What is it like to live in Naples? (Golden Gate, Immokalee: credit, real estate)

[Adream]

We've been considering spending time in Naples after the kids go to college to figure out where we want to live eventually. Seems like a nice place to travel from & return to until we figure out our permenant digs.

We like to visit Naples, and do so on a regular basis. It's a pretty place with lots to do. However, it is different to visit a place than it is to live there.

It would be nice to get to know some people. We'll be in our mid-late 50's when we would be there. I think church is always a good starting point.

Is is easy to make friends in this area? Are folks open to new faces? We do know a few people there, some live there year-round, some seasonal.

Housing is not an issue, as we have a place that we can use for as long as we need to. Just wondering what it's like to live there on a daily basis. Thank you.

[mystree]

Don't know what it is like but would lovvvvvvvvvvvve to find out .
My husband and I have vacationed there the last 3 years. Luv it!

[Mrs.Bewitched]

Originally Posted by Adream

We've been considering spending time in Naples after the kids go to college to figure out where we want to live eventually. Seems like a nice place to travel from & return to until we figure out our permenant digs.

We like to visit Naples, and do so on a regular basis. It's a pretty place with lots to do. However, it is different to visit a place than it is to live there.

It would be nice to get to know some people. We'll be in our mid-late 50's when we would be there. I think church is always a good starting point.

Is is easy to make friends in this area? Are folks open to new faces? We do know a few people there, some live there year-round, some seasonal.

Housing is not an issue, as we have a place that we can use for as long as we need to. Just wondering what it's like to live there on a daily basis. Thank you.

I live here on a daily basis. Looking to get out-but that's another story. If housing isn't an issue, I will ignore any housing aspects and give you what it is like to live here year round.
As I am sure you are aware, we have two season: in season and out of season. Out of season is a slower pace. Less traffic, and you don't have to worry about making reservations to do activities, or go out to eat. With that being said, there is so much construction going on, on basically any roadway that you will want to use, that there is traffic no matter what-just because of the construction. Try Immokalee, Goodlette-Frank, Golden Gate Parkway, Vanderbilt Beach Rd- it is awful. So then everyone tries to use the little alternative routes that there are without construction-41, Livingston, 951, Oaks, Pine Ridge...and now they become backed up! So naturally it is HORRENDOUS in-season. In season you can never go to a restuarant without a reservation-without having to wait over an hour to be sat. So least minute going out to eat results in a very long wait. I live about 25 minutes away from work-and that is giving me some time. Normally, it takes me about 30-45 to get home, and that is NOT in rush-hour traffic. This is also NOT in-season.
However, you do have beautiful beaches at your fingertips-which right now, no one can use becuase of the red tide! So don't always count on them!
My in-laws moved down to Naples 9 years ago, they are in their late 50s, becuase it was close to the beach, and a small, beautiful city. They have witnessed the growth of construction, traffic, walmarts and targets and communities and high rise condos going up all over what they moved into. If you don't mind all of that and like growth and change-then you will like Naples. They do go to church-but the only friends they hang out with are from their work, or friends they already knew from their other state that moved down as well. That may just be their choice though. I think people are pretty open.
I used to LOVE coming down to visit. We would come down every year for about 2 weeks. We would be actively doing so much...that we didn't really pay attention to all that we now notice that we live here: the congestion, the growth, the traffic, the abundance of people (but we also have to worry about housing costs and insurance and taxes).

[mmccool719]

I have lived here full time since 1995, south Naples and now North Naples. "Naples" and "north Naples" should really be seperate towns because most people who live in southern Collier County do not come north of Pine Ridge. I personally prefer Naples (city limits) to North Naples (north collier county). North totally lacks the charm and mom and pop stores you'll find in town. Our roads are so congested, even after several of them have gone from 4 lanes to 6 lanes, we are still packed with cars. People generally seem to be nice but a good percentage are retirees who tend to not have much to worry about to begin with. One thing I really despise about Naples is the "keeping up with the Jonese mentality" that so many people seem to portray. Gotta get that line of credit on that appreciated real estate value so you can buy the Hummer or Esaclade to make all your friends jealous. At least that's how alot of the younger people are....we really do not live in reality which is great if you are retired. Okay, another biggie....they do not have nearly the amount of workers to fill the retail jobs...you will wait in long lines for perscriptions, Walmart, restaurants, etc. Any we seem to have had an explosion in Hispanics because very often you cannot get an english speaking person to help you in the store which is very frustrating. And, not to be even more of a downer, but there are some really funky things going on with our water and red tide and some wierd algae blooms in local waterways. I do not allow my children near the water when there is any bloom going on. With all that being said, Naples is okay if you can find the right neighborhood in which to make friends. I, personally, am selling and leaving the first opportunity I get. Good luck to you.

[nealeber]

for starters, i have lived here all my life. 29 years. naples started out as a small town, and is now a small city. i personally am not happy here any more, so i am moveing out of florida. i feel unwanted here, ignored. i am just a number, and i am a native, this is my town, and the northerners dont want me here, cause this is thier town. i am white, but the minority here.
WARNING; the hispanic, and hation population outnumbers everyone, and 90% of them dont speak any english. i just feel like im in another country.
ILL speed things up now, traffic is worse than boston, nightlife here in naples, 0%. not even 1 nightclub. the beaches are always covered in algae
or red tide, which gets u sick for days. the job market here is dead, thousands of layoffs since feb. retail, cunstruction, everything. housing,
houses start in the mid 300's. thats a old fixer uper too.. personally, i would never tell someone to move here, this town is DEAD.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Some one had asked this similar question and this is what I wrote , most people seemed to agree on the other posts





Summer lifestyle involes absorbing as much A/C into your body as humanly possible, dodging the bugs from car to house , burning your hands on the steering wheel after your car spent half the day baking in the sun, then blasting the a/c in your car to the point that you're sure your car might explode only to find out that once you're at a stop light and the sun is shining through your window just right you feel like a bug under a magnifying glass and you might as well just throw the a/c right out the window cause its useless at that point.The getting to the beach(which btw when you live there long enough you avoid it, the rest of the year is red tide) only to find you have to pay to park, walk 6 miles from all the tourists, get there and take one step on the sand and hear that sizzle from the skin on your foot boiling to a crisp , so you run to the water only to find its 90 degrees and you'd have been better off never leaving your house in the first place. And inbetween all of that you're tired of inhaling endless amounts of smoke from all the brush fires

Winter (ehm well a mild form of summer really) lifestyle involves getting up 2 hours earlier for work so you can actually drop your kids off at school and make the now 45 min treck to work which mind you was only 15 mins off season to find your boss equally pissed off when he gets there that the route he normally takes is under construction, has been for the past 6 years and is now down to 1 lane at 8:30 in the morning ..

The rest of the time you'll wait in lines in season, deal with endless traffic that will give make you have pity for people in NYC or LA, you'll hear the northerners complain that things in Naples aren't like they are where they live up north and then try and change it so it is.. Don't ever get used to how Naples looks cause that little store you see on the corner will be gone tomorrow replaced by a hotel or million dollar home..

I can remember in Naples when there was a farm on the corner of Pine Ridge and Airport.. Yes farm for many acres.. Now there is a shopping mall on every corner. Its sickening what Naples has become.. now in the Daily News there is an article about the need for more shopping centers.. If you can't keep up with the Joneses don't bother.

Welp thats my 23 years of living there..

[topher441970]

Well, vacationing there and living there are 2 ENTIRELY different things... I found out first hand. I hate Naples.

Originally Posted by mystree66

Don't know what it is like but would lovvvvvvvvvvvve to find out .
My husband and I have vacationed there the last 3 years. Luv it!

[topher441970]

I love every post by you, I am always in 100% agreeance!!! You explained it PERFECTLY. I lived in Florida 12 years, I think I went to the beach 6 or 7 times... tHE EAST COAST BEACHES ARE far BETTER. I just left Naples in June and moved back to Western Mass where I am from. There is nothing like it here, I literally kissed the ground when I got here.

Naples was the WORST place I lived there, I don't know why people say it's beautiful??? I could not stand it. I thought it was hot in Vero Beach.... UNTIL I WENT TO NAPLES... Snobby area too. Overcrowded. AND EXPENSIVE!!!

Originally Posted by Tarastomsgirl

Some one had asked this similar question and this is what I wrote , most people seemed to agree on the other posts



Summer lifestyle involes absorbing as much A/C into your body as humanly possible, dodging the bugs from car to house , burning your hands on the steering wheel after your car spent half the day baking in the sun, then blasting the a/c in your car to the point that you're sure your car might explode only to find out that once you're at a stop light and the sun is shining through your window just right you feel like a bug under a magnifying glass and you might as well just throw the a/c right out the window cause its useless at that point.The getting to the beach(which btw when you live there long enough you avoid it, the rest of the year is red tide) only to find you have to pay to park, walk 6 miles from all the tourists, get there and take one step on the sand and hear that sizzle from the skin on your foot boiling to a crisp , so you run to the water only to find its 90 degrees and you'd have been better off never leaving your house in the first place. And inbetween all of that you're tired of inhaling endless amounts of smoke from all the brush fires

Winter (ehm well a mild form of summer really) lifestyle involves getting up 2 hours earlier for work so you can actually drop your kids off at school and make the now 45 min treck to work which mind you was only 15 mins off season to find your boss equally pissed off when he gets there that the route he normally takes is under construction, has been for the past 6 years and is now down to 1 lane at 8:30 in the morning ..

The rest of the time you'll wait in lines in season, deal with endless traffic that will give make you have pity for people in NYC or LA, you'll hear the northerners complain that things in Naples aren't like they are where they live up north and then try and change it so it is.. Don't ever get used to how Naples looks cause that little store you see on the corner will be gone tomorrow replaced by a hotel or million dollar home..

I can remember in Naples when there was a farm on the corner of Pine Ridge and Airport.. Yes farm for many acres.. Now there is a shopping mall on every corner. Its sickening what Naples has become.. now in the Daily News there is an article about the need for more shopping centers.. If you can't keep up with the Joneses don't bother.

Welp thats my 23 years of living there..

[Tarastomsgirl]

I have found the ones that seemed to endlessly rave about Naples are more than likely
1. Very wealthy with money to throw around
2. The Northerners that came down, liked the weather, hated how the town looked/felt, so they changed it to how it was back where they came from and walla NOW they have their paradise and all who opposed the change can beat it

I love how how people say how great of a town it is , when its just as big a rat race in Naples as it is in miami or any other major city, but there you're miserably sweaty and hot all the time.

[Sunandsand]

The last two posters, one is in NH and one is in Mass. You sound like you both are cold weather folks. Why do you put post after post on the Florida forum?

We get it, you don't like Florida. Some of us love it, heat, humidity, and all.

If you paid me a million dollars to live in NH or Mass I would not take it. But I don't spend time posting on those forums telling people up there how awful their states are.

I totally miss why you would waste time bashing FL. Your gone, move on with your lives.