and yet.. another Akron question (Anna, Highland: live, shop, safe)

[griffin4life]

i jus gotta say that i grew up here in akron and been livin on the west hill my whole life and every year it gets worse and worse...i mean i kno every body on west hill and they kno me but its gettin terrible...u cant trus nobody here i would love to get out of akron and stay in stow medina or any one of these sub cities near here...

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by griffin4life

i jus gotta say that i grew up here in akron and been livin on the west hill my whole life and every year it gets worse and worse...i mean i kno every body on west hill and they kno me but its gettin terrible...u cant trus nobody here i would love to get out of akron and stay in stow medina or any one of these sub cities near here...

I like what some people have done with some of the houses in the historic district. But overall I think a lot of West Hill is burnt. Love the neighborhood layout and architecture though. I'm hoping some of the redevelopment down that way picks up speed.

[htlong]

I lived in the sq for over 35 years, I moved out of state in the 80's ,upon returning to the Akron area I cruised the old neighborhood and I saw the signs of urban blight,Steve A. used the square as his big boy Lego set. the residents thank god stopped his original plans of turning the sq. into a strip mall like Walhaven.
the biggest problem with highland Sq.is the youth who were raised by parents who are basically children themselves, they are a step above wild animals with no clue of how to live in society. get a job? r u crazy! I want it I take it,
the sq. isn't the wild west...yet... but its heading that way and the mayor wont waste money on funding the police.....but as usual....I may be wrong......


















's

[CityGrrl77]

Originally Posted by htlong

I lived in the sq for over 35 years, I moved out of state in the 80's ,upon returning to the Akron area I cruised the old neighborhood and I saw the signs of urban blight,Steve A. used the square as his big boy Lego set. the residents thank god stopped his original plans of turning the sq. into a strip mall like Walhaven.
the biggest problem with highland Sq.is the youth who were raised by parents who are basically children themselves, they are a step above wild animals with no clue of how to live in society. get a job? r u crazy! I want it I take it,
the sq. isn't the wild west...yet... but its heading that way and the mayor wont waste money on funding the police.....but as usual....I may be wrong......

's

I swear, sometimes I think you and I live in two different Highland Squares.

I just turned 29 two days ago and although Im not a teenager or a college student anymore, I don't see any problem with the youth right in the immediate Square area.

KSUsucks - you are closer to my age, I think - what is your opinion??

[ksu sucks]

Originally Posted by CityGrrl77

KSUsucks - you are closer to my age, I think - what is your opinion??

I think you're dead on cityg.

Originally Posted by htlong

but as usual....I may be wrong......

Yes, you might be on to something there.

Originally Posted by htlong

the biggest problem with highland Sq.is the youth who were raised by parents who are basically children themselves, they are a step above wild animals with no clue of how to live in society. get a job? r u crazy! I want it I take it

Seriously, I think htlong is confusing the identity that highland square has now with what it used to be 'back in the day'. From what I understand, it's always been a haven for open thought, but back when htlong was first here in the 70's it might of had more of a family oriented feel. So maybe when he came back and saw guys riding bikes with dreads down past their shoulders and odd piercings, and not to mention *gasp* black people, he immediately deduced the area must be going down hill.

Or maybe htlong just forgot something--what's cool in the old days--isn't cool forever! Perhaps the change was too much for him?

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by ksu sucks

Seriously, I think htlong is confusing the identity that highland square has now with what it used to be 'back in the day'. From what I understand, it's always been a haven for open thought, but back when htlong was first here in the 70's it might of had more of a family oriented feel. So maybe when he came back and saw guys riding bikes with dreads down past their shoulders and odd piercings, and not to mention *gasp* black people, he immediately deduced the area must be going down hill.

Or maybe htlong just forgot something--what's cool in the old days--isn't cool forever! Perhaps the change was too much for him?

If you stop and chat with some of the old time residents I think you'll find you're dead on. Some of the establishments in the neighborhood that have been around since your/our parents' generation are great ways to learn about what the neighborhood used to be like.

45+ years ago (around when htlong was coming along, based on his comments) HS used to be the upper end neighborhood in Akron. The homes were all single family and populated by doctors, lawyers, and the like, many of which had 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. kids. The large houses were still occupied by owners and not subdivided, and many of the newer apartment buildings hadn't been built yet. For instance, the location of National City Bank and the apartment building across the street were both mansions (the stone wall in front of the apt building is leftover from the house) ... same with the houses all the way up Market St. that have now been converted to other uses. To my knowledge, it wasn't "funky" at that time.

I was facinated to learn that it was common, even in the non-mansion homes on the streets north of Edgerton, to have house help - including maids, gardeners, and drivers (!), as recent as the 50s and 60s. Part of that is the time period (I think labor was less expensive) but also I'm sure the factory workers in Goodyear Heights probably did not have house help.

So, in the baby boomer generation, it sounds as if Highland Square really was a family neighborhood. And as far as minorities go, I don't think they even started making much of an inroads towards Copley Road until the mid- to late-60s, so Northwest Akron was mostly caucasian. In fact, until Firestone was built (1963) Buchtel was the top notch school in the city, if you can imagine that. In fact, John Lithgow (of 3rd Rock from the Sun, a bajillion movies, etc.) went to school there somewhere in that time frame.

Don't quote me specifically, I wasn't here then (or alive for that matter) so I'm mainly repeating hearsay I've picked up from talking to people in the neighborhood that have been around since then.

So, long story short, I'm sure htlong's Highland Square and our Highland Square are quite different. And some things have taken a turn for the worse, to be sure - Portage Path School is not exactly a first choice school in the city, a good chunk of Crosby is mehhhhhhh, and a big strip of West Exchange has had several condemnations and demolitions of old houses and buildings in the past few years.

But, on the other hand, it's evolved into a pretty neat little neighborhood - dare I say the only one like it in Summit County and one of only a small handful in all of Northeast Ohio - and I mean that in a good way.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Oh and as far as kids go, I will partially side with htlong on this one. There is a huuuuuge span in socioeconomics in the neighborhood, but I can say if you stop in the library after school lets out some of those kids are quite obnoxious. And not to be elitest, but I think a lot of the teen-young adult driven street crime is mainly perpetrated by spillover from south of Exchange and east of Beck.

I definitely don't think any of those cases are the rule at all - the majority of teens and 20 somethings seem to do their thing and cause no / minimal trouble (City Data posters included!) Even the library goof offs, while obnoxious, seem to fall into this category.

But I do see where htlong may get his impressions of certain young people in the neighborhood.

[htlong]

well thank you for seeing where I am coming from,yes I am from a more innocent time frame of the sq. oh how nice it was to grow up in that era,I realize times and things change . but being a productive part of society,and having respect for others hasn't/or shouldn't have changed but it has.

yes I walked home from the bucket shop swerving to miss telephone poles,,the biggest risk I ran was getting a WWI (walking while intoxicated) not robbed or return to my house finding my STUFF stolen.

If I was to live under the rule of the Don and his henchman(city council) the square would be my very first choice. but I chose to seek the serenity of the country. good luck to y'all and fight the good fight!!!!

[CityGrrl77]

I guess it just initially sounded like you think the 20-somethings in the area now are failing and that all we hoodlums do is run amuck, causing chaos lol

Maybe I'm naive to it or I live on the good side of Highland Square but I've walked home with friends on several occasions from Annabelle's after they have closed and I've thankfully never experienced anything unpleasant nor have I ever come home to anything having been stolen from my apartment. Neither has anyone I've known that lives in the area. I have never once felt unsafe in HS - day or late night.

Maybe I just don't look like a target, I don't know, but it's kind of disturbing to me that people label the Square as being unsafe and unruly. (htlong Im not necessarily saying you have - this is just things I hear over and over again from some people). Minus the whole grocery store fiasco...I think that it's a great neighborhood. And the rowdy kids you may find at the library...first of all, they are kids - secondly, you will find that anywhere - not just the Square.

I'm guessing KSUsucks might say the same things I have above. Maybe it's our age range or something.

Htlong - I'm not saying that you are completely wrong - Im sure that it is way different now as opposed to the time frame you are speaking of. But, that's just it - times change - but it's really not as horrible as you may fear it to be.

[htlong]

ok guys...when I grew up there were "kids" hanging out on the library benches that created a worry for the residents way back when Marlon Brando was riding a MC. .....I am not wearing black knee socks with my wingtips and maddress SHORTS hollering "hey you kids ...get out of my yard"........YET !!!!!!!