Metro Lakeland - Origin of Name

Origin of Name

The name "Metro Lakeland" refers to the abundance of lakes in the area, most of them engineered. The name appeared to have been coined to promote economic development and tourism in the region, but it is not widely used by residents, nor by local news media, such as The Southern Illinoisan newspaper (Carbondale) or WSIL-TV (Harrisburg). It does not appear in official listings of the U.S. Census Bureau or of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (the agency charged with defining metropolitan and "micropolitan" statistical areas in the United States). (These agencies refer only to Lakeland, Florida.)