acts. they have moved.

Then it was singled out as "cool" and "art" then the prices went out of control. The place became filled with those needing to buy into cool instead of being cool. Funny thing, Malmb, Garee and others all came from Lakewood! Go figure. They were attracted because of the dirt cheap prices. After all the place was(still) a war zone at night.

Today that crew has moved to W. 65th, Mt. Carmel and Lakewood.

Read the Matt Fish article in Cool Cleveland. "Tremont is played out, Lakewood is the new Tremont." Says the chef of Johnny Mango's now owner of The Melt. As long as we do not designate, we have a chance.

.

Tremont is an example of the block-by-block market of Cleveland. A House on one block will go for over 200 grand. A similar house one or two blocks away will hover around 100 K.

But there are cool derelict buildings on Scranton and Columbus between Tremont and downtown. The growth industry of the future will involve pulling up to them in Isuzu straight line trucks and removing wood and steel fixtures.

Birdtown is Birdtown and moves to preserve it and maintain it's identity and name would certainly be in Lakewood's interest. It's a classic urban community, small in scale, already dotted with old houses with store fronts to support studio space for artists or craftspeople. When I lived there in the 80s I loved my nosy neighbor who looked after all of us and my wonderful landlord with the heart of gold. The neighborhood was dotted with an incredibly ecletic mix of painters, ceramicists, furniture makers, immigrants, and working poor. But maybe somethings best remain hidden gems. Cleveland has seen many of its greatest treasures mined for their trendy value then tossed aside (the formally wonderful Flats comes to mind). As I happily read in an airline magazine on a flight to New York(sorry Jim that I can't find the specific one) Lakewood is wonderfully pre-trendy.

That said I can understand the desire to package, bottle, or in some other way market the brand of Lakewood. As I mentioned in a previous post, a group of us tried, and failed, to organize the Birdtown neighborhood back in the 80s. Perhaps it was because of what a friend from one of the fancy parts of Lakewood said (she lived on Andrews...very fancy when you live in Birdtown). She said "if everyone found out how wonderful this place is, they would all move here and ruin what is wonderful about it." That's always the tension, isn't it?

Kate McCarthy wrote:...That said I can understand the desire to package, bottle, or in some other way market the brand of Lakewood. As I mentioned in a previous post, a group of us tried, and failed, to organize the Birdtown neighborhood back in the 80s. Perhaps it was because of what a friend from one of the fancy parts of Lakewood said (she lived on Andrews...very fancy when you live in Birdtown). She said "if everyone found out how wonderful this place is, they would all move here and ruin what is wonderful about it." That's always the tension, isn't it?

Kate

Thanks for the post and for looking for the magazine article.

Recently a couple of us on the advisory board have had the pleasure of going to meetings with other groups, bloggers, etc. One thing that always seems to jump out of other people's mouths is how cool Lakewood is. Always for different reasons, some stuff always pops up. Doesn't matter if we are in Cleveland Heights, Chagrin Falls, Euclid, Berea, Westlake, Huron, Solon wherever. But here in the Wood, it is always hard to believe.

There are some running analogies and metaphors that keep popping into this story of Lakewood, so I will use the movie scipt for this one.

DOROTHY
Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?

GLINDA
You don't need to be helped any longer.
You've always had the power to go back to
Kansas.

DOROTHY
I have?

SCARECROW
Then why didn't you tell her before?

GLINDA
Because she wouldn't have believed me. She
had to learn it for herself.

TIN MAN
What have you learned, Dorothy?

DOROTHY
Well, I -- I think that it -- that it
wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle
Henry and Auntie Em -- and it's that -- if
I ever go looking for my heart's desire
again, I won't look any further than my own
backyard. Because if it isn't there, I
never really lost it to begin with! Is
that right?


GLINDA
That's all it is!

SCARECROW
But that's so easy! I should have thought
of it for you.

TIN MAN
I should have felt it in my heart.

GLINDA
No. She had to find it out for herself.
Now, those magic slippers will take you
home in two seconds!

DOROTHY
Oh....

DOROTHY
...Toto, too?

GLINDA
Toto, too.

DOROTHY
Oh, now?

GLINDA
Whenever you wish.

DOROTHY
There's no place like home, There's no place like home...


People that are lost in the search for cool, will be forever in the search for cool. This could be part of our Hunter/Gatherer gene line. I know I am as guilty as anyone, if one car is cool, ten must be better. Today I am still on the hunt, for it is an emptiness that can never be filled. This is what the Dalai Lama speaks of in the quote I have used. Change for change sake will only bring the need for more change, simply for the sake of change and the need to feel good.

Now I know it is not as sexy as an Applebees, or Kohl's, but it does offer us a "sales line" or brand that no one else has. "Simply the best place to live and raise a family." We already have location, location location. Schools, Metro Parks, Freeways, close shopping, fresh water, minutes from golf, boating, hiking, horses, country, airports, world class museums, orchestras, colleges and Universities, world class health care, and food, and home to the Best Library in the country. These items alone are bringing new families to the Wood, and helping us define the Lakewood Brand, which is nothing more than realizing what we have as others from outside see us.

This is not to say that improvements and changes should never be made. Far from it. If anything it should offer gentle encouragement to change and tinker with the small things like, residency requirements, community currency, Food Security, block watches, and redevelopment. As our job is much easier than other cities that are desperately trying now. At the same time it shows us a path for the future, especially in light of the true future of the world, America and this region.

While some like to make it seem like Lakewood is at the end of her rope and we need immediate and drastic change, the truth is so easy to see it is as visible as the nose on our faces. Bob Stark, the Owner of Crocker Park, came here to see the magic in the wood, and to copy and learn from the Wizard of Lakewood, on how to build a "perfect city." When regionalist meet and play and plot, it is always Lakewood they see as the key to pulling it off. Lakewood has been the key, the perti dish, the proven grounds for so many things, but living here we walk right by.

Today there is a another HOT FLASHY TERM "Blogging" and once again Lakewood leads the way. Home to Cool Cleveland's Tom Mulready who is rewriting how information is shared, and of course our own Lakewood Observer, which is being hailed as the mack daddy of blogging projects. Not just here in Lakewood but we are being watched and reported on around the world. Even I find it hard to believe. Right now I am working with British and Swiss companies about bringing their technology to this project. Let me assure you, I did not pull out my Geneva Switzerland phone book and look for them.

Other cities have looked at the Observer and tried, Ken and I talk to them and offer advice. But they have not been able to pull it off. They cannot connect people's love for a city with the ability to share their stories of that city. While I view much of this as a failure on our part to offer good advice, it is Ken that brings me back to earth amazed that we have pulled off what others see as impossible. Our success is because Lakewood residents have made the move from talking to doing it. We are energized, we believe in our city.

My hope and dream for Lakewood in the new year is that we all look at the little easily managed things, and try to tackle those first. Cost is almost nothing and it will make Lakewood better for all of us, no matter the age, lifestyle, religion etc. My mantra has been let's give the city what they need to provide us with safe and clean. Then let's energize the residents and businesses for enjoyable and fun. when we look to big change, let's think how they affect the city, not just the home next to the project. Let's not be so anxious every time another snake oil salesperson show up at our door, pedaling elixir to make us "FEEL" young or more sexy. Let do the proper drill down when the magic bean pusher comes a knocking asking if we have a cow to trade. Let's take a step back and look at the big picture, then let's try to understand the big picture. Let's remember we can never be everything to everyone, that a key to a healthy city is compromise.

In Cape Cod they have a term "Wash-a-shore" to describe new arrivals to the city. It is not a bad term, it indicates that a person fell in love with the city and moved there, but they are not deep in knowledge or understanding of that city and how it works. In this thread, we have people that recently moved here. instead of us concentrating on why they choose Lakewood, we run up and ask, "How should we change Lakewood?" It all seems so silly.

Lakewood like all cities is a living breathing thing, like a coral reef. What has taken over a hundred years to be built, can easily be destroyed, even while attempting to make it better in almost no time at all.

FWIW



.

“If You Lived Here, You’d Be Cool By Nowâ€Â

Kenneth Warren wrote:Is Lakewood better off as the whole city where low profile cool rivulets trickle without ever achieving the uber-cool tsunami?

Kenneth Warren

This is what I take away from Jim's concern about "naming."

There's a fine line between enhancing and ruining.

This was made clear to me a few years back as I wandered through beloved Berkeley, one of the coolest places I've ever lived, searching for a cup of Peete's coffee, the once ubiquitous local brand. Starbucks everywhere, but I had to work to find Peete's. How did that happen?

I think the Berkeley Bed Bath and Beyond, like the Jack London Square Bed Bath and Beyond finally broke my heart. I wanted to come home to Lakewood, where indy spirit still lives.

dl meckes wrote:I think the Berkeley Bed Bath and Beyond, like the Jack London Square Bed Bath and Beyond finally broke my heart. I wanted to come home to Lakewood, where indy spirit still lives.

In another thread you tell me that people prefer working in the frame than Indy spirit, then toute it here.

.

You say there's not enough interest here, and yet there is interest in working with the city on this.