Since we don't have a "living life in Lakewood" thread aside from the development threads, I thought I'd start one to keep the development threads focused on development. Here goes, starting with a redirect....

 

1 hour ago, ytown2ctown said:

Hi everyone, I am moving back to Cleveland after 10 years in Columbus and just purchased my first home in Lakewood. Just west of Detroit and W117. Wanted to know everyone's thoughts on the housing market and that area of Lakewood specifically. I feel that it has upside but friends and family in the area seem to think otherwise. Any thoughts on this is helpful!

 

I've lived at the East End of Lakewood since 1996 and have seen it go through some ups and down. I caught the end of its "edgy" days when we called it The Edge, because it was arguably the strongest LGBT neighborhoods especially among the Baby Boomers. A couple of blocks either side of West 117th were Twist, Legends and The Hawk. The neighborhood's most famous gay bay, the Nantucket closed in 1983 to make way for Rini-Regos, later Giant Eagle and now the site of Lucky's grocery store. It also had a bit of a hangover from the city's mafia-halcyon days, with convicted felon Charles Columbo's L'Occhio's (demolished for Hollywood Video, now Anytime Fitness), Maria's Roman Room (run by the wife of a reputed gangster), and Slam Jam's (now CVS, which was originally a Clark chain restaurant and then the Blue Fox, a mob hangout overseen by gambling operator Joe "Spaggs" Spaganlo).

 

It was a place for live music, featuring the Brothers Lounge since the 1940s (despite a brief closure in the mid-2000s), the Phantasy Theater (a former movie theater turned live music venue), The Foundry metal club, The Chamber industrial/goth club, and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting. Before my time, but the best theater in the neighborhood was The Grenada, a beautiful spanish-style movie theater with an atmospheric ceiling that stood where Pizza Hut is today, at Detroit and West 117th. It was demolished for a gas station about 1970 which in turn was demolished for the Pizza Hut a decade or so later.

 

It was also a Greek enclave, with many of the local restaurants run by Greek immigrants or their descendants including Gus Katsaros' Tick Tock Tavern, Angelo & Tina Skantzos' The Shore, Dianna Fanourakas' Dianna's Deli, and more.

 

When the car dealerships began moving to suburban highway interchanges, the neighborhood lost Fairchild Chevrolet in the early 2000s, and along with it Bob Fairchild's JD Byrider on West 117th south of the railroad tracks (north of Detroit). JD Byrider gave way to the GFS grocery store and Fairchild Chevy gave way to the Rockport housing development that stalled during the Great Recession but was completed quickly in 2016-17. That also was the time when, following the closing and demolition of the Giant Eagle store and the Gold Coast Cafe (former Revco that got acquired by CVS and expanded into the old Slam Jams space across W117) in 2008.

 

Right around that time (mid-2000s), Lakewood's East End neighborhood was definitely facing a turning point. I was noticing a lot more car break-ins, burglaries, domestic violence incidents, etc. in the area. It needed new investment and that came with the Enhance Clifton project, the completion of the Rockport Townhomes, and the development where the Fifth Church of Christ Scientist Church stood vacant for 20 years, at Lake and W117. The retail strip on the south side of Clifton was renovated, the Clifton Diner reopened at Hird and Clifton, and now there are more housing renovations and infill housing popping up.

 

I think it's a good time to invest in the neighborhood, including fixing up single-family and duplexes. Definitely seeing more young people in the neighborhood, including in my condo building on Clifton.

Probably a good time to mention the Norfolk Southern tracks also!    I've known several people who have moved into Lakewood north of Detroit and didn't realize/process that those tracks were there!   

Brings back memories of this article. The whole city seems to be doing just fine.

 

 

This story is all but forgotten, but in the late 90's early 00's NE Ohio's counterculture epicenter was Lakewood's Madison Village. Home of Chris’ Warped Records, the brilliantly sci-fi themed Capsule Nightclub, Manja, fetish shops like Chain Link Addiction, bela dubby cafe and B-Ware Videos and Books. It was a very interesting time, to say the least. Simply a bunch of friends opening small retail spots in order to create a unique sense of place. And for a few years, it worked. The hood attracted DJ's, bands, artists, and all sorts of people from all over. I remember one night seeing a DJ from NYC, a friends art show, a punk band from Japan and finally a cadre of leather-clad dominatrix girls. Crazy! There really hasn't been anything like it since. 

^ I remember that well even though I was not living in Lakewood then.  I think Chris Andrews (Chris's Warped Records) was a big part of putting that together. 

14 minutes ago, freefourur said:

^ I remember that well even though I was not living in Lakewood then.  I think Chris Andrews (Chris's Warped Records) was a big part of putting that together. 

 

I have heard the same about Chris Andrews, though I don't remember meeting him personally. It's too bad things didn't last longer, and there seems to be virtually no visual evidence online. Like it never happened.

 

We should give a historical walking tour lol. 

Yeah, Chris Andrews owned Warped Records as well as Chain Link Addiction. Those were great places to hang out. Different then Coventry, but just as cool. Later on he opened Capsule. 

The late Ed Wille (one half of Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival) opened B-Ware with his wife Natalie. I went to high school with both of them. A nice non-denominational christian school.... just goes to show. ?

 

Edited October 23, 20195 yr by musky

2 hours ago, musky said:

The late Ed Wille (sone half of Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival) opened B-Ware with his wife Natalie. I went to high school with both of them. A nice non-denominational christion school.... just goes to show. ?

 

So that's where he got the inspiration for his lyrics lol. Miss seeing those guys. They and Madison Crawl were always about in those days. 

Was checking rent in Lakewood just the other day and was surprised how much rent appears to have gone up from a few years ago.

Just now, Mildtraumatic said:

Was checking rent in Lakewood just the other day and was surprised how much rent appears to have gone up from a few years ago.

 

Check out the sales prices as well. A few years ago you could buy a duplex for 120ish. They are close to 200 now.

Many of the duplexes are getting bought up and converted into single family homes with very nice finishes. Those tend to sell for 250-300K and up.

On 10/21/2019 at 5:30 PM, KJP said:

The retail strip on the south side of Clifton was renovated, the Clifton Diner reopened at Hird and Clifton, and now there are more housing renovations and infill housing popping up.

 

Clifton and 117th... When I first graduated college and was living in Columbus, I came up to visit some friends who were living in a shared gold coast condo. 2011 or 2012. I remember we walked down the street to Johnny Malloy's for beer and pizza. (Later we went to across town to Around the Corner.) I grew up on the east side so it was one of my first forrays into the west, and I liked it. I thought if I ever made it back Cleveland I would live over that way. I did move back, and I do live nearby, and wow has the area changed!

 

I'm interested to hear the story behind this little tidbit I discovered.....

 

Why is this house at 12992 Edgewater Dr Lakewood,OH 44107 owned by the U.S. Government?? Its tax bill lists to 1849 C STREET WASHINGTON, DC 20240 which is the U.S. Department of the Interior. And the 4,000-square-foot house built in 1950 has been owned by the U.S. Government since 1976. It was previously owned by Rose A. Barber. This dead-end, one-lane, heavily forested part of Edgewater Drive is a private road.

 

 

24 minutes ago, KJP said:

I'm interested to hear the story behind this little tidbit I discovered.....

 

Why is this house at 12992 Edgewater Dr Lakewood,OH 44107 owned by the U.S. Government?? Its tax bill lists to 1849 C STREET WASHINGTON, DC 20240 which is the U.S. Department of the Interior. And the 4,000-square-foot house built in 1950 has been owned by the U.S. Government since 1976. It was previously owned by Rose A. Barber. This dead-end, one-lane, heavily forested part of Edgewater Drive is a private road.

 

 

 

Witness protection perhaps?  ?

 

Let me know if you're gonna go knock on the door.   Might be good to have a spotter in the car waiting!  

 

 

Does the Department of the Interior have a presence in Northeast Ohio. Perhaps, it is housing for a high level employee of the Dept?

A few more things about this house.... As mentioned, it is on a private road. The road is owned by Eric B. Townsend who also owns the house on Nicholson immediately south of the private drive. The Townsend family has owned these properties since 1988 when they bought it from James Dugan who I believe is descended from May Dugan. Who is May Dugan? http://www.maydugancenter.org/about-us/

 

A couple more interesting things. The lights at the end of the driveway are red and blue. All they need is a white one in the middle! And there are metal bars on the window to the right of the front door. The house can be observed/surveilled from a condo on the upper floors in the neighboring Carlyle tower. And the back of the house is 650 feet of woods separating it from Lake Erie and a speedboat to Canada! It's actually a very nice location for a safe house! (BTW, the dark diagonal line through the side of the house is a window reflection)

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 20205 yr by KJP

3 hours ago, KJP said:

The lights at the end of the driveway are red and blue. 

 

Maybe they are actually red and green?   The red on the right would indicate the entrance to a maritime channel if they are serious about that speedboat to Canada.  

 

Long term lurker, first post.

 

It appears a number of 12992 Edgewater residents over many years have a connection to the US Coast Guard - with at least a few Admirals in the mix. My guess -  housing for District 9 Commander. Maritime lights indeed  - red, right, returning.

Now that's cool. That's probably what it is. But my safe house theory was waaay sexier. ? 

Hey Lakewood folks, I'm on vacation and had my brother checking in on my cat and they haven't seen him. He's likely hiding inside somewhere but he hasn't touched his food so it has us a bit concerned. 

 

We live on Lincoln between Delaware and Garfield. If you see him he is friendly, but shy so will likely hide first. His name is Pierogi. 

 

Please let me know if you see him. Thanks in advance! 

Looks kind of like my Everest.    I'm not sure why Ardyn named him that.   

 

When I first moved to Beulah I stayed with my brother until my place was ready.    My cat "Dawg" got out while I wasn't home, I told my sister in law to wait a day or so he would likely be back.    When I got home I saw a cat down the street, and yelled get your (butt) over here and he trotted up.

On 8/15/2022 at 11:43 AM, Luke_S said:

Hey Lakewood folks, I'm on vacation and had my brother checking in on my cat and they haven't seen him. He's likely hiding inside somewhere but he hasn't touched his food so it has us a bit concerned. 

 

We live on Lincoln between Delaware and Garfield. If you see him he is friendly, but shy so will likely hide first. His name is Pierogi. 

 

Please let me know if you see him. Thanks in advance! 

 

Got home from vacation late last night and confirmed he got out somehow. We'll be looking today, but if anyone that sees him could let us know where it would be much appreciated! 

^ Post on the Facebook group "Sam the Parrot" - lost pet group for west side areas...

 

Edited August 21, 20222 yr by buckeye1

Funny, my dog is named pierogi and I live in Lakewood. What are the odds? I just got back in the states. I'll keep an eye out. 

Part of the reason for the drop in support for the e-scooter program cited in the survey results was scooters being operated and left on sidewalks. Lakewood could certainly be better about creating spaces to park vehicles other than cars, but if there were consistent and connected bike lanes throughout the city maybe people wouldn't be using the scooters on so many sidewalks.

 

On a related note, and maybe ironically, Lakewood is also considering requiring permits for businesses that take up street parking spaces (Cleveland.com: Already a premium in Lakewood, parking by automobile-related businesses is an issue). Lakewood City Council is holding a hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday (May 22) regarding the proposed permit ordinance.

 

Back on topic, it does sound like this is just a pause as Lakewood completes its transit feasibility study and the active transportation plan. Quotes from Dave Baas, Lakewood Planning & Development Assistant Director, suggest that they are conducting these studies with e-scooter use in mind. 

 

Lakewood pauses e-scooter program; unsure of future

Published: May. 17, 2023, 7:07 a.m.

By John Benson, special to cleveland.com

 

Quote

Pilot program data revealed last year vendors Spin, Superpedestrian and Bird -- beginning in July and running through early December -- provided 90 e-scooters for residents 18 and older who took 11,100 trips.

 

Lakewood received 15 cents per every e-scooter rental ride as part of a Cuyahoga County license agreement.

 

Bass said a compelling factor in the city’s decision to pause the pilot program is tied to a survey conducted late last year, which revealed support for the e-scooters dropped from more than 80 percent approval to 50 percent.

 

https://www.cleveland.com/community/2023/05/lakewood-pauses-e-scooter-program-unsure-of-future.html

Lakewood is looking input from families on Madison Park and what they would like to see in the future. 

 

You can take a survey here.

 

More information on the masterplan for the park can be found here.

Lakewood folk, Pachamama recently opened on the corner of Elmwood and Madison. We went this evening for dinner and the food and drinks were fantastic! 

 

When we went at 6p, we walked into an empty restaurant. 2 other tables eventually came in by the time we left, but it seems like they could use some support while they get their feet. If you have the opportunity or can't decide where to go for dinner I highly encourage you to go. Food and service was great!

 

https://www.pachamama-kitchen.com/menu

We frequently eat out so I'd like to support this new place. In looking at their menu, I'm confused as what their style of food or theme is.

39 minutes ago, KJP said:

We frequently eat out so I'd like to support this new place. In looking at their menu, I'm confused as what their style of food of theme is.

I thought the same that the menu was confusing.     You have to go to the home page to find out it's South American tapas.   Pretty poor web design IMO. 

Ran by this place the other day and had no idea what it was. Found one cleveland.com article and website. I will say their website is already massively improved from what it was a week ago. Plan to go in this week for dinner.

Lakewood community outreach survey is open through March 15, link below.

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8PIGoC8pTPUelECspK9yPWwgJJGFxcWmtsL4-MQ2XlfEC_g/formResponse?pli=1