You Are Here # 3

Paul Beegan
35 years old
Architect
Lakewood resident for 11 years

Favorite Place: Celeste Park

“We walk up to the library, we walk up to get ice cream, we walk over to the video store where we’re at and it’s nice to be able to do that, not to jump in a car to go somewhere to do something. I think the other thing too is that our street is very diverse and I think that is something that we want our kids to grow up and experience. Next door to us we have an older woman whose husband passed away and she’s living in this house and next door to her is another older woman who has a two family house and she’s probably in her eighties. There’s a couple rentals, there are different races, different creeds, different political affiliations, a little bit of everything and everybody still watches out for each other, with all of the differences that everybody has. And that community around you, you know, I don’t think you’d notice it but every once in a while when it kind of hits you, it’s a neat thing. It’s a neat thing being able to go to church or go to the grocery store or see at the ice cream store all the people, they’re teachers or the person who’s a teller at the bank or the librarian, all those different people are all involved around us all the time and it’s kind of a neat thing. I think that’s the biggest piece of it. Both of us kind of grew up in suburban areas where I maybe knew the guy next door on both sides and that was about it because you get in your car and drive somewhere. And maybe you knew the people at your church but those aren’t the people that live near you.”

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You Are Here* is a project that highlights what Lakewood residents think and feel about their city. We feel that a project like this shares a great affinity with many of the community efforts beginning and ongoing in our city. We are witnessing the emergence of an engaged, pro-active and committed community dedicated to creating the kind of place that we want to live in. But the question remains: who are you? To that end, we would like to use this project as a forum to meet as many Lakewood residents as possible. We would like to photograph you in your favorite place in Lakewood and discuss with you what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. These biographical vignettes will regularly be published in the Lakewood Observer. Publishing them in the Observer means that you get to share, and other people get to learn about, who you are and what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. Ultimately, a quilt of individuals and experiences will be available to all who live here, and those who do not live here yet, strengthening the sense of community that is Lakewood, Ohio.

Are you interested in participating? Contact Jason Weiner and Kristine Williams at lakewoodandyou@yahoo.com or by calling 216.221.5146.

*A photo-documentary project highlighting the individuals who live in the city of Lakewood, Ohio.