Many more of those interviewed in the survey were pleased with recreation and parks. Almost seven of 10 said parks and recreational services were good or excellent while 16 percent listed them as only fair and 6 percent as poor. Nine percent were undecided. The county's cities have long had an edge over the unincorporated areas when it came to parks and recreation, but the county is catching up, said Don Wilson, director of county parks and recreation. We have 83 employees with 50 working in maintenance, and we have been working with 20 youth and adult recreational leagues.
Many county municipalities have youth baseball and soccer fields along with tennis courts.
Several have swimming pools and gyms with exercise programs. Bartow, Winter Haven and Lakeland own public golf courses. The emphasis local governments in Polk have placed on recreation was highlighted when the 2001 Legislature awarded 15 state recreation grants here. Something else residents like are Polk's hospitals and health care. 12 percent said they were poor.