Ft. Myers Ghetto? (Fort Myers, San Carlos Park, Palm Beach: neighborhood, subdivision, living in)

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Barefoot Beach is one of my favs. Long drive for you, too.

good discussion....but come on!, as far as barefoot, where the travel time is not in dispute, are we not seeing the glass 5% empty here? : - )

For me the reality of several great beaches within an hour is beyond great. 35 minutes to barefoot is wonderful. Of course, I don't mind the 25 hours in the car driving from Canada, so maybe I am not a good reference for this. I would suggest satellite radio if you get that bored driving ; - )

I can see the value of living within walking distance to a beach, but I don't get the point of paying the near-beach premium and insurance if you have to load up and get in a car anyway, figure out parking or feed meters.

After experiencing it, I don't regret going inland at all and hiking over to beaches, which for us is a couple of times a week thing at most. Never hear anyone complaining about the drive or people wishing to move closer.

I could see a beach-loving family with small kids, needing to hike over there after work on a hot day, seeing this completely differently. Maybe the drive over the beach will seem less interesting over time.

One drive I DO find long is over to Gasparilla through Port Charlotte. I think it is worth doing for the lighthouse museum, the Inn and tourist strip, but that is indeed a hike.

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by twobums

Ummmmmm ~ Bunche Beach is also known for other sketchy activities...

what?

drugs?
sex on the beach?
nudism?
tea party meetings?

enquiring minds wish to know!

In our short visit there we saw some unusual things not seen at other beaches
- live crabs
- family with pet duck in the water
- troop of asexual-looking naturalists (no, not nudie naturists!) in full safari uniform storming toward some birds nest or something with great intensity carrying a lot of equipment.

[twobums]

Bunche is locally known as a popular meeting place for hook ups from Craigs List.

I lived in the last condo community before Bunche for a year... took me awhile to understand why there were so many vehicles w/single occupants in the (then) tiny parking area.... gal at the c-store filled me in.

Yuck.

[justNancy]

I haven't been there for a long, long time, but when I stayed in Kelly Greens I was warned not to go to Bunche Beach. Of course that made me go there. LOL Lots of litter and a few unsavory looking characters hanging around. Sad, because I gather it hasn't changed too much from reading the above posts!

The News-Press just published an article about it. From reading the article, one gets an entirely different impression.

Bunche Beach, between Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach | news-press.com | The News-Press

[equalrightsforeveryone]

Originally Posted by kroeran

what?

drugs?
sex on the beach?
nudism?
tea party meetings?

enquiring minds wish to know!

In our short visit there we saw some unusual things not seen at other beaches
- live crabs
- family with pet duck in the water
- troop of asexual-looking naturalists (no, not nudie naturists!) in full safari uniform storming toward some birds nest or something with great intensity carrying a lot of equipment.

Lumping the Teaparty in with the other illegal things going,- well well well.
I am beging to understand this site,- very revealing.
TSK TSK TSK

[hiknapster]

That's right. I forgot about the other issue at Bunche Beach. Yuck is right.

Riko, that is so correct. Where I came from colored a lot of my opinions of wherever I go. The atmosphere is not bad at FMB. It's not honky-tonk like Old Orchard Beach Maine, or slightly seedy like Salisbury Beach, MA or Daytona, FL. But it's not Kennebunkport or Ogunquit, ME, or Martha's Vineyard, either.

All in all, I've had some fairly decent meals at FMB and I found Times Square to be rather charming at sundown. But it does have a bit of a local drug undercurrent, but nothing like the Tamiami Trail around Pine Manor, or worse.

As a New Yorker, things probably slide off of you much more, but I'm from Puritan New England and I always found Florida to be different than what I was use to, and when I had a child it became a deal breaker.

[kroeran]

Originally Posted by equalrightsforeveryone

Lumping the Teaparty in with the other illegal things going,- well well well.
I am beging to understand this site,- very revealing.
TSK TSK TSK

I was trying to indirectly poke fun at the lamestream media persecution of the Tea Partiers... I lean right myself

[equalrightsforeveryone]

Originally Posted by kroeran

I was trying to indirectly poke fun at the lamestream media persecution of the Tea Partiers... I lean right myself

Excellent welcome to the club.

[justNancy]

This is not the political forum. I honestly don't care if others discuss the Tea Party or even talk about starting a revolution. However, IMHO if you lean too far left or too far right, either way, you're gonna fall flat on your behind.

In any case, rules are rules, and since I've been asked not to discuss off-topic, controversial subjects several times on City-Data, I believe the TOS should apply to everyone equally.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by Goonzz

There's TONS of nice areas in the awesome city of Fort Myers that don't cost an arm and a leg. Bardens Subdivision (between Martin Luther King and Palm Beach Blvd, from around Fowler east to Shoemaker streets) is a pretty tranquil part of town with some seriously affordable homes. So are the neighborhoods of Villa Francisco, Franklin park, Broadway Circle, and due to it's improvement from several years ago, yes, even Pine Manor.

Pine Manor is called Crime Manor for a reason. It's a low income, high crime area. Doesn't matter how many coats of paint you put on it, or how many pretty flowers you plant, it's still a low income, high crime area.

The other areas you mentioned are also low income, high crime areas and I don't find them tranquil that all...and neither does the FMPD.