detroit theater - a desirable and VIABLE building torn down a month ago

Viable as what? a theater? nope. If it was, a cinema group would have purchased and operated it profitably. Viable as a McDonalds? nope. costs too high, or McD's would have renovated and occupied it as such.

Grace Apartments purchased by Discount Drug Mart soon to be razed to make way for parking spaces for DDM's proposed 24,790 sq ft facility. Tenants evicted. Buidling definitely not crumbling.

Here we go again with the "renters aren't REAL citizens" perception. As a renter for 27 years in Lakewood, I'll put my record of community service/involvement up against most anyone. Get off The Renters collective backs. "We" are not Lakewood's problem!

Renter's are fine. They don't directly pay property taxes though. That's why Lakewood always passes school levy's. Renters are happy to spend their landlord's money. I know my renters dont get an auto increase in rent when my taxes go up, so why should they care?

So a person's worth is only based on how much property tax they pay? I really don't understand why you wouldn't increase your tennants' rent if your taxes go up. Isn't that just sound business pactice?

Peter, why are you setting up a straw-man? Nobody questioned a renter's worth at any time. The point is that Renters don't Directly pay property taxes. Therefore they should'nt complain when a tax-paying business wants to operate in their city. It's not a controversial statement.
I dont know how your rental agreement is set up, but when you're locked into a lease, you cant just raise someone's rent. you have to wait until the lease term is up. At that point you have to determine if the increase in rent to cover the tax increase keeps your property within "market rate". If you ask too much in rent, your renter will move (not good), and you'll have trouble attracting new renters (also not good). Therefore you lower your rent back to within market value and eat the cost of the taxes until the market rate goes up. In the Cleveland area, who knows when that will be?!

From Mr. Brownstone: "The author needs to spend some time as an actual homeowner who pays property taxes and has a vested interest in the school system before whining about what businesses are planting roots in Lakewood."

From Mr. Hammersmith: "Renters don't Directly pay property taxes. Therefore they should'nt complain when a tax-paying business wants to operate in their city."

IMO ... that sounds like someone is questioning a renters worth! I hear this: "unless you are a home/business/property owner, your voice does not matter."

@ Peter, you're simply a trouble maker. you invent controversy for entertainment. That's all I figure. Renters are FINE. I depend on 2 of them to live and take care of my rental in Lakewood. Property owners have a bigger vested interest than renters, because we foot the bill. Renters do in part indirectly because rents cover taxes as well. But to extrapolate from my and Jim's comments that renters are worthless is your own dreaming.

I swear, you're like the Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson of Lakewood Patch.

All I'm trying to is that a person's "worth" goes way beyond dollars and cents ... which you seem to only focus on ... as in when you say something like: "Property owners have a bigger vested interest than renters, because we foot the bill." ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE (regradless of their station in life").

"renters are worthless" = your words; not mine! I don't see that in any of my posts.

@Peter. The more i continue this argument the dumber I feel. You have no argument, so you invent one and defend it. I have more intelligent arguments with my 4 year old, so I'll stick with that.

Great point! Beyond that fact, though Crocker Park has a bit of an elitist feel to me, they have done a super job as "mixed use" development goes, one that could be imitated and should be imitated in other cities.
It may not be my cup of tea as a lifestyle but it certainly is for a lot of others and who can disapprove of a Trader Joes.
And to the author, Christophe, don't let these responses to your post get you down. What is the point of having an opinion if you can't share it.
Also, feel free to respond to your critics.

is crocker park a city?

Great post, Alex.

Mcdonalds and CVS are the only two chain stores that I know of which are or will locate the place of a demolished building. Everything else is fitting in to existing structures and making a positive difference.
Perhaps this should be for another blog but I think Quaker State has THE WORST wings out there.

Agreed.

Brian, I agree with you that big box stores can be ok - on a limited basis in a city the size of Lakewood. So far, city officials have done well with requiring architecture/streetscapes that reflect the image of Lakewood's historical roots and current streetscape. Regarding two main avenues of business, it would be great, but there are not enough residents anymore to support two shopping districts.
Both Madison and Detroit have areas full of empty storefronts and run down properties - where businesses used to be. With declining population, how can these large areas of no retail be sustainable? Also, for a lot of residents with no cars, it can take hours to shop on Madison or Detroit when you are at the mercy of RTA.
And now, no Route 55 service for Lakewood on the weekend! Check out Richard Florida's THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS, about the future of cities. Also,
It will be difficult but Lakewood could create a great 10 block so area of walkable shopping, outdoor cafes, street plants/flowers, gaslight light poles, etc. Think 10 years from now when gas if over $6.00 - walkability and convenience will key.
Lakewood could have a great downtown again, a destination for the region, if it could create a dense retail downtown. The days of too spread out/unwalkable retail blocks, and intermittent retail shops with then blocks of empty storefronts, are just not sustainable for the future of a city that wants to prosper, and not just survive.

Brian, I agree that Lakewood has been supporting the two man avenues of business. I do feel that Madison gets the short end of the stick though. I am a small business owner, Tess' Tender Touch Gift Shop on Detroit Avenue. I can speak from experience. I had to move my business from Madison Avenue, where rent was affordable, to Detroit Avenue two years ago. My business grew over 300% with that move. I would love to find a way to drive more people/shoppers to Madison Avenue. That being said, we love being on Detroit, and we are seeing a lot of shoppers from neighboring communities who come to Lakewood for the quaint and unique shops that Lakwood has to offer. As a small business, we reap in the benefits of having large chain stores such as CVS, McDonalds and others to attract people. We could not afford to market ourselves in such a large way and we feel that we benefit from what the large stores have to offer us!

I have been a resident of Lakewood for all of my 46 years and love this community. I feel that the large structures that have come in to our city have kept the unique structure at heart and are increasing the beauty of our city!

not quite true. if you ride RTA - lines 22, 26, 55 and 78 in particular- , you will find a lot of Lakewood citizens - school kids, teenagers, college students, retirees, elderly - use public transit all winter long. In fact, even though sidewalks are to be clear of snow/ice, a few years ago when we had a lot of winter snow, that became a huge problem for a lot of Lakewood citizens, as a lot of folks did not shovel their sidewalks. i predict that when gas prices become too expensive, many will turn to public transit and shop/live/relocate to cities that have a high walkability and dense retail shopping configurations. right now lakewood is pretty good as a walkable city, but could be a whole lot better. lots of cities have cold winters and encourage other modes of transit besides owning an expensive and polluting car: Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Denver, Toronto, Columbus even, etc. -
it is all about thinking growth/livability of a future Lakewood, and this cities ability to retain and gain back population in creative, smart, and sustainable strategies.
If not, I am afraid as an inner ring suburb, the future will bypass Lakewood.

Ian, your visions of Lakewood are nice, and I wont be too critical. To me, the convenience of public transportation isnt what will make Lakewood an attractive city. For lakewood to be a destination city (beyond what it is now), there has to be long corridors of detroit or Madison where there are storefronts with stuff most ppl are interested in. Crocker is popular because if you want to shop for clothes, you have 18 stores to check out within a "city block" kind of distance. Lakewood has lots of unique shops and great restaurants peppered around the city, but I challenge you to tell me a 2 or 3 block stretch of stores that any one demographic of people want to check out in an afternoon. For the most part, they're far enough apart, that you need to drive or take a bus. Most people wont walk 6 blocks to go to a store. then walk another 4 blocks to get to a second store. I have no solution to this problem. What the city is doing is attracting new businesses, and as Lakewood becomes a destination place to eat, there should be places to shop.

I'm not pessimistic about the future passing us by. Every inner ring suburb is developed out. Nobody has the space to rebuild an ideal layout with the exact right mix of retail. Lakewood is on the right track.

My initial thought with regard to this comment is, do Crocker Park or Legacy Village shut down just because of a cold winter?
No. They were designed to be dense communities that are walkable.
Yes they may be more walkable than Lakewood is but that does not mean we are not a walkable community. It also doesn't speak to the fact that depending on where you live in Lakewood, you can absolutely be entirely self sufficient with just your two legs.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=framelink&link=www.dispatch.com%2fcontent%2fstories%2flocal%2f2012%2f06%2f29%2furban-living-gaining-in-popularity.html&oas=www.dispatch.com_content_stories_local_2012_06_29_urban-living-gaining-in-popularity.html

And if that is not viewable:
"Urban living gains popularity, data show"
"Younger people are increasingly shunning the suburbs in favor of urban living, according to some development experts.

U.S. census data released yesterday show that population growth in Columbus now is keeping pace with growth in the suburbs.

The population estimate for Columbus was 780,288 for 2011, a 1.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Growth in most suburbs hovered around 1 percent as well.
Large cities across the United States are seeing similar trends. Census data indicate that, in general, cities last year grew faster than suburbs, reflecting an urban renaissance accelerated by the Great Recession.

That reverses a trend that goes back to the 1920s, when the automobile helped workers and their families move to newly created suburbs."