Happy Birthday, City of Lakewood! (You're 100 Years Young!)
Lakewood's beautiful new library; a community centerpiece, blending Lakewood's past and future.
Here's something that, if I've heard it once, I've heard it more times than I can remember... I'll be talking with some Lakewood expatriate who is presently living in some expensive outer-ring suburb, with an expensive, acre-sized, professionally landscaped lawn, along with a beautiful expensive palace, with that obligatory 20 foot high, expensive cathedral ceiling in their equally expensive great room. Although I expect to hear them talking about their expensive in-ground pool and their gorgeous, expensive kitchen counter tops, both the conversation, and their memories, inevitably turn fondly back to Lakewood.
People really seem to miss living here. Don't get me wrong, moving "up and out" has historically been an integral part of the so-called "American Dream," and yet, moving "up and out" often begs the questions "where and why?" (particularly in the present economy). Three of the biggest reasons why I think people have left our city for the outer 'burbs were a) cheap credit, b) a desire for another bedroom, den, or bigger shop or garage, and c) a desire to get away from the intimacy required of residents in an inner-ring suburb. I believe that for these and perhaps other reasons, Lakewood did indeed lose a fair percentage of its population in the last 20 years or so.
No doubt about it, Lakewood's a fairly old town, with older housing and the usual contemporary urban issues. At the same time, Lakewood remains an incredibly pleasant place to live, with eclectic housing stock ranging from apartments and doubles, to well-built starter homes, to fine lakefront properties. The construction materials (bricks and timbers) used in Lakewood homes are probably as fine as have been used anywhere. Those old timbers in my basement, for example, will scarcely let me drive a nail into them. Older plaster and lathe walls and ceilings do have their problems from time to time, but at the same time, repairs can also be relatively simple for many of the problems that do crop up (or was that "crack up"?).
Some people are concerned with some of the materials used in older homes, but let's face it, not too long ago, there were concerned stories about some of those newer building materials as well. I suppose that it all boils down to exercising common sense precautions wherever one lives. Those of you fortunate enough to have original Lakewood woodwork that has not been painted over, certainly appreciate the gorgeous attention to beauty and detail that the carpenters finished off for you, sometimes a century or more ago. Other Lakewood homes have other surprises, like "secret stash" hiding places for valuables or for that once-illegal booze during the times of Prohibition. Some homes sit on, or over, the remains of tunnels that may well have carried slaves to freedom in the years before the Civil War.
Lakewood's business district is presently considered to be so cool and trendy that modern shopping centers all over the country are modeling faux city streets and small shop facades like ours while we continue to enjoy the real thing. Any number of newer planned communities attempt to recreate the front porch ambiance of our many Victorian neighborhoods. Our local businesses continue to be eclectic and interesting places, while a myriad of family restaurants and upscale eateries here attract people from around the world.
Perhaps best of all, we have a great assortment of business people, civic leaders, and wonderful citizens living here who have the desire, as well as the determination, to simply make things work, and work well too.
Lakewood's fine hospital, exemplary school district, and superb library system all contribute to the great quality of life around here, as do our exemplary police, fire, and city services.
It's when the holiday times arrive, however, that Lakewood really begins to shine. Perhaps it's my own age creeping up on me, but there seems to be a wave of real nostalgia sweeping this country, particularly since our nation's financial world started to shake up a few short years back. See, Lakewood is exactly the type of community so many people grew up in way back when. Quaint front porches and quiet, tree-lined streets, friendly neighbors and apple pies cooling on kitchen sills...all of those things evoke precious times--both then and now to so many of Lakewood's families. True, that pie might be microwaved these days, but you get the point, don't you? Our 4th of July's are REAL 4th of July's! Our Veterans Day celebrations will bring tears to your eyes. Spooky Pooch? Meet the Trucks? You name it, our holiday and special event lists can go on and on.
Truly though, it's the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons that so many people seem to remember best when they are thinking about Lakewood's past. Oh, certainly, these days, we'd want to be sure to include Chanukkah, Kwaanza, and other holidays from other faiths and traditions in these discussions, but it's that traditional period from Thanksgiving to Christmas that stirs the memory of so many of those Lakewood expatriates with whom I've so often spoke.
To be sure, no one with whom I've met particularly wants to talk much about this long cold spell that follows New Year's Eve. From New Year's to Valentines Day, and sometimes even into Easter time, our local landscape more closely resembles Antarctica than it does America. Still, Lakewood does generally avoid the brutal weather that so often wallops the higher elevations of the "snow belt" lying east of our city. True, Lakewood homes can sometimes be real adventures in the cold weather, in between those clanking steam radiators and those little mystery drafts that emanate from who-knows-where. But these homes, along with their occupants, have weathered many such winters, and I suspect that they'll weather many more.
When the talk turns to that time of year leading up to Christmas, however? Pure magic. There are tales upon tales told and retold about Lakewood's past Christmases. Once, Bailey's Department Store, at the corner of Warren and Detroit Avenues, was a magnet attracting all to the hustle and bustle of our little big city's central core. Those who might have been unwilling to brave the crowds and travel time involved going to downtown Cleveland had plenty of shopping right here in Lakewood to content themselves with. Even so, many great stores continue to be located in Lakewood, including a number of establishments that are still around from the old days. With the many new small businesses that have recently come to town, there's still plenty of shopping (and eating!) to do in Lakewood these days!
As Lakewood's centennial as an incorporated city has now arrived, Lakewoodites have much to be satisfied about. We have a very special, eclectic, and easy-to-get-around community here, that has been a comfortable home base for thousands of people for a great many years.
Happy Birthday, Lakewood! It's good to be home with you.