Want To Plan A Block Party? This Workshop Will Tell You How

Cook Avenue block party, 2024

Block parties are part of the culture of Lakewood. Growing up in Parma where they weren’t as common, I daydreamed what it would be like to have open streets for a day, committed to neighbors having fun, however they defined it. 

So when I moved to Cook Avenue in Lakewood in 2020, I wanted to make it happen–except it was much more logistically challenging than I expected. We hadn’t had a block party on our street in more than 25 years, which meant we had to do a street survey to make sure people wanted a block party. And the survey had to show that 75 percent or more of residences said “yes.” 

We had more than 115 residences on our street–including several three-family homes. How was I going to achieve that, even if I enlisted other neighbors to help?

This is one of the many questions I want to demystify at the free workshop “How to Plan a Block Party in Lakewood,” May 6, 2025, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Lakewood Public Library main branch. Because yes, I eventually figured out a solution, and we had an awesome first block party. But it took way too much time and personal energy to get it off the ground.

Block parties should remain part of the Lakewood culture (there’s evidence that communities with community gatherings like block parties have lower crime rates). This workshop aims to cement it by sharing best practices from streets like mine and providing a step-by-step guide with everything from hosting a planning meeting to enlisting city resources.

For more information and to register, visit http://bit.ly/4jmcAFM.

Kaitlin McCready is a communications and marketing consultant. She proudly lives on Cook Avenue with her husband and two kids.