Lakewood was officially incorporated on February 28, 1996. Historical names include Lakewood Center and Lakes District (this name was used by the U.S. Census in the 1970 and 1980 Census). Lakewood is a major suburb of Tacoma and is home to Western State Hospital, a regional state psychiatric hospital.
The Clover Park School District operates all public schools within Lakewood.
Lakewood's economy is highly dependent upon the two neighboring military bases, which employ more than 34,000 people with a net impact of $2.2 billion.
Lakewood's news is primarily covered by The News Tribune (Tacoma), and sometimes by the media in Seattle. Earlier weekly newspapers for the community were the Lakewood Log (circa 1930s), Suburban Times (1970s), Lakewood Press (1980s), and Lakewood Journal (1990s).
KLAY-AM radio provides Lakewood-specific talk radio. KVTI-FM, known as "I-91 FM", broadcasts top 40 music from its Lakewood studio at Clover Park Technical College. The Clover Park School District operated KCPQ (thus the call letters) until 1980, when it was sold to Kelly Broadcasting.
