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City of Lakewood, Colorado
Location in Jefferson County and the State of Colorado
Location of Colorado in the United States
Coordinates: 39�‹42�Œ23��N 105�‹6�Œ10��W / 39.70639�‹N 105.10278�‹W / 39.70639; -105.10278
Country	United States
State	State of Colorado
County	Jefferson County[1]
Founded	1889
Incorporated	1969[2]
Government
- Type	Home Rule Municipality[1]
- Mayor	Bob Murphy
Area
- Total	42.5 sq mi (110.0 km2)
- Land	41.6 sq mi (107.7 km2)
- Water	0.9 sq mi (2.3 km2)
Elevation [3]	5,480 ft (1,682 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	144,126
- Density	3,465.3/sq mi (1,338.0/km2)
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP codes	Denver 80214-80215, 80226-80228, 80232, 80235-80236 Golden 80401 Littleton 80123
Area code(s)	Both 303 and 720
FIPS code	08-43000
GNIS feature ID	0181620
Highways	I-70, US 6, US 40, US 285, SH 8, SH 95, SH 121, SH 391, SH 470
Fourth most populous Colorado city
Website	City of Lakewood

The City of Lakewood is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Lakewood is the fourth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 164th most populous city in the United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that in 2005 the population of the City of Lakewood was 140,671 (164th most populous U.S. city),^[4] the population of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area was 2,359,994 (22nd most populous MSA),^[5] the population of the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area was 2,869,377 (15th most populous CSA),^[6] and the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor was 4,013,055.^[5]

Before incorporation in 1969, Lakewood was an urban sprawl with policing provided by the Jefferson Country Sherrif, a volunteer fire service, and with few street lights and sidewalks. Many of the older residents appreciated the absence of municiple taxes. The City of Lakewood was incorporated in 1969. At the time of incorporation the city population was already over 90,000, making Lakewood one of the largest cities, at the time of original incorporation, in the history of the United States.

The urban/suburban development of the community known as Lakewood was begun in 1889 by Charles Welch and W.A.H. Loveland, who platted a 13-block area along Colfax Avenue west of Denver in eastern Jefferson County. Loveland, the former president of the Colorado Central Railroad, retired to the new community of Lakewood after many years of living in nearby Golden.

Lakewood also houses the prestigious Lakewood High School, ranked number one in the state by Newsweek, and the only International Baccalaureate school in Jefferson County. Lakewood is also home to Colorado Christian University.

Contents [hide] 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Municipal government 4 State representation 5 Sister cities 6 Economy 7 Culture and contemporary life 7.1 Landmarks 8 See also 9 References 10 External links