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I will be moving to Lakelad at the end of August from Dayton, Oh and would like to know a little more about it. I am currently in school, single, with 2 Jack Russell Terriers. What kind of shopping is there, movie theaters, things like that. How pet friendly is the city? How are the colleges? Anything else would be a great help. Thanks!!!
I myself asked questions about Lakeland a couple days ago and didn't get a single reply - I wonder why? Doesn't anyone here live in Lakeland who can offer advice?
We are considering a move there, I like the downtown area - seems nice and clean if a bit pricey. Please if anyone has any thoughts to offer please post - pro and con!
Go to "search" and type in Lakeland. There's a bit of info on here about it. We also have at least one member who lives there, but at the moment I can't remember who it is. She loves it there.
I can't give you much first hand info. I do have a neice who lives there with her family and they love it there. She's a nurse at Lakeland Hospital and I understand that it's a very good hospital, both for patients and for employees. As far as pet friendly~my GUESS is "YES". Neice has a large dog and even had her before they bought their house and still lived in an apartment. Sorry this isn't much help, but if you do a search you can find a bit about it. Also, if you find the member who has posted about living in Lakeland, you may want to PM her cause she's been helpful in the past.
Location: Dauphin Island , AL 4 Miles off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico
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Lakeland isn't a nice place to live. I usually go to greatschools.net to investigate to type of people there.I have lived in the Ghetto as a child and wouldnt subject my daughter to that. So I search the ethnicity part of a city's schols before I move there. I have found that if an area is poverty stricken,then its not very safe.I have moved 50+ times and I know what I'm talking about.We deliver to lakeland about 2x a month. There and winterhaven I lock the truck doors.It looks shady to me. Just do your homework first.
my boyfriend lives on the south end of lakeland and really dislikes it. i am from the orlando area. the north end homes seem better although it's pricey. the downtown is pretty cool with a few places to eat, shops and bars. it's clean for a downtown i think. there are alot of retirees there so watch out for them. the thing i hate is on the weekends all the good restaurants are so packed because they aren't too many of them. always use call ahead seating if they offer it. the mall is nothing to get excited about but they did build this new outdoor shopping/restaurant village off the toll road that looks cool. around the hospital there are some scary neighborhoods and before you get downtown. i would not want to break down if you know what i mean.
Lakeland isn't a nice place to live. I usually go to greatschools.net to investigate to type of people there.I have lived in the Ghetto as a child and wouldnt subject my daughter to that. So I search the ethnicity part of a city's schols before I move there. I have found that if an area is poverty stricken,then its not very safe.I have moved 50+ times and I know what I'm talking about.We deliver to lakeland about 2x a month. There and winterhaven I lock the truck doors.It looks shady to me. Just do your homework first.
beachgirl - thanks for your comments, but I am a bit confused - do you live in Lakeland, or did you live there at one time, or are your comments based on some neighborhoods you have seen?
When we visited Lakeland on a few occasions recently, the only poverty-stricken areas seemed separated on the north side of town, and I guess maybe northeast. Downtown was absolutely gorgeous, one of the cleanest and most beautiful downtowns I have ever seen, and all the neighborhoods around there and to the south seemed really nice as well. We did eat at a nice restaurant on a Sunday but only had a short wait. I saw a mix of people, lots of retirees, a couple families and a few well-behaved bikers.
Keep the comments coming! I really like hearing from the locals, if you live in Lakeland or lived there recently please share the bad and good. I would like to know if there are areas close to downtown that we should avoid, as this is where we are looking.
I do know they are about to build a new branch of USF for 16,000 students which will add a lot of vibrance and youth to the town
downtown is very nice and the prices are high for those homes i am told. polk county is one of the poorest counties in the state from what i hear so outside of that and on the southside you can see the low end of things. i am there a few weekends a month to stay at my boyfriends home in lakeland. he complains about all the mobile home parks and retirees that can't drive. try a fri. or sat. night at a restaurant near the mall, an outback, or over by carrabba's. hello at least an hour wait!
Lakeland is not for everyone, but it is a great place for some. Stop looking at charts and graphs when it comes to Lakeland. Here's what you really need to know to determine whether you want to look at it closer or not.
Lakeland is about 1/2 way inbetween Tampa and Orlando. For years, Lakeland was a sleepy little town surrounded by lots of agriculture. The only college in Lakeland that I'm aware of is Florida Southern. It is a private college.
Lakeland has an old, somewhat historic downtown. It is not the county seat for Polk County, Bartow is, although it is by far Polk County's largest town.
Lakeland can be defined in a couple of ways: Huge distributon warehouse centers; Middle class family oriented; self-sufficient independant town in its own right. What I mean by that is that most people who live in Lakeland, work in and around Lakeland - they don't commute to Orlando or Tampa for work. Due to its proximity to Orlando and Tampa, and the fact that it has an airport, the one thing you will notice is that many large retail outlets use Lakeland as their central distribution and warehouse hub. Publix has about 1,000,000 sf of warehouse space and their corporate headquarters there. Other large retail operations have huge warehouses in Lakeland. There are developments that cater exclusively to big-box warehouses distributors. There are also some smaller manufactures there. It is still surrounded by huge areas of agriculture land to the south.
Lakeland has a water capacity problem, meaning that it is difficult to build large residential developments there because their water utilities are insuficient to accomodate much more growth. It is also bordered by the "Green Swamp" to the North, which makes much of that land lying to the south of Green Swamp prone to flooding, or undevelopable. Also, further growth along I-4 is being restricted due to the fact that I-4 cannot is way beyond it's capacity.
The Lakeland Bypass is where new development is heading, if/when it can - again being held back by water capacity issues. I believe that there is a plan to connect the bypass with a northbound road to Orlando's 417.
Lakeland still has some Southern Floridians in it - more than you will find anymore in Orlando or Tampa. It also has many new young families there who really like living there. It is a little more laid back than either Orlando or Tampa, and there are still lots of large farms on the outskirts of town. Plant City borders the west side of Lakeland - this would be the less desireable area. Plant City is still a farm town with lots of illegal immigrants working the fields there.
Lakeland is not for everyone, but it is a great place for some. Stop looking at charts and graphs when it comes to Lakeland. Here's what you really need to know to determine whether you want to look at it closer or not.
Lakeland is about 1/2 way inbetween Tampa and Orlando. For years, Lakeland was a sleepy little town surrounded by lots of agriculture. The only college in Lakeland that I'm aware of is Florida Southern. It is a private college.
Lakeland has an old, somewhat historic downtown. It is not the county seat for Polk County, Bartow is, although it is by far Polk County's largest town.
Lakeland can be defined in a couple of ways: Huge distributon warehouse centers; Middle class family oriented; self-sufficient independant town in its own right. What I mean by that is that most people who live in Lakeland, work in and around Lakeland - they don't commute to Orlando or Tampa for work. Due to its proximity to Orlando and Tampa, and the fact that it has an airport, the one thing you will notice is that many large retail outlets use Lakeland as their central distribution and warehouse hub. Publix has about 1,000,000 sf of warehouse space and their corporate headquarters there. Other large retail operations have huge warehouses in Lakeland. There are developments that cater exclusively to big-box warehouses distributors. There are also some smaller manufactures there. It is still surrounded by huge areas of agriculture land to the south.
Lakeland has a water capacity problem, meaning that it is difficult to build large residential developments there because their water utilities are insuficient to accomodate much more growth. It is also bordered by the "Green Swamp" to the North, which makes much of that land lying to the south of Green Swamp prone to flooding, or undevelopable. Also, further growth along I-4 is being restricted due to the fact that I-4 cannot is way beyond it's capacity.
The Lakeland Bypass is where new development is heading, if/when it can - again being held back by water capacity issues. I believe that there is a plan to connect the bypass with a northbound road to Orlando's 417.
Lakeland still has some Southern Floridians in it - more than you will find anymore in Orlando or Tampa. It also has many new young families there who really like living there. It is a little more laid back than either Orlando or Tampa, and there are still lots of large farms on the outskirts of town. Plant City borders the west side of Lakeland - this would be the less desireable area. Plant City is still a farm town with lots of illegal immigrants working the fields there.
Thanks for your thoughts, Prichard. In addition to Florida Southern, there is a small branch campus of USF, but they have just acquired land to build a 16,000 student campus there, and from what I have read will be a polytechnic type institution. I think this is exciting for the town. I guess what impressed me and my hubby most, is that the town (at least downtown and near town) were extremely CLEAN, there was an emphasis there on the arts, a beautifully restored town square park, gorgeous gardens and swans on Lake Morton at the edge of town, a fabulous restored old movie palace and the most incredible landscaping I have ever seen. I tell ya, we have just passed through Lakeland for years without ever checking it out and were absolutely stunned at the beauty. Also, we observed LOTS of activity around the lakes - people jogging, walking dogs, or just sitting on benches and enjoying the view. And I didn't see a single panhandler or bum.
Now of course, we did see the "poverty" areas to the north and the projects, but even there compared to what I am used to in other cities in Florida, seemed not that bad at all.
On the surface, and the research I have done, it would seem like a good fit for me and hubby, we are in our 50's, no kids, and DH works in downtown Tampa, a shorter commute than he currently makes (he does not mind commuting, we don't like Tampa to live in) Also, Lakeland in 1998 was on one of those "best places to live" type lists. (not that I totally go by those)
I am meeting with a realtor Monday, just to look at a few houses and get a better feel for things, but we are not going to act on anything until the fall, if we do this at all. This will give us the whole summer to watch what happens with the market, taxes, insurance and hurricanes. We don't have to move, we would just like a change from the rural lifestyle we now have, and like what little we've seen from the way the town is headed.
I really appreciate everyone's comments, I always like to evaluate the "big picture" with every move we make. I find it's relatively easy to buy real estate, and not so easy to get out of, so I like to get it right the first time!
Floridasunshine lives in Lakeland and usually post on this subject.
No matter what town there is always going to be pockets of problems and with all the research I have done on Lakeland, I just do not see an overwhelming problem of anything bad in the area other then the far soutern part.
We are watching two homes in Lakeland right now and I can tell you this.
You can buy a super large home, new or 1-2 years old and 3/4 acre on average for 175-200 easily.
Those homes any closer to the gulf would and are bringing 250-350 by the same builders.
Also, Lakelands location gives it easy access any direction.
I am not saying we will buy there but Lakeland is in my top 2-3 places to move.
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