So ... what is a "Real Lakewoodite?"

[Jim O'Bryan]

Do I get to stay?

Jim

Well no you don't.

I am hoping no one wants anyone to leave. This is pushing the conversation to new levels
of intolerance.

An example: You go to Chicago, and have a beer at the Fallen Angel. Yeah it is nice, kind
of gaudy, statues are over the top. But? A real Chicagoan would know that it is Al Capone's
last speakeasy, and the only one to get licensed and survive. It that a crazy way to think?

A "real" native knows the lore, the lay of the land, the players, history, etc.

A simple technicality in wood usage and attitude that is always fun to kick around.

But on second thought, maybe the kid born in the house can stay.

.

[Thealexa Becker]

I've lived here my entire life and I don't know that much lore. I don't think that's a good pre-requisite.

And I don't know anyone who refers to Lakewood as "The Wood". And I'm under 25.

[Roy Pitchford]

Being a Lakewoodite, to me, is more a state of mind than something conferred based on birth, property ownership or length of time living within the city limits.

[Peter Grossetti]

Thealexa - you're obviously hangin' with the wrong crowd!

[Thealexa Becker]

I don't "hang" in Lakewood very often because I spend most of my year at school out of state. I guess by some people's definiton that must mean I'm not a Lakewoodite anymore, despite living in Lakewood since I was born.

And even when I was still in high school no one ever called it the "Wood".

Roy, I completely agree.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I don't "hang" in Lakewood very often because I spend most of my year at school out of state. I guess by some people's definiton that must mean I'm not a Lakewoodite anymore, despite living in Lakewood since I was born.

And even when I was still in high school no one ever called it the "Wood".

Roy, I completely agree.

Thealexa

While you might now the lore as well as say your mom and dad, I am sure you know enough
to get by. I think you also have a good feel for what is going on, even though you are
spending time out of state.

Peter is partially correct. The term wood really appeared here about 6 years ago. A term
used by a small group of 50-year-olds as part of a "branding exercise" that was started.
At the time "the established civic leaders" reeled in disgust over the term, originally
presented the first time as "in da Wood." There outcry was that it sounded "ghetto" and
we would be confused with "Collinwood. "Still the branding exercise sowed the seed which
has grown into part of the vocabulary, like many other terms in the Lakewood vocabulary.

Time? I know people that have spent their whole life here and still do not get what we
have here. I think getting it, and what we have is a big part of it. I think another part of
it is realizing you are in a very well established community, that has always attracted
50,000+ to our homes, schools and businesses. We have been able to sustain that in the
best of times and the worst of times. That realize that Lakewood is the best community in
the region and that is why they stayed, moved to or moved back to. That Lakewood does
not need to be Crocker Park, nor do we need to believe that Crocker Park was built after
seeing Lakewood. That we do not need to be Tremont, Collinwood, Cleveland Heights,
San Francisco, or even Freemont Washington. We can develop, own and build on our own
branding of living and lifestyle.

When this project first started, one of the early adopters of the term "da Wood" stopped in
and tried to get Lakewoodites to talk to help to define "The Lakewood Brand." The outrage
was massive, "How dare anyone try and why?" Well of course the reasons were very
obvious to those starting the discussion. Find out what you are, and who you are. From
that base you can see, what needs to be amplified outside of Lakewood, and what needs
to be tinkered with within Lakewood to keep residents and businesses here and to attract
like minded individuals to da Wood. Even when that simple idea was explained, people
were afraid it would be hijacked, and used for evil doing.

I find it mildly amusing that one who thought it was so foolish and wrong is now the
councilman from Ward 3, who is now presenting numbers in an effort to define and
describe the brand. In those discussion, as heated as they were, and as nasty as they
got, someone, and I forget who, came up with "Good Enough" but with the economy
and the world tanking, "Lakewood was good enough for now." You know it is funny that
even today when some people talk about the exercise the term "good enough" still lingers
as does the term, "da Wood." Kind of funny, fifty year olds coming up with "da Wood"
to get young people something to buy into brand wise, and 7 years later Peter explaining
to Thealexa, "in the wood" is used by the hip, cool young people. I guess, they were far
smarter than most give them credit for.

State of mind? I would hate to think this bruhaha started over one person state of mind!

For some historical perspectives on this, we must go back to 2005/2006 with this from our archives.

http://lakewoodobserver.com/deck/viewtopic.php?t=2723&highlight=wood+branding

* The Lakewood Brand, however it is described, and to be honest I think the group
originally set to define it came up with a couple great definitions, should not be confused
with "The Lakewood Way," which is a term to describe how much of what goes on here
gets done.


FWIW


.

[Matthew Lee]

IMHO, as someone who was not born here but has purposely moved to Lakewood on two different occasions from out of state (once in 1995 and has now been a proud resident since 1999), a true Lakewoodite is not defined by knowledge of lore but as someone who embodies the spirit of Lakewood and wants to ensure it retains it charm.

Ah, but there's the rub. What exactly IS the spirit of Lakewood? I imagine it is different for all types of people, but for myself (and my family) we pride:

* Walkability
* Fantastic public schools (which, by the way, are severely under-rated in the Cleveland area)
* Affordable, quality housing
* Diversity
* Local/Regional establishments where we can shop/eat
* Safe neighborhoods
* Community events
* Good library (although I still prefer Rocky River's library as it is a bit more "homey" than the new big-box one in Lakewood. JMHO.).

The list will be different for others, but those are what my family and I look for in a community and as of now, Lakewood does a darn good job providing it.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Matthew

A great list to start with.


But the overall question Peter asks, remains unanswered. "What is a real Lakewoodite?"

Funny was speaking with some others about this today, and an interesting observation
was made. If you go anywhere in the world and say, "He was a real New Yorker..." You will
get smiles, and nods. Yet "real Lakewoodite" draws criticism and scorn?

Love these topics.


.

[Charlie Page]

What is a real Lakewoodite?

The answer, if there is one, is dependent on one’s perspective. If you’ve been here since birth then lore, longevity and the like are used in the definition. If you’ve moved here then owning property, committed come to mind.

To me a real Lakewoodite is someone who “lives” (in every sense of the word) in Lakewood, not just merely exists in Lakewood. Someone who’s proud to say they’re from Lakewood (and says it with a smile on their face). Someone who doesn’t give a damn about all the stereotypes over the last 30 or so years. That’s a real Lakewoodite, to me anyway.

I don’t buy into all that Lakewood branding talk. It doesn’t work. It’s like giving yourself a nickname. When it’s forced it doesn’t work. It has to be because it is, not because some group wants it to be.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I don’t buy into all that Lakewood branding talk. It doesn’t work. It’s like giving yourself a nickname. When it’s forced it doesn’t work. It has to be because it is, not because some group wants it to be.

Charlie, don't get caught up int the hype of the "buzz word" because "branding" is a necessary
evil of today. 1) Define the Brand. All it means is finding out why people came here, and stayed here.
It is simply a quick punchline like lobster. I went out on a date and she ordered the lobster.
Meaning an expensive date. When Lobster is rarely the most expensive thing on a menu. It
hurt like a root canal. With modern medicine there is no pain in root canal work. But a simple
punchline for something far to complex to explain.

Once a brand is defined, you can then realistically look at changing it, or building on it. It
seems only common sense to try to define why we are all here, and from what that is, and
what Lakewood delivers, go looking for "like minded" people that would appreciate
Lakewood

.

[Charlie Page]

Charlie, don't get caught up int the hype of the "buzz word" because "branding" is a necessary
evil of today. 1) Define the Brand. All it means is finding out why people came here, and stayed here.
It is simply a quick punchline like lobster. I went out on a date and she ordered the lobster.
Meaning an expensive date. When Lobster is rarely the most expensive thing on a menu. It
hurt like a root canal. With modern medicine there is no pain in root canal work. But a simple
punchline for something far to complex to explain.

Once a brand is defined, you can then realistically look at changing it, or building on it. It
seems only common sense to try to define why we are all here, and from what that is, and
what Lakewood delivers, go looking for "like minded" people that would appreciate
Lakewood

.

I guess I was confusing the naming of the “Wood” so as to appear cool with actual branding. You can tell I’m no marketing genius.

You ask 50,000 people why they are here and you’re likely to get as many answers. We’re all here for different reasons. It’s very hard to try and distill into a brand recognizable by all. You’d end up with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (something that needs a lot of explaining).

Matthew Lee has some great points why he is here, and I agree with every one of them. However, I moved here in my twenties and didn’t give a hoot about much of his points back then. I was single and working in downtown Cleveland, so night life and commute were important. My needs evolved as life happened so now I value good schools, library, etc. That’s why it’s tough to define a brand. It's a moving target.

[Will Brown]

When I was young, we lived on the west side of Cleveland, close enough to Lakewood to have some familiarity with it. The kids I grew up with did not have a flattering view of Lakewoodites; we thought them sissified and insular. It seemed that Lakewoodites were afraid to leave Lakewood, other than to commute to work.

We moved to Lakewood, and I didn't think it was much different than where we lived in Cleveland. But I did note that my friends in Lakewood wouldn't go along if I was going to somewhere outside of Lakewood, especially in Cleveland or the east side; they were willing to venture into Rocky River.

I think there is still a lot of insularism among Lakewoodites. We seem to want to stay in Lakewood, even when there is something better (a restaurant, a concert, a show) outside of Lakewood. And we seem almost afraid to go downtown or to the east side.

I'm not saying we shouldn't work to maintain and improve Lakewood, but many of us are unwilling to look at Lakewood realistically. This constant whining when the state or county has the temerity to fund something outside of Lakewood, or a business or institution chooses to locate a new facility outside of Lakewood, is tiring. We should be more realistic about our being a parasite. We are not alone and isolated. We are basically a bedroom community, and like any parasite, our health depends on the health of our host. We should celebrate the corridor project, which is bringing new life to an area that was near death, and makes it safer and more convenient to get to some of the major institutions around University Circle.

We travel a lot, and when people ask where I'm from, I say Cleveland, not Lakewood. Cleveland is known around the world; Lakewood isn't even known to a lot of people in Cuyahoga county.

I think Lakewood has never had a lot of business activity; we've had mostly shops that are largely of a neighborhood character. I suspect that many of the shops we have now are viable only in the current environment where there is a glut of space, and rents are relatively low. So I think we should concentrate our efforts on maintaining and improving our neighborhoods. Instead of hoping in vain that some solar panel manufacturer will move into one of the blank spots on Detroit, perhaps we should encourage residential development to take advantage of our location, our transportation facilities, and our good city services.

[Gaby Smith]

I've lived in Lakewood my entire life with the exception of college and I can't imagine living anywhere else. Lakewood isn't just a suburb of Cleveland, it is a real community with character and appeal and not some carbon-copied development. It is the reason I was able to remain a pedestrian until after graduating college; everything is in walking/biking distance. I love that there are so many types of people here, be that diversity in race, religion, and/or ethnic background. I feel connected to my city and proud to have been raised here and I often wonder if residents of suburbs like Avon and Westlake feel the same.

[Stan Austin]

Sounds like Gabby is a Harding type of gal

[Gaby Smith]

Haha actually, when I was growing up, Harding was considered a "rough" school so even though it was only up the street from me, my mom made us go to Horace Mann instead.