Showing posts with label Neighbors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neighbors. Show all posts
11th ANNUAL CANDY CANE JUNCTION CRAFT SHOW coming Nov. 23rd! Craft Show season will be here before we know it! Mark your calendars and save the date for our 11th annual Candy Cane Junction Craft Show to be held Saturday, November 23rd in the school cafeteria at Visitation of Mary at Kent & Broad Streets! Once again, we will be hosting quality crafters displaying and selling their goods. All crafts must be handcrafted or homemade...no commercially made crafts.
There will be food, raffles, prizes and lots of fun ! Details to come later. Don't forget the St. Anne's delicious Bake Sale that day, too! This is another opportunity to help your parish! Don't have an interest in crafts? Never fear! Come on down and enjoy having lunch with your fellow parishioners and have some fun! There's nothing like a good cup of coffee and conversation with a friend.
There's a lot going on across the city of Akron, and this is your chance to find out more about city programs, public safety and the positive changes that are coming to our neighborhood - including Reservoir Park and the Goodyear Boulevard business district. Bring the kids and join the fun as this family-friendly event.
Walks will start at Malasia Park, at the corner of Malasia Rd. and Emerson St., and will take approximately an hour. Refreshments will be served at the Gazebo Park after each of the walks and will be provided by R.I.G.H.T. Dogs are permitted on both routes.
If you want to have breakfast before the 10am walk, we highly recommend Julian’s on Pioneer!
Keep in mind that his is the only fundraiser that we host, and the monies are used to cover a variety of items that many of our grants will not cover (such as food for volunteers). For more information, or to have an Order Form emailed to you, contact Mike Herhold at 330-784-4012, or mikeherho@aol.com
We want to clear up any misconceptions that people may have, especially for those who are worried that designation forces you to make improvements to your property. Nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, we chose the approach of National Register designation specifically because it would not add any extra financial burden on homeowners.
That said, we will be providing a wide range of education and informational resources to residents who do want to preserve and restore the historic character of their home and that of the neighborhood. We’ll be offering workshops, booklets, advice and many other resources to encourage our residents to preserve and enhance their home’s value. At some point in the future, we’d also like to work with public and non-profit foundations to offer some additional assistance—like grants and loans for repair and restoration. For additional facts about our effort, you can download a Q&A HERE.
For those who have lived in Goodyear Heights for many years, it’s clear that a lot of the neighborhood conveniences do not exist like they used to—grocery stores being a prime example. But making the most of what we have and encouraging future development on a small, neighborhood scale can go a long way towards enhancing walkability.
How much is that walkability worth?
Having shops and gathering spots like schools and restaurants located within a quarter-mile to one-mile from the homes in your neighborhood can add from $4,000 to $34,000 to home values, according to “Walking the Walk,” a study from CEOs for Cities, a nonprofit that works to improve cities. The rate of increase usually depended on the size of the city, with higher values in larger cities, and more moderate values in smaller cities.
What are walkable communities?
Dan Burden, founder of Walkable Communities, defines them with his a 12-step checklist, which includes:
• Great public places for people to to get together and socialize
• Speed-controlled key streets
• Pedestrian-centric design
• A town or neighborhood center with a wide variety of shops and businesses
To have great walkability, you start with having something worth walking to, such as restaurants, small shops or parks, and a critical mass of people living around those amenities. To make a difference, get your neighbors together and go talk to local officials. Your group can push the planning and zoning board for changes that make your town more walkable, like adjusting zoning to allow limited commercial development where it can do the most good.
Contact groups like the Better Block Foundation, who has organized planning and demonstration projects in North Hill, Middlebury and Kenmore. They are great when it comes to showing residents how they can improve neighborhood commercial areas and make them more pedestrian-friendly. On Twitter, you can connect at @akronbb.
Residents will want to mingle somewhere, too. See how you can support and expand public spaces where you can mix and socialize (think library, park, coffee shop) to increase your neighborhood’s walkability. Goodyear Heights has these amenities available—we just have to make the most of them.
•More and wider sidewalks; bike lanes where practical.
•Lower speed limits; traffic-calming strategies at intersections.
If you’re serious about increasing walkability, gather neighbors and town officials for a walking audit, where the group walks along a particular route and stops periodically to discuss how to improve the walking experience with landscaping, safety improvements, or accessibility improvements. Other things you can do:
•Trim shrubbery that may be blocking the sidewalk in front of your house.
•Pick up trash and litter as you walk along. If you see an eyesore, note it and call the Akron 311 line
•Replace your porch and outdoor lights with LED bulbs and light things up at night. They cost little to use, and it will boost your security and that of the neighborhood.
•Be polite to other drivers and pedestrians when you drive.
And maybe the best walkability tip of all? Just get out and walk.
The win game the Dragons their second consecutive title, and was primarily driven by an outstanding defensive effort, which resulted in two scores from that side of the ball. Much of the critical action took place within the last two minutes of the game, as a defensive score by East was matched by a Buchtel touchdown drive. Unfortunately for the Griffins, what would have been the game-tying extra point attempt was missed, thus delivering the victory to the Dragons. What a game!
These kinds of businesses are also important in enhancing Goodyear Heights’ attractiveness as a walkable community. The neighborhood was built before the era where everyone had a car—and it was designed to have the most-needed services within easy walking distance. For example, around 1920, the commercial area around Goodyear Boulevard and Pioneer St. included a grocery, butcher shop, sundry store (think of a drug store without the pharmacy), a real estate office, barber shop, and more. Later, as America became infatuated with the automobile, these kinds of retail services became more centralized (think of the old Acme at Six Corners) and as time went on, moved even further out from the central parts of the city—which is why the closest Acme is now in Tallmadge.
Today, more people would like the convenience of a neighborhood grocery; not a huge mega-store, but something more modest that offers a decent selection of basic foods at a reasonable price. For the older members of the audience, think of an old Lawson’s store on steroids. Combined with a weekly Farmer’s Market in a central location for produce and other specialty items, this would be helpful for the neighborhood. If you’ve ever been to the Mustard Seed Market in Highland Square, you can see how a grocery operation of modest size has become a popular neighborhood gathering place. The store itself is not that big at all, but the public gathering spaces and café on the second floor has almost become the “neighborhood living room.”
Responses continue to come in for our Goodyear Heights Resident Survey, and as the weeks go on we’ll be sharing some of the results and highlighting some of the specific questions we asked and the responses we are getting.
As a teaser, we might pass on just a few observations that we gathered on our first look at the results. One thing that stuck out was that a majority of the respondents (55%) have lived in Goodyear Heights for at least 10 years of more—in fact, in our initial 100 responses, 30% of those surveyed had lived in Goodyear Heights for 20 years or more!
 |
| A cartoon that appeared in The Wingfoot Clan during Goodyear Heights' early years. |
Among the first 100 respondents, almost 80% were homeowners. Most lived in what we would consider the “older” part of the neighborhood. Of the issues they would like to see the city address, crime was by far the primary issue—something that is typical in most of Akron’s neighborhoods.
We’ll also note there was a very high degree of interest in a true grocery store, places to eat and hang out, improved parks and a community garden, and maybe even a regulated dog park. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at some of those things our residents are suggesting, and consider how we can adapt those ideas into an overall plan to improve Goodyear Heights. Stay Tuned!
A recent article on the CityLab website details the survey and noted that the desire to stay put persists across urban, suburban, and rural residents—even in Snow Belt cities and among those who have the financial resources to buy that condo in Boca Raton or Scottsdale.
The survey showed that 7 out of 10 urbanites still want to live in their city after the age of 80. For Baby Boomers, the share was higher, at 8 out of 10.
Among some of the things that seniors look for is good access to health care and an environment where they have an opportunity to remain active and keep in touch with friends.
These are important things to keep in mind as we consider the future of Goodyear Heights. For one thing, we know that many of our residents have lived in the neighborhood for many years—even over multiple generations. Some older residents enjoy the modest upkeep requirements of their home, the familiarity of the area, and the quiet, relaxed nature of The Heights.
We want to ensure that The Heights remains a great neighborhood for all residents, young and old—with amenities that everyone can enjoy. Preserving its character and building a clean, safe and walkable neighborhood will go a long way towards meeting that goal.
We want you to tell us: What are our neighborhood's challenges? What things make it great? What would you like to see, in terms of services, retail, amenities, programs or activities?Plans and ideas don't add up to much without the input of our neighborhood residents. Don't be shy...nothing great will happen unless you provide your input and let us know what you think!
The annual event takes place in neighborhoods all over Akron, but the biggest party of all happens right here in Goodyear Heights, in front of the Linda Theater. Local businesses, community groups, entertainers and residents all shared in the fun, with hundreds of people congregating on Goodyear Boulevard. Much of the credit for the even goes to R.I.G.H.T. president Sharon Connor, who helps organize the event and bring it all together.
To read more about it, check out this article in The Akronist.
Over the past few years, Goodyear Heights has had one of the best turnouts in the city, with hundreds of neighbors coming together to celebrate in a big street party on Goodyear Boulevard, in front of the Linda Theater. Residents are encouraged to come by for games, music, refreshments, community information and a number of other activities designed for all ages.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
While it was always a great source of recreation and scenic beauty for the neighborhood, Blue Pond also had its mysteries. Located at the ... -
Built in 1919, this adorable and sturdy Tudor Revival home is typical of the quality and design built into the Heights’ original Goodyea... -
An original and well-preserved Goodyear-built Heights home, this English Cottage-style house constructed in 1920 features 3 bedrooms and 1... -
One of the first things people often ask about The Linda Theater is how it got its name. The answer is pretty simple: local builder and deve... -
Join us for the annual JINGLE BELL CRAFTS BAZAAR sponsored by the Presbyterian Women's Association. On Saturday November 2nd from 9:0...
Get Involved!
