The Things Have Changed Tour - Part 1

Today I woke up late, but still determined to go on a bike ride and do some photography. My goal was to travel through places that I know that have fallen victim to progress.  I hit about half of the locations I wanted to, but thats all the more reason to go out again soon and finish this “tour”

 
 

Of the locations I went to, I did stop at both Garnett and Coffinberry schools here in Fairview Park that some of you might remember from earlier posts here, here, here, etc… and on Flickr.  They now lay completely flat and empty as compared to back in December were they had some visual reference to what they used to be.  Instead now, they are only recognizable by their surroundings and soon to become locations for more housing.  It was a bit depressing to tread the territory because both had been two of 4 schools I progressed all the way through before moving in my youth.  

   

Moving on from those two places, was my stop at the new Westgate Shopping Center, which is now some what of an outdoor mall with big box stores like Lowes, Target, and Kohls.  It used to be similar to this in the 70s and later turned into an enclosed mall for another two decades until it fell into disuse and empty store fronts outnumbered the actual locations within the mall.  I used to spend quite a bit of time here too playing arcade games, so its passing was also noted. The new location though, seems to be nicer, semi-upscale in appearance and hopefully prepared to do well.   

 

It was an interesting adventure today though.  I met an older gentleman who referred to my bike as an “English Racer” and talked to me about random other things for about a half hour before I had to leave.  Cruised through other parts of the city and made plans for my next trip.  Part two will likely have me hitting other locations I used to frequent as well as some of the other newer places that have sprung up in the area. Check out the rest of the photos, and a few panorama’s I made of the Coffinberry and Garnett schools here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsthejameson/