Both the East Lake Morton and South Lake Morton neighborhoods were designated as historic districts helping to preserved limited early 20th century residential architecture mostly consisting of bungalows and Arts & Crafts from the 1920s & 1930s. There are also examples of Victorian, Queen Anne, and Spanish Revival homes These neighborhoods by far, contain the best concentration of early 20th century architecture in Lakeland. From an urban perspective the density of the districts isn’t great but the neighborhoods are no more than 1.5 miles from Dwtn Lakeland with solid public transit and walking paths. The districts also boast decent housing diversity & affordability, good cultural amenities, solid tree canopy and high levels of safety.

Florida Ave forms the only consistent urban business district on the western edge of the South Lake Morton Historic District and it is a mixture of quality urban form and semi-auto centric form. Some mixed-use streets in East Lake Morton but no solid urban biz district here. At least the neighborhood is super convenient to Downtown. The neighborhood could use much better bike infrastructure, more walkable schools, better retail amenities, and a lot more density (which would make the aforementioned items more feasible). 

Click to view my East Lake Morton and South Lake Morton Historic District on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent sidewalks and ADA curb in East Lake Morton. More hit or missing in Southern Lake Morton with some streets even without sidewalks.
* Downtown is no more than 1.5 miles away from the furthest points of the district and a very comfortable walk from Easter Lake Morton.
* The parts of the district closest to Dwtn have great public transit but this quickly drops off the further dwtn one is.
* Overall very safe communities esp. Southern Lake Morton.
* Attractive early 20th century architecture with a lot of variety in styles.
* Solid urban canopy esp. in Southern Lake Morton.
* Medium Income is a bit on the higher end but still a decent amount of income diversity.
* Decent rental options with a fair amount a 1-beds lease btwn 1K-1.5K, 2-beds btwn 1.5K-2K but 3-beds are limited. Some affordable rentals concentrated in East Lake Morton.
* Limited small condo options but decent amount of  2 beds sell btwn 200K-550K. Very diverse price point for 3 & 4 bedroom homes running anywhere from 200K-800K and some options for around 1 M
* Cultural amenities including a decent amount of restaurants, bars, cafes, and a couple breweries. The district also includes several museums (mostly art), a handful of theaters and live music, and the cultural amenities from Florida Southern College. Good access to the cultural amenities of Dwtn as well.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* So so density but not bad for a Florida urban district.
* Bike infrastructure is essentially non-existent.
* So so pedestrian activity.
* Decent residential infill but some unattractive autocentric bldgs along Florida Ave & S. Ingraham.
* Urban massing is hit or miss along Florida Ave. Urban massing is solid along residential streets.
* Decent diversity in East Lake Morton with sizable Hispanic and Black populations but Southern Lake Morton is mostly White.
* Parks are a bit limited but residents do have convenient access to three lakes (i.e. Morton, Mirror, and Hollingsworth. Nice recreation path surrounding Lakes Hollingsworth and Morton. Barnett Family Park is an excellent more formal park in East Lake Morton.
* Ok access to schools including several small elementary schools of mixed ratings. Now walkable high schools.
* So so retail amenities including some boutiques  & gift stores, a couple antiques, banks, a pharmacy, a couple bookstores, several dessert stores, a couple gyms, a handful of churches