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Winter Haven: The Chain of Lakes City

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Winter Haven is a community of 27,865 people, located in Central Florida between Tampa and Orlando.  The gentle rolling hills of Polk County and 45 fresh-water lakes touch or are contained within the City limits. Fourteen of the lakes are connected by a system of navigable canals better known as “The Chain of Lakes.”

Winter Haven is home to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, Florida’s first theme park and is the spring training site for the Cleveland Indians. Nearby, visitors enjoy Historic Bok Sanctuary (Bok Tower Gardens) and Fantasy of Flight Air Museum… both just minutes away. Winter Haven is an excellent location to raise a family or to retire and enjoy a wonderful climate. With Disney World, Busch Gardens, SeaWorld and Universal Studios all within an hour’s drive, it is a perfect “home base” for vacations, as well.

Local Education:

The Polk County Public School District is the eighth-largest in Florida and 37th largest nationally. Polk has about 160 school sites, including 65 elementary schools, 19 middle/junior high schools and 16 senior high schools. Also included are charter schools, vocational and technical centers, adult and alternative schools. Almost 95,000 students are enrolled. The district is the largest employer in Polk County with more than 12,000 employees. More than half of those are employed as teachers.

Polk Community College, a two-year institution, offers complete career programs. Four-year institutions within commuting distance include Bethune-Cookman College, Florida Southern College, Keiser College, the University of South Florida, Webber International University, Warner Southern College, Webster University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Tampa. Two technical schools, Ridge Technical Center and Traviss Technical Center, are also nearby.

Geography:

Winter Haven is located at 28°2′4″N, 81°43′18″W (28.034314, -81.721680)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 65.8 km² (25.4 mi²). 45.8 km² (17.7 mi²) of it is land and 20.0 km² (7.7 mi²) of it (30.45%) is water.

Winter Haven, is called “The Chain of Lakes City” because of its numerous fresh water lakes which touch or are contained within the city limits. 24 of the lakes are connected by a system of navigable canals better known as the “Chain of Lakes”. Winter Haven has its own professional sports team (Cleveland Indians Spring Training, a Major League Baseball training establishment subsidized by local taxes), which plays at Chain of Lakes Park, and a theme park (Cypress Gardens Adventure Park – Florida’s first theme park). It is also the home of Winter Haven Hospital and Winter Haven’s Gilbert Airport. Winter Haven also contains many buildings designed by Gene Leedy, one of the founders of the Sarasota School of Architecture.

The city gets its name from it obvious lack of colder weather with a warm tropical climate throughout the majority of the year. The average temperature is 62 degrees Fahrenheit.

Demographics:

As of the census of 2000, there were 26,487 people, 11,833 households, and 6,934 families residing in the city. The population density was 578.4/km² (1,498.3/mi²). There were 13,912 housing units at an average density of 303.8/km² (787.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.51% White, 23.16% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.87% from other races, and 2.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.94% of the population.

There were 11,833 households out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 27.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,884, and the median income for a family was $39,657. Males had a median income of $30,943 versus $21,812 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,383. About 10.5% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.