Moving to Fort Myers !!! (Naples, Punta Gorda: to rent, house, neighborhood)

[myers]

Young couple moving to Fort Myers, Florida
and most likely going to be renting a place, but I have no idea were to start.

Looking for upper middle class area love dining out, shopping and wouldn't mind being by the beach.

Any suggestions would be a great help.

[Chromedome]

do you have alot of money?

if not, then i suggest you back off before its too late.

fort myers is NOT the place to be for young couples. or young people in general.

this is where you come to spend your fortune not make it.

majority of the work available in the area is retail and service oriented, usually revolving around the tourists/seasonal residents meaning you will probably have 30/40% less business during the summer months. which usually results in less hours. and less money

majority of the jobs here pay extremely low and are very far from in tune with the cost of living. Expect small-town wages with a big city cost of living

if youre EXCLUSIVELY into dining out and shopping and then you will be just fine because that about sums up all the activities there is to do in the area... not that theyre anything world class either, mostly chain restaurants (fridays, applebees) and big box retailers(target,walmat,marshalls,kohls). very few mom and pop/local stores. or boutiques. you can find somewhat better options in bonita springs/naples which are fairly close tho

theres no real cultural events/scene in the area.

also plan on having to drive everywhere you go since everything is pretty much in stripmalls/shopping centers. neighborhood stores and businesses are very far and few in between here.

id definitely think twice before making the move.... atleast come here and stay for awhile, and see what its like to live here as a resident, not a tourist

[Jammie]

Myers, toward the top of the page, click on "Search". Just type in Ft. Myers and you'll find a gold mine of info on it here. Most of it is negative reviews of it from people who either live there OR once lived there and have left.

[hiknapster]

There is a lot of traffic in Fort Myers, especially during "season." We'd definitely need to know where you are going to be working in order to point you in the right direction.

[myers]

I wouldn't be moving to Fort Myers if I we had no money and the reason why we are moving there is because my boyfriend is a developer and just bought a property. Construction starts next June.

But thanks for the feed back greatly appreciated

[hiknapster]

Well, then I would suggest renting near where the house is being built?

[121804]

There are a few good places to shop...Bell Towers is really nice w/ cool & upscale stores [William-Sonoma, White House/Black Market, Saks, a some neat boutiques] & a few great restaurants. We like going there. There is also Coconut Point & Gulf Coast (name ?) that just opened up & they are very big outdoor malls with all sorts of stores & restaurants. All 3 are in or very near to Fort Myers. There is a definite lack of good restaurants but if you travel north to Punta Gorda, there are 2-3 that are REALLY good & I've heard Naples has some better places to eat.

Do you guys enjoy boating? There is a place that is reachable only by boat, Cayo Coasta, I believe, that is suppose to be a fun place & where Jimmy Buffet wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise. There is also a place in PUnta Gorda called Fisherman's Village that has a few outdoor bars & restaurants & MANY people your age on the weekends.

The beaches are ok. Not sure if living by them is all that great in Fort Myers. That area is a little shady.

There are beyond a TON of places to rent. HIGHLY suggest renting if that is a consideration.

Our realtor told us a great statement about SW FL: "You have to find your fun". And she was more than right.

If you come here thinking it is NYC or LA & angry that it is not, than you'll be dissapointed beyond belief. If you want someone to entertain you in Fort Myers, than you may also be dissapointed. If you come here with a job [anyone with at least 5 brain cells should realize moving anywhere without a job is silly], a plan & a backup plan [as people should do anywhere they move] & responsible enough to figure out how to make yourself happy, it might be ok for you guys.

As the above poster stated though, traffic is a nightmare in Fort Myers & there is a VERY significant amount of cranky retirees. BUT, there are people your age & if you want to, you will hopefully find your niche. We've met people who love it here & those who don't, all for their own reasons.

Best of luck.

[Chromedome]

Originally Posted by 121804

Our realtor told us a great statement about SW FL: "You have to find your fun". And she was more than right.

i have yet to find mine.

[Floridabound09]

For some reason people seem to think that others do not research info before they plan a move.
No one I know would be stupid enough to move to any area without having some money back and researching first.
Like the OP states, money is NOT an issue.

OP, congrats on your move and your property, go for it !!! We are pulling for ya.



Then again, I could not count the amount of people I know that moved to Florida in a junk car and 200.00 in their pocket and have done EXTREMELY well for themselves.

Case in point, young mom of two boys from tiny town of Jackson Ohio moved to Mt Dora 6 months ago with a junk car, 500.00 cash and no alimony or support, she told me when we were down there for our 12 day stroll around Florida looking for a place to move that she is in PARADISE, she told me she wish she would have done this years before this, he saying is " Look at what I have I been missing all my life."
We met her eating breakfast at a McDonalds when one of her kids starting talking to my daughter, she ask if we were from out of town and began talking, found out she was from Jackson Ohio.

She was full of info and told us that she yet is to see all the bad everyone warns her about. She told us she can make all the money she wants and needs and her kids did well in school this year, better then in Ohio she stated.

We talked to many people while down there, as many as we could find and found only one single person who said they were struggling, and she said the reason was she was picky about the jobs she wanted to do. All others were more then happy living there and 90% of them were from cold states.

As I post all the time, we all have choices, if you do not like were you live, move................................

[Chromedome]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

1We talked to many people while down there, as many as we could find and found only one single person who said they were struggling, and she said the reason was she was picky about the jobs she wanted to do. All others were more then happy living there and 90% of them were from cold states.1

As I post all the time, we all have choices, if you do not like were you live, move................................

not to try and argue but just like you stated the person you talked to just came to the city,most people who just moved here will love it for the first 6 months.theyre usually just thinking about the problems they had back home wether it be escaping crime, the noise of the city, or the cold. and are still blinded by the veil that is all the palm trees, beaches and nice weather.

thats what we call the honeymoon stage.

i take it you dont live here either?

most of us who are here "complaining" about the area actually reside here. many for a number of years, even decades. and we were in that honeymoon stage aswell, until reality hit