We are all aware that Lakewood has some serious issues that need to be dealt with. Lakewood is at a crossroads. It is not the small town it used to be. After the 2010 census numbers become available at the end of this year, it will most likely show a population of 100,000 plus residents. This will classify it as a city. There is a slight problem with that.
Cities normally have something to offer, not just to residents but non-residents and tourists as well. As much as people don’t like to hear it, Lakewood does not have much to offer at all. Yes, it offers all amenities to the Orthodox Jewish people living in Lakewood, it offers nothing else for the rest of the populace in and around Lakewood. There is nothing wrong with having all amenities needed for the Jewish community but a city will not thrive on all ends if nothing else is offered.
Crime is high and Lakewood has a very bad reputation in New Jersey. I certainly believe this can be changed but people have to be willing.
While its all well and good that its a thriving Jewish community, there is also a thriving gang community. I am sure everyone agrees that Lakewood would do well without gangs. One way to reduce gangs is if Lakewood has things to offer to non Jewish people.
Lakewood is very centrally located, near major roads like Route 9, Garden State Parkway, 195, the beach. Its an ideal location for commuter and tourists alike. As many of you know, Lakewood used to be a vacation spot for the rich and famous. At this point, Lakewood has a lot of Jewish stores and eateries etc… None of which non jews patronize so theres no need for a non jew to shop here.
One attraction i believe would benefit Lakewood as a whole would be to offer a Zoo. This has done Cape May very well. There is a free zoo in the county park and that brings people who in turn spend the day in Lakewood and would patronize area merchants. They may not shop Orthodox stores but other businesses would move in catering to the rest of the area. This in turn would make Lakewood more desirable and people would move in. People with children and families, not gangs. Crime would go down and the quality of life would improve very much so. There are many things people can do to make this happen.
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why do you feel that non orthodox people cannot patronize our stores? Our food is delicious and quality of clothing top rate! This is and insult! And by the way how would a zoo get rid of the gangs?
His point is if you attract people to lakewood to live and visit, eventually the gangs will move on to another dead town.
Its a good idea and we need more like them.
If the town went up to 100,000 people and became a city then you will be faced with a huge increase in taxes, mainly for 2 reasons.
1- The town will require many more officers on the police force with their high salaries, pensions, & health cost.
2- An around the clock paid fire department with their high salaries, pensions, & health cost.
I highly doubt that a zoo would attract people to move. Are you looking to move to the Bronx?!
Beside many outsiders already think that Lakewood is a Zoo.
A major thing that most middle class families look for when considering a move is the local public school and the cost of housing.
The guy that figures out how to fix those two important details probably costs too much for this town (city?)!
Also other services will need to be increased – trash pick,snow plowing, EMS personnel, hositpal services, sewer and water and road maintenance. Also increases in traffic, school busses and day laborers. It’s a vicious cycle leading to higher taxes. Yes more federal money becomes available, but in the end it’s still our money. Their is a cost to everything.
#1, I am not jewish and I agree with the writer. I would not shop in a place that is mainly catering to the jewish community (clothing store, eatery) simply because I would feel out of place. I am also unfamiliar with the products. I do not mean this as an insult in any way. The same is true for any store that caters to any specific heritage, ethnicity, culture, etc.
well we do need attractions in lakewood. like you said, it’s become a city and still growing. if lakewood builds a zoo then that would be awesome. but not just a zoo. maybe a museum too.
it would be nice if lakewood had places like that to do.
Have you ever been to Turtle Back Zoo? It’s run by Essex County- it’s wonderful!
That is the greatest idea build a zoo. Just like Cape May. That zoo is free except for donations. Do you think we would get enough donations to support it? I think not. Gee we built a baseball stadium and everyone complains about that. If you build a zoo and it is free with vol. workers will you complain that there are to many workers there if it dosent show a profit. Lakewood has enough just get rid of the trash.
Do you remember when Bob Singer was saying that if we build a ball park, it will rejuvenate the town because everyone who comes to the games would then shop in Lakewood????????
And now we all hate Bob Singer for wasting taxpayer dollars…………..
Why is a zoo different? It would cost million$ to build, million$ to maintain annually, and none of the zoo-visitors would shop in Lakewood anyway.
And then in five years we will all gang up on the Town Committee members who voted for this stupid idea.
You worry about the gangs……… There are many neighborhoods in lakewood that used to be gang-infested, and today are safe, thriving neighborhoods with young families.
It can be done all around lakewood. All it takes is a few pioneers to move into neighborhoods, lower property prices, and a good attitude, and in a few more years there won’t be any more gangs in Lakewood. We don’t need to spend more of our tax-dollars on stupid ideas.
Re #1. The only reason non jews or non frum jews (like myself) do not patronize your stores is due to the weird looks and stares we get from people running and shopping the stores. Trust me, I would like to find a good falafel in the area but its the alienation that keeps me and the rest of the world away.
Let’s see:
1) Georgian Court University (with a museum and arboretum on campus)
2) The Strand Theater
3) FirstEnergy Park and the Blue Claws
4) Lakewood Airport
5) 3 Golf courses
6) Ocean County Park, and nearly 20 additional parks/playgrounds
That’s a quick compilation from the Lakewood Township web site. Not bad for a Township – or small city.
Perhaps the issue is not facilities, but mind-sets. How much effort is being made to make the facilities appeal to all? How much effort is being made to integrate use of facilities and Jewish-owned business by all portions of the community?
My visits to Lakewood have left me with the impression of a split community. “Us” and “them”. That doesn’t work for overall growth, it only works for blame and division. No one says that full integration is necessary, however, a concerted effort to work as a single community will yield better overall results for everyone involved, and allow for Lakewood to become the city it deserves to be.
The Cape May Zoo is in located within the County Park. The Same could be done with Lakewood. Ocean County Park is just about the size of Cape May County Park. The Cape May Zoo is one of the nicest Zoos that i have been to. Nicer than any paying Zoo in New York or Philadelphia. A Zoo is a big attraction for adults and children alike. Along with attractions come improvements. Say a zoo opened in the ocean county park, stores and other improvements would be done to route 88, which we all know is not very attractive. Its inevitable. A major attraction like a zoo brings merchants and other nice things for a town
What it really takes to rid Lakewood of the crime gang infested areas is a commitment by landlords to stop renting their properties to this element not a zoo. For years Lakewood has turned a blind eye to the illegal practices of landlords. What has transpired is the crime and gang activity that these rentals have brought to this town. I don’t have a solution on how to fix this problem as there is no incentive for these investors to act responsibly. They are under the impression that they are insulated from the problem because they don’t live in the direct areas that they invest in. What they are missing is that it is a short bike ride or drive away from their homes and it will affect them very soon if it hasn’t already. But the investments have been made, the market is a down and there is no way that you will convince them to do anything different as long as the rental money comes in… sad to see the beautiful town that I moved to almost 30 years ago descend to the graffiti, crime ridden streets that I left in New York. Mazal Tov!
How many millions of tax dollars will be necessary to build and maintain a zoo?
the writer is obviously not a lakewooder and does not know about the disaster which is the blue claws stadium which she would like to replicate with a “zoo”.
Great idea to talk about a zoo Parshas Noach!
In all seriousness, most of the responders are speaking from ignorance. This is something that should be left to the people in the know, probably the Township Committee. Maybe we should encourage Mayer Lichtenstein, Menashe Miller and Steve Langert to get on the case and advise us (appropriately and truthfully) of the implications of becoming a city, what we will need to improve out position, etc.
Yes, that means we are putting ourselves at the will of the politicians. Welcome to America, but we did vote them in. Now they need to provide for us their expertise.
Remember we also had a chance to build a hockey arena on land that now site vacant. That would have been used opposite the baseball season, and when not being used as a hockey rink, could be used as an indoor arena, and facility. But because it too would not have been used by the community it was vetoed. We also have an industrial park that sits almost empty, filled with various schools. Who wants to bring in a business when the place is scattered with buses and cars all day, not exactly where I want my kid to spend his days. So I agree that something big in town would help, and now at the countries most harrowing economic times we need to hold onto what we already have in place and help that flourish. Want to see animals drive into Jacksons six flags safari for a few hours.
One of the reasons the stadium did not bring revenue to Lakewood businesses is that most people do not travel through Lakewood to get to the stadium. What is needed is a mall near the stadium. There is a reason a huge mall is located near Great Adventure although at this point I don’t think it needs Great Adventure to attract people.
I don’t think a zoo is the answer, Where would you locate it ? Certainly nowhere near the business area. Also, there is Popcorn Park not far away. A science museum might be an idea, but I am sure that is quite expensive.
Great idea #18- there’s plenty of space near the stadium for a mall or outlet center
What about Lancaster approach? Amish is a major tourist attraction. We can show them ourselves for money.
Why don’t we just give up and build the “Gang Hall of Fame”… Hey we can be the next Cooperstown!
well said num !!. I am not trying to offend anyone but this town is divided, plain and simple. Non jews do not shop in jewish stores because they are not welcome. people can argue that they are but the stares and talks and calling your kids once they start talking to our kids says otherwise. United we stand divided we fall that applies for lakewood also. If we cant change this and come together lakewood will fall. We better put our heads together and figure out how we can all live as one and still express our own personal religions.
I’d rather have a zoo than a stadium, but, do you think it will be a major attraction to outsiders? It will probably be full of Yidden on Chol hamoed and vacation days, not an attraction for others. Why do the gangs stay here? They should be run out of town.
P.S. I moved here from the city because I didn’t want to live in a city. Do I have to move again if I want to live in a town?
As of right now there only thing in Lakewood that draws outside visitors is the blue claws stadium. The Township needs to redraw up their contract with the team. $25,000 a year is a joke, the blue claws make that just in parking fees in 5 games.
Time and time again the issue of the stadium not making money
comes up and time and time again I have to read the uninformed
comments. I read several comments suggesting putting in shopping
plazas and malls, well guess what….that was the original plan! There
were supposed to be shopping outlets surrounding the stadium
bringing in tax revenue but guess what from my understanding the
property around the stadium was sold to be turned into housing. Now all of the new shopping plazas on Route 70 in ! BRICK ! are generating revenue for Brick when they could have been built in ! LAKEWOOD !
around the stadium for-filling its intended purpose. The stadium wasn’t
supposed to make the revenue, the plazas were. Further # 17 is
correct, there was supposed to be a hockey arena for the NJ Devils
minor league team to draw people all year long to the plazas but we
vetoed that and they moved them to Lowell, MA and now to Albany,
NY. They wanted their affiliate in NJ and in ? Lakewood ? for some
reason but we scoffed at them and they took their money elsewhere
for Lowell and Albany to enjoy. I love and appreciate the Jewish
community in Lakewood, I have many orthodox friends but I draw the
line after pizza and I don’t wear black suits or white dress shirts so I
do my shopping in Brick, sadly I could have done it in Lakewood had
plans been followed through.
We’ve been seeing this 100,000=city thing for a while now. Does anyone know where that comes from? There are many townships in NJ with a population of more than 100,000 and many cities with less.
popcorn park zoo
I live in Lakewood and I am not jewish. I do go into your food stores a lot, especially the pizza places. I do have to say that I am the exception, because we dont always feel welcome. I tried to rent an apartment a few months ago. I called dozens of ads in the BP newspaper and was told to come down and see the apartment. As soon as they saw me without my skull cap, they stuttered and told me the place was taken. Not a single person offered to show me the apartment. I understand these are jewish complexes, but I did not feel very good having the door shut in my face.
Until the jewish people in this town have a more welcoming attitude towards non jews, i doubt a zoo, or anything else for that matter will let lakewood grow into more than just a orthodox jewish settlement
There is no quick fix for Lakewood ,the issue has nothing to do with building anything, Zoo, stores , parks etc. it has to do with the leadership with a vision of what they want for the future of this town/city . If past performance is a good barometer for the future,then not much is going to change here. Lakewoods bad reputation in many ways is well diserved .the truth is the school system is in shambles, there is a high crime rate thanks to gangs, bias in housing and a lot of friction and animosity between the various groups of people who reside here. No one that I know would shop in this town for any reason . Its sad because this is so different than when I first moved many,many years ago ~~ I am constantly told by family and friends to get out , that may come to be if it gets any worse .
just my thoughts here!
Funny how #17 only mentions 3 committeemen. I thought there were five
To Torah Truth
you are right on the money!!
where is the leadership in this town to enact some rules as far as rentals!!!
A ZOO!!??
if you want attractions; first figure out a way to pay cops over-time for the security details at these attractions, for when the gangs arrive, then think of an attraction worth while.
here are a few idea’s: paintball park/center, atv park(with rentals), go-kart track/park, etc (anything high action & exciting)
I see that the TLS censors are hard at werk !!! why was my original post removed??? lets do it again..
(Moderated)
Building anything as an attraction will fail, the problem is much deeper than that. Its hard for me to believe that those who are speaking in favor of this don’t realize that ,are they that insultated from reality? People will not come here while we have a high crime rate & a extremely poor perception of what Lakewood is , just look in the news almost on a daily basis something is written in the paper or online about the crime ,school issues and other negative issues here in Lakewood.
You can’t build a house from the roof down ,you need to start with a solid foundation , we don’t at this time have that structure in place
as a non Jew living in Lakewood,I dont need a zoo, I need a TGIF right were the original Shop rite was. Shoprite needs to exspand to all the way to the end of their block and build a superstore like in Jackson. Pep boys can take over the old supercuts and the emptyclothing store. i need stores open on saturdays.
as far as the gangs, one writer said it, we need good people to move on to the bad blocks one house at a time. for that i do give credit for the Jewish familys taking the chance.
I think in order to stop crime our mayor and committee men need to pass a law that a back round check is done on all tenants before a rental co is given. And if a person has a bad record they can not rent a house in our town. A zoo will not stop crime or bring shoppers in to our town. I don’t shop in any of the Jewish cothing or grocery stores but I do eat at the kosher eateries and get do get looked at funny sometimes. Just my $0.02.
I love shopping at many jewish stores in lskewood. I go to the bagel palce and the biggest toy store I have ever seen. I am always treated with respect. I love buying my kids clothes at many of the stores and the jewish shoe stores have the cutest shoes for my kids. Yes clifton got a bit grungy but the jewish stores are nice and the new malls down cedarbridge a re very nice. Circa is delicious food. A bit more than non kosher food
but not much more. I think we just need more people that are understanding.
Nice thougt, aint the answer, I grew up in town with lots of tourist attractions and lots of gangs. you’ve identified a problem , but not the solution. You want to see a zoo, do it with private money . What we are seeing here is a failure within the public school system . WE are pumping hundreds of milllions of dollars into public education and we are seeeing zero results from it . We need to bring Gd back . Let’s close the public schools and give these kids vouchers and let them have the same opportunities that we in the orthodox commmunity have. Apparently, the money is not going to the kids. its going to bloated pensions , healthcare plans and bloated salaries of the higher ups In the education system . its sad, but its true. the publlic school system has failed our kids. Let’s close it down and move on . Another point, we must round up the gangs and ship ‘e back where they came from and seal the borders completely, but that aint gonnna happen under the PRIME Minister obama’s leadership .
responding to zoo’s cost money says:
I agree with just about everything except closing the schools, we need state intervention to come in and clean house set up a sysytem that works ~ train new people ~the public school children in Lakewood deserve no less ,its not their fault that the sysytem is broken so why burden these families by sending them out district
FIX THE SYSTEM
those in charge now will never clean up this mess
Is anyone from the State out there listening??????????????
#30, don’t feel so bad about no one renting their apartment to you because you’re a non-Jew. I’m a nice Jewish girl who’s been trying to find an apartment in Lakewood for the last couple of months, but apparently no one in this town wants to rent out to singles either. They only want young, married couples, or families. It would seem that there’s something awfully wrong with unmarried single girls who want their own place in this town!
Editor why is 32 still pending moderation
to # 43 moderation is a form of censorship. you`re not allowed to speak the truth on this forum if you oppose certain entities,or speak of them in bad light.