http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_10_Issue_09.pdf
All
Funny on this cold, wet, rainy April day, I think back to the winter that everyone thought was too long, too rough and too bad, and think of the day it hit 103 on the First Federal Sign, and the summer events that will come with the heat. The Arts Festival, Summer MeltDown, Fourth of July Parade, and the Lakewood Car Kulture Show. With a smile, and a bead of sweat.
One of the things that makes Lakewood special are these affairs mostly started by private individuals who saw a need, had an idea, and made it happen. It is the culture of Lakewood. Thinking outside the box about things normally left within the box. While the City has not often if ever been able to think out of the box, the residents, who seem to be creative by nature, sure do a great job for them.
After all what do we really need from a city except SAFE and CLEAN? How far out of the box does one really need to think to deliver SAFE, CLEAN STREETS? Governments have been doing it for years. How hard is it to provide safe, clean homes? Our building department is at the ready to inspect homes being altered, but what about sold or rented? Bill Call started a thread on the Deck called “The Rent Is Too High,” an ode to NY Governor candidate Jimmy McMillan. But is it? If we are truly in one of the best suburbs/communities in the area, and again we are called that by the Scene, then our rent should be high, and our number one business in Lakewood, rentals, should be pushing us up in tax base, renters, and living. We need point of purchase, and maybe point of rental inspections. A friend moved here from Cleveland, and found her apartment to be one of the few available but disgusting for the price. They had looked at three other rentals in their range and found them dirty, cramped, no blinds, old paint, etc. This should never happen. We collectively work our asses off to get our brand up there, and a few bad eggs can ruin it so easily.
Likewise in our rush to make things happen in Downtown, maybe we should look at some of the existing structures. We had a death a couple years ago when a workman fell through a rough of the property he was working on. It had rotted. This week we had most of a great historic structure fall apart landing on a sidewalk nearly hurting a passerby. Had any one of a number of 50lb to a 100lb pieces landed on him, he would have been killed, as would anyone leaving the Shore, the Cleaners or other stores. This is not the first and it will not be the last, if we do not up our game, and start to look at the old structures, instead of salivating over new box stores with featureless buildings.
Yeah, by some odd alignment of the stars, the residents, the businesses, etc., Lakewood has arrived yet again as the prettiest girl at the dance. As Lakewoodites, we need to keep our looks and brand up. As a City we need to understand there is no need for desperation, it is a time for living, enjoying and saving for those rainy days when we might need a face-lift or a tummy tuck way down the road.
Lakewood I love you.