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Sorry. I just don't agree at all. If anything, Lakeland's proximity to both Tampa and Orlando will likely mean it'll be nothing more than a bedroom community for the two. There's nothing in Lakeland. No jobs, no infrastructure. It's just a pit stop, and an ugly one at that. There is still a crap ton of room in both Tampa and Orlando for things to grow, as the population density is very low, and both cities are worlds more desirable than a truck stop off I-4 like Lakeland.
Lakeland doesn't exactly look like an ugly truck stop around Lakes Morton (home to a flock of Australian black swans) and Hollingsworth on the south side of downtown, and Florida Southern College in between the two has a picturesque campus. The city has several natural lakes as its name implies, and it is the headquarters of Publix Supermarkets, a large private Fortune 500 company and the largest grocer in the Southeast. Polk County in general has a relatively low socioeconomic status, but it has a number of desirable features beyond the proximity to Tampa and Orlando and is definitely growing.
Lakeland doesn't exactly look like an ugly truck stop around Lakes Morton (home to a flock of Australian black swans) and Hollingsworth on the south side of downtown, and Florida Southern College in between the two has a picturesque campus. The city has several natural lakes as its name implies, and it is the headquarters of Publix Supermarkets, a large private Fortune 500 company and the largest grocer in the Southeast. Polk County in general has a relatively low socioeconomic status, but it has a number of desirable features beyond the proximity to Tampa and Orlando and is definitely growing.
Exactly. It's fascinating how people draw conclusions about an entire city solely via driving through on a highway at 70 mph.
It's also the home of newly built Florida Polytechnic University which is going to grow considerably over the next several years, and provide peripheral research and development commerce. https://floridapolytechnic.org/about/
Lakeland is too far from Orlando's employment centers which are evolving on the NE side and Tampa's development is also largely focused on northern expansion further away from Lakeland, so the premise of Lakeland becoming a bedroom community is pretty far-fetched as it would be well over an hour either direction (on a good day). Future growth in many areas is going to be focused on proximity and convenience to existing urban centers and Lakeland is ideally poised in that it's not too close to either metro area and has the existing connecting infrastructure to allow for expansion of distribution oriented companies as well as provide a lower cost alternative for companies to relocate into the middle of one of the largest population centers in the country.
No, I'd say it's a pretty sound premise, as there is far more in the way of jobs, economic prosperity, and overall quality of life in Tampa and Orlando. Lakeland will remain a cheap bedroom community by and large.
Cities like Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Greenville SC and Charleston SC not to mention Atlanta, Houston and Austin have been driving population growth at the highest rates in recent years. As migration trends go saturation will occur before too long and other cities will crop up as "hotspots". I thought it could be interesting to try and identify some possibilities. I'll throw out Columbia SC as an option. It has the location (central, well connected with highways), lower cost of living (for now), is the state capital and a major university town (good infrastructure and jobs base) along with a moderate climate.
I agree with you. Columbia, SC is a very nice city. I was fully impressed with its downtown, lots of historic buildings, nice activity levels, and good restaurants.
Based on the population growth rate, Myrtle Beach would be the leading "hotspot" of the metro areas listed. But it is not a particularly well rounded area, focused overwhelmingly on tourism and retirement, and considerably less affluent than the other major coastal areas of South Carolina (Charleston and Hilton Head Island). Columbia is probably the most educated and economically healthy of the areas in this poll, followed by Birmingham.
As far as Lakeland goes, it isn't my favorite place in Florida (which is Sarasota, FWIW) and certainly way behind Tampa and Orlando in terms of amenities. But it has a much nicer environment than many give it credit for, and is right at the center of the nation's third most populous state with easy access to other metro areas. Their location is certainly a huge advantage in terms of growth prospects compared with isolated areas like Abilene or San Angelo.
I see it being either Chattanooga or Myrtle Beach.
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