I love Lakewood. It's a great city. We have an honest mayor who has the welfare of the town in his heart; kind of a phenom, isn't it?

Our police, fire and EMS departments are all second to none and we have a congressman, Dennis Kucinich, who chose Lakewood for his Congressional district office site with a staff whose reason for being is constituent service.

Our Division of Aging is the jewel of the county -- and believe me the county knows it. I've served on county agency boards that are concerned with senior matters. Sometimes the subject of a new senior service to be offered to communities comes up. Very often someone on the board says "well, we don't have to worry about giving the service to Lakewood -- they already have it".

I love driving down Clifton Boulevard and seeing moms pushing their little ones in strollers with their dog in hand.

We're close to our beloved Lake Erie with all her moods.

We're minutes from the Metro Park where I rode my horse as a kid and where I often walk my dogs.

Now, I admit the parking situation is a little iffy and takes some ingenuity. But we're up to it.

Oh, I know. Rocky River has their beautiful manicured lawns, Westlake has many rich people, Fairview has a huge shopping center with plenty of parking and Bay Village is, well, Bay Village.

But as for me, I'll take Lakewood -- and historic Bird Town, our beautiful park, our lake, our trees and best of all our diversity.