The Time Is Now

With the economy the way it is, and gas prices over $4.00 per gallon, Lakewood is uniquely positioned to be the city of choice for anyone interested in improving his or her standard of living. Close to downtown Cleveland, blessed with two Rapid stations, on the bus line, on Lake Erie, a walking community with excellent schools -- need I go on?

If we, as Lakewoodites, were a business, we’d be marketing the heck out of ourselves. Marketing to all those people who moved to the outer ‘burbs; all those people squeezed by increased costs of fuel and every day necessities; young professionals working in Cleveland and trying to make every dollar count; families needing a better cost of living and wishing to live in a community-based city. Who would have thought that an inner ring suburb would become so attractive?

Now is the time for Lakewood’s administrators to craft a marketing plan aimed at those people; a marketing plan that spells out the value of Lakewood -- value as those people will see it.

It is said that people buy because of pain -- pain they want to be rid of. I’ve touched only the surface of the solutions Lakewood presents to all those pains being felt by so many.

My wish for this city is that the various powers (City Council with the Mayor, Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, MAMA, DADA, Lakewood Cares, the Board of Education, Lakewood Alive, and others) band together and create a “Lakewood is THE Place To Be” movement that capitalizes on the current economic tides.