Lakewood Eyes New ‘Community Vision’

A lot has changed in Lakewood since 1993.

That was the last time the city a document that outlines the state of the city and provides an outlook for the future.

About 75 people attended the city’s first workshop to update that plan at the campus on Monday night.

“The work that was done in the 90s was the first attempt to articulate what’s important to Lakewood,” said Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development. 

“We’re going to build on that. We’re going to refine it, because the world has changed dramatically in 20 years.”

Back in 1993, the planning commission, along with residents, civic and business leaders identified four areas of concern to develop over a number of years, including the city’s image, housing, economic development and physical environment.

“There’s good content in there, but it’s expired,” Siley said noting that in 1993 the Internet wasn't even introduced to the masses yet.

The crowd was split into three groups, and each group rotated, addressing the three topics for the evening:

• What are your hopes for the future?
• What do you love about Lakewood?
• What worries you?

Each group visited each topic in an attempt to come up with fresh ideas.

Siley noted that each of the ideas would be posted on the city’s website.

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” Siley said. “We’re all very good at the typical process — that is the ‘what.’

“We struggle with articulating the why. The ‘why’ might be: We believe Lakewood is one of the finest communities in the country and we want to make it better.”

If residents missed Monday’s meeting, that’s OK. Additional meetings will be announced soon — possibly in late June — and they’re open to the public.