More about Lakewood California

Lakewood is located in Los Angeles County and is home to an estimated 79,345 residents as of 2000. It is sometimes referred to as “an instant city” because of its origins, going from lima bean fields in the 1950s to a bustling, well-developed city in the 1960s. The city is a classic post World War II suburb, the majority of the houses are mass produced, single story dwellings, located on tree-lined streets that were initially advertised and sold to World War II and Korean War veterans who were working in the aerospace industries in Long Beach and the South Bay region. Lakewood was the first city in the nation to contract out all of its municipal services when it was incorporated in 1954. The city became known as a contract city and many other Los Angeles cities followed suit. The city is home to the first Denny’s restaurant, built in 1953 by Harold Butler, who originally named it Denny’d Donuts, but changed the name in 1959. As it does with municipal services, Lakewood contracts out for school districts; the city is served by four school districts including Long Beach Unified School District, Paramount Unified School District, Bellflower School District and ABC Unified School sDistrict. Several citizens have however, created a group called “The Lakewood Unified School District Organizing Committee,” aimed at establishing a Unified School District for the city. Although the city uses the Loa Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement needs, it does run it’s own independent police helicopter named “Sky Knight” that it has been using since 1966. The “Sky Knight” was the first day and night helicopter program to be used in the nation and prior to this, aerial vehicles had only been used for search and rescue, not solely for la enforcement purposes.