Lake County, Florida
Lake County is a pretty long county, from the southernmost point to the northernmost point it's 102 km. The county is also relatively hilly compared to the rest of the state (especially the rest of the peninsula), three of the ten tallest points in Florida are in Lake County. The county is diverse, depending on where you go, near Astatula, Groveland, and Howey-in-the-Hills? It's all white people. Towns like Leesburg, Clermont, and Minneola are very diverse compared to the rest of the county.
The county has many rural areas, some "native Floridian" areas, some "northern" areas, and a few poor areas (all of which I've only seen in Leesburg). Rural areas include large farms, orange/citrus groves, and areas with no human habitation, except for miles and miles of lonely roads. Native Floridian areas tend to have a southern culture, some of the best barbecue for miles (you aren't getting any great stuff in Orlando/The Villages/Four Corners), thick southron accents, and Confederate flags are common. These areas tend to be next to the rural areas. Poor areas are the same as the rest of the U.S., people are living in poverty, there's not much upkeep in the area, etc. The Northern areas are the most populated, I'd say a majority of the population lives in Northern areas, tend to vote 55-45 Democratic (the Native Floridian areas however...) and are pretty much town centers and subdivisions.
There's also some spillover effects from some cities, we have parts of Four Corners (extension of Kissimmee), and we have parts of The Villages coming over into Lake County(fun fact: this retirement community (minimum age 55+) has the highest rate of std's in the state of florida).
Clermont
Clermont's population is 30,000, triple the population it had in 2000, and it's growing rapidly. The demographics vary from one place to another, near the town center and the outskirts of the city had a higher % of blacks and hispanics respectively, and the area in the middle had a higher % of whites. The city (along with the rest of the county) is lacking in things to do, but you have
the Citrus Tower,
the Showcase of Citrus, the
the President's Hall of Fame and
the largest winery in the state of Florida. We also have the Clermont Chain of Lakes, which has over 8,000 acres of water and it's great if you're a water enthusiast and don't mind alligators or brain-eating amoeba.
Leesburg
Leesburg has a stark contrast between black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods, with white neighborhoods being considerably richer than their black counterparts, and you can tell racism is prevalent here. You've got the
Leesburg Heritage Museum and the
Lake Griffin State Park.
Eustis
Eustis is one of the cities with a mix between Northerners and Southrons, and it's pretty divided between both groups (the northern part of the county is like the south, the southern part of the county is like the north, it's like the state as a whole). The city is probably the most boring place in the county because the lakes are terrible imo, and all they really have is the
Lake Eustis Museum of Art.
Tavares
Tavares is the county seat of Lake County, the population has been growing steadily for the past couple of years, it's nearly 14,000. The city was considered for the capital of Florida for a little while
before the whole town caught on fire and needed to be rebuilt. You've got
the Orange Blossom Trail Cannonball (Steam train), and uh...that's pretty much it for things not related to swimming on the beach.
Mount Dora
Mount Dora is really the poor man's The Villages but it's probably the 'homeliest' town I've been to in Florida (I think the homeliest one is a tie between Boone, NC and Lexington, VA), and it's a really quirky town. You have festivals which are very popular with Lake Olds, and with the grandbabies the olds bring. Very cute town, 10/10 would visit if you come down here. You have
the Dora Canal Ride,
the Mount Dora Historical Museum, and
the Mount Dora Museum of Speed.
You also have towns like Minneola and Groveland, but there's nothing special enough about them to post something in this thread (except for the best
donuts in central florida). You have towns like Astatula and Howey-in-the-Hills but they're just too small, then you have towns like Okahumpka and Tangerine that have nothing at all but oranges and gas stations.
That seems to be it for my county.
God this was a long post.
