Lakewood, Colorado is the most heavily populated city within the county of Jefferson. It is considered the state of Colorado's fifth most populous city. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population of the City of Lakewood to be approximately 142,980 as of the 1st of April, 2010. Lakewood is part of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and is situated west of the city of Denver.
Lakewood was a community with policing that was provided by the Jefferson County Sherriff, before being incorporated during 1969. They had few street lights and sidewalks at that time and were looked after by a volunteer fire service. During the year 1969, Lakewood became incorporated. The population of the city of Lakewood was already more than 90,000 at the time of incorporation.
The economy of the city is quite diverse, although the biggest employers in the city of Lakewood are within Government. A medical devices manufacturer called CaridianBCT employs over 1600 people and the Jefferson County R-1 school district employs around 3930 people.
There was never a traditional downtown area within Lakewood. Initially, the area with the most commercial establishment was West Colfax Avenue from Harlan west to Kipling and beyond. In addition, the JCRS or also referred to as the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society for TB patients, together with the small frame Methodist Church was among the first main establishments in the region. By the 1950s, drug stores, gas stations, grocery stores, taverns and restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theatre, used car lots and several motels emerged.
The city of Lakewood supports numerous strip malls to which are home to a lot of multi-business establishments. A lot of bigger complexes have been build more recently at Westland and JCRS. The Villa Italia Mall on Alameda Boulevard, situated 20 blocks south of Colfax, reflected the southward expansion of the Lakewood settlement. It was home to a bigger region of retail property. As soon as the mall went into decline, the Lakewood City Council developed a plan to take down the Villa Italia Mall and replace it with a new development referred to as Belmar.
Lakewood High School is home to an International Baccalaureate school in Jefferson County. In addition, Alameda High School is also an International Baccalaureate or I.B. School. There is the Colorado Christian University situated within the city too.