Rush Hour in Ft. Myers?? (Fort Myers, Bonita Springs: travel, job, house)

[wlevey]

My wife and I are planning to move to Naples and I was looking for work in the Naples/Fort Myers area. One employer didn't even want to talk to me because they said Naples was TOO FAR for me to travel!! I mapquested it and it looks to be about a 45 minute ride (mostly on I-75). I currently commute that long whre I am and don't mind it at all.

Is the rush hour around Fort Myers really that bad??

Does anyone know how long the commute would be (probably worst during the season I suspect)?

Thanks...Bill

[Tarastomsgirl]

rush hour is terrible in Naples and Ft. Myers. My husbands job (Naples) was about 4 miles from the house. On rush hour it took him close to 45 mins - hour to get home in the afternoon. Sometimes I couldn't tell the difference between rush hour and non rush hour, and you can double your commute time during season

[whippersnapper]

Rush hour is pretty bad, especially in season, and especially on I-75. However, most people generally commute from Fort Myers to Naples. You'll be going the opposite way so you should manage to avoid most of the hassle.

Are you looking at places located near exits? That'll make a huge difference in your commute. In town driving is the WORST (sometimes). Do you have your heart set on living in Naples? If you plan on working in Fort Myers, why not look into living in Estero or Bonita Springs?

[wlevey]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I suspected trafic would be worse thatn what Mapquest said, but not as bad as you say!

My wife fell in love with Naples and I think that means we are moving there rather than one of the othe areas.

Bill

[Roadrunner69]

Bill, We have plenty of associates working here(Fort Myers) that live in Naples.I think the biggest thing is when the cars tangle with the dump trucks then everything stops and turns into a long trip. I think it's true you will probably be going opposite the flow but there's an accident all the time plus they are starting to widen I-75 now so there will be slow downs for the next year or so. Have you checked the cost of living in Naples? It might be better to look in south Ft. Myers or Bonita that with cut alot off your time

[wlevey]

I think the issue is that my wife is looking to move away from a big city and also, she found a development in Naples that is very attractive to her. We can always look at options in the other areas, but I suspect we will end up settling in Naples.

Bill

[121804]

Originally Posted by wlevey

My wife and I are planning to move to Naples and I was looking for work in the Naples/Fort Myers area. One employer didn't even want to talk to me because they said Naples was TOO FAR for me to travel!! I mapquested it and it looks to be about a 45 minute ride (mostly on I-75). I currently commute that long whre I am and don't mind it at all.

Is the rush hour around Fort Myers really that bad??

Does anyone know how long the commute would be (probably worst during the season I suspect)?

Thanks...Bill

Accidents galore on the I-75 strip b/w FT Myers & Naples. If not an accident, bottlenecked. Once season starts, it's just a plain nasty strip of I-75 to have to deal with.

The snowbirders need to hit tee time which is b/w 7-8am. Then they have to hit the early bird specials which is b/w 4-5pm.

Then you will hit traffic in Fort Myers itself which can be painful on a good day.

That drive can be up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours with traffic & the every day accident or broke down car.

Just the reality of that area.

Maybe areas like Bonita Springs or Punta Gorda may work. Commutes more tolerable. We lived in Punta Gorda & my husband's commute to Fort Myers was b/w 30-45 mins & he rarely had many bad driving days.

Naples is still one of the most overpriced areas in the entire US.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by wlevey

I think the issue is that my wife is looking to move away from a big city and also, she found a development in Naples that is very attractive to her. We can always look at options in the other areas, but I suspect we will end up settling in Naples.

Bill

I wonder if your wife thinks Naples is smaller than it really is? Naples lists it's population at about 20,000, but in truth, the area is much larger than that.

[thebigr]

Traffic between Naples and Fort Myers in the winter time is a nightmare! Summer is just a bad dream. I traveled South Florida for a living and experianced it often. They just started construction on a 30 mile stretch from Naples to Fort Myers which will take 3 years. Most of the work is done at night but they will still be working on it diuring the day. Some of the worst drivers in the nation and very dangerous. I would suggest visiting area first and drive that stretch of highway during rush hour so you know what you can expect.

Other than that the weather in the winter is probably the best you can ask for.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I wonder if your wife thinks Naples is smaller than it really is? Naples lists it's population at about 20,000, but in truth, the area is much larger than that.

I think its closer to 250,000 not in season.. In season I remember closer to 500,000... I could be off my rocker but for some reason those numbers seem right. I moved out of Naples becasue it is a city. Don't let the lack of tall buildings fool you. Its a city. And a rat race one at that. The town I'm in now is 22,000 and its 10x's smaller than Naples so you're definetly right, she must think its much smaller than it is. At this point you can't really differentiate (sp?) between Naples to Bonita. At one time you could. Now it all meshes, and then from Bonita to Estero, Estero to Ft. Myers. Its just all messing into Napboniesteromyers. And the traffic oye ve!!!!!! You can knock your head on the streering wheel for 15 mins , look up and you're still at the same light. My record is sitting at one red light through 6 changes on Pine Ridge and Airport trying to turn into the Publix Shopping Center. I gave up and moved out of the lane.. I'm still waiting to break that but I'm going into Boston today for the Red Sox Victory Parade so it just might happen!