[BeautifulSong]

Moving from Arcadia, CA (SoCal 2 miles from Santa Anita Racetrack) to Lakeland Florida Cherry Hill subdivision by end of year. Our oldest son lives in Dover.

So many questions: Looking at planning on Cherry Hill Subdivision off of Campbell Rd. area.

1. Are there problems with sink holes in this area?
2. How is the water situation is it near contamination of any sort or near refineries or fuel plants of any type?
3. Grand daughters ages 8 and 13 need pretty good schools.
4. Son has air conditioning/heating license are there jobs available in this area?
5. What is average HOT temperature? Cold temperature?
6. Are there flooding issues?
7. What is crime rate in North Lakeland Cherry HIll Division area?
Main types of crime?
8. What are closest grocery stores?
9. Nearest mall? or Walmart or Costco or larger box stores?
10. Closest Protestant/Apostolic/Charasimatic churches?
11. Closest medical centers?
12. Hospitals?
13. Bike trails?
14. Worst insects critters to contend with in area?
15. Best public lakes?
16. Closest public/private Colleges/Universities?
17. Favorite things to do?
18. What to avoid?
19. What do you like most about Lakeland?
20. What do you like leastl about Lakeland?
21. Homeless population?
22. Difficulty getting building permit to build a garage/workshop on 1 acre?
23. How many major storms through immediate area that caused damage?
i.e. hurricane/tornado/floods?
Anything else you could tell us about.
Both retired. I'm 63 and have commercial drivers license and still drive three days a week for local dial a ride service is there anything like that in area transportation services in area? for seniors/disabled?
Husband disabled age 73 doesn't drive.
What is best HMO/PPO medical plans available in area?
Thanks.: )

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by BeautifulSong

Moving from Arcadia, CA (SoCal 2 miles from Santa Anita Racetrack) to Lakeland Florida Cherry Hill subdivision by end of year. Our oldest son lives in Dover.

So many questions: Looking at planning on Cherry Hill Subdivision off of Campbell Rd. area.

1. Are there problems with sink holes in this area?
2. How is the water situation is it near contamination of any sort or near refineries or fuel plants of any type?
3. Grand daughters ages 8 and 13 need pretty good schools.
4. Son has air conditioning/heating license are there jobs available in this area?
5. What is average HOT temperature? Cold temperature?
6. Are there flooding issues?
7. What is crime rate in North Lakeland Cherry HIll Division area?
Main types of crime?
8. What are closest grocery stores?
9. Nearest mall? or Walmart or Costco or larger box stores?
10. Closest Protestant/Apostolic/Charasimatic churches?
11. Closest medical centers?
12. Hospitals?
13. Bike trails?
14. Worst insects critters to contend with in area?
15. Best public lakes?
16. Closest public/private Colleges/Universities?
17. Favorite things to do?
18. What to avoid?
19. What do you like most about Lakeland?
20. What do you like leastl about Lakeland?
21. Homeless population?
22. Difficulty getting building permit to build a garage/workshop on 1 acre?
23. How many major storms through immediate area that caused damage?
i.e. hurricane/tornado/floods?
Anything else you could tell us about.
Both retired. I'm 63 and have commercial drivers license and still drive three days a week for local dial a ride service is there anything like that in area transportation services in area? for seniors/disabled?
Husband disabled age 73 doesn't drive.
What is best HMO/PPO medical plans available in area?
Thanks.: )

A lot of info here:

//www.city-data.com/city/Lakeland-Florida.html

This covers most of what you are asking and will have links to posts on Lakeland.

[LakelandFLNative]

1. Are there problems with sink holes in this area? Not a lot of sinkholes in North Lakeland though they are very random and you never know where they are going to pop up.
2. How is the water situation is it near contamination of any sort or near refineries or fuel plants of any type? County/City water is pretty decent.
3. Grand daughters ages 8 and 13 need pretty good schools. I would recommend you check out Polk County website and look at both your zoned options as well as choice, magnet and charter schools. There are some great schools in POlk and some not so great ones.
4. Son has air conditioning/heating license are there jobs available in this area? Will be very easy to get job with a/c company with experience. They are always hiring.
5. What is average HOT temperature? Cold temperature? Currently it's been low - mid 90s which will carry through September. Winters are 60-80s with an ocassional cold front that brings us into the 30s-40s
6. Are there flooding issues? Typically no flooding issues though we do get flash floods when we get a lot of rain at one time. Water typically drains down pretty quickly and this is usually in the roadways.
7. What is crime rate in North Lakeland Cherry HIll Division area? Pretty typical crime rate, mostly property crimes
Main types of crime?
8. What are closest grocery stores? To Cherry Hill...WalMart & Publix. THere is also an Aldi and Winn Dixie not too far away.
9. Nearest mall? or Walmart or Costco or larger box stores? Lakeland Square Mall is about 5 miles or so. Sams Club is just before the mall. No Costco.
10. Closest Protestant/Apostolic/Charasimatic churches? Victory Church is the largest in North Lakeland though there are several smaller churches. YOu will have have a problem finding a church in Lakeland.
11. Closest medical centers? Watson Clinic, has been described as the Mayo Clinic of the South. It is near the hospital, which is about a 15-20 minutes drive from Campbell Rd area.
12. Hospitals? Lakeland Regional is a great hospital, one of the largest in the state. About 15 minutes from Cherry Hill depending on traffic.
13. Bike trails? A few different options, there's a state park not far from Campbell with bike trails, then there is the bike trail that runs from Lakeland to Bartow.
14. Worst insects critters to contend with in area? roaches, though if you keep your home clean and don't leave food out, you shouldn't have a big problem with periodic treatment. We also have brown widow spiders outside. Inside, typical house spiders.
15. Best public lakes? Lake Morton, otherwise known as duck/swan lake is right downtown. Near Campbell, the largest lake would be Lake Gibson which has a public boat ramp. There is also Lake Hollingsworth which is popular for walking and biking.
16. Closest public/private Colleges/Universities? Florida Polytechnic University, Florida Southern, Southeastern, Polk State & University of South Florida. There are also numerous for-profit schools.
17. Favorite things to do? I like going to Disney and enjoying the other amusement parks in the area as well as going to the Gulf Beaches (45 minutes to 1.5 hour drive). There is boating, fishing, other water sports, Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL Aquarium in Tampa, really TONS of stuff
18. What to avoid? Lakeland is very car dependent. Don't plan on walking anywhere.
19. What do you like most about Lakeland? I love the size and it's proximity to Tampa & Orlando.
20. What do you like leastl about Lakeland? I wish we had more restaurants that weren't chains.
21. Homeless population? I don't have a comparison point but most homeless are in an area just north of downtown. There are many organizations that are wonderful with helping them.
22. Difficulty getting building permit to build a garage/workshop on 1 acre? I cannot imagine this would be an issue. Bigger issue might be Homeowners Association if there is one.
23. How many major storms through immediate area that caused damage? Over the years, very few, there was one in the last 60s, Donna. then we had 3 cross right through Polk County in 2004, Charley, Jeanne and Francis. Most damage was in Southern and eastern Polk. Lakeland faired pretty well. Challenge with hurricanes is they spawn tornadoes so they are hard to predict where the damage might occur. We do have afternoon thunderstorms that can be very intense and Central Florida is the lightning capital of the world.