The Observation Deck

July 5:2005

One hundred and forty-four persons have arrived on the Observation Deck.

As of this minute...

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Feel free to tell all a little (or a lot,) about your self, your world, your interests, your dreams, your concerns, your best wishes for Lakewood.

Our anthropological question is also fair game too:


What landed you in Lakewood and/or landed you here?

(You might have landed somewhere else, right?

I'll take the plunge:

My wife and I are new residents who ended up here partly by job-related accident/circumstance/serendipity.

However, let me shift ground on you: we've chosen Lakewood a "second" time after having gotten to know the community better, make friends, and come down with a case of that most infectious bug, "Lakewood Fever"--i.e. the contagious community pride here.

All of this helps confirm our original choice made somewhat blindly--or rather, made for a second, true choice following up our original guesswork.

I was born and have spent my life here, with the exception of 3 semesters away at college. Currently I'm finishing my B.A. in Urban Studies at CSU and work in the Import/Export business. My only definate future plan is to remain active in this community, until it falls asleep.

Because I truly believe that the grass is rarely greener, I've choosen to stay here. My bones are soaked with Lakewood's moist air. People are friendly here, and childhood in Lakewood was like growing up in a magical vacuum, it felt safe despite the popular pulse of fear otherwise dominating the American mind. In Lakewood the pulse of modernity beckons few, lest they move to Leakwood or expanding economies elsewhere.

I'm interested in the Observer because I'd like to see some of these traits continue to affect kind people in our little Yin City. Relavent,self directed news is essential. If we can preserve what is good, we'll have figured out how to deal with the rest.

I feel we have something special here in Lakewood, something worth fighting for. It's something we should be proud of. It's very human and decent, we have a coherent community. This is a rare thing.

OK

Born here, grew up here, spent most but not all of my adult life here. I have been trapped by the wealth of good friends, deep knowledge, and comfort that Lakewood now gives back to me.

I find it both interesting and refreshing watching those I grew up with take over the reins of the city and local businesses. I also find it invigorating finding people like Tom Powell-Bullock and John Crino that have chosen Lakewood over other American towns to move to.

While it can be argued that Cleveland has moved past its prime. I believe that Lakewood's best days are still ahead of us. Fresh Water, green space aplenty, and a core of residents that are dynamically involved in making the city better shows me a tremendous upside.

Now it is time for the residents to jump into what has been described as the Visionary Alignment and help to build the brand that will make Lakewood the new Berkeley or Chautauqua, and make it the city that people seek out to live, raise a family and or retire.

Jim

My father as well as his parents/aunts/uncles grew up in Lakewood, but my father and mother decided to move to a McMansion in the 'burbs to raise me. When I was a child, my dad took me on nostalgic visits through Lakewood, and I always wished I could grow up here, too. Now that I have a baby daughter (the coolest person I know, by the way) I want to give her that magical childhood experience my father had and that I longed for. There's no other city like Lakewood in the area. I'm proud of its front-porch feel, its diversity, its pedestrian nature...It's a wonderful place to be! (I just wish we could import milder winters, but I can't have everything...)

One more thing: I've found that if there's something more you want out of Lakewood, then you can work hard for it and create it. Dog park, skate park, school renovations, etc., if you have a vision for the city, get involved and make it happen! (Those of you whose visions include being judgemental or exclusionary, you can ignore what I just said.)

I grew up in San Diego. My parents moved here in '93, so in '95 my husband and I decided Lakewood seemed like a nice enough place to live. We loved our first double on Warren Road, we could walk everywhere which was great coming from west coast suburbia.

We have left Lakewood to move back out west twice, most recently four months ago, but we are drawn back to this city.

We came back to visit in mid-June and within 24 hours of being here we decided we just had to come back.

There are so many things I love about Lakewood. Mainly I love the hometown feel. People here are really some of the nicest I have met. I have always know my neighbors in Lakewood, which is so rare in this day and age.

I also love the Lakewood schools. I know that our test scores may not be as great as those of cities like Bay, but test scores are just a part of the picture. We have five children in the Lakewood schools, two children on the autism spectrum and one gifted student. I appreciate that Lakewood can educate all of them and quite well I might add. Our children are exposed to art, music and different cultures, all of which are missing from so many schools today.

And finally I feel safe here, I am not petrified that someone will break into my vehicles or home. I don't worry about letting my children play outside. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to raise my children here. Now I just have a house to sell in Arizona and the need for a new one here. Wish me luck.

I went to college at CWRU and my first time seeing Lakewood was my freshman year when friends of the family picked me up and took me to dinner at their home in Bay Village. I remember the drive along Lake Ave. thinking this was the prettiest city ever.

Then after I graduated and Don was still in college, we wanted an inexpensive but safe place to live. Lakewood was the choice. We had a beautiful old apartment on Lake and since have moved in Lakewood 3 additional times.

It is a perfect family city. Our children have taken advantage of the parks, the pools, Beck Center, the library. the recreation program. Plus, I can't imagine living someplace that I couldn't see the Lake everyday.

Lakewood is a perfect mix. I feel like I am living in a small city, but I have the resources of a major city next door, so when we want to go to the art museum, it is a short drive. Plus the people who live here are impressive too. It is a hybrid of urban and suburban living that I like.

Just HAD to resurrect this vintage 2005 thread, as it is filled with such pride, hope and optimism.

And I think we could use that again.

Fact is, I thought we'd try to continue it.

Any takers?

I'll start.

We're Bob and Gary Rice, Lakewoodites since 1958. We're a father and son team, both retired teachers, and are volunteers with the Lakewood Schools and the Office on Aging.

We write music too in our retirement. We've written marches for LHS, Garfield School and The Lakewood Catholic Academy. Dad wrote the "Harding March" quite a while ago for the school where he spent most of his Lakewood teaching years.

I write columns for the Lakewood Observer, Guitar Digest and formerly, Folknet's Continuum. I'm also know as "Guitar Guy Gary" for my work with the Rock Hall.

We moved here from Pennsylvania so that Dad would have a nice teaching job. We stayed here because Lakewood has so many small town amenities mixed with big city advantages. It continues to be close to so many of our shopping, medical, and social needs.

We treasure our many friends here. As we have no other family nearby, these friends have indeed become a great family for us.

This is classic.

I like Dan Slife saying "My only definite future plan is to remain active in this community, until it falls asleep."

And now we have more than 1100 users according to that total at the bottom!

15 years ago my wife and I (dissatisfied with where we were living) sat down with a map of the United States and a goal to find the best place to live. We started with the basics (schools, economy, diversity, activities, etc.) and started eliminating location after location. After more than a month of studying a multitude of cities and regions, we decided on Cleveland. And all it took was one exploritory trip through Lakewood to know WE WERE HOME!

I've traveled many places, but I can honestly say, there is NO OTHER PLACE ON THE PLANET that I would rather live.

My grandfather was born and raised here, until he joined the army in 1945. Although upon returning from over seas he did not come back to live in Lakewood, he worked at First Federal of Lakewood until 1985, when he retired. When my parents were looking for a place to raise a family they settled on Lakewood for its atmosphere and, most importantly, its schools.
I have lived my entire life here. Despite the 5 years I was in college in Toledo, which I came home from regularly, Lakewood was always my home. There has never been any doubt in my mind I would stay in Lakewood. I love to travel (I have been to 43 states, Canada, England, and soon France) but have always, and will always come back to Lakewood. Although I am only 23 I don’t see myself ever leaving.
I recently graduated with a B.A. in history and a B.E. in adolescent education (grades 7-12) in December, and for the first time in over five years I have been in Lakewood for more than 4 consecutive months. It has been a good feeling. So much has been happening in Lakewood over the last several years and it drove me nuts that I wasn’t here for it. Since coming home I have tried to reintegrate myself into the Lakewood community and get involved. I love this city and I want to be a part of it. We are going through so many changes and there are some many big ideas of what Lakewood should be. I want to watch and be a part of Lakewood as these things happen but I also don’t want them to change the identity of Lakewood. As a person who has a passion for history, though I like to see the city progress, I don’t want it to be at the price of its past. I want to make sure that the passed is preserved, that we are not tearing down our oldest or most beautiful buildings to put up a parking lot or a mall.
I am involved with the Observer, and the Deck, because when I was away at school it was a major lifeline keeping me connected to home. Because I want to keep up on Lakewood, make sure other Lakewoodites are also aware of what is happening in our city. And because it is a good place for people who love this city, although they might not agree, to share their ideas and dreams for it, discuss ways to accomplish them, and all around try to make a better Lakewood for tomorrow.

My family's origins, after coming from Europe, was, on my mom's side, Bird Town in it's beginnings, and on my dad's, Belmont Ave, in Cleveland (west side).

I was born, raised and buttered in Lakewood. I was a road musician for many years, playing trumpet, and keyboards, conducting, composing and arranging, but found that with all the cities, towns and burgs I had been in, I didn't like any of them as much as my home town.

I was also in a band that had some regional success, and a couple albums called Rastus, a 10 piece horn band back in the day of Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Tower of Power etc.

I too believe our city's future is bright and it's best days are yet to come.

I'm a LHS class of '68er, so you can do the math. I loved that high school too.

I used to own a two hair salons, also a detective agency but always played as a musician.

My toddler daughter will be part of our school system in another year, so I'm looking forward to all that goes with that too.

I have two grown kids, Mark Jr., and Shay, her kids too, and of course, love them just as much as anyone could. I only wish I could do more for all of them.

Mark Allan Crnolatas
In God We Trust

My husband and I are both western transplants. I grew up in San Diego and my husband in the Phoenix area. We moved here in 1995 as my mother had recently moved here and spoke highly of the area. Mike wanted a nice area to start and business and we both thought Lakewood would be a nice place to raise a family. We have twice moved away once to San Francisco for 18 months and once to the Phoenix area for all of 3 months. Both times we came back because this is home and this is the best place for our family. All five of are kids are currently enrolled in the school system. Mike has a good piano tuning business here and we both have a nice set of friends. My children really know only Lakewood as home. My mother and step-father also live in Lakewood which is great because the kids can see them whenever. I don't plan on ever living anywhere other than Lakewood. This city has everything we need and I love it.