Well if I do a thread about Middletown it sounds like a good idea to do one on Lorain.  Come to think about it these cities are very similar. 

 

They are based on heavy industrial, they are close in size and they are both struggling economicaly.

 

Here is a long set of the residential in the city:

Overall I was pleased to see much of the residential still intact.  I had a mental image that the city's residential was much worst.  In many ways the city's residential reminds of Cleveland West side.

 

Here is one of the MANY churches in Lorain.

Here is what is left of a commercial corridor.  Overall I was very disappointed with the city's commercial.  So much of it (especially historical commercial buildings) have been lost and most of the remaining commercial is very gritty.

No doubt about it;

Here is a beautiful historic building.  I don't remember its name...

Great juxtaposition here!

 

More Churches!

 

The steel mills are still going..

 

Here is an empty mall.  This is what happens eventually to suburban malls.  Its really ugly.

 

Here are some of the low income housing:

 

I really like this park.  Its called Lakeview.

 

 

 

 

 

Ahh yes, the Lorain of Ohio.

I didn't know Lorain was on the lake.

Ugh.. I think I just vomited in my mouth..

This is an old Lawson sign, I'm sure. I haven't even seen a repurposed one in years.

 

How depressing

Sad, I have a lot of relatives in Lorain.

The Cleveland influence is obvious.

The steel city building is absolutely ridiculous. Still, its awesome.

I know the mood about the post it pretty negative, but you do have to keep in mind I did not get around to taking pictures of the nicer sections of Lorain including its residential neighborhood by the lake and downtown. 

This thread will give you a more comprehensive outlook on the city..

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,14736.0.html

 

ahh one of my old neighborhoods. good job -- it's ok i think you captured the SE side of lorain pretty well. it is what it is.

 

you can take your pick about it.  :?

 

currently: clean skies, rundown, few people & basically a skeleton force at the steel plant

 

or

 

1970's: orange skies, orange sooty homes but kept up, bursting with people running the streets, full employment

 

ahh well. the city seems to be embracing the lake resource better, maybe that will save it? hey, that's all i got. hopefully buckeye1 will comment.

 

btw guess what -- that strip mall may not be thee ugliest abandoned strip mall in lorain. what? you're not surprised?  :|

 

 

Nice job reppin' SoLo (South Lorain) - it's gritty and every kind of rundown... and I love the photos.  The two storefronts with the upper floors boarded (photo after the mural) are a pending community development project due to deterioration of the brick upper facades.  The turreted house that's half-painted is another rehab in progress.

 

And the worst abandonded strip mall in Lorain is undergoing demolition (Oakwood)... http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=289

 

By the way, to see how well 1960's-1970's low income housing in Lorain has fared, check this thread: http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=291

very grim tour... thanks, urbanforever!

I like the grit. Lorain's economy was once based on steel, shipbuilding (Steinbrenner's American Shipbuilding Co., it was located where the Spitzer housing development is now) and automaking (also Ford in Avon Lake is still has a pulse but the Ford Lorain plant is kaput). Now steel is the only large-scale industrial activity left in the city.

 

But Ink's thread has some of the nice parts of Lorain....

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,14736.msg240010.html#msg240010

 

I would encourage seeing some of the lakefront homes east of downtown along Lake Road. They were built there to have access to the mainline of the Lakeshore Electric Railway, which ran down Lake Avenue but went on its own double-tracked right of way cross-country just east of Lorain into Rocky River. Wealthy Lorain homeowners could be in Cleveland in less than hour despite the slower running on Clifton Boulevard, Lake Avenue and Detroit Avenue in Lakewood and Cleveland. It was the 80 mph speed between Lorain and Rocky River that made that 1-hour trip from Lorain possible, and fostered the nice homes and summer cottages in Lorain. It all came to an end in 1938.

This is an old Lawson sign, I'm sure. I haven't even seen a repurposed one in years.

 

 

Yep, I was thinking the same thing -- good old Lawson's... I've seen a few retrofitted Lawson's signs in front of the new owner-operated food stores they mark -- some of these stores still have the old Lawson's buff-brick and turquoise trim as well.