Brookings Institution Reports: Cape Coral Has the Worst Economy in the Nation (Miami: foreclosures, rental market)

[krktoday]

Last month AOL ran a feature on 10 cities that will never rebound from this and Fort Myer's was one of the ten. Very depressing.

[yoko]

" Lee County's unemployment rate was 12.5 percent in May, down from 12.7 percent in April, according to data released Friday from Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Even though the rate fell, it was in part due to the number of available workers shrinking instead of increased hiring. Lee's population goes down in the summer and sometimes workers who remain simply stop looking for work.

May's rate represents about 34,800 people looking for work.

However, the county has lost 4,300 jobs since May 2009 and has lost 900 jobs since April, according to state data. The largest job losses in May came in the hospitality industry, which gave up 1,700 jobs as resorts trimmed their rosters for the summer.

"The only real bright spot in our employment picture was the hiring by the Census Bureau," Hartman said. "Those are temporary jobs, but they offer some relief for those people looking for work."

Statewide, census hiring accounted for 32,200 jobs, said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the Agency of Workforce Innovation.

Other sectors remained stagnant in May. The sector that includes construction held even compared with the previous month, but has lost 2,800 jobs since May 2009.

"The bid prices have been unbelievable," Richmond said. "It's hard to understand how anyone is making any money." "




June/18/2010
Fewer workers, lower jobless rate in Lee | news-press.com | The News-Press

[Iamrita]

Articles and statistics are all very nice but if you just drive around or live here for a couple of weeks or a month you can form your own unbiased opinion based on your own observation and experience.

[yoko]

Originally Posted by Iamrita

if you just drive around or live here for a couple of weeks or a month you can form your own unbiased opinion based on your own observation and experience.

This would be the ideal way !

[scott26]

Originally Posted by yoko

This would be the ideal way !

I completely agree with Yoko. Instead of anyone buying in to most, if not all of what is posted on this site they should definately come visit the area first. See for themselves all the positives and all the negatives this area represents and make a good decision based on what they see for themselves, not what many here are trying to make them believe.

Scott

[yoko]

Reporters of major publications came and reported about Cape Coral. Some based on what they saw/interviewed on the street level and some based on what they read in city accounting books. They all have the same conclusion...Cape Coral is far from recovery, if ever.

[rikoshaprl]

Originally Posted by yoko

Reporters of major publications came and reported about Cape Coral. Some based on what they saw/interviewed on the street level and some based on what they read in city accounting books. They all have the same conclusion...Cape Coral is far from recovery, if ever.

And we all know how accurate Major publications are. You can always believe what you read.

[hiknapster]

As far as I know, the major publications (yes, some of them you can believe. I use to write for one) came and left quite awhile ago. The economy and housing situation has rapidly moved, for the good and bad, very quickly these last several years.

[yoko]

" These Florida cities saw the biggest population decline from 2008 to 2009:

Cape Coral

2008: 154,818
2009: 154,202

St. Petersburg

2008: 244,753
2009: 244,324


The latest census population estimates released Tuesday show that no Florida city with more than 100,000 people ranked in the country's top 75 for growth last year. It represents a stunning reversal in the state's recent demographic history and signals the challenges Florida faces trying to rebuild a growth-based economy when growth is largely absent.


The estimates seem to capture the impact of the Great Recession, with Florida cities that were once among the big risers seeing only modest gains or, in some cases, unthinkable losses.


Economists point to the housing crisis and job losses as the main reason growth has slowed in Florida.
The state has always appealed to three groups:

retirees who came in search of fair weather;
people in their 20s, 30s and 40s looking for jobs;
and immigrants from Mexico and other nations.


Retirees have slowed their migration because, in many cases, they are having trouble selling their homes and finding money to relocate.
Job seekers see fewer opportunities in a state that has lost 800,000 jobs over the past two years.

"The big story is that, in the early part of this decade, we were near record levels," Smith said. "But what we're seeing now is the most dramatic decline since World War II. ------And it's because of the economic collapse-------.

"People are just not coming to Florida like they used to." "







June/23/2010
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...th-hits-a-wall

[yoko]

Here is another example of wasteful/meaningless spending in Cape Coral, while the city has the "worst economy" in America:


" The city wants more people to live here and officials are using posters to attract you.
The Cape created hundreds of the posters that say: "Where you can build a business, buy a house and still have money left to play."
The first run of 500 posters has been distributed, but the city has more to give away.


June/29/2010
Cape Coral officials hope poster campaign piques interest | news-press.com | The News-Press





This is a great information given by a reader of News-press.com in the comment section. This section is always very interesting to read what residents say as opposed to realtors' version of Cape Coral as a paradise:



" $100,000 was estimated to go to these firms for work done on behalf of the EDO Office, while an additional $40,000 was to go to them for work done on behalf of Parks and Rec.

The $100K comes out of General Fund/City Manager/Public Relations fund, while the $40K comes from Sun Splash Family Waterpark Fund/Sun Splash/Advertising.

EDO staff members recommended to city council that these firms be hired to accomplish a broad spectrum of marketing services over the three-year contract. "

http://ecape.capecoral.net/sirepub/cache/2/jdh21naatbuik055or2ecly0/619497806292010025822447.PDF (broken link)

This link is given by the commentator.