[Explorer Dave]

There is no "paradise" or perfect place certainly not in FL that I have seen, not in the US, and not in the world. I have lived in the Washington DC area, one of the most poverty stricken and crime ridden areas in the US, with long cold winters and stifling hot summers, and even it had it's charms that make me miss it sometimes. Apart from some architecture and the waterfront I see very little character in Sarasota, I see much more in Lakeland which is the least flat area that I have found in FL, apart from a few much smaller towns nearby.

[Debb J]

Ahhhh...Lakeland. The closest you'll come to Hell without having to die!

My motto and I'm sticking to it.

[Explorer Dave]

Originally Posted by Debb J

Ahhhh...Lakeland. The closest you'll come to Hell without having to die!

My motto and I'm sticking to it.

Not EVEN CLOSE! Try some 3rd world countries, like the slums of Calcutta perhaps.

Lakeland is not perfect, but I see more that I personally like about it, that fits me better, than where I am now. That doesn't mean that it's right, or better, for everyone, NO place is right for everyone.

We all have different likes, dislikes, needs, interests, etc. and thank goodness, that makes the world work. Could you even imagine how dysfunctional, boring and downright bad life would be if everyone was the same. It just wouldn't work!

[Explorer Dave]

Two days ago I said:

Originally Posted by Explorer Dave

Lakeland is not perfect, but I see more that I personally like about it, that fits me better, than where I am now. That doesn't mean that it's right, or better, for everyone, NO place is right for everyone.

Yesterday I made a trip over there to check things out again. YES there are large parts of Lakeland, that look very trashy, where I wouldn't want to spend any time. There are lots of areas like that here too. I hadn't seen the Southeastern University campus before and was surprised that the neighborhood it's in does not look that great, although not as bad as others. Some of the trashy areas are in or near industrial areas and that there are industrial areas there is actually a good thing for a better economic base, there is not much of that over here. I drove past the Publix distribution center, that's a big place, but somehow I thought it was on the other side of I-4.

Crime problems where confirmed by several, although they felt it no worse than other cities, I would tend to agree, I mean we've had gang shootings on crowded family beaches over here. Several also confirmed that they feel it gets hotter there than over here, that is a consideration. But I've adjusted to FL heat much better than I ever thought I would.

I stand by what I said, that I see more that I personally like about Lakeland, that fits me better, than where I am now. The downtown area is wonderful, I know of no place on the gulf coast with character like that except maybe Ybor City and that's a tourist trap not a downtown. Well, downtown St. Pete is nice too. Although I'm not sure St Pete's economic base is any more diverse than Sarasota's.

The area around Munn Park is great as is the antiques district and the area around Lake Mirror. I fact I was very surprised to see the promenade between the plaza with that big sculpture and the Amtrak station finished, I was last over their a little over a year ago it wasn't even being worked on. Very nice, especially the plaza in front of the Amtrak station. I also really like the park like setting and sculptures on Lemon, although I think a couple of the newer buildings there could have been better designed with storefronts at their base along the front rather than being just single entrance office buildings, a lost opportunity there.

The area around lakes Morton and Hollingsworth are great too. I really like the library and Polk Art Museum set up, as well as Florida Southern College campus, where the is quite a bit of construction. I think gypsychic is right, I'd like living in that area, and a couple people told me that rents there can be surprisingly affordable.

Others like Lakeside Village much more than I do. To me it is designed just like a typical suburban mall, except there is no climate control and it has traffic running through it, that make NO sense to me at all. It's not really very "urban", except for a hotel off the main street only two of the buildings are over a single story. Now if it where all 3-5 stories with offices and condos or apartments I'd call it more urban, but as it is, it's just a typical mall with cars running through it and no air conditioning! It feels very contrived to me, it may be popular now because it's new, but I don't think it will age well at all. Main street at Lakewood Ranch over here is a bit better, most of those buildings are 3 stories with an office/condo mix. The best development like that that I've seen so far is downtown Celebration over by Disney. Downtown Lakeland is already very nice, I wish someone had put more development money in downtown rather than building Lakeside Village.

I've heard there are plans for a mixed use development on the Lake Mirror between the fire station and Amtrak, I hope so, that could be nice. It would be nice to see some changes on the other side of the Amtrak station as well, but I know those busy train tracks present a challenge for development there.

Developments like Lakeside Village are being built because so many suburban malls are failing, so developers are trying to go "urban" by taking out the climate control and putting in streets and cars. How very DUMB! Why those malls are failing is that their use is not diverse enough, not because of climate control! So keep the climate control and the pleasant traffic free walking environment but add more floors with offices and living space, as well as other uses.

While I did talk to one person who has been looking for work for over a year, I got the sense from others that employment opportunities are much better in Lakeland than they are in the Sarasota area. I also feel that I can create my own income over there with things I want to develop, better than I would here. Of course part of that is that I want to leave this area so I'm not working on those things much here.

Too me much of Sarasota feels like Lakeside Village, new, contrived, fake, I feel that Lakeland has more of a since of preserved history and character.

[gypsychic]

It's nice to read your balanced assessment of Lakeland from your latest trip, Dave. That newly finished Promenade around Lake Mirror is wonderful. One of the things I love most about Lakeland is the sense of place and preserved history they have there - that is one thing you are right about, that Lakeland has over Sarasota. Sarasota has done away with a lot of their history and built a mish-mash of things. They have finally caught on here (Sarasota) and are doing better in that regard, but unfortunately so much has been lost that can never be replaced. One of my favorite areas of Sarasota is actually the North Trail, which is currently very run-down, but still has some of the "old Florida" feel to it. I just hope it doesn't end up all new and cookie-cutter like so much of this town. I actually prefer the look of Bradenton to Sarasota - it reminds me a lot of Lakeland, in that it still has the "old Florida: feel in spades, and not so cookie-cutter, at least within the city limits.

As far as Lakeside Village, well, I personally like it - I think it's beautiful and a nice shopping center was needed there. They at least are building apartments nearby and I think it will feel a little more "urban" down the road. I agree it's not perfect, with the traffic running through it, but, oh well.

At the end of the day we all have to find our place that "fits" - I don't really understand it when people who hate a place try to discourage someone who has already said multiple times that they really LIKE that place and want to live there, or already live there. It just really makes no sense.

And last, as far as the heat goes, as I have said before it is generally true that temperatures will read hotter in Lakeland - BUT - if one lives in town near the lakes in the shaded neighborhood it WILL be several degrees cooler there, you will be surprised. And the humidity feels a lot lower to me in Lakeland than in Sarasota (but I get breeze off the bay in Sarasota which helps compensate).

Good luck to you Dave on you new beginning. Please keep us posted.

[Explorer Dave]

Actually you mentioned another thing I think Lakeland does better than Sarasota, maintaining a tree canopy, yes Sarasota has trees, but I think Lakeland has done a better job of maintaining both trees and history. I also like downtown Bradenton more than Sarasota and agree with you, unfortunately that feeling degrades quickly. Most of Bradenton is not very nice. You choose good words to describe Sarasota when you said it's so cookie-cutter, while there is some good, distinctive architecture here so much of it is cookie-cutter.

[Joshloly]

When you look at the map and do some survey, is very easy to pick Lakeland as one of the best place to live. Am from NJ, you cannot compare our winter to Lakeland winter i.e. 5 good months in cold imagine life is short. I did not know why some people just don't like others to live in Lakeland. I love Lakeland and am moving there very soon

[Explorer Dave]

Ah Winter, that is one of the main reasons I'm not trying to move to New England rather than stay in FL. I can take the heat, better than the cold.

Another is I have no money something a lot of people don't realize until after they get here is how much less jobs pay here than up North. That's not a Lakeland issue, it's a Florida issue. However given the economy wages may be dropping up north too!

[rhodesk]

WE were seriously looking at Lakeland for a potential job - ended up staying put in Cleveland - but have you ever looked at CHarleston SC? I lived there for 6 years and it is beautiful, weather is pretty great - still has "seasons" - the art and architecture community is great - Spoleto Festival is one of a kind - college of charleston is great. It is most definitely conservative, but there are many many folks who think against the grain and are surprisingly progressive. It is an interesting dynamic since there is an entrenched, historical conservative base with lots of progressive people moving there due to all the reasons I just listed. If we didn't have kids (the public schools are horrible), I'd move back in a heartbeat. I visited LAkeland when we were considering a move, and I kept thinking how much nicer Charleston was and if I had to move back to the south, it's probably the only place I could go.