Driving by the old Waterfront Cafe on Lakeshore Blvd. today, I noticed a huge sign in the window. An Arabica Coffee House is going in soon. I was thrilled to see this! I know the coffee house was empty for at least 3 years.
Also, ESM management has contacted me regarding this blog. More information as it becomes available.
Also, ESM management has contacted me regarding this blog. More information as it becomes available.
bad contact? Are they upset about it, or do they like it or something.
ReplyDeleteI have requested permission to reprint the emails I've been exchanging with mall management and hope for a timely reply.
ReplyDeleteI wonder too, considering how secretive and protective Mr. Engle and Mr. Lichko are regarding Euclid Square Mall and its future. They seem to fear that blogs such as yours scares away investors, and the quote "this is far from being a dead mall" makes me want to laugh. In my book, any mall that is largely (or completely) vacant, with few or no businesses or customers, is a dead mall. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog, and it enticed me to write something. I'm 27 and currently live in San Francisco, but spent a great deal of my childhood in Euclid throughout the late 80s and 90s. Unlike most Northeasterners nowadays, my family decided to trek west in the late 80s to Euclid from nice suburban Willoughby. I have many fond memories of Euclid (especially from the 80s), but I do have to agree with everyone else that it's gone down the shitter.
I grew up on Pasnow Ave. (situated b/w 200th and 185th), and would have to say at one point Euclid was a vibrant community to raise a family in. I can remember riding my bike up 185th street every day after school, visiting the Comic Store on the corner of Landseer and 185th (last I checked it was a Piano store). I remember getting delicious pizza from Maxim's just a block down. Or going to see Arachnaphobia or Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles at the defunt LaSalle Theatre. I remember the Bowling alley that used to be at the end of my street (now a pub) and a Covienent Store (now a second hand dairy store run by Iraq's; think it's called Neighbor's Choice). In fact the last time I was in town the only stores left from my childhood were most of the bars, John's Funhouse, and a few pizza shops (oh and the pet store too). 185th actually had a cruddy porn store near the Medic and an arcade too.
200th Street wasn't bad, but I always favored 185th better_ I used to work at the old Sunoco in the late 90's when it was actually a garage and gas station. Now's its a ghetto marathon that has a deli inside. There used to be a few cool video stores too; like the 200th st. video store next to Dairy Queen. There was also one across the street from Holy Cross called Four Seas Video (last I checked it was matress store). There was also one next to Roosevelt Elementary School and a record shop across the street. I think the only thing that's still there from the 80's is Papa Joes and Dairy Queen.
I was never a fan of teh Euclid Mall, though I can remember going to Toys R' Us to buy Nintendo Games when I was a kid, but my family would always go to the Ponderosa in the mall to eat. I can actually remember when the Euclid Mall was as busy as the Great Lakes Mall in the late 80's. Went to the Red Lobster and Rini Rego a couple of times, and I can remember my mom taking money out from that little broken down bank near Toys R Us.
There was a time when I felt safe walking through Euclid at night; but I'd rather walk around some of Sf's seedier areas before walking through Euclid. Once they tore down all of those projects at th eend of 200th near the freeway, they sold all of the houses in the neighborhoods to the people who used to live in those projects and that's when the 200th Street/ 185th street neighborhood started going downhill fast. My mom still lives in that house and bitches about how Euclid is going to be the next East Cleveland soon. Glad I left.
Hey sabsquatch, I know what you mean about Euclid going to hell. I grew up there too in the 70's and 80's and have fond memories of a once vibrant, friendly and safe community. When I go back to visit the few friends left there, I feel like I'm in East Cleveland -- or worse. The few I know who are left are either too old to move or are just waiting to get out of there.
ReplyDeleteAs for what caused the demise? Couple of reasons. Euclid was at one time a World War II boom town in the 1940's. It was full of large and small manufacturing companies -- Lincoln Electric, General Motors Inland, Addressograph-Multigraph, Chase Brass, Euclid Road Machinery, inc., TRW, GE, Reliance Electric and the list goes on. As the US began to lose these manufacturing jobs in the 80's fortunes started to decline. People moved with their jobs. On top of that, Euclid's population was predominantly depression and WW II era folks and as they passed away, their houses got sold and sometimes became rentals. Demand for Euclid's housing started to drop as jobs left, people wanted bigger, newer homes, more houses went on the market, and young folks like yourself left for greener pastures outside northeast Ohio (can't say I blame ya!). As home values stagnated and rentals increased, much of Euclid became seen as at best a started home community. The artifically low prices that resulted in such a well situated location as well as the loosening of lending practices and subprime loans made it possible for a lot of lower income folks to move in -- some of whom brought in a 'hood culture. The end result were rumors swirling about Euclid "changing" and white flight.
But Euclid is also responsible for some if it's own problems. When the city was awash in tax dollars in the 60's and 70's and WW II projects like the ones on 200th should have been bulldozed, they instead squabled politically and delayed. Then the morons built all those high rises on the lake instead of using that area for high end homes or condos such as Bratenahl did or Willowick is doing now. I remember folks in Euclid saying those high-rise apartments on the lake would bring the demise of Euclid. Guess those old timers turned out to be right! Add to that the sewer problems and flooded basements in the 70's and you had a recipe for trouble.
Nowadays pockets of Euclid are no better than the worst inner city neighborhoods -- gangs, drugs, crime. I wouldn't dare walk down those streets even during the day anymore. And in real estate circles, I've heard people say many times, Euclid IS the new East Cleveland and Mentor is becoming the new "Euclid East". By the way, they had to stop the annual Old World Festival on E. 185th because of gang problems -- one gang fight of which the punk that Cleveland Coucilmen Polensek chewed out was involved in.
Sad to see these once vibrant areas go down the shitter like this.