Meet Reddit. This site for conversation is a little more focused than comments on a Facebook post, but more casual + personalized than a forum.

A quick tutorial on how Reddit works: users subscribe to specific subreddits, which are individual communities for conversation about a certain topic. These include searching for topics such as r/worldnews, r/science, or r/aww. You create a discussion in a subreddit and users can comment + upvote or downvote the post, which is a good indication of how many people are interested or agree or disagree.

Today, we’re looking at r/lakeland, the subreddit for - you guessed it - Lakeland, Florida. There are 1.6k people subscribed, asking questions, discussing news + sharing photos. Here are six of the most interesting conversations we wanna hop in on.

🚇 Where are Lakeland’s underground tunnels?
Rumor has it there are a group of incomplete underground tunnels below our city. According to the forum’s legend, the tunnels were originally meant to be part of a subway system but when The Great Depression hit, the plan was abandoned. Supposedly, the promenade on Lake Mirror was even once cited to be one of the entrances. Another group of tunnels are theorized to be under FSC with air vents to be seen around Edge Hall and the Hindu Gardens. Do you think the tunnels exist or are they just old wives' tales? Let us know.

🏠 Where are the best apartments in LAL?
Some of these comments included: Carlton Arms on South Lakeland, Nobay, Aida Palms, Lake Mirror Tower, Willowbrooke Apartments + the Preserve at Lakeland Hills.

🏗 What would you like to see added to our city?
A ton of people chimed in, which isn’t completely surprising considering how many movers + shakers there are in the 863. The comment with the most upvotes? “Trader Joe's, a good rock climbing gym + a bakery that is regularly opened.” Bonus points for the person who asked for a beach to be built in Central Florida. What would you suggest?

🛫 What airport do Lakelanders prefer to fly out of?
Though most suggested our west side neighbors in St. Pete + Tampa (apparently lines can be quicker at these ports), one notable mention was MCO in Orlando, since it’s more accessible from I-4 by the town of Celebration.

🥡 Where can I find good chinese food in Lakeland?
With over 15 chinese restaurants in the area, this was one of everyone’s favorite forums. The Rib House, China Wok + Peking House include several of the places that were listed. There was also an obligatory “Panda Express is the best” answer.

💇‍Where can I find a good barber?
Let’s be honest, everyone needs to feel so fresh + so clean, clean every now and then. And in LAL, haircare is no joke. Gent’s Classic Cuts, Arnie’s Barber Shop + Perfect Cuts were mentioned in this particular forum. Also, apparently, Bob at Knickerbockers is a fan favorite and has been cutting hair since he was a teen in Brooklyn.

If you’re anything like me, you got sucked into binge reading all of r/lakeland. Here are a few other subreddits you might want to take a look at: r/florida, r/centralflorida, r/tampa + r/orlando.

Bonus Round: There’s a subreddit just full of dog pictures in case you’re having a bad day. Thank me later.

Don’t leave me on red(dit),

– Kaylee