The Observation Deck

Joan

As always correct, but some of it is so gray.

The building department has been more than helpful every time I have done anything to my house. I cannot even begin to talk about the amount of money and time they have saved me.

It would seem from a number of voices I hear, that they are much tougher on business and small business. But is that not fair? While the ins and out of homes is pretty easy, and the bigger projects are left to the review board, Doesn't it become much tougher when you ad in signage, and concepts that change door to door.

You might not have been here when the city went through their "mall phase" but it was terrible. They tried in the early 80s to give Lakewood the "mall feeling." It really was hideous, and tied Lakewood business hands way too much. I will never forget, and you can still see some of the signs left that were the law of the land. Brown with pink backgrounds with a gold style lettering. I believe Garamond was the font of the year. While it really brought the city together with a concept and program that was easy to understand. It really was boring and hideous by the time you got to the other side of the city.

Of course Crocker Park has gone to the individual look and hometown feel. Perhaps this is where Mainstreet makes their name. I have often heard that they will be like "Mall Managers." And help organize the feel, and promotions in the area.

Who knows.


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Let me say that I have no quarrel with the building department as it relates to their work with buildings. And you're absolutely right, I want that pizza guy to know he can't cut corners on how he ventilates his ovens.
On the other hand, wouldn't it be nice if Moe would, when he got his CO, been contacted by an "entreprenurial ccncierge" who could walk him through the various aspects of opening a business in Lakewood? Someone who treated him like an investor/client rather than a potential scofflaw. Maybe over coffee?
Moe's "go-to" person could have advised/encouraged Moe to run any sign plans past him/her and could have headed off this disaster before the first poorly-lettered word was ever painted on plywood.
An ounce of prevention, as they say,

PS---I WAS here for part of the "mall phase". All I can say is that, styles come and go. Nothing from 1980 looks partiicularly good today (except the guy we elected President). Don't you ever look at old pictures and say, "what was I THINKING?????"

I believe it highly likely Mo Pacino, Lakewood's world famous Arabic Hip-hop artist, could be the man behind the Hook-Up.

Jihad Ridaz, Mo's antiwar peace promo video can be viewed at http://www.216-411.com/Media.html.

Mo came to the Wood from Middle East. Now he's father, trying to make it happen. He booked new rap phenon Mike Jones for a Cleve gig.

From the beginning, I've wanted the LO to do a profile on Mo. Like it or not, Mo is perhaps the biggest cultural pheno in the Wood's 21st century brand.

Kenneth Warren

Joan Roberts wrote:PS---I WAS here for part of the "mall phase". All I can say is that, styles come and go. Nothing from 1980 looks partiicularly good today (except the guy we elected President). Don't you ever look at old pictures and say, "what was I THINKING?????"

Joan

Never, I wasn't thinking in the 70s and 80s.

Seriously, here is the biggest problems with plans. They always come down to the work/ideas of a few and generally those people cannot buy a clue. One of my very close friends was on that committee, he had just been wooed into opening a store at Paramtown. Ironically it was this store that put him out of business. But one of the rules was, and I am paraphrasing. "The replacement sign would have to 10% smaller than the one it replaced." Does not take a genius to do the math on this one!

Let's look at the Westend, as a simple exercise and we do not have to bring in that EVERY study was fixed/flawed to make the point. No easy way to get there, and even if there was, we have gas soaring, and Internet sales growing at 300% a year. Lakewood's pay off was 30 years away! Every oil company puts the end of oil in the next 10-25. Where was the thought process here?

I believe that when the first study was made, a plan I still support to this day, the internet was a new fangled toy! The original plan, called for the destruction of the apartments at the end of Detroit, and a nice mall that could serve the area would be put in. A theater, a couple restaurants, and a couple upscale stores. Certainly you and I agree that would be nice.

But for some damn reason Lakewood planners ALWAYS miss the only thing that has ever been successful in Lakewood. High Rise Up Scale Condos. Their success rate in Lakewood is nearly perfect. I think that the rental rates on the Gold Coast are 87%! A mall in northern climates 32% over 30 years.

Grow Lakewood has some very good ideas but another idea I loved, but might have passed us by is office space. Office space was such a drain on Fairview that they are tearing down office space after office building. The same is true in other communities. But what has staying power, What rarely goes out of style. Homes for people to live in. Most of us live in homes that are 60 - 120 years old. Kitchens and bathrooms grow and shrink. the Avocado refrigerators come and go, but the houses rarely go out of style.

This is my problem with selling out to the chains. When a business on Detroit has problems, they are going to fight like hell to fix them. when Applebees has problems, they merely close and open somewhere else. No commitment to the neighborhood or the city.

Joan, come sit with me, taste the Koolaid. Imagine if the city, had sat down with Moe. Giving him the names of Lakewood sign shops that would help him, and cut him a deal. Sent him to local web designers that helped Moe put together a website, worked with Moe at every level. Then Moe grows, signs shops grow, web developers grow. Moe gets a second, a third store. Now the city works with Moe moving his operation to Berea Road or Lakewood Center North? Makes sense. If the opposite happens, the city works to find Moe's replacement.

This could be true with ANY BUSINESS. Take Peppers. The city embraces Peppers, help with ever aspect of their operation. Hooks them up with? Peppers grows, and they never turn their back on the city that helped them grow.

Strongsville is not going to come and try to steal Peppers, they might try to get them to open another store, but there would be no carpet bagging. It is not worth it when they can go to Parma and steal a Walmart.

As much as I would really like to lay out some of the very real problems this city has, I will not. As publisher of the paper I will take the high road, and not go into troubling things I have seen and heard.

Joan for a second imagine a city 10 or 20 years from now. What would make that city livable, and a great home town. Imagine no gas, imagine water at a premium, imagine the Internet running our lives, TV, shopping, education, entertainment. Imagine what you would want, and what you would need. I am willing to bet that city is Lakewood, to the tenth power.

Bordered by a lake, a 150 mile park, within minutes of three golf courses, a riding stable, 12 minutes from three malls, 10 minutes from the airport, downtown.

Imagine a city that is a incubator for businesses. Imagine a city, that is 100% on the net. A city that has a fulfillment center on Berea Road, for the hundreds of home based businesses. A city that has been black wired, and "hooked up" with the rest of the world. A city where the seniors, teens, business owners can operate their lives from Phoenix, Bela Dubby, IHop, or the WestEnd.

A city of the future with every quaint loveable feature from the past. The city Lakewood could be with almost no money from City Hall. The city that was envisioned when the Observer was started. A city that makes everyone's life more enjoyable, more comfortable, and more fulfilling. What frustrates me everyday is this goal was and in our immediate grasp. But for some damn reason no one but a few can see it.

The perfect example - Community currency. Had Lakewood moved ahead with this when it was discussed. Lakewood dollars "grinders" would be worth 4 times what they were when issued. Think of that. Cost to the city $0.00, yet everyone that would have bought into the "grinders" would have 4 times as much money/value today, then when it was started. What would that have done for the residents and businesses! The mere thought is staggering. But Dennis Dunn, Ken Warren were laughed down. Those that now plan our futures were saying things like, "We would need two wallets!"

It is so frustrating to see the city I love, constantly going down dead end after dead end. It is even more frustrating when the drivers of those buses do not even live here.

Well sorry to get off on a rant. But after last week, and yesterday's flurry of bad news I had to grab the soapbox.

peace



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Kenneth Warren wrote:I believe it highly likely Mo Pacino, Lakewood's world famous Arabic Hip-hop artist, could be the man behind the Hook-Up.

Jihad Ridaz, Mo's antiwar peace promo video can be viewed at http://www.216-411.com/Media.html.

Mo came to the Wood from Middle East. Now he's father, trying to make it happen. He booked new rap phenon Mike Jones for a Cleve gig.

From the beginning, I've wanted the LO to do a profile on Mo. Like it or not, Mo is perhaps the biggest cultural pheno in the Wood's 21st century brand.

Kenneth Warren

Ken

Finish the story on Moe and the Observer so those that called us racists and a lynch mob can see the BS they throw. Not only are we dying to do a story on Moe, we are dying to help him with publicity, his online prescense, his marketing, and how nice his home is, his future, the future of his children...

Jim:

Hip-hop is not my idiom.

Since the paper started I have been pushing my son Parker to cover the big Mo for LO. He's known Mo from LHS. Mo calls him from time to time and may even expect the LO to do a story. I tried to get Dan Slife to cover Mo. He was hesitant, not thinking Mo's hip hop message was one for LO to promote to the young student readers in our civics classes. I assume the usual red flags over the content. He was not sure the LO was the place, because Mo's hip-pop lyrics carry a hot politic and a parental advisory notice.

Nevertheless, from what I know of Mo, I see a thick, rich story. Whenever I see my son I'd ask are you going to do the Mo piece or do I have to it myself - much like shoveling snow or cutting the lawn. (Oh how we coddle the children of the holler.)

I nailed him this morning with the demand to put up on Mo. He says he has to work today but that he will deliver the news.

I suggested we all meet sometime at Bella soon to hear his story.

I think you will actually like Mo. For Mo is to Arabic Hip Hop as the Bear is to Holler Citizen Journalism. Two rough and tumble founding warriors for their peeps and fearless leaders from the Wood.

This is no LO scoop. I believe Al Jezeera did a piece on Mo's video.

I say give Parker a two week deadline for a story worth doing. If the guppy journalist flakes out, I'll sharpen my fin and cobble it up.

Kenneth Warren

You can listen to some of Mo Pacino's music here: http://www.midnightmixer.com/media/.

From what I hear he has a pretty dedicated following in the underground techno scene.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Imagine if the city, had sat down with Moe. Giving him the names of Lakewood sign shops that would help him, and cut him a deal. Sent him to local web designers that helped Moe put together a website, worked with Moe at every level. Then Moe grows, signs shops grow, web developers grow. Moe gets a second, a third store. Now the city works with Moe moving his operation to Berea Road or Lakewood Center North? Makes sense. If the opposite happens, the city works to find Moe's replacement.




.

That's exactly what I said. When someone, especially a small businesperson rolling the dice, makes the move to open a Lakewood business, the city should be in a position to offer a friendly, proactive hand. From everything I've heard, that's just not being done. IMO, that's a big miss.

The argument about chains is probably a waste of time. If Applebee's buys the old DeLorean location for example, Lakewood will have an Applebee's. Period. No legal way you can choose between Starbucks and Phoenix. I guess I'm just curious as to why Lakewood seems so toxic to Starbucks and Applebees. Our income level? Our parking? Our breath? Wemay loathe Applebee's and covet Trader Joe's, but the same obstacles to one are probably obstacles to the other.

And lastly, I'm uncomfortable discussing long-range Lakewood planning, since my dreams for impending empty nesthood involve more sunshine, warmth, and economic choices than northeast OH has to offer. If it's more than 5 years down the road,it's probably not going to affect me. Your vision may be the correct one, it's hard to know. But at least you and some others appear to be considering the issue. Is City Hall doing the same?

Looks like, sign or no sign, there is "no Moe".