Terrified to Move Now! (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: transplants, real estate, waterpark)

[scrltrider]

My husband has a job opportunity in Fort Myers. We currently reside in the midwest (St. Louis). Our children (twin 11 year olds) are in a really great school district. Our neighborhood is filled with children their age.

After combing through these threads I'm now terrified we might be making a big mistake by moving. It seems like half the people on here hate it there and half love it.

I'm super concerned about the schools & neighborhoods. My children's education is extremely important to me and I also want them to have other neighborhood children to play with.

We are looking in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Naples. Our house budget is 300,000 max. Are there any family transplants out there who might give me a better idea of what I'm facing? Is it really as bad as some people have made it out to be? Is there family life in any of these areas?

Any objective help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[rikoshaprl]

You have to take into consideration that most people that post on forums about an area are angry about something. You need to look at the number of posts and reputation of the poster to get a better picture. (I am a relative newby compared to many other posters on here.) I love Cape Coral. There are a lot of snow birds, i think especially on waterfront areas. But I see plenty of young families all year. There are nice festivals throughout the year for families that are well attended. There is a nice water park and amusement park nearby. There is plenty of water for boating, beaches and fishing. $300,000 in CC will get you a nice home on a canal with a pool.

City of Cape Coral > Government > Parks & Recreation > Parks & Facilities > Recreation Centers & Attractions > Sun Splash Family Waterpark > SunSplash > Home

great go carts - Review of Zoomers Amusement Park, Fort Myers, FL - TripAdvisor

Some of the younger posters can give you a better idea.

[wjj]

I think your biggest issue to consider is school assignment in Lee County. There are many family friendly communities, so that should not be an issue. I don't know all of the ins and outs of school assignment but what I have heard is troubling - at least to me. There are many others on this forum who can fill in the specifics. I don't think Collier County (Naples, southern Bonita Springs) has a similar program. Again, others who know more can comment.

I would not be terrified. I am from the Chicago area and the real estate agent who sold us our home in FM, and his parents all live in the same area as I do. He is from St. Louis and a young guy. Newly wed. If you send me a PM, I will send you his name. While I am nearing retirement, we wanted a community with lots of families, like where we live now (a village that frequently shows up on "best places for families" lists). No over 55 communities for us. We have a high school kid on one side, two elementary kids on the other side and two junior high kids across the street. We think it is a very nice family community and it would fit your budget. But our kids are grown and we do not have to deal with school assignment. That should be your focus. Our local elementary school is highly rated, but the trick is getting assigned there, even though it is just right down the street.

Hopefully, someone else will be able to comment on school assignment.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by wjj

I think your biggest issue to consider is school assignment in Lee County. There are many family friendly communities, so that should not be an issue. I don't know all of the ins and outs of school assignment but what I have heard is troubling - at least to me. There are many others on this forum who can fill in the specifics. I don't think Collier County (Naples, southern Bonita Springs) has a similar program. Again, others who know more can comment.

I would not be terrified. I am from the Chicago area and the real estate agent who sold us our home in FM, and his parents all live in the same area as I do. He is from St. Louis and a young guy. Newly wed. If you send me a PM, I will send you his name. While I am nearing retirement, we wanted a community with lots of families, like where we live now (a village that frequently shows up on "best places for families" lists). No over 55 communities for us. We have a high school kid on one side, two elementary kids on the other side and two junior high kids across the street. We think it is a very nice family community and it would fit your budget. But our kids are grown and we do not have to deal with school assignment. That should be your focus. Our local elementary school is highly rated, but the trick is getting assigned there, even though it is just right down the street.

Hopefully, someone else will be able to comment on school assignment.

The issue with lee county (ft. Myers , Bonita and Estero) is one ,much more crime than Naples (that's for ft. Myers more than Bonita and Estero so we r clear) violent crime is much more prevalent (shootings, murders, bank robberies) so make sure u do ur homework before u move anywhere there. Call the police and ask for crime stats and such for the area. I personally wouldn't live north of Estero. Cape Coral is a bit boring (people in SWFL call it Cape Coma and Ft. Misery)

Second with Lee is school choice. You essentially have to raffle for the school you want ur kid to go to. Every hear u go and sign ur kid up with the schools. You have to choose several schools on the form with a #1 pick and #2 and so on. You don't always get your first choice so your kids school may be far from your home or may not be a desirable school.it doesn't happen all the time. We did have friends leave Lee county schools because their child's school was quite a distance from their home and not their first pick. Lee county schools aren't wonderful either, certainly wouldnt describe them as Great so if you have your kids ina great system now I'd stick with it. They just curved the grading scale in Fla for schools so less would get an F rating (the schools not the kids) some schools in Lee still received D's and f's

Collier schools do better but they recently denied the teachers a raise again and I smell some upheaval this coming school year. There have already been protests and the union has talked about teachers no longer working extra time for the kids or buying extra supplies etc. if you have it good where you live and are happy with your lot I would avoid the hassle and stay put. Just my opinion .

[MikeP]

I would not let this forum scare you. Consider the type of person that spends thier days typing hundreds of negative posts.
I like it here, almost love it. I'd like some hills and a shorter summer but other than that it's great.
With a $300K budget you can live VERY well in Fort Myers/CC area.
Of course there's more crime in FTM than Naples. Unless you're going to very undesirable areas to do shady things you'll be fine. In 17 years down here (from NY) I've never felt unsafe. I did have some change stolen out of my unlocked vehicle once though!!!
The schools are better than people say. They like to use the rankings to say how bad they are, but now that Florida has become one of the better performing states in the nation those same people say you can't believe the rankings or the scale was changed or whatever they need to say to fit thier argument. School choice could be a pain but you do not have to re enter every year. It's entering K, 6th and 9th grades that you apply. Once you're in a school you don't have to go through choice again unless you want to change. I've only heard school choice "horror stories" on this forum. No one that I know personally has had much trouble.
BTW I have 3 kids, two in Lee county schools. The third will be in K next year.
Do your research. Don't trust me or anyone else here, but certainly don't let the bitter people that seem to dominate these forums "scare you".
Best of luck!

[scrltrider]

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it! It seems like there are so many more "negative Nelleys" on these forums than positive people, it makes it hard for someone not familiar with the area to not question the area's positive vs negative values.

I still have my concerns, but maybe not as terrified. =)

[hsmomof2]

here's a link to the lee county crime map- you can see where many of the area crime are committed.

Lee County Sheriff's Office | Lee County, Florida | CrimeActivity | Index

They vary some but most of the violent crimes are in neighborhoods that you will not be living with that housing budget. Check out areas in Gateway there are a lot of transplants there, and developments off of Daniels parkway seem to not have a lot of criminal activity.

I think the crime thing is all over Florida, unfortunately. It gets old real quick especially if you come from a small town where you don't have to lock your car doors like we did but there are areas that are safer than others, even in Fort Myers.

[dualie]

If you go to the Punta Gorda forum the people are much kinder and gentler.... I don't know why this one attracts such nastiness and negativity. I've only been here about a year 1/2... other then the weather, it's not that much different then anywhere else in the country.

You have nice areas, some not so nice, some downright nasty. You have nice folks, some not so nice etc. But it does seem there are a lot that hang out on this forum that have an axe to grind.

Maybe they are just trying to scare everyone else off so they can keep all the beautiful stuff for themselves? Don't be afraid, but do realize several things.. life is slower, and you don't have to shovel!

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by dualie

If you go to the Punta Gorda forum the people are much kinder and gentler.... I don't know why this one attracts such nastiness and negativity. I've only been here about a year 1/2... other then the weather, it's not that much different then anywhere else in the country.

You have nice areas, some not so nice, some downright nasty. You have nice folks, some not so nice etc. But it does seem there are a lot that hang out on this forum that have an axe to grind.

Maybe they are just trying to scare everyone else off so they can keep all the beautiful stuff for themselves? Don't be afraid, but do realize several things.. life is slower, and you don't have to shovel!

Take a look at Punta Gorda, not that far from Fort Myers.

$300K should get you a house on the water with a pool

Punta Gorda is small town with a small town feel, there is a Historic district with great shops the crime level is the second lowest in Florida for a city it's size. There are lots of parks, bike paths and other activities available.

It's seems that every other week there is some kind of festival going on.

And the previous poster is correct the people on the Punta Gorda forum are kinder and Gentler.

Now that you have read this forum read the Punta Gorda forum and you will see why we live in Punta Gorda

Gary

[Hemidancer]

Originally Posted by dualie

If you go to the Punta Gorda forum the people are much kinder and gentler.... I don't know why this one attracts such nastiness and negativity. I've only been here about a year 1/2... other then the weather, it's not that much different then anywhere else in the country.

You have nice areas, some not so nice, some downright nasty. You have nice folks, some not so nice etc. But it does seem there are a lot that hang out on this forum that have an axe to grind.

Maybe they are just trying to scare everyone else off so they can keep all the beautiful stuff for themselves? Don't be afraid, but do realize several things.. life is slower, and you don't have to shovel!

Totally agree with this post. I've been on the Punta Gorda forum a few times and was amazed at the difference in peoples attitudes. Lots of curmudgeons on this forum, but lots of nice folks too who have been very helpful. I tend to ignore the Chicken Littles.