My thoughts so far on living in Fort Myers area (Bonita Springs: homes, buy)

[pinda]

My husband moved here in June and I came down in September after closing on our Wisconsin Home. People on the forum asked me to check back to let them know what I am thinking about living here:

I still than the Lord for bringing me to beautiful Fort Myers/Estero/Bonita Springs. The sunshine is what brought us here and the sunshine is what I appreciate the most.

I like the warm weather. Yes, temperatures in the 90's is hot but I have noticed that we setting the temperature for the air conditioner higher and higher and like 78 degrees now. 75 degrees indoor temp when we first moved here.

I realize now why I FEEL hotter at 85 degrees in Wisconsin than even 90 degrees in Florida. It is the breeze. I know Hiknapster disagreed with me when I made the observation that it feel as hot and humie in Wisconsin as it does here. She showed me statistics that it is more humid but so far this year, I am usually pretty comfortable. I do know July and August is hotter and maybe more humid but it is still better to me than all the gloom and doom of Wisconsins Fall, Winter and much of the spring.

I love the many pretty views of homes and the great communities here. We didn't buy yet but are very close to it now. The homes, as I already knew, are not built as well and we will have to go smaller without a BASEMENT, oh boy. I spent years preparing myself for that reality.

I love all the great Malls, Stores and Restaurant. Royal Scoop Icecream IS the best Icecream in the world. Yummy.

The drivers can be pretty bad. Some people, maybe snowbirds are lost and just stop on a 50 mile an hour road. Dangerous. People run the lights longer and more often than in Wisconsin, I saw 2 at a time, one zig zagged around me as I was easily able to stop and the other zoomed through on Hwy 41. I never saw that before, scary for oncoming cars. Yes, I am one of those who try to obey traffic laws, speed limits and stop lights. I know this aggravates some people but I then try to stay in the slower lane.

The thing that agravates my husband the most is some of the business people are so laid back or unreliable. We are not used to that.

I LOVE going to the beach or even the pool and soaking up the sunshine to help me feel better. I have that SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much healthier here. My coughing is even way less.

I absolutely LOVE and Appreciate it here and you all helped me be prepared so I was NOT wearing rose colored glasses so things are definitely better than I thought it would be after reading the post. I will let you know after I survived a full summer.

Thanks for reading this long winded post and thank you all for your helpful opinions in deciding where we wanted to move to .

[nhkev]

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date. As you know there is a handful of people on here that have been answering peoples questions before the move. I'm sure a lot value the opinions of those after the move. Congrats on the improved health.

[DelawareLiz]

Nice posting!! I can certainly understand why you like Florida so much. We'll be there in three years

[aklapps]

Im sure glad you guys love it so much down there, i wish i was there it has been so crappy here in wisconsin cold, raining and cloudy and we had frost this morning and monday morning. cant wait to be down there too

[JBridge]

and I will come...

from not-cold-at-all California

(counting my days...)

[pinda]

Thank you.

JBridge, My son lives in California. What part are you from and why are you moving here if I may ask? They always say Southern California has the best weather. My son wishes the ocean was warmer to swim in but likes the weather but not the cost of living and homes.

Aklapps, What city in Wisconsin are you from?

I love Wisconsin and the people it was just the lack of sunshine and coooooold. We hope someday when we retire to become snowbirds. The best of both worlds. That was the plan when we moved here because most of our family is there. That is the toughest part of moving, is leaving family. But this is so much nicer here then I expected.

[Cobalt502]

Pinda you picked the perfect year to flee this place, quite possibly the worst spring we have had in years!

Glad your loving it!

[hiknapster]

Actually, I said nothing about the humidity. The temps and humidity can often be the same up north, and usually are. It's the dew point.

I am very glad that you took the time to give us an update. So few people do!

[Foxrivman1]

Pinda, congratulations on your move, I'm jealous as you and your husband have already made it to SWFL and my wife and I are still in MI! God bless, and enjoy the new found health benefits!

The sun is what drew us to Florida and to making the decision to move there many years ago. We have 3-4 months left in Michigan, then we are out of here!!

We are also going through our coldest spring on recent records so I know what you were going through first hand.

I too lived in Southern California many years ago when I grew up, loved the summers, but the beaches although nice do not compare to South West Florida, and, neither do the winters!

Maybe your family up north will get tired of Wisconsin and find their way to Florida as well in the near future!

[npz]

What a great and positive post. Thank you for pointing out so many of the positive aspects of living in southwest Florida. I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you currently do. I know we do!!