Full of shopping and retail, Northwest Lakeland is anchored by Lakeland Square Mall at the intersection of Interstate 4 and U.S. Highway 93. While retail establishments extend in either direction on those two major highways, housing developments and subdivisions fill the gaps between them with clean, well-maintained, winding suburban streets. “The city of Lakeland is a major hub for the state,” says Cameron Woods, local real estate agent at Dream Realty Group and lifelong resident of Lakeland. “You’re not in a big metropolis, but you can commute to Tampa or Orlando, and there are beaches to the east and west.” At the center of Northwest Lakeland, Lakeland Square Mall is the only major shopping mall on I-4 between Tampa and Orlando and is home to more than 90 stores, including JCPenney and Dillard’s. Within the mall, locals can visit Cinemark to catch the newest feature films or head to Urban Air Adventure Park, which offers indoor trampoline parks, climbing walls, ropes courses and other activities for kids to enjoy while getting some exercise. Many other shopping plazas and strip malls sit along U.S. Highway 98, housing big box and grocery stores like Target, Aldi and Sam’s Club.