The Observation Deck

I've been to Lakewood Park a couple of times in the past week and the parking problem has been ridiculous. One was for a meeting of the Dem Club, which attracts elected city leaders and candidates for office. Yes Lakewood is supposed to be a walkable, bikeable city, but come on. I was running late, knew it was going to be crowded, but decided to try to find a spot anyway. Instead I got caught in traffic congestion and gridlock, and eventually parked in the adjacent neighborhood, which I'm sure pleased no homeowners there.

Ron Leaman has proposed a simple solution to the island of grass between the roadways and existing parking. It takes away some green space, but it is almost unused green space, and adds some precious parking spaces. As far as I know, it has been ignored by City Hall and nothing else has been proposed.

Another possibility is to make other parks, like Kauffman, more attractive.

Something needs to be done.

Dan Alaimo wrote:Another possibility is to make other parks, like Kauffman, more attractive.

Something needs to be done.

Or go the way Bay Village has gone with their City Parks, residents only.


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More freeways and more lanes is often touted as a way to relieve congestion. It usually leads to more congestion. If we doubled the amount of parking you would still need more parking. If there is nowhere to park at Lakewood Park then people can go home.

Improving Kaufman Park is a good idea. However, I think there is still a desire to develop it as a strip mall.

DO NOT ADD MORE PARKING SPOTS!!
THe whole point of a park is to provide green space (of which the city already has a shortage)......to pave over even one square foot of grass would be a travesty.

I like the idea of improving other parks.
Other solutions include walking or riding bikes in lieu of cars.

This seems like a great place to remind the community about a great plan for Lakewood Park, that addressees so many of these things and more.

Not only did it build a beach, a dock, high end shopping adding $55 million in property to the area. It also made room for parking, learning center a 2,500+ seat pavilion and added millions to the tax base each year.

The cost for the study, which the Army Corp of Engineers would have paid half for, was only $7,000. City Hall laughed and turned it down,

Developer Bob Stark said it was genius, and would have been very interested in it. His only complaint, it should be bigger.

Carry on worrying about parking, the real problem is still short sighted City Hall, with their better secret plans for friends and supporters.

NOT

There's spots all around the park as well, it's Lakewood, walk a little. Don't take away more green space for parking.
The park concept picture is ridiculous.

The addition and popularity of the Solstice Steps, Kids Cove and other amenities have exacerbated the parking problem at Lakewood Park. I live about a mile from the park and almost always get there by foot/bike, but I know this isn't an option for everyone. I've thought about the city converting that dead space Dan refers to into more parking but I wonder whether it would do much to alleviate the problem. For what it's worth, the city has taken some steps to help address the issue (the Women's Club Pavilion is no longer available for rent on weekends, for example).

Dan OMalley wrote:The addition and popularity of the Solstice Steps, Kids Cove and other amenities have exacerbated the parking problem at Lakewood Park. I live about a mile from the park and almost always get there by foot/bike, but I know this isn't an option for everyone. I've thought about the city converting that dead space Dan refers to into more parking but I wonder whether it would do much to alleviate the problem. For what it's worth, the city has taken some steps to help address the issue (the Women's Club Pavilion is no longer available for rent on weekends, for example).

Maybe the Cove church community center will take a little more burden off the Women's Club Pavilion?

My support of green space, expecially for Kauffman Park, has been a concern of mine for many years, more than a decade now. I even suspect that part of the reason for my ouster from the Kauffman Park Friends group was my oppositional attitude, that and my outspoken criticisms of the hospital deal. But as I drove around Lakewood Park the other night stuck in literal gridlock for a time, I understood that something has to be done there, and some compromise might be needed. Many years ago, they allowed parking on the grass near Lake Ave. on days of heavy activity. Maybe its time to reconsider that at least until a better plan can be implemented.

Along the way in my role with the Kauffman Park group, I expressed concern that too much was being invested in Lakewood Park and not enough in the other parks. I see this changing, but it appears Kauffman is low on the Summers administration's priorities, even though we came up with a detailed master plan a long time ago. But I applaud what is happening at Madison Park and Dan O'Malley's role in it.

Recently the topic of splash pads came up. That would be a good way to divert more traffic from Lakewood Park. And there is a perfect place for it in Kauffman right next to the restrooms with the existing plumbing. That and better playground equipment.

The grassy area of the park is too wet for parking during much of the year.

People go to the park to play on the grass. If the grass is reserved for parking where will they play? If you add more parking you will encourage more visitors which will create the need for more parking.

We should not pave over Lakewood Park.

Part of this is also due to the temporary construction on Lake making parking on the north side of Lake near the park challenging, at best. No matter what is done to the other parks, Lakewood Park will always be the most populated at any given time. It is the most scenic, most spacious, most picnic tables and largest which attracts its share of people. More parking, or less parking, won't change any of that.

J Hrlec wrote:There's spots all around the park as well, it's Lakewood, walk a little. Don't take away more green space for parking.

The park concept picture is ridiculous.

I will take a moment to suggest to everyone that Ms. Farris' proposal for the expansion of Lakewood Park is probably the most interesting and visionary redevelopment proposal that the City of Lakewood has seen in years.

Compare it to the renderings for One Lakewood Place and my point becomes obvious.

The City of Lakewood is dumping tens of millions of dollars in public assets, public funds, and public real estate into a redevelopment project that nobody needs and where no average citizen will be able to afford to reside.

One Lakewood Place is a boondoggle of the first water. It is fundamentally a failed concept from its inception.

I will have more information on affordability (or the lack thereof) in coming posts.

We reside in a City where the powers that be can dismantle the healthcare safety-net for average citizens and then dump public assets, funds, and real estate down the rat-hole of an ill-conceived redevelopment project destined for failure.

I'd say parking at Lakewood Park is the least of our problems.

--Your curmudgeon, Mark D. Kindt

Oh, and by the way, Ms. Farris produced this proposal on her own, for free, no money, as her Senior Year project at Cleveland Institute of Art.

[quote="Jim O'Bryan"][img]http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/images_full_res/47b4c67861e2a2e7352cbee4d6baca64.jpg[/img]

This seems like a great place to remind the community about a great plan for Lakewood Park, that addressees so many of these things and more.

Not only did it build a beach, a dock, high end shopping adding $55 million in property to the area. It also made room for parking, learning center a 2,500+ seat pavilion and added millions to the tax base each year.

Jim,
I can think of many problems with mushroom island. The infrastructure issues alone kill the idea. The existing roads will not support the traffic, expensive sewage pumping station, inadequate sewer mains to the treatment plant, the environmental impact on Lake Erie, parking on the island for approximately 500 docks and ??? commercial stores is lacking, docks that will be will exposed to huge wave surge, a beach subject to undertow and three lighthouses for navigation [that’s a winner], etc. etc.

There is nothing more satisfying than shopping from store to store in the middle of winter with the wind blowing across the lake in freezing weather. It’s almost comical to think this will be a commercial success.

The view from Lakewood Park will become stunning. overlooking all the commercial building rooftops with a wind farm in the back ground to add to the serenity and peace of mind when visiting Lakewood Park.

Then there will be the objections from the residential neighborhoods who can afford attorneys that will object to the development and change of zoning.

Most of all, no developer in their right mind would take this risk. Unless oil has been discovered under Lakewood and it’s the new Dubai, or within the realm of possibility, the Democrats sell Lakewood Park to a favorite son developer for high density housing so they can finance yet another favorite son developer for Nuke Island, its not going to happen.

I must agree with the city, not wasting $3,500 or taking the time to pursue this, “Neither rhyme nor reason” plan. The school district and city had better start getting back to basics, because the financial humpty dumpty will fall off the wall.