Posted April 20, 200520 yr from, Chronicle Telegram (4-20-05) RESIDENTS OPPOSE SHOPPING CENTER LORAIN/AMHERST - Donna Ignatko and her late husband moved into a roomy home on Vassar Avenue in Lorain back in 1964. Dense woodlands surrounded their property then, and they still do. But all that could change soon. A Westlake developer will present its proposal to the city’s Planning Commission on May 4 for the rezoning of 65 acres at Leavitt and Jaeger roads for its Lighthouse Village shopping center. The project could be anchored by a Home Depot and two other large retailers, as well as a dozen storefronts. Ignatko, who is organizing a public meeting at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Lorain Public Library to mobilize opposition to the project, said the new center would be built on land that was supposed to be protected. “I don’t want this to be a NIMBY situation,” said Ignatko, referring to the “Not In My Backyard” sentiment. “I told the developer in January 2004 that if I moved to Timbuktu, I would still fight this because there’s principle involved here.” from, Chronicle Telegram (4-20-05) IS LORAIN GROWING ENOUGH FOR NEW RETAIL PROJECTS? LORAIN/AMHERST - On Lorain's west side, tony new neighborhoods are popping up all over the place. But how much will it take to support a parrallel wave of new retail offerings? Some residents believe all those new households will give new retail centers the traffic needed to spell sucess. Others are more concerned that building too many centers could repeat the probolems that were created in other parts of the city, where shopping centers have set empty and blighted for years. Earlier this month, council approved a plan to build a new Wal-Mart superstore right across Leavitt Road from an existing SuperK. Further west, off Oak Point Road near state Route 2, another developer is currently building 192 homes at Deerfield estates to feed into 287,450 square feet worth of retail offerings. And now along comes a proposed development off Leavitt Road near Tower Boulevard called Lighthouse Village that city leaders say could include a Home Depot and other large retailers.
April 21, 200520 yr well going from absolutely zero retail to umm, something? we'll see. keep in mind there is a scary burned out old strip mall just north of that stuff.
April 21, 200520 yr wow....and I just now read that last week Kiddie Kollege, First Federal and someone wanting to build a 10,000 sq. ft. building (all on rt58)....went before the Amherst planning commission for approval. Things look to be heating up out here in western Lorain County......
April 22, 200520 yr Amherst schools wondering how much growth to expect Friday, April 22, 2005 Plain Dealer Reporter Amherst -- As Ohio's newest turnpike interchange brings more traffic to this rural community, school officials hope the congestion won't spread to the classroom. The district's 4,260 students live in Amherst, Amherst Township and a portion of southern Lorain. Averaging 60 to 80 new students a year, enrollment could be handled for about five years, Superintendent Bob Boynton said. To reach this Plain Dealer Reporter: [email protected], 800-767-2821
April 23, 200520 yr Pressure on schools to adjust Brian Bardwell The Chronicle-Telegram Residential growth in the district will force the cash-strapped Amherst Schools to either sink or swim, according to district Superintendent Robert Boynton. A planned multi-million-dollar soccer academy off Leavitt Road in Lorain, thousands of new homes already built and thousands of others in the planning stages will continue to swell the district’s enrollment for years to come, he said. And a proposal for a multi-billion dollar resort and residential complex at the Cleveland Quarries property will add even more students if it ultimately gets built. In recent years the district renovated Marion L. Steele High School and built a new junior high with room to accommodate future growth, but development has occurred at a faster pace than was anticipated, according to Boynton. “We know that this is a growing community,” said Superintendent Bob Boynton. “Our concern is that it’s managed.” Since Boynton took over the schools in 1998, the district’s enrollment has swelled by more than 600 students and continues to grow by about 70 a year, he said. But that growth could easily be doubled in 2006, when students from around the country and across the globe are scheduled to attend a year-round residential soccer academy. The portion of Lorain where soccer pro Brad Friedel plans to build — on acreage part of the Emerald Valley Golf Club, is situated in the Amherst school district. Within five years, residential development on the west side of Lorain will yield about 3,000 new homes, said Lorain Community Development Director Sandy Prudoff, and roughly 2,400 of those fall inside the Amherst school district, including all of Deerfield Estates and Camden Ridge, as well as about half of the Martin’s Run residential development. “There’s an enormous amount of growth going on here,” he said. Boynton said there is not much room left inside the city and in the portions of Lorain in the Amherst school district for further housing developments than those already planned, but he worries that developers will start striking more deals to buy and develop Amherst Township properties for housing developments. “Our biggest concern is really what happens in the township,” he said. “There’s a lot of undeveloped land out there.” Several developments under way in Amherst and the township are expected to yield nearly 900 more new homes. But if the enrollment doesn’t take any dramatic swings, Boynton says, the district will be able to accommodate it all. “We have been positioning ourselves since 1998 or ’99. We’ve kept a close eye on growth since then,” Boynton said. “We’ll be fine until 2012 if it’s a steady, manageable growth.” The buildings could reach capacity then, but the district already has a master plan laid out in anticipation of eligibility for funding from the Ohio School Facilities Commission in five years, so it should be able to start opening new buildings just when it needs them. “We’re hoping that come 2010, it will all come together,” he said.
May 5, 200520 yr the lighthouse strip mall thingy hit a snag: Shopping center decision on hold MIKE SAKAL, Morning Journal Writer05/05/2005 LORAIN -- A vote to delay for 60 days a rezoning decision on Liberty Development Co.'s proposed Lighthouse Village shopping center at Jaeger and Leavitt roads will push back for at least a year the opening of its Home Depot anchor tenant, according to the developer. The Lorain Planning Commission voted 5-0 yesterday to put off the decision after Lorain Community Development Director Sandy Prudoff asked for time to conduct a blight study of the area. He said the city of Lorain needs the study in order to put in a tax incremental financing package that would use property taxes from the development to pay for infrastructure improvements.
May 5, 200520 yr this TIF crap out of Lorain is really starting to get to me. First Lorain gives Wal Mart a 75% tax TIF to pay for improvements to Cooper Foster Road and now this... :x
May 5, 200520 yr ^the history is, lorain got screwed royally with the land deal when ford built the ford plant. it is in the lorain city limits, but all the ford tax money goes (went, ugh!) to vermilion schools. so they are going to make sure that never happens again, even if it stalls projects....and prob even if it cancels them entirely.
May 5, 200520 yr this project definetly wont be cancelled out completely... Lorain knows that. Even if "Lighthouse Village" fails a shopping center will be there in a few years no matter what. Developers cant ignore a neighborhood like "Martin's Run" which will add 10-15,000 new residents over the next 5 years (and thats just in one subdivision). The thing that I dont get is how they can claim any area in the city "blighted" even when the average new home is over 200,000 dollars.
May 6, 200520 yr Holy crap, that's the entire population of Aurora right there potentially. Scary stuff.
May 6, 200520 yr actually now that i think about it.... 10-15 is probably i little high. id say 8-12,000 would be a little more like it but still. I was considering the total number of new homes currently planned for the area (not just Martin's Run)... i believe that number is just shy of 3,000 thus my prediction of 10-15,000.
May 6, 200520 yr i think they can easily get blighted status because that new development isnt there yet. remember, when it comes to cheapest real estate in ne ohio the list goes: east cleveland, lorain and cleveland as the top (bottom) three. did you know they do not even take lunch money from the schoolkids in the schools? there are so many poor they just put the whole city on free lunch program. so the whole city is blighted. but yes even as lorain is being crushed by losing all its manufacturing base and thousands of jobs, at the same time it is turning suburban with the new housing, the harbor stuff, and the rebuild of all the schools. i keep saying, they have a sharp young mayor who is a harvard business mba, so don't count lorain out yet!
May 7, 200520 yr Ivy League = Bush League? Actually, he underscores the reason why people should be judged individually, not as a group wearing an otherwise meaningless title. KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 11, 200520 yr here's a sweet downtown lorain urban renewal story i found. roof decks? car park garage? i like!: Developer puts personality into condos ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writer05/11/2005 LORAIN -- Al Kirchner, the owner of Kirchner's furniture store, has been dreaming of building a townhouse complex in downtown Lorain for the last 15 years. ''I want Old Town Charleston to be a place where people live, work, and play,'' he said. ''When people don't leave at 5 p.m., more businesses come in, and it creates a community.'' After many years of searching for partners, Kirchner finally found a developer who shared his vision of a townhouse complex merged with his store on Broadway and with a distinct sense of identity and community.
May 13, 200520 yr from, Morning Journal (5-12-05) Star hopes Lorain academy will raise soccer's profile in America LORAIN - For the last three years, international soccer star and Bay Village native Brad Friedel has had a goal and vision for the game that is king in other countries. During a telephone interview from England yesterday, Friedel talked about changing the face of youth soccer in America with his proposal to build the $9 million Brad Friedel Premier Soccer Academy in Lorain by 2007. http://morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14513114&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
May 13, 200520 yr from, Morning Journal (5-12-05) Petition signers fight proposed Lorain Wal-Mart LORAIN -- Nearly three times the number of signatures needed were submitted yesterday to put a referendum on the November ballot on the rezoning for a Wal-Mart store, according to an attorney representing residents opposed to the location along Cooper Foster Park Road. ''The people will get the right to vote on the rezoning issue,'' said attorney Gerald Phillips after he submitted 4,302 signatures to Lorain Auditor Ron Mantini, 2,859 more than the 1,443 needed to represent 10 percent of the registered voters who cast a ballot in the last governor's race. http://morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14513101&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
May 14, 200520 yr Clinic may buy land for growth LORAIN -- The Cleveland Clinic is considering purchasing eight acres of land near its Lorain Family Health and Surgical Center at 5700 Cooper Foster Park Road for future expansion, according to Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Shiel. Shiel confirmed yesterday that although nothing has been finalized and no contracts have been signed, expanding on the property is one of the things the clinic is considering. The property is behind its existing building on the northeast corner of Cooper Foster Park and Oak Point roads, near the SR 2 and Oak Point interchange, according to Shiel.
May 19, 200520 yr from, Amherst News-Times (5-18-05) Three more dealerships could line Cooper Foster Park Road by JASON HAWK AMHERST -- Don't worry, fans of American cars. The Toyota dealership planned for Amherst's northwestern corner might be getting some good old homemade company. Lexus, Cadillac, and Pontiac (or Buick) dealerships may all join the proposed Toyota retailer on a 40-acre parcel at the corner of Cooper Foster Park and Oak Point roads east of the Cleveland Clinic, according to city council president John Dietrich.
October 18, 200519 yr Here's the latest on the Wal-Mart referendum from the 10/15/05 Elyria Chronicle Telegram: Wal-Mart putting muscle behind mailings Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN If you ask most folks what the foundation of a Wal-Mart superstore is, theyll probably say rocks and blocks. In Lorain, they might say paper 240,000 pieces of it. With the construction of a proposed Wal-Mart on the citys west side hingeing on voters response to Issue 24 which would approve rezoning for a Wal-Mart campaign organizers for the retail juggernaut have been busy sending out mailers. http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/10-15-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head5.html
November 1, 200519 yr From the 10/28/05 Elyria Chronicle Telegram: Wal-Mart spends for Lorain support Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN Campaign finance reports released Thursday by Lorain Citizens for Jobs and Economic Progress the committee pushing for a Wal-Mart superstore in Lorain show the retail giant was the sole contributor to the pro-Wal-Mart campaign, shelling out $150,000 to build support among city voters. In comparison, campaign contributions from residents in the grassroots group opposed to Wal-Mart Save Our City (S.O.S.) totaled less than $3,000. http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/10-28-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html
November 6, 200519 yr From the 11/5/05 Elyria Chronicle Telegram: Wal-Mart foes say city isnt being fair Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN Residents opposed to rezoning land on Lorains west side which would open the door for construction of a Wal-Mart if voters approve the measure in a citywide vote Tuesday say city officials are nitpicking in an effort to quell their anti-Wal-Mart demonstrations. With the election just days away, Wal-Mart opponents plan to unleash a salvo of public protests and demonstrations throughout the city. But at recent rallies, the group has encountered a plethora of legal run-ins as it fights Issue 24, the Wal-Mart rezoning issue. http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/11-05-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html
November 9, 200519 yr ^now why on earth you ever thought the residents would ever allow a non-union behemoth into a rugged old union town....? it got slaughtered! my fav quote of the day: ''It looks like you can't buy an election,'' said Phillips. ''We didn't have a war chest. This was a basic, grassroots campaign.'' amen brother. the people spoke up for their local small businesses. Voters shoot down Wal-Mart ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writer11/09/2005 LORAIN--After months of debate, the proposed Wal-Mart store along Cooper Foster Park Road will go back to the drawing board. Voters rejected city council's redistricting of 37 acres along Cooper Foster Park Road by more than 2,500 votes, according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.
November 14, 200519 yr What's next, from the 11/10/05 Elyria Chornicle Telegram: Whats next for Wal-Mart? Company has no plans to try again after voters shoot down rezoning Shawn Foucher The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN These days, Lorain Auditor Ron Mantini is probably wishing he werent so much like Mark Twain. Twain once said: Put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket. Mantini did just that, but his basket was blasted by misfortune Tuesday when 60 percent of voters cracked the political egg and reversed a Council decision to rezone 37 acres on the west side where Wal-Mart planned to build. Clearly Mark Twain never had to peddle a slab of Lorain property to a big-box retailer. http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/11-10-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head2.html
November 14, 200519 yr Ron Mosby, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart Is this the same spokesman who works(ed) for ODOT district 8? Wal-mart stole an ODOT employee?!?
December 22, 200519 yr From the 12/17/05 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram: Wal-Mart spent big in losing fight Brad Dicken The Chronicle-Telegram LORAIN Money equals votes, or at least thats the conventional wisdom. But Wal-Marts campaign cash $376,000 was no good in Lorain. Thats how much the retail giant spent in the run-up to the Nov. 8 election to convince voters to support a Council decision to rezone 37 acres off Cooper- Foster Park Road where Wal-Mart wanted to build a store. http://www.chroniclet.com/2005_Archive/12-17-05/Daily%20Pages/Front/Html/Head4.html
January 31, 200619 yr What the hell? Walmart wants to build in Lorain. They also want to build one in Oberlin (just south of Lorain). AND they also want to build in Vermilion (just west of Lorain). We're talking less than a 10-mile radius!
April 20, 200619 yr A few from the archives: Zoning cases getting another look Lorain Morning Journal, 3/7/06 A court ruling on one of two rezoning lawsuits facing Avon City Council spurred the city to action last night. Both rezoning requests, from Gamellia Construction and Lake Pointe Construction, were referred back to Planning Commission for review. Carlisle Twp. development goes to court Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, 3/7/06 A 226-acre residential development off Indian Hollow Road is on hold after township trustees unanimously voted Monday to appeal a county decision that would have allowed the City of Elyria to annex the land. Avon making plans for growth The Sun, 3/9/06 New statistics show the city, when fully built, probably will have about 30,000 fewer residents than was predicted in the 1992 master plan update. But growth could continue so rapidly that the current population could more than double by 2025. Nineteen years might sound like a long time, but consider that about 46 percent of the 11,446 people living in Avon in 2000 had moved to the city since 1995, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. SR 58 exit not making money Lorain Morning Journal, 3/22/06 After more than a year in operation, the SR 58 interchange on the Ohio Turnpike has been a financial disappointment, the Ohio Turnpike chief said yesterday. Ohio Turnpike Commission Executive Director Gary Sulhadolnik said it costs the state about $1 million per year to operate the Amherst Township interchange. Wages for its employees amount to $750,000 while other expenses such as salt, snow plowing, lights, phones and other expenses make up the balance. ACC forum focuses on development issues The Sun, 3/23/06 Attendees of an Avon Citizens Committee 2006 public forum Sunday pleaded for residents citywide to inform themselves about development issues by attending city meetings and discussing their concerns with others. 'We just need will in this town to keep on course to develop a community we all want to live in when it is fully developed,' Tom Wearsch, a former mayor, city councilman and planning commissioner, told his fellow audience of about 120 residents. Jill Renuart, who said she missed her daughter's soccer game to attend the forum, told the crowd she was grateful for the efforts of the ACC, a political action committee formed recently to address development issues in the city. 'We've got to tell our friends and neighbors that they've got to get involved,' Renuart said. 'If we don't speak out, no one's going to hear us.' One Avon rezoning issue moves ahead while another sits Lorain Morning Journal, 3/23/06 Two rezoning issues, whose complications gave rise to lawsuits between the city and developers, landed back in the Planning Commission's lap last night. The commission took action on one issue, but will not act on the other until its April 19 meeting, since the developer could not be present last night. Rezoning to settle suit? The Sun, 3/30/06 It probably will cost more to build, but the developer of a proposed retail center appears willing to accept a pending city offer to rezone the land from residential to commercial more consistent with the French Creek district. Officials not talking about cuts The Sun, 4/6/06 Unlike many school systems facing budget shortfalls, officials in this rapidly growing district won't even speculate potential budget cuts before voters decide an operating levy May 2. School districts often let their voters know ahead of time where dollars will or could be cut, which for example usually include layoffs, pay-to-participate programs or busing reductions. Mayors say businesses key in Avon Lake, Avon, Sheffield Lorain Morning Journal, 4/7/06 The mayors of Avon, Avon Lake and Sheffield Lake reviewed their cities' progress yesterday during separate state of the city addresses. Survey will say Rezoning put to poll The Sun, 4/13/06 Whether the Avon Citizens Committee 2006 will pursue a charter amendment regarding residential property rezoning will depend on results of a survey hitting registered voters' mailboxes this week.
May 3, 200619 yr Good. I like the new name of this thread. Now I have a place I can really rant about something: Avon Lake.
May 3, 200619 yr One thing I never understood is why all the development isn't happening near the Cuyahoga border. I mean, the places closest to the city of Cleveland are the most rural in Lorain County. There's a giant hillbilly gap between these new Lorain Co. growths and the rest of Greater Cleveland. Oh Lorain County. I hate you.
May 3, 200619 yr One thing I never understood is why all the development isn't happening near the Cuyahoga border. I mean, the places closest to the city of Cleveland are the most rural in Lorain County. There's a giant hillbilly gap between these new Lorain Co. growths and the rest of Greater Cleveland. Well that's not my understanding at all, and I don't agree with you. If you are talking about Lorain County around Strongsville, then I can see what you are saying- at least I think I can see what you are saying, because the only time I usually drive south of Lorain Avenue is to go to the airport or to drive down to school. Consider the eastern edge of Lorain County along I-90 and you see how the cities that are the next stop off I-90 from Cuyahoga has encouraged a lot of growth. Lorain County development is directly related to Greater Cleveland sprawl. I'm from Avon Lake, which is in Lorain County and borders Bay Village in Cuyahoga. After Bay Village became built-out Avon Lake began to see its rise. Avon Lake has seen tremendous residential growth and has become increasingly upscale. I think in 85 when my parents moved to Avon Lake from Chicago the population was around 11,000 or maybe less. Now the population is 19,000. There are lots of homes in the 400k to million dollar range now. In addition it is increasingly built out - no rural land available and a lot of the hillbillies have been priced out. I remember when there were cornfields, but absolutely none exist now. The only real farmland left in Avon Lake is few grape vines left from a vineyard they keep around for decoration where they started building a golf course and and $700k homes in a development to be Avon Lake's largest single residential development called "Legacy Pointe". I've also noticed that we have a lot of people who seem to have grown up in Westpark, Fairview Park and Lakewood, but choose Avon Lake to build a home a raise a family. Avon just south of Avon Lake has been seeing a lot of growth as well. Its entire Eastern border is with Westlake in Cuyahoga. As Westlake becomes built out, so now Avon looks attractive for new development. There are lots of upscale residential developments south of Detroit Rd. being built like Red Tail, huge retail development like Avon Commons and a host of strip malls along Detroit Rd., and a ton of job creation in corporate office parks and light industry north of I-90 and south of the Avon Lake border. Avon Lake and Avon are less than 20 miles from 'Cleveland', and many people live in Avon Lake and Avon, and commute to jobs in Cuyahoga County. Is all this development nice for Lorain County? Yeah, but it is obviously terrible for Cuyahoga County. Greater Cleveland's wealth and development is spreading farther from the center into places like Lorain County, and as a result is concentrating poverty and blight in Cuyahoga County's inner-core. But, even though we have different persepectives on Lorain County, I do also hate Lorain County. I hate it for the fact that from Avon Lake I have to drive practically 30 minutes in an eastern direction into Cuyahoga for practically everything I need to have or want to do.
May 3, 200619 yr I actually really like Avon Lake. I have alot of family that lives there. I hate it for the fact that from Avon Lake I have to drive practically 30 minutes in an eastern direction into Cuyahoga for practically everything I need to have or want to do. I live in Amherst, about 10 minutes west Avon/Avon Lake area and I hardly ever need to drive into Cleveland for anything. Without professional sports teams and concerts I would probably go downtown only a few times a year.
May 3, 200619 yr One thing I never understood is why all the development isn't happening near the Cuyahoga border. I mean, the places closest to the city of Cleveland are the most rural in Lorain County. There's a giant hillbilly gap between these new Lorain Co. growths and the rest of Greater Cleveland. Well that's not my understanding at all, and I don't agree with you. If you are talking about Lorain County around Strongsville, then I can see what you are saying- at least I think I can see what you are saying, because the only time I usually drive south of Lorain Avenue is to go to the airport or to drive down to school. The Avon Lake area seems to be the exception in Lorain County. The majority of the county is still very VERY rural, even the places bordering Cuyahoga County. You look at places like North Eaton, North Ridgeville and Columbia Station, all of which are minutes away from places like Strongsville, North Olmsted, Berea and Middleburg Heights, and see nothing but open fields and farmlands. Some of these border towns don't even have sewers. Avon Lake may be building up, but the vast majority of Lorain County remains virtually untouched by the suburbanisation of cities that it borders. And it makes me wonder "WHY"?
May 3, 200619 yr I am not criticizing your preference to keep your lifestyle within a reasonable distance of Amherst, but I have found that throughout my life I have had to go east for everything I'd like to do. I like taking my bike to the Rocky River Metroparks; I like coffee shops in Lakewood, Rocky River, West Park; growing up when I was a kid we always shopped at Westgate in Fairview and hardly ever at Midway in Elyria (Avon Lakers believe there is a lot of gang activity at Midway); I went to high school in Lakewood; I go to the West Side Market in Ohio City a lot; I like the 24hr restaurants on W.117th; the Cleveland and Cuyahoga public libraries are much better than the ones in Lorain County; the better restaurants are in Westlake, Rocky River, Lakewood, Cleveland; and the best nightlife and entertainment is all downtown Cleveland. And I don't like sitting around the house, so I find that in Avon Lake I am always driving in this eastern direction. A lot of other Avon Lakers do the same too. We rarely find ourselves driving west. The first and only time I went downtown Elyria was to take my drivers exam. So the perpetual driving eastward really bugs me. Once you explore Cleveland and the Inner-ring suburbs in Cuyahoga, you will understand and won't be tempted to live in Lorain County.
May 4, 200619 yr Once you explore Cleveland and the Inner-ring suburbs in Cuyahoga, you will understand and won't be tempted to live in Lorain County. Forreal, Lorain County is boring as hell. The sprawl that's happening out here is mostly just residential, too, causing most people to have to drive into Cuyahoga County all the time. I know I have to go to Strongsville or Berea if I want to buy a shirt, eat at Taco Bell or pick up some milk. I kind of think any sprawl that has leaked into Lorain County isn't as big of a deal as most people would believe; the acreage requirements and the lack of sewers in many areas have limited the townships to remain almost completely residential.
May 4, 200619 yr I'm from Avon Lake as well. I think their are a few others on the board, too. I suppose my family was somewhat more "old" Avon Lake (read working class), and we always seemed to lean more towards Lorain as our "big" city. That changed as more stuff developed in Westlake, though. And once I got old enough to start exploring more on my own, I started going east as well. I actually found a lot of people in Lorain County who wouldn't willingly set foot in Cuyahoga County. Ironically some seemed to think that it was too rich, others that it was too ghetto, or at least too big city for their tastes.
May 4, 200619 yr ^ Yeah, Avon Lake is kind of interesting place in that it is on the border of Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties and between Cleveland and Lorain. I've definately noticed there being an "old" Avon Lake and a "new" Avon Lake like you pointed out. My life in Avon Lake has been more a part of the "new", but at the same time I certainly remember the "old" Avon Lake when it was more rural and there were only a few residential developments; an Avon Lake without turning lanes, Kenik gas station on Lake Road, more open space and woods, no Towne Center, no Britania, the Avon Lake Movie Theater, Big Wheel, Sparkle Market, etc. I went to Erieview before any type of rennovations and that school was so well preserved it really felt like a 1950s school house, and the teachers were all spinsters that wore thick glasses and Joan Cleaver outfits. There were a lot of people who seemed to have more working class jobs, and they wanted a simple life near the lake kind of away from any kind of big city. The increasingly new Avon Lake is more developed, more upper-middle class, more travelled, more trendy. I think these people tend to come from Cuyahoga who maintain their ties with Cuyahoga, or from out-of-state and have white collar jobs in Cuyahoga.
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