The Observation Deck

Sorry, I believe the intent of my statement "I don't believe in conspiracy theories" was misunderstood.

Sure, I believe "in" conspiracies ... as in: well, duh, yeah, of course they exists (though the word "conspire" actually has two very contrasting connotations; one being harmonious in nature; the other being devious in nature).

I just don't believe "in" conspiracies (and I'm assuming J's post was implying the "devious" version of conspire/conspiracy) ... as in: I feel that conspiracy is a crappy way to achieve anything (particulalry in a municipal setting), especially since the crux of a conspiracy is to covertly set in motion a plot to advance a specific, predetermined agenda/result with little or no knowledge of - or input from - the general public. This gives me the creeps!

“Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.” ~Vaclav Havel

Peter

While I agree with your statements, and I think in a perfect world they are or should be
the rule of the land. The truth of the matter is far different, and one must at that point
dig into the history, the memes, and maybe even the astrological signs of the players
involved in the charade.

Once you understand the history of the players, you start to get a much clearer picture
how and why, a select few have decided they know so much better than the rest, that they
alone should be aloud to plan the future of a community. Of course the truth is, that usually
their need for secrecy and charades is based on them repeatedly coming up with underwhelming
ideas that are immediately shot down the second they see the light of day, or when any
critical thought is applied.

This only needs to happen a few times before a person starts to withdraw into their shell,
that is often highlighted with comments like, "We need to educate these idiots on the need
for ..................," fill in the blanks. It was this actual comment that started one group that
lives on to this day.

To truly understand the problems and the issues, you have to know the players. Only then
can you make rational judgements on what is going on.

FWIW


.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Direct from onelakewood.com

Community Vision Workshop
Monday, May 14, 2012 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: University of Akron Lakewood, 1415 Warren Road

Lakewood City Council and the Planning Commission are hosting the first in a series of workshops to begin the process of updating the City’s 1993 Community Vision. This interactive workshop will review the current vision, open the discussion about purpose and content and outline a public process. All are welcome.


For more information please contact the Department of Planning and Development at 216.529.6630 or planning@lakewoodoh.net.

After a 14 mile detour downriver from the Motor City, passing a CVS nearly every two miles, I concede that this is the best looking CVS around!

Hi Meg,

We were taking a late night trek to the library last night, and got our first look at the CVS at night. You're right. It truly is the best-looking CVS around. I felt more like I was walking towards a club or a restaurant. It definitely looks inviting.



A big question for the surrounding neighbors was how bright the lights would be. Well, they're bright enough in the lot, but when you go to the periphery you can see that the lights have shades shaping and aiming the glare away from the houses. I still wouldn't want to live in the two that are right there. I imagine their bedrooms might be a little more lit up than they might like at night-- it also seems like it could have been much worse. I didn't walk down the street to see what it was like from the other side of the lights.





It definitely looks different and better. Strolling along we ran into a friend who works at the current CVS who was very excited about getting into the new store. She pronounced it beautiful on the inside... I asked her if she thought there would be more people shopping at the new one, than the usually sparsely populated one she works in now. She said, "Well, people will definitely be able to find it."

She said that the opening date was May 27th I think.

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy

Nice photos!


.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Betsy

I liked your images so much, I went down to see for myself just how nice it looked.
Now only is it nice, but I talked with a couple other people that were amazed at how
nice it all turned out.


Here is one of my shots.


.

_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Hi all,

We've been having a lot of fun at the new CVS, and recently discovered some other very special touches. One of the biggest regrets I had in a personal, "this is the way we walk to school" way about the destruction of the Lutheran Church was how much my kids liked walking on the curbs. On the way home from the library, or from school, one by one my kids would walk the curb, coming to a strange stone at the end that we referred to as "the big head." When you got there, you had to jump off. I measured the growth of my kids there. From having to hold both hands of a toddler, and basically lift them off so they didn't pitch forward onto the sidewalk, to holding one hand, to holding no hands, always having to be told by one of my kids, "I can do it myself!" before I would let go.

When I ran into Sean McDermott a couple of months ago and he let me know that they saved the curbs I looked for them, and saw that the big old curbs are on the front of the lot, lining the Detroit sidewalk, so you can still walk on the same ones.

What I didn't realize, was that if you go down the Arthur entrance (or exit I guess) the rest of the curb is there... and the Big Head! We just discovered it this weekend. It made us get right off our bikes. (The huge parking lot is not very full and we've been using the fact that the swales make the ground rise and fall, as our own personal Criterium course, racing each other around the periphery.)

My middle daughter raced right to the curb stones like they were old friends:





Thanks again, Sean, and CVS. We miss the church and the beautiful trees. We like being able to get the paper at 7 am, and now that we have discovered the curbstones, we have also discovered how nice the pedestrian paths are and will be using them.

Betsy Voinovich