Naples, The Good, Bad and Ugly? (Miami, Jupiter: real estate, homeowners association, houses)

[JMadison]

Hi Everyone,
Sorry if this is the wrong place, but looks like closest forum for Naples, Fl.

So what is the "Good, Bad and Ugly" of Naples as a place to live and work? Places to be? Places to avoid? Crime? Anything else someone might want to know before relocating?

[FLBob]

I lived in Naples for 7 years, I'd like to say that I loved every minute, but I left as the area surrounding the city of Naples grew. If I went out of the city during season I was often in gridlock.
I miss Naples. The one thing you must understand is that much of what people refer to as Naples is actually the unincorporated areas of Collier County. The city of Naples has a very small footprint. Living in the city is special. I could bike from one end to the other. 5th Ave and 3rd street shops and restaurants were a joy. The events in the city range from quaint small town to memorable life events.
When I was there there was a weekend where 5th Ave was closed and artists would paint the streets with chalk "via colori" , The Naples beach club held free beach side concerts, each year there is the Christmas boat parades and the lighting of the tree event on 3rd was lots of fun.
The landscaping by the homeowners in Naples is superb. This gives the town a special feel. Being able to walk to the beach is priceless, and Naples has beach access up and down the coast line.
I think I'll always have a bit of Naples in me. I live in Venice now and many of the things I loved about Naples I find here.

[Lulu101]

You will love it. Here in Naples, it is beautiful. Lots of people with refined and elegant tastes, who enjoy the best life has to offer.

It may take you a few weeks to get used to the warm weather, but after that it never really strikes one as too uncomfortable.

And your only 2 hours from Miami for incredible shopping and nightlife.

[delovely]

My toddler and I have been here in Naples for about six months. My brief impression is that the area is beautiful. I am still learning things and hoping to find more. I will say that I am trying to adjust and finding it difficult to find things for my son and I to do. Everything just seems so expensive here. But, all in all, pretty place.

[TANaples]

It was 94 degrees today, not counting the HEAT INDEX. With the HUMIDITY factored in it has to be over 100 degrees. This is not an isolated day. It's in the 90s from May to about November.

This is not "warm". This is as HOT AS HELL. No, you won't get used to it in a few weeks. I hear natives say all the time, "You NEVER get used to it".

[Lulu101]

I am used to it.

Originally Posted by TANaples

It was 94 degrees today, not counting the HEAT INDEX. With the HUMIDITY factored in it has to be over 100 degrees. This is not an isolated day. It's in the 90s from May to about November.

This is not "warm". This is as HOT AS HELL. No, you won't get used to it in a few weeks. I hear natives say all the time, "You NEVER get used to it".

[imagardener]

Originally Posted by TANaples

It was 94 degrees today, not counting the HEAT INDEX. With the HUMIDITY factored in it has to be over 100 degrees. This is not an isolated day. It's in the 90s from May to about November.

This is not "warm". This is as HOT AS HELL. No, you won't get used to it in a few weeks. I hear natives say all the time, "You NEVER get used to it".

This is true. But it's true for most of South Florida. It does go on for a LONG time. That's why the expensive real estate is near the water .

I moved from Naples 6 months ago. It is a lovely place to look at but I no longer wanted to live there. I do not think the people there are very nice, in fact when I travelled to other parts of Florida I was shocked at how nice THEY were because I had gotten hardened to the rudeness in Naples. I am not talking about natives so much but it's hard to find a native in Naples. I think they all left.

Things I did not like about Naples:
1. you cannot go out to dinner from Dec thru April and get seated at a reasonable time (before 8 pm) due to crowds, in ALL kinds of restaurants from Outback to 5th Avenue.
2. Bad driving/speeding from oldsters, youngsters, tourists, foreigners (European and Hispanic), cell-phone users, drunks. Lotsa traffic.
3.Snob-city. Even middle class people feel compelled to drive Mercedes and BMW's or risk loss of face.
4. Over-priced real estate even after the recent 30% price reductions.
5. Homeowners associations being run by no-nothings and self-important dopes with time on their hands.
6. Rich people that think having money makes them better.
7. Red tide.
8. Constant noise from landscaping crews leaf blowers, etc trying to look busy and earn their minimum wages.
9.Crooked contractors. We had 2 bad ones in 4 years (with referral), 1 ended up in jail.

Things I DID like about Naples:
1. Beautiful beaches.
2. Wonderful library system (tax dollars spent well)
3. Great shops of all sorts
4. Good restaurants (some even great )

[TANaples]

Naples is a Snowbird/Tourist oriented place. It's comes to a halt between the months of April through October. Restuarants either close or cut back on their hours because there isn't enough business when the seasonal people leave. Even the development where I live has no dinners planned, no special activities. The golf course and clubhouse shut down completely one day a week during those months.

The past two weeks I have searched the entertainment section of the news looking for something to do. Nothing at all going on. This even includes all the up to Ft. Myers. No art shows, craft shows, etc., etc. Nothing at all.

What does that leave? You guessed it BEACH. Sorry, I don't do that.

[JMadison]

Hi All,
Well, I grew up half in Pa. the other half in Jupiter/Tequesta. But been out of Florida for about 10 years now. There's a chance I may come back for career reasons to the Naples area.

So, I'm aware of the seasonal thing, to be sure.

My biggest worry is if it's possible for a single, middle income earner, to live some place nice, that's as far removed from ghetto as possible.

It's all nice if you can live gated or on an Island, but unlikely to be me.

Back "in the day" even the poor areas of Jupiter/Tequesta were decent. Just smaller or older houses. (70's through 90's). As bigger employers downsized or pulled out, the poorer areas became a bit blighted, at least from the perspective of long time residents.

So, hoping to avoid ending up having to live in a bad area. But need to ascertain it's even possible.

There's no doubt that the northern Palm Beaches definitely has that element of "Rich" and "Not Rich" going on, with few options for "middle".

So long story short, I'm wondering how it looks from the perspective of "Not likely to be in gated or better, so what do the other options look like?"

[JMadison]

Sounds rather like my current location of "The OC" when you talk about the need for Mercedes, BMW, etc.

Have to admit, tried a BMW. Used. Got rid of it. Found out it was one of the one's they sneak in from South Africa. Pissed me off to pay BMW price for that hoodwink. (Any 3-series with "N" in 11th position was assembled in Pretoria, for the car nuts out there, not Dingolfing. You can that the AGOA bill for that.)

Besides, I'm really a muscle car fan, LOL! But it did drive nice. I really want one of those new Challenger's, a Vette, or a Viper, or oddly, an NSX. (Well not these days, with the environment and fuel prices. I've actually owned Geo Metros and been happy with them, LOL! Comes down to build quality and reliability for me in most cases.)

But car stories aside, yes, I'm familiar with that "Wanna look upscale" culture as I did my social years during the Reagan years in the Palm Beaches. Found it impossible to keep up with young people (my age at the time) that had old money.

But I can't say that the trappings of wealth are sucky. I believe they are to be desired. However the attitude that "money makes you better" is bogus. Money makes you richer. "Better" is a different concept.

But in the end, life is a material process, so looking back on the romantic aggravations being white collar working class in a place where "rich was in" I can't say I blame the ladies. After all they do end up having the kids and probably want them well cared for. So who can blame them for wanting "Rockefeller Jr."?

Problem is, "R. Jr." knows this and trashes them serially. Then they end up hating men and we all pay the price for it. LOL!

Anyway, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. These days the goal is just to live as well as possible.