The Observation Deck

I love Lakewood!

But I’m starting to wonder how much City Hall is paying folks to get on these Top 10 lists.

See Lakewood Named in Top 10 ‘Best Small Cities to Retire to in America’ at http://www.onelakewood.com/News.aspx?NewsID=360.

I believe that Lakewood is among the Top 10 of many things … but a retirement destination is not one of them.

I hope that all the tweets from City Hall doesn’t mean that they actually believe that Lakewood really is a Top 10 retirement destination.

According to City Hall:

The website used five criteria to measure the best places to retire: cost of living; crime rate; weather (average summer temperature and air quality); ease of travel (distance to nearest international airport); retiree amenities per capita (healthcare, senior centers, adult education, dining, shopping, libraries, arts & entertainment).

Cost of living?

Crime?

Weather?

Ease of travel?

Retiree amenities per capita?


As an aside, with all these Top 10 rankings, why do “City Hall and Friends” believe that Mike Summers is doing so poorly that he needs replaced with a city manager?

I thought that "award" was pretty interesting given that during the West End debacle we were repeatedly told that empty nesters and the elderly moved out if Lakewood because it did not have the type if housing they wanted or needed; basically, one floor ranch style homes. So now, with no change in housing, we suddenly are a desirable place to retire?

Affordable? All we heard was "our taxes are too high - we're driving people away!"

Yet now we are an affordable, desirable place to retire? Hmmmm.

Matt

I beliive we are getting on these lists without paying, I have found more "real journalists" to
be lazy and love copying other people work. One of the last "real" journalists I ran into
lectured me while copying out of the Observer, that he knew the difference between
plagiarism and real journalism, he was just using the story as a base for the story he was
rewriting errrr writing.

One is funny is that Lakewood was geared 100% for the elderly, but Ed FitzGerald and
had stripped away many of those benefits and perks when they gutted the Health Dept.
and dropped many programs that had to go volunteer or die. After all when you come from
a Republican mindset, raising taxes comes waaaaaayyyyyyy down the lists of things to do.
Asking residents to drag trash to the street, not park on the street, closing parks early,
and skipping plowing comes farther up the list. And making sure our seniors were safe and
healthy went early in the program to make sure you NEVER run for reelection on raising taxes.

I ran into some non-elected city officials the other day at the WestEnd, and they were
giddy that McKinley, a good dry school with little maintenance was being turned into
single floor living, that "people" are already lining up for. I found the comment odd as
there was no plan, and as I have always said, single floor plays ways with the elderly
"power brokers" but is a dead end for a city trying to stay vibrant with schools and facilities
for young families.

I am all over, and Lakewood is certainly one of the best. Someday maybe City Hall will
quit the Bullshit Hype and learn, running this city is easy if you don't screw it up with
personal agendas for friends and business associates. That working in Lakewood is not
a step to something better down the road. But in trying to make a name for themselves
they have started to puch the jewel called Lakewood over the hill and on to the slippery slope.

.