The city's industries were booming; farmland was giving way to new housing developments; schools were built to handle the influx of new students; and now-iconic businesses (Yala's Pizza, Willow Hardware, etc.) were springing up to service the growing population on the West Side.
In Downtown Lorain, the buses were still bringing people to shop there. But post-war prosperity meant that many people now owned cars. Consequently, more city parking was needed for those who drove downtown to shop.
Thus some old houses and buildings had to be torn down. The photo at the top of the page above from the August 5, 1954 Lorain Journal tells the story. It notes, "Not war torn London, just two old houses on Sixth Street being torn down to make room for city-operated parking lots. Other houses on Eighth and Fifth Streets are also being removed for the same reason."
It's rather sad that fewer and fewer of us remember when shopping in Downtown Lorain was part of our regular routine. In the mid-to-late 1960s and early 70s, we headed downtown each Saturday morning. Mom did some shopping while my brothers and I had our trumpet lessons with Mr. Visci. Mom shopped at Midway Mall too (but that was more of a Saturday afternoon destination) as well as O'Neil - Sheffield Center.
Unfortunately, the days of people leisurely going from store to store and browsing are pretty much over, thanks to Covid and the internet.
But even shopping online has its pitfalls. Have you ever shopped online at a store like Home Depot or Walmart, found that they had exactly what you were looking for, and then foolishly drove to the store – only to find out it was available only on their website? I'm careful about it now, but it happened to me a few times before I realized that many brick-and-mortar stores aren't trying to get you to go there anymore. They all want to be like Amazon and ship it to you.
Yes, there are still all-day shopping meccas like Crocker Park and Legacy Village, with their elite selection of specialty stores. But sooner or later (in my opinion), they'll take their lumps too.
8 comments:
It's not just the effects of COVID, either; many older people are reluctant to venture out into areas that are a ways from their homes, and young people see internet shopping as part of "their" culture.
Can you imagine today's eighteen year old trying to navigate that entertainment page, even if they found something of interest to them?
Praying that the weather there didn't do any of you too much harm.
I've always disliked shopping and would be happy to never again go to a store and put up with all the idiots in the world. When I'm old(er) and crank(ier) - if that's possible - I can see ordering my groceries online, too. Might start doing it this afternoon.
Those movies, though... Pits of sin... Even the westerns.
What was the world coming to in 1954?
Made it through the weather okay, thanks for asking Alan. Lots of damage more toward Cleveland and points east.
Check out the prices to see Gone With The Wind.Between .70-.90 cents for adults.Did anyone ever think they could actually own a copy of any movie in the future when they were watching movies in a theater back then?You can pick up a DVD of Gone With The Wind for 1 dollar all day long at Jamie's flea market.Blurays are usually a few dollars more.I never got into streaming movies because they can pull a movie or show from the streaming service anytime they want and then you aren't watching it no matter what whereas with a DVD you can watch it on repeat till the day you die.
New Faces at the Tower was a great musical and now has something of a cult following.
A tornado touched down about half a mile east of here, and did a fair amount of damage, but primarily in western Cuyahoga County. Power was out for about six hours, and internet service is still down. (This is coming from my phone.) Hope everyone else was as lucky as we were!
Harrison - I was just listening to one of the songs from that show ("Love Is a Simple Thing"). I have a DVD or other copy of the film around here somewhere.
Kind of a Raze Craze week.
Hey Buster Yes some great songs in that show. Wish there was a decent DVD of the movie. WE played it first run at the Tivoli .LIAST is one of the most known songs.loved Eartha KITS number.
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