Been here a week. My experience so far.... (Naples, Golden Gate: section 8, apartment complexes)

[sbapasto]

HI Everyone-

We made it! Weve been here a week and are kinda settled into our rental. Aside from the issues in setting up our rental, here has been my experience thus far. Im hoping this helps people are thinking of moving since we just did it.
The weather is AMAZING! Cant say enough about how nice its been so far. Its been 40 degrees with tornados all week in St Louis so glad to be here.
Restaurants are beyond great! Everything you could ever want and some of the best steak houses ans Italian restaurants weve seen in other states.
Mosquitos have not been an issue for us and weve sat outside everynight. Granted we are in a pool cage but weve really only gotten bit once or twice.
Food Prices are definetely about 25-30% higher than what they are in the midwest.
Gas prices are about 5-7% higher than the midwest.
The area is very diverse. Yesterday I was tasked with the unfortunate experience of going to Comcast. Someone in the waiting room with me was on a house arrest ankle monitor. Its weird because you are in one of the wealthiest areas in the country and in that waiting room there were about 5 white people dressed up in high end golf attire and on their cell phones, 5-6 Haitians, and 10-12 mexicans. Its just an observation that this area has an odd range of folks. For some this will be good or bad.
Safety-so far Ive felt very safe in my surroundings although Im a little shocked at the amount of homeless people Im seeing in Naples. Actually, very shocked. Im being told its something you see in Florida.
Age-we are in the North Naples area and I have seen nothing but families and all ages of people going about their daily business. Definetley not at a loss for people under 50 in this area that Ive seen.

Oh and I havent seen any alligators or snakes or spiders -- yet!!

[Tripower455]

Welcome! I'm glad you like it here!

You're getting here at the tail end of the good weather. April is typically warm and dry with cool nights, but not usually as hot as it's been the last few days. Sauna starts next month (you'll know it's Sauna when you wake up and can't see out your windows due to condensation on the outside) and then comes the rainy season.

There are some great restaurants here. We ate at Cirellas in Bonita last night. It was packed! I was surprised that we actually had to wait, but the food was great. Another great one is Inca Kitchen in Golden Gate. Outstanding Peruvian food. Fuji is good for Sushi, as is Sushi Thai. Capriccio's is a great italian place. L'Appetito is a decent pizza joint. Toast, on 951, is a great little breakfast and lunch place. Several good sports bars as well. Stevie Tomatoes "Sports Page" was the original in Naples and still has the best wings, IMHO. Zookies is good as well, with a more diverse menu than most sports bars. Down on 5th, there are a bunch of good places, Trulucks, Yabba's, Chops, Mulcahys etc.

Mosquitos aren't too bad in most of the populated areas of Collier due to the aerial spraying, even during rainy season when they come out in droves. Right now it's been very dry the last few months, so there aren't many mosquitoes anyway. We went camping last weekend and not one bite. That would not be the case if were between late June and October.

Comcast is a pretty good example of what to expect in Collier, diversity wise...... Naples is a diverse place. There's even a housing project or 2 in downtown Naples, not to mention that most of the apartment complexes in the area are "Section 8" (rent subsidized) as well.

Naples is a very safe town by any measure, but in spite of an army of cops, we still have crime. You can't drive a mile around here without seeing a deputy, so you'd think criminals wouldn't stand a chance. The homeless folks don't seem to cause too much trouble, at least until St Matthew's House decides to build another shelter, and then the NIMBYs get all up in arms.

As for age, most of the "gray tide" has ebbed back north by now.

There are plenty of alligators, snakes, turtles, spiders, palmetto bugs, fire ants, lizards, raccoons, possums, bears, deer, fox, armadillos, boar and other critters around here.... I haven't seen any coyotes in Collier yet, but I have seen them a little further north, the last one was in Feb. near Ft Meade FL.

If you want to see gators, check the canals along 951 or Immokalee Rd. I bike ride on the MUP along 951, and always see at least one gator in the canal, usually more, when I do, especially at night.

[Sweetbottoms]

This is the tail end of good weather, the hot hot HOT humid weather will be here shortly. Honestly we still consider this winter weather. It might be in the 80's (90's with heat index) but the humiditys only been in the 40's.. Soon enough it'll be in the 100's with 80-100% humidity .. I'm going to miss this weather till probably Christmas!

No bugs yet cause its not warm enough but I suspect in the next coming weeks it will be . Also we haven't been getting much rain, when it starts to rain every day then the bugs will be out full force. Once again nice time of the year.

As far as gators people have the misperception of thinking they are everywhere just roaming around. Truth is naples ESP north naples where we live is populated and most have been driven out. While they are in lakes and such rarely will u see them. I've lived here almost 30 years and seen a handful and I lived on a canal my entire childhood.

As far as safety naples is pretty safe, I don't hesitate to go out alone at night, even for walks. Lots of families and things to do, in season the traffic will triple and you'll need to leave probably 30/45 mins early to get anywhere on time so be aware.

Welcome, enjoy and get ready for summer I think it's gonna be a scorcher this year! And please if you do happen to see alligators and such in the canals PLEASE don't slow down to look. You're a resident now , those are no big deal to us. Also don't scream shark when you see a dolphin at the beach (they're always there in the am) like some idiot did the other day .

[Tripower455]

LOL... I've witnessed the "SHARK" thing when a pod of dolphins go by first hand... It's kind of funny.

Even funnier when you consider that there ARE real sharks out there too, but you're not likely to see them, especially when dolphins are around. They aren't usually a threat to humans, as there is plenty of food for them, but I won't stick around in the water to find out if one is spotted. I worry far more about stepping on stingrays in the gulf, especially in the summer.

Speaking of sharks.... When I first moved down here, some guy caught a huge Tiger shark off the pier, and actually landed it. It was 13' long or thereabouts. Made the news.

In spite of the "no shark fishing" rule, folks seem to get large tigers, bulls, blacktips, hammerheads lemons and others on a regular basis by the pier.....

Caxambas pass on the south side of Marco was (probably still is.... I haven't fished there in years) a GREAT place to catch sharks. It really freaked out the folks on the beach when we pulled up a big hammerhead or lemon a mere 100 yards away....

[sbapasto]

OK, have to add SAND FLEAS I think. Went to the beach today and I have a big red, itchy patch of unpleasantness. What do I do???????

[prettyisa]

I saw a coyote about 3 weeks ago on 75 headed towards Bonita. Pretty amazing to see them in the wild!

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by prettyisa

I saw a coyote about 3 weeks ago on 75 headed towards Bonita. Pretty amazing to see them in the wild!

I'd heard they were around here too, but have not seen one. I'd better be more careful riding my bike at night!

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by sbapasto

OK, have to add SAND FLEAS I think. Went to the beach today and I have a big red, itchy patch of unpleasantness. What do I do???????

nothing, they're common, if they're bothering you too much you could do some calamine but really the itch goes away on its own

[motordavid]

I saw a couple of 'yotes while playing at Bonita Bay East last week. That golf track is surrounded by very little development, (only the fringes of Twin Eagles to the east), and has quite a variety of different wildlife.

Imo, they are harmless to and very wary of humans. We have them regularly around our western NC mth home, in a couple of large 'packs', and I see them often there on my early morning/evening walks around our mtn. I do not fear them, and am not very concerned about them. Our bears there are a different issue, but I would not be concerned about coyotes attacking humans. Your smaller dogs and cats are fair game, however.
GL, mD

[travellight27]

Originally Posted by sbapasto

OK, have to add SAND FLEAS I think. Went to the beach today and I have a big red, itchy patch of unpleasantness. What do I do???????

Go to the nursery and buy an aloe plant. Break it open and squeeze on bite. Aloe is good for the sunburn as well.