Impressions from My Trip to Avon Lake

I began my trip on Sun., traveling West via the Mass Pike and New York State Thruway, and lodging in Williamsville, NY (near Buffalo) at a Microtel.

It is always an interesting experience to travel on the NYS Thruway. The small towns along the way show the signs of economic decline, evident to the point that the streetlights are dimmed with energy efficient bulbs and in many cases completely turned off. During the night, I traveled past many once familiar landmarks without notice.

In Williamsville, there was a spectacular thunderstorm over Lake Erie. The extremely high humidity caused conditions for all types of lightning displays; bright flashes diffused by the clouds along with direct strikes to the ground and even cloud to cloud jumps of lightening. The storms lingered over the lake. It was impressive to see.

In spite of the storms there was not much rain. However, when the rain began it pored as hard as I ever recall experiencing, coming strait down in large drops. The Japanese call this "gorilla rain." It lasted only 10 minutes just as I entered the motel parking lot.

On Mon. I arrived in Avon Lake. At first notice, the area is extremely dry with many lawns showing few green blades of grass. The roads and remaining open spaces around the Interstate 90 S.R. 83 interchange seem in perpetual construction. It is incredible that this retail center continues to expand when the prospects for sales are so low.

In both Avon and Avon Lake there are many signs indicating open land for sale. It is hard to believe that any of this land will sell soon. There seems to be as much competition to sell open land as to sell homes.

As I understand from conversations with a banker, many homes in Avon Lake are selling well below expected value. In one case a home thought to be worth $600k sold for around $450k. In another case, a home valued at $200k sold for $150k.

I visited with family and friends for a short time. Everyone is doing ok.

It is evident that business conditions in Avon Lake, a city of 18,000 people, are well below the pre recession peak. At the center of the city, a strip mall has many open storefronts. The anchor store remains empty.

The City of Avon Lake has refurbished the outdoor municipal swimming pool. It has water slides and a section with a simulated current. The High School football stadium added 1,800 new seats and artificial turf. The football coach stated that this is the best artificial turf in the state. There was much talk about the prospects for the football team.

I saw the team practice on Tues. morning. A wide receiver made a spectacular catch. Maybe A.L. will pass more than they run this year.

I began my return trip to NH on Tues., staying overnight in Syracuse.

During three days, I drove 1,500 miles.