Lakeland is a city of 94,000 in central Florida, east of Tampa with Orlando to its east. Lakeland is part of the Lakeland-Winterhaven Metro and growing fast, having grown 18% from 2000 to 2008. Florida Southern College with its enrollment of just under 2,000 is located in town. Lakeland was an important town during the Florida land boom and many of its historic structures date from that period including the Terrace Hotel, New Florida Hotel (Regency Towers), Polk Theatre, Promenade of Lake Mirror, and the former Lakeland Public Library (now the Trammel Building and home to the Chamber of Commerce.) People often mention that the downtown area is very beautiful - the folks who live in Lakeland are very positive about their community.
Picture of Annie Pfeiffer Chapel (Frank Lloyd Wright) image courtesy of federal HABS—Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida project in the public domain. |