family moving to ft myers/naples... help!

[rtboy1961]

I live next to Naples park. Its a good mixture of people and incomes.Houseing is way over priced here. I would rent at first until you decide where to live.Naples park is less than 1 mile from the beach.
The traffic sucks. Nobody can drive here.Resturaunts are not very good. ( my opinion ) Mosquitos at night will eat you alive. Stay away from lakes and ponds with fresh water,they have alligators in them.
I like living here. The weather and the beach offset anything else. But dont be like 80% of the residents here and never go to the beach. I go every single day. There are people here that havnt been in years. Makes no sense to me.

[Karry]

I lived in Naples Park for 12 yrs. before making a move to East Naples. The lot sizes are very small. 50'wX139'd. This was the average lot size. Then ones with lots of money bought 2 lots side by side and built a $400.00k house. And taxes went up. These lots were bought
about 10 yrs. ago. The builder who built my house as well as the one next to me didn't have any vision at all. Both patios were side by side with a fence between us, I'd say 6' from the neighbors patio. If I wanted to talk in private with someone we would have to do it in the garage. It was about the only private place in this house. But I wanted stability for my youngest son and didn't find it. That is another matter that I have a grocery list a mile long. At that time which was in the mid-80's, I sent my youngest son to a day care which was in the area. This was because the cars would fly down our street from Vanderbuilt. Come to find out many in the park who were stay-at-home moms did the same thing.
Good Luck.....I'd try for another area if I was dead set on living in Florida.

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by rtboy1961

I live next to Naples park. Its a good mixture of people and incomes.Houseing is way over priced here. I would rent at first until you decide where to live.Naples park is less than 1 mile from the beach.
The traffic sucks. Nobody can drive here.Resturaunts are not very good. ( my opinion ) Mosquitos at night will eat you alive. Stay away from lakes and ponds with fresh water,they have alligators in them.
I like living here. The weather and the beach offset anything else. But dont be like 80% of the residents here and never go to the beach. I go every single day. There are people here that havnt been in years. Makes no sense to me.

Driving here is a piece of cake compared to Long Island. Since I hate driving, I LOVE IT.

[tamiedearest]

I just moved from Wisconsin and am currently renting in San Carlos Park and about to purchase a home in San Carlos Park also. My son goes to Bonita Springs Charter School and I really like it. It does not cost anything for him to go there all you have to do is volunteer 20 hours a year. I was very scared about sending him to a school down here after hearing all kinds of bad things, but so far all of his teachers are going above and beyond to help him. Even though I am in Fort Myers and the school is in Bonita Springs, he takes the bus home from school and our neighbor takes him to school.

I really like the area and am glad that I chose here to live. I did/am renting for 6 months so that I could find and get comfortable with the area and to know exactly where I would like to live.

If you have any other questions, please ask.

[extremelytish]

Hello,

Welcome from Kansas.
We have been here for 10 years. We were here when it was very affordable.
Now it seems that the cost of living is very high, taxes and homeowners insurance is a killer.

This is very pretty place to live. I agree with mmccool. She said try Pebblebrooke lakes and Indigo lakes communities. These are nice little
communities. Easy access to alot of places. Alot of construction around
those areas is the only drawback. Good schools in that area.

Summer here is very hard due to most people go back home & alot of
"average income" people have just about lost their homes due to tax
increases and home owners insurance on the rise again. Alot of people have chosen to put their homes up for sale. So, due to the soft market, there is alot of people renting their homes out in this area and some of those families have decided to move on to more affordable areas.

Good luck to you all
and best of wishes,
Tish

[oeabel]

I just happened to be looking through the Florida forum for the first time in a long time and I had forgotten I'd posted this one. As it turns out, we ended up in Estero, which is, I think, the best we could have found.

Florida is a shock for the kids (I was actually born in sarasota so I kinda knew what I was getting in to) but not because of the weather or wildlife, etc. We were all mostly put off by the odd nature of the neighborhoods and the school choice situation and just the general sense of non-permanence that seems to be around. But, we're slowly getting all that figured out!

[Caa]

I used to live in Cape Crummy(coral ha ha ) and moved to Louisiana to get away from the people, traffic and growth and all the immigration issues. I know you cannot run away from your problems, but we are happy here. Our family is still there and all they say is if anyone wants to move here you better speak Spanish as they are really taking over the area for Ft Myers and the Cape. I eally miss family, but am happier here. The people are ok there and the weather is great if you like the heat, good luck!

[SWFL_Native]

Originally Posted by Caa

I used to live in Cape Crummy(coral ha ha ) and moved to Louisiana to get away from the people, traffic and growth and all the immigration issues. I know you cannot run away from your problems, but we are happy here. Our family is still there and all they say is if anyone wants to move here you better speak Spanish as they are really taking over the area for Ft Myers and the Cape. I eally miss family, but am happier here. The people are ok there and the weather is great if you like the heat, good luck!

It's not even close to Miami so you're off base on the spanish comment.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by SWFL_Native

It's not even close to Miami so you're off base on the spanish comment.

I disagree. When was the last time you applied for a job in customer service? Many companies only want people who speak Spanish. Just visit a local Bank of America. That certainly doesn't mean the service reps are unqualified, but it's a fact.

If you read a comment I made in the SC forum, you'll see I have strong viewpoints on this. I am not a bigot and I love the Spanish culture and people, but America is changing everywhere. If it were up to me, however, every ATM would only be in English. Last week I actually called a company and the recording was in Spanish. That threw me! I guess I need to learn "Press 1 for English" in Spanish. LOL

Regarding the crime in Cape Coral, it's not as bad as Fort Myers or Lehigh. I don't think they've found as many human skeletal remains or decapitated heads on the Cape. If you think I'm joking, just read the newspaper.
NBC2 News Online - Eight skulls, skeletal remains found in Fort Myers
NBC2 News Online - Human remains found in Lehigh Acres