Florida Folks

[Sparkie217]

Is anyone in the Lakeland area? I may be transferring to Florida in a year and I would be working in Lakeland! I will be down in Florida around the first week of June to check the place out and of course spend a day at Disney World!!

[bananajana]

Hi! I live about an hour south of Lakeland :) It's a nice place.. Let me know if you have any questions!

[Sparkie217]

I have lots of questions but don't know where to start!! What is there to do down there? Probably more than there is to do here anyway!! Crime rate? School systems? Job market (my husband will be looking if we move there)? What do you love about the area? What would you miss most if you left? Tell me anything and everything!!

THANKS!!!

[DebbieChoos]

Elizabeth

I work in Tampa and live in Pinellas County, Lakeland is about 30 minutes east of Tampa on I-4. I'm not a big Lakeland/Polk County fan, but that's just my opinion. Me personally, I couldn't live in the middle of Florida, gotta have a coast! Here are some links that you might find helpful, the internet offers a wealth of info!!

City of Lakeland: http://www.lakelandgov.net/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeland,_Florida

LakelandFlorida.net: http://www.lakelandflorida.net/

Lakeland Ledger: http://www.theledger.com/

Weather: http://www.wunderground.com/US/FL/Lakeland.html

Chamber of Commerce: http://www.lakelandchamber.com/

Polk County BOCC: http://www.polk-county.net/

Polk County: http://www.polk-county.com/

Good luck and get ready to toss all those winter jackets!

[DebbieChoos]

I have lots of questions but don't know where to start!! What is there to do down there? Probably more than there is to do here anyway!! Crime rate? School systems? Job market (my husband will be looking if we move there)? What do you love about the area? What would you miss most if you left? Tell me anything and everything!!

THANKS!!!

I don't know if you meant to double post, but you can find alot of these answers on those web sites that I listed. Lakeland is situated such that another thing to think about is just because you work in Lakeland, wouldn't have to mean that you need to live there. Most people do commute here over some distance. The majority of my friends, spend at least 40 minutes commuting each way, everyday. On a good day I can get to my office in 45-50 minutes, on bad days...well it may take me 1 1/2 hours, one way.

What I miss most is elevation, I do get tired of actually thinking the world is indeed flat. What I don't miss is shoveling, snow is great to visit, but I never want to live with it again.

Your job search opportunities depends on what you are looking for. Lakeland/Polk County is not known for it's technology based opportunities. Go to the Lakeland Ledger link or try the Tampa Tribune or the Orlando paper for jobs available outside Lakeland. Monster is also a great tool for job searches.

Do some research, try some of the Florida touristy websites, Disney posts openings on their website. I know nothing about the school system, so I can't help you there. Importantly, there are Starbucks in Lakeland (seven to be exact!). I hope this helps.

[Sparkie217]

No I did not mean to double post, my satellite internet must have done something strange. When I posted originally it was raining/snowing and I kept losing connection. I am happy it posted at all. I already drive 45 minutes to work a day, I actually wouldn't mind living closer to work especially the way gas prices are these days. I will check out those websites, thanks!!

[bananajana]

Hello :) I actually live about an hr and 15 minutes south of Lakeland.. Florida is oK! Not my choice of a nice place to raise a family. I don't think the school systems are very good, and I don't feel like some of the people are of the best quality.. I know that sounds mean, but its the truth. The weather on the other hand is interesting.. It is generally always warm or hot.. Not much else. Or raining in the summer. I moved to FL about 7yrs ago from Oklahoma, and if I had the chance I would go back in a minute. But most of my lives here in FL now. There are plenty of things to do.. Tons of things to do! Beach, parks, entertainment of every kind. Hmmm what else? I think the crime rate might be a little higher in the lakeland area than others, but not totally sure of that. I read the previous post, and I agree I would drive a while before I actually decided to live in Lakeland. If there is anything else I can help you with ask away. I am not usually so cranky, but I am not a big fan of Florida. What kind of business is your husband in? I might have some good suggestions. :)

[Sparkie217]

My husband has done a few things. In CA he owned his own computer company building and servicing custom computers. When we moved to Idaho he got on with US Bank as a manager in their call center. He has worked for Earthlink and other tech companies. The upside to FL for us is that he races Catamarans so he wants to be near water. US Bank is not on the east coast so he won't be transferring and my company is only in a few places for my dept on the east coast and they are mostly landlocked. I would prefer to stay in ID but my parents are getting older (88 and 78) and I figure we should move east for a few years atleast and see more of them. They are in NYC and I will not live anywhere near NY. We considered ME but we would both be looking for work. Another option is Boston but I don't want to be near Boston either. I don't feel so positive about FL but it'll be for a few years only and then we can hopefully come back to beautiful northern Idaho.

[bananajana]

Hi :) I would suggest looking into some of the large Cable companies.. I work for one and I make a decent amount of money! Not to mention I love MY JOB :) I am actually moving to Vermont in a few months.. :) How old are your kids? If you have any questions just ask away! I will try and think of anything else I can! How do you like your band? I see you were banded about a month before me :)

[DebbieChoos]

You will find that when you pose a question here you will get alot of different, varying opinions. Me personally, I love it here, but then again I live on the beach. But when I lived in Tampa I lived in the Hyde Park area which was very quaint, upscale and was within walking distance (safe, safe, safe) of shopping, food, arts, drink, etc. It's all what you make of it, like I said earlier, I would not be happy inland, way way too hot. To me Orlando is just one big freaking parking lot with the heat radiating off the asphalt, but that is my opinion.

Camping (tents) is non-existent. You may as well just set your sleeping bag up in a sauna - but that's what vacations to North Carolina or Tennessee are for. We spend our time biking, kayaking, shopping, eating, drinking, going to art shows, movies, hanging at the beach, vacations etc...you get the picture. Remember for the catamaran (if this matters) the east coast is the Atlantic Ocean and the west coast (where I am) is the Gulf of Mexico.

Lakeland, actually Polk County in general really does have a bad reputation. The crime rate is significantly higher than the rest of the state. Polk County is known as the Meth Capital of Florida (sorry, just letting you know). And unless you've been under a rock, the video that is all over the air right now (the group of girls kicking the shit out of the girl that they didn't like) is from Lakeland. But there are some parts of Lakeland and Polk County that are beautiful and safer - you just need to do lots of research.

Florida is a melting pot, because of our weather and the lack of state taxes we get alot of transplants. It is rare that you actually meet someone that is "from" Florida. Because of my work I travel all over the State and meet a variety of people, the majority of which are good people. You will always encounter some "bad apples" no matter where you live. So that said, I was kind-of offended by the comment "I don't feel like some of the people are of the best quality" but that is just me. No harm no foul.

Hope this helps...I'm sure you will get more unsolicited advice as you decide where to live!