Need info on Winter Haven and Lakeland (Tampa, Orlando: rental, work)

[justgreen]

We've got a possible transfer to Lakeland. Was wondering about Winter Haven area also.

[BacktoMA4good]

Not bad areas. Do you like REALLY hot/humid weather? That is the hottest part of Florida. No air movement. I lived in Lake Wales, and nowhere I ever lived was as hot as that area. Winter Haven is good, some parts of Lakeland look ghetto, but what city doesn't have that?

[Mighty Hd]

Hot as a mother in the summer, very humid.

Malls are decent.

Roads are excellent

Crime is 90% in the minority part of town. Stay away from the West end of Lakeland. It's a dump.

It's not as bad as others say it is. The population has exploded in the past 10 years. It's much cheaper here than Tampa/Orlando markets.

[gypsychic]

The Lakeland/Winter Haven area is just beautiful - IMO, it's one of the nicest areas of Florida, and I am a native. And I don't agree with those who say it's much hotter here than anywhere else in Fla. - it may be a couple degrees hotter, but unlike most of peninsular Florida there are many LAKES, HILLS AND SHADE here which keep nice breezes blowing. During the dead of summer you stay in the shade and off the pavement -which is where it gets murderously hot.

Lakeland and Winter Haven both have gorgeous downtowns, Winter Haven is like a miniature Lakeland. Lakeland has the most gorgeous public parks you have ever seen - the in-town lakes are also bird sanctuaries, and Lake Morton in particular is a protected haven for swans.

We have a highly rated art museum, a wonderful performance hall/sports arena, a restored atomospheric theatre (one of only 3 in the state) and a vintage drive-in movie theatre. Lakeland has lots of great shopping and restaurants - both chains and independents, and one of the most beautiful open-air malls I have ever seen anywhere, including California. We also have Florida Southern College, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

I could writet pages about what this area has to offer, but it's best if you come see for yourself. I get LOTS of private messages here from folks who have come here, seen it and fell in love. For some reason, this area gets largely overlooked or dismissed on these boards, but when people see it they are amazed at what it has to offer.

Hope this helps!

[markhunt]

Both Winter Haven and Lakeland are nice family oriented cities. Numerous great neighborhoods in both. As a previous poster said, stay away from the areas that are mostly all minorities and you will stay away from almost all of the crime. Thats one of the good things I like about Polk County. It is not as much urban sprwal as say an Orange county. You know EXACTLY what areas to stay away from, and the nice subdivisions are not 1 block away from a ghetto.

Auburndale is also a nice town, which was once a bedroom community and is now also exploding with growth despite the current housing situation. The new Polytechinc USF campus is slated to start construction next year. The university will be built over in the North East corner of Lakeland, while the dorms will be built in the north west corner of Auburndale (close to I-4 and the Polk Parkway). I think I heard it will house somthing like 16-18 thousand students. This will probably be one of the biggest economic booms for the area in 40 years.

[steveyt]

Hi Thanks for the inform.
I'll move to Winter Haven-Auburndale area and looking for a house to rent. We have a kid at middle school. My work place will be at Winter Haven. Can anyone give me inform about school and rental house infor? Thanks a lot.
Steve

[House4Sale]

I'd pick Lakeland over Winterhaven. Looked cleaner, nicer, newer than WH but then it may've been a nicer area of Lakeland that I'd seen compared to a lesser part of WH that I drove through.

And yes, it's going to be hot. I've lived both inland and coastal and inland is more stagnant and def. hotter, however, a plus during hurricane season for say, Spring Hill got a mere outage where the coast lost electricity for three to five days.

Life's a trade off no matter what you do or where you go. Best wishes.

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by steveyt

Hi Thanks for the inform.
I'll move to Winter Haven-Auburndale area and looking for a house to rent. We have a kid at middle school. My work place will be at Winter Haven. Can anyone give me inform about school and rental house infor? Thanks a lot.
Steve

As far as Auburndale schools go here are the middle schools from best to worst:

http://www.polk-fl.net/schools/geninfo.asp?id=194 <-- Berkley Accelerated Middle

School Information | Polk County Public Schools <-- Stambough Middle

School Information | Polk County Public Schools <-- Lake Alfred Addair Middle (Steer Clear)!

Berkley Accelerated Middle is a charter school and one of the best schools in the whole area. I know with the Berkley Elementary school there is a waiting list to get in, but it is well worth it. Berkley has a solid reputation in the area and some parents drive there children as much as 20 miles to attend. As long as your a resident of Polk County you can apply.

This school is also a charter school in Lakeland and would have been my second choice if my kids did not get into Berkley.

School Information | Polk County Public Schools <-- Mckeel Acadamy

As far as the high schools in Auburndale:

School Information | Polk County Public Schools <-- Auburndale Senior

And this is the new High School that is set to open this August:

School Information | Polk County Public Schools <-- Teneroc High

I have heard that Berkley is looking into building there own high school in the future as well.

As far as home rentals in Auburndale I can say to stay clear of anything near Rte. 92, Havendale Blvd, and South Berkley (from Denton Road and south). There are tons of new developments all around Auburndale and I see rent signs in new communities off of 559 and North Berkley Road. Also around Lake Ariana, Lake Van, and Lake Arietta.

[fritzy]

I lived in Lakeland from 2004-2006. Got transferred there when I worked for GEICO. I did live in Virginia prior to that. Here was my initial opinion of it:

I arrived in the dead of summer (August) and I remember that the bugs were really bad and persistent. Humidity like I had never felt before.... and I thought that Virginia was humid but Florida felt like a sauna. I looked at places to live all over Lakeland and people here are right, Lakeland has some serious ghetto areas. But I found a nice house to rent at a reasonable rate. Roads in the area are good. Although I do remember the constant construction near the interstate that never seemed to cease.

Nice stores in and around Lakeland but the mall left a lot to be desired. Downtown was very pretty and the library was the best I had ever been to (literally). Overall the people are nice and the local fruits and veggies were excellent year round. I also had never seen a town of that size with as many fast food joints.

All in all I had a very enjoyable two years there. Met lots of great people and some not so great . Lots of things to do year round. You'll love December thru March very comfortable weather with a few cold spells. If I ever worked for another company that had a local office there I would probably go back and do another two years

[Mighty Hd]

Well said post above.


Many fast food joints.

Lakeland is better than Winter Haven. More services and less ghetto/rough minority/white trash areas.

The thing with Polk County: You can have 3 500k+ homes in an area next to a gang-infested trailer park, then the next block, 200k homes, next block 100k homes, and back to the ghetto.

Subdivisions go down hill REAL fast. Stay out of them if you can help it.