Local history: What did we like about Akron in 1978?
Like it or not, some things never change.
In 1978, the Akron Beacon Journal invited readers to answer three questions:
• What do you like about Akron?
• What do you dislike about Akron?
• What should be done to make the Akron area a better place in which to live and work?
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Hundreds of people flooded the newspaper with notes about their hometown.
When we read the responses today, we detect several that sound strangely familiar. Others sound like they originated in a faraway land.
Did Akron really have that much of a problem with roaming dogs? How soon we forget.
Let’s return to 1978 to see what’s on people’s minds:
Like: Friendly people. Most I have met are good neighbors.
Dislike: The dogs run the streets too much.
Ideas: Enforce the law better on all crimes that are committed in Akron and the suburbs. — Maurie J. Crews, Akron
Like: It’s usually nice and green in summer.
Dislike: It has lousy weather in winter.
Ideas: Build more parallel roads and bridge Memorial Parkway. Open up all of Akron with easier ways to get around. — Angelo DeVitis, Akron
Like: The park system and Highland Square.
Dislike: So-called “leadership” and crime.
Ideas: Get a new mayor. — Vanda A. Ilijevich, Akron
Like: The general public!
Dislike: Too many crazies, drunks and drug addicts.
Ideas: Dry up the whole town. Shut down all the bars and liquor stores. Enforce a new curfew. — Peter A. Teofilo, Akron
Like: Cultural life, bus service, Polsky’s and O’Neil’s.
Dislike: Ugly old buildings, air pollution, some dangerous expressway entrance lanes.
Ideas: Improve traffic and free parking situation; improve neighborhoods; build a few museums, planetarium and public observatory; try to attract clean industries; keep improving Metro. — Ernest Mayer, Akron
Like: I would have to think awfully hard and very long.
Dislike: The dirty littered streets. The free-running dogs and the noise they make at night. The dark expressway.
Ideas: Light the expressways, and to save on energy, close the shops and malls on Sundays. Fine sloppy citizens strictly and enforce legislation concerning dogs. — Mrs. J.A. Heilman, Akron
Like: The police. They’re not always on time, but they put an end to crime.
Dislike: Re-electing the same mayor year after year.
Ideas: We have to put an end to the cycle of industries’ beginning in Akron, turning into industrial giants and then moving away — causing many people suffering. — Phenon A. Reese, Akron
Like: Beacon Journal, the restaurants and South Main business district.
Dislike: Rough roads, police and closing of the big bridge.
Ideas: Finish the Innerbelt. Get rid of labor unions. Replace North Main viaduct. Elect more Republicans. — Richard Gibbs, Brunswick
Like: Good record of achievement and potential.
Dislike: Dirt and some pockets of prejudice.
Ideas: Educate our people to produce quality products, in trade schools, the universities and the newspapers. — Charles E. Hartley, Akron
Like: People!
Dislike: Litter on the streets, parks and highways. Air pollution.
Ideas: Let people live the way they want as long as they aren’t hurting anyone else. The people should be heard when they feel something or someone has treated them unjustly. Put a union in every job. — Jeanette Belair, Akron
Like: Size of city and ease of getting around town.
Dislike: Air pollution; ramps on expressway.
Ideas: Improve housing stock; clean up litter; control packs of dogs running loose. — Cynthia Robinson, Akron
Like: It isn’t Cleveland.
Dislike: No good zoos or museums other than the Akron Art Institute.
Ideas: Repair the streets and plow them instead of loading them with salt. — Joan Staehle, Cuyahoga Falls
Like: Family, relatives and friends. Convenient location and shopping.
Dislike: Dirt, neglect of good neighborhoods, littering, “don’t care” attitude of people, and billboards.
Ideas: Never mind new buildings; clean up, repair and maintain existing business places and residential areas. Billboards need to be removed. — Regina Gumpl, Akron
Like: Its new buildings, buses and shopping centers. Its parks.
Dislike: The dirty, ugly part of downtown Akron.
Ideas: Clean it up. Rebuild the old part of the downtown area. Make more parks with bike trails. Cut down on air pollution. — Kally Mavromatis, Akron
Like: Nothing.
Dislike: The school system and highway system.
Ideas: The school system should be improved. The same with the highway system. Both stink. — Rob Galloso, Silver Lake
Like: Everything. Made a good living here. Raised a family and educated them here.
Dislike: The snow job the rubber companies have given the press and the politicians they hold in their pocket.
Ideas: Change things so that when people drive into Akron they will feel management and labor are trying together to make it the best city in the U.S.A., and there are no slums. But maybe that cannot be. — Harry R. Snider, Akron
Like: The people in government, business and the man in the street.
Dislike: Lack of parking and the downtown one-way streets.
Ideas: More recreation for the young. More places to swim. More for the elderly and a setup for doctors to visit the elderly and shut-ins at a low price. — Betty Wise, Akron
Like: Its hills and lakes, its natural beauty.
Dislike: Ugly wires and poles, garish signs.
Ideas: Having a beautiful Summit Lake in the heart of town offers Akron the unique opportunity of developing the area as a state or national park to attract tourism and convention business. Great ski slopes and swimming — hotels overlooking lake. — Robert H. Jones, Norton
Like: Location.
Dislike: There is no place for youth to get together without spending a lot of money.
Ideas: Clean up the downtown! Clean up streets and sewers that breed rats. Get the able-bodied on welfare to help clean up. Better snow removal next year. — J.R. Linderman, Lakemore
Like: Metro parks, golf courses, Portage Lakes.
Dislike: Dirt, grime, rundown neighborhoods, untidiness of yards and buildings.
Ideas: Put the idle people to work cleaning up the streets and lawn. Fine people who throw papers and bottles on streets. — Helen Hess, Akron
Like: Having been born and raised here, I thought Akron had beautiful historical areas and at one time was lovely.
Dislike: However, with all the politics in the government, the loss of jobs, high taxes and no more to offer than they have, it’ll be a ghost town.
Ideas: Reduce taxes; get back jobs; encourage us to take pride in city of beautifying; be proud instead of bleeding the public. — C.R. Vanderveen, Akron.
Like: Metro parks and bicycle paths.
Dislike: Crime, dirty corners, rotten drivers and driving too fast.
Ideas: Bicycle lanes on street sides and enforcement. — Hans Ropers, Akron
Like: I was born and raised here.
Dislike: The chuckholes on the streets. They ruin our cars and it costs us to fix it.
Ideas: Use some of the taxes and really fix the chuckholes. Find more jobs for the people who will work. — Judith C. Friend, Akron
Like: Optimistic, friendly people — helpful, intelligent.
Dislike: Doggy-doo on streets, unsynchronized traffic lights.
Ideas: People should be motivated to have pride in the appearance of downtown as it is. (Where is the main post office? Not very easy to find.) — Alice L. Lawrence, Akron
Like: Only the space I occupy.
Dislike: Everything — from [Mayor John] Ballard to chuckholes.
Ideas: Level it and start over! — George Popowitch, Akron
Like: Akron U, school system.
Dislike: Chuckholes, mayor’s underlings, etc.
Ideas: Make a set speed limit in the city, 25, 30 or 35 mph only. On communications: We need another newspaper. — R.W. Ray Sr., Akron
Like: Only my fine neighbors.
Dislike: Garbage collection system, street cleaning system.
Ideas: Stop buying expensive equipment and use hand equipment to clean up some of the crap along our streets and hire some good dog catchers. — John Chernisky, Akron
Like: That it is not as slum-ridden as other major cities.
Dislike: The apathy of citizens toward citizen and community.
Ideas: Continued growth, maintenance, security, and continued effort at equal law enforcement. — R.E. Shaw, Akron
Like: Kenmore.
Dislike: Expressway system, litter and poor snow removal.
Ideas: The unemployed should be given jobs cleaning our parks and streets. — Ruth McKeel, Akron
Like: Akron U, Thomas Hall, shopping centers and Quaker Square.
Dislike: Downtown seems dirty; being afraid to walk by myself after dark.
Ideas: Educate people to be human beings — when I see trash anywhere except where it should be, I don’t like it; people who are too lazy to take back the shopping carts to the correct place. — Ruth Hinebaugh, Clinton
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Like: Friendly people, cultural activities, courteous merchants and park system.
Dislike: Leash law not enforced and dogs are a menace and health hazard; taste of water; air pollution.
Ideas: Enforce leash law! Continue to support cultural arts and restoration of downtown area such as Quaker Square and Civic Theatre. Encourage neighborhood renewals such as Highland Square. — Bill and Lorraine McCue, Akron
Like: Akron has the means to be the best city in the world.
Dislike: Too much trash thrown out on the streets.
Ideas: Clean up the trash. Reconstruct old urban areas. Bring in new industries and allow for more research and development. — James R. MacDonald, Akron
Like: Clean air, few traffic jams, no large crowds and lots of parks.
Dislike: No civic pride. Dirt and rubbish lying around forever.
Ideas: Public attempts at picking up litter. Mowing empty and city lots in summer. Waving and smiling a little more at your neighbors, all of them, and more courtesy behind the wheel of your car. — Joe Currier, Akron.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What did we like about Akron in 1978?
