Lakewood hosts its State of the City

Nearly 200 Lakewood residents and community leaders gathered at The Centre on Feb. 22 for Mayor Steve Croft’s State of the City remarks and to hear additional details on public safety and new businesses coming to Lakewood from the city’s Public Safety Director Joshua Yordt and Community Development Director Abel Avalos.

The annual event is hosted by the city, the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Lakewood.

Attendees also saw the premiere of Lakewood CityTV's always informative and uplifting Annual Report video, which can be seen at www.lakewoodcity.org/SOTC

Many of the new restaurants and other businesses coming to Lakewood are described by Mayor Croft in his “Lakewood Today” column on page 2 of this Lakewood Community News.

In terms of public safety, Mayor Croft and Public Safety Director Yordt described how property crime across the nation decreased significantly during the pandemic, with people home more, but started to increase back to pre-COVID levels in 2022.

Despite that national trend, Lakewood’s overall Part 1 crime rate remained 19% lower in 2022 compared to five years earlier. However, auto thefts

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