Scared But am going to do it (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: gated, condo)

[RNLUV2TRVL]

I once lived in Cape Coral and now I miss it. I now am single and I am coming back this fall. My problem is I will be alone so how safe will I be. I am planning on finding a rental in a gated community, 2nd story(shows you how scared I am...lol) I will work during the day so will be in at night. Do you think this is a fairly safe plan? I lived in the NW section and really prefer that area.

[hiknapster]

You are that scared of the place but miss it? I apologize in advance, but I just don't get it.

[ChrisA70]

Why are you so paranoid??? It's not like it's Compton in California here in the Cape... If you are that scared, like hiknapster says, how can you miss it if you are scared??? Where are you now? The Bronx, NY????

No rental gated communities in Cape Coral... There is one, but pretty expensive and it is actually a condo community called Island Cove, behind Walmart on Delprado. I worked at Coral Cove in front of it when they were just building Island cove.

Please explain your paranoia, just seems strange.

[Plmtrz_plz]

There is nothing to be afraid of in Cape Coral... There isn't even a need to rent in a gated community. If you wanted gated go to Naples, Bonita or Estero.

[RNLUV2TRVL]

Thanks for your replies. Well I have to say when I first moved there.....I found the evening news filled with more violence than any CSI show you could watch. Let's see...what do I remember....there was someone killed almost daily, a baby that had been kidnapped and never found, bank robberies.....(actually quite frequently!)
where I live a bank robbery may happen once every 5 years...I am considered a "baby boomer" so I have a few years on me and the only baby kidnapping I remember here....the baby was recovered in 2 hours and the woman who did it was from out of state. Locals here don't do this kind of stuff....safe...absolutely....you don't ever need to lock your house door or your car for that matter....will people steal out of your car?...yeah it will be the major headlines occas.
Why would I want to go back to Cape Coral?
I live in such a safe place....yes I know.....but it is EXTREMELY boring and EXTREMELY cold and depressing in the winter time.

[compelled to reply]

If you don't work at the bank, how does a bank robbery effect you? SW Florida has a lot of banks and the chances of you walking into a bank that's getting robbed are slim, and the chances of you getting hurt are even slimmer. Cape Coral has an extremely low robbery rate for it's size, I would be more worried about burglars.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by RNLUV2TRVL

Thanks for your replies. Well I have to say when I first moved there.....I found the evening news filled with more violence than any CSI show you could watch. Let's see...what do I remember....there was someone killed almost daily, a baby that had been kidnapped and never found, bank robberies.....(actually quite frequently!)
where I live a bank robbery may happen once every 5 years...I am considered a "baby boomer" so I have a few years on me and the only baby kidnapping I remember here....the baby was recovered in 2 hours and the woman who did it was from out of state. Locals here don't do this kind of stuff....safe...absolutely....you don't ever need to lock your house door or your car for that matter....will people steal out of your car?...yeah it will be the major headlines occas.
Why would I want to go back to Cape Coral?
I live in such a safe place....yes I know.....but it is EXTREMELY boring and EXTREMELY cold and depressing in the winter time.

Well, at least I now understand your position.

You sound a lot like me. I'm originally from an area like yours. There was very little crime. Life was not very exciting and it was very cold.

I didn't move to Florida because of that, though. Unusual circumstances brought me there.

Fort Myers and I were not a good mix. Not very friendly people, quite angry for the most part. Too much crime for me. At the time, housing prices vs. pay was a bad mix. I still think that it is, even though housing prices have come down. I suspect it will always be a retiree haven.

You read a lot on this forum about how Detroit or Baltimore or Flint have much worse crime. Well, I'm not from there nor would I ever live there.

So, in the long run, I settled for someplace else. If I had the money, I would move back to New England.

In the end, I found, cold and boring is a pretty decent thing.

Go for it, if you want to live in southwest Florida, but I wonder if you will be really happy.

[compelled to reply]

You know OP, there are other areas in Florida too...I.E only 15 other cities in the US are safer than where I live AND it's in the US, yet it's convenient enough for me as a young single dude, and it's in southeast Florida. There are other areas in Florida that are like that too, safe, warm, but with more going on, more diversity or at least friendlier people. Personally crime would be the least of my worries as far as moving to Cape Coma. Fort Myers has a lot of crime however but it's a body of water away. Point being, Florida is a big state with a lot of different areas. Weigh your priorities and see if Cape Coral is REALLY right for you. If you want warm weather, palm trees, RELATIVE safety, a nice house on a canal and not much else Cape Coral is for you. The crime rate is STILL below the natl. average (except for Burglary) so don't let fear of crime be a deterrent, let other factors that may detract from your happiness be a deterrent.

[jmfkmb49]

Maybe I have a false sense of security, but I'm a young girl living alone in northern Cape Coral and have never felt paranoid or afraid due to crime. Hurricanes, yes. Crime, not so much.

Someone killed almost daily?! Are we counting auto accidents and such?