How is North Cape Coral? (Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers: HOA, crime, second mortgage)

[ccase]

First of all I LOVE this website and its a must for anyone moving.

Background: Family in their 30s, originally from DC area, moved to Ft. Lauderdale area two years ago and since then my husband ENTIRE family moved to Cape Coral; hence, so are we. We are very familiar with the area except North Cape Coral.

We are looking for a gated family community such as Sandoval or Heatherwood Lakes but recently discovered the community Coral Lakes and Bella Vida (Entrada? or whatever its called now). Its seems like the area is up and coming (New Publix and Target [angles are singing]) but I have no ideal how the crime or schools are. The Lee County website says some are A/B schools to the West but how are they really? It appears as long as we are west of Del Prado we are okay. I like the idea of not having to cross the toll to get to Ft. Myers and the thought of that area being the newer area and retaining its value.

Any insight into the communites, houses. etc. Has anyone bought in those communities and actually lives there. We drove by on Saturday afternoon and not one person was outside.

Also do the new planned communities have utility assessments?

All opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

[121804]

You need to call these gated communites & get the info [unless someone on here lives in one]. You may be running into the water/sewer assessment, which is in the tune of $18,000, and is the one of the biggest issues to plague that area of Cape Coral. You are also looking at excessive overconstruction with little to no buying in that area. I would seriously consider your negotiations when buying a home in that area. People are desperate to get rid of property there.

Not one person outside? Yep. Because no one is buying, especially in Cape Coral, even more so in the northern areas. This is nothing unusual for about 75% of the gated communities b/w Port Charlotte & Fort Myers. Too many communities; too expensive; no professional industry; no demand.

Not trying to be sacrastic, but there is nothing up & coming about that area. Publix & Target do little to improve the overall situation on Cape Coral or SW FL in general.

There are websites such as SchoolMatters & Great Schools that give very detailed statistics. You are looking at a state that is ranked 48th overall in education. There is more to a school than test scores & hopefully you will time to examine those things.

Lee County has school choice [excuse me while I laugh], so just b/c the school near you is good doesn't mean you can get your child into it. Be prepared to deal with that red tape.

Since you already have family there & care for Cape Coral, just do person-to-person contact. Go to the communities & drive around at all different times to get a feel of the area. Go to the schools & spend a day there.

Best of luck.

[SunnyFLErin]

I live in N Cape, near Pine Island and Santa Barbara. There are a lot of empty homes that were overstock from the builders, and there are a lot of empty lots. Personally, I like the emptiness. I like being secluded and not crowded by too many people. I too moved here from Fort Lauderdale (originally from Baltimore), and I find it peaceful and nice. I like that I can sit on my front porch at night and see actual stars, haha!

One thing we have not yet had are the assessments for the city water. We aren't looking forward to it.

As for schools, Diplomat Middle is nearby and supposed to be good. There is also a middle and elementary on Del Prado which are both very good, and a new High Tech Center high school on Santa Barbara right next to a Charter elementary school. Those schools are all good. I know a lot of people with children in these schools, and I've never heard of any of them having problems getting their kids into their preffered schools.

I don't live in a gated neighborhood, but I can tell you that I find my neighbors to be friendly and good people. We've been in our house for a year, and have never had a problem. Everyone is very nice, and I love that all the neighborhood kids play outside together every night. It gives you a sense of community.

As for the crime, the only thing I can recall was that their was an attempted burglary and one buglar ended up shot because the homeowner had a gun, and that was a case where they had fired the housekeeper and so she sent her family to rob the people who fired her (not expecting them to be home). That was about 6-7 months ago in N Cape. Of course there are your standard vandalisms by teenagers, and people stealing appliances out of empty houses. Thats all I ever hear about in my area of the Cape.

Also, there's less traffic on the N bridge at rush hour, so a definite +.

Good luck in your searches, and try to take all opinions with a grain of salt, a lot of people are very negative on this site for some reason, and many Cape Coral residents have bad things to say about this area. Just trust your own instincts above anyone else's. We did, and we're very happy here.

[ccase]

Thanks 121804 and SunnyFLErin. Funny, you too are B'more by way of Ft. Lauderdale. Thanks Hon!

Its great getting insider info. I'll call the communities and verify if the utility assessment apply. I don't think so since the homes are more expensive.

Keep it coming if anyone else has more info on those communities.

[Chromedome]

if i had to describe it in one word id say: desolate

[FSU_Alum]

Don't forget the giant pet-eating monitor lizards that have taken over the Cape!


In general, though, Lee County is an area declining quickly. House prices are plummeting, budgets are being cut, unemployment is on the rise. This is an area overly-dependent on the now-flailing construction industry.The Cape is fast becoming a ghost town.

re: EducationGulf Middle is the best middle school there (and probably top 2 in the county), hands-down. I know Cape High hasn't had the best reputation, though.A word of advice--don't believe everything you read in Great Schools, at least not as far as the reviews go. Seems like those most likely to write reviews are those who have an ax to grind. I read one by a parent I know who blame the school for his child's problems...nothing could be further from the truth. I almost fell out of my seat when I saw what was written, and I came thisclose to setting the facts straight.


Do go and look at the Florida Department of Education (Florida Department of Education) school report cards. You can check out each individual school, and it's broken down quite well.

[Lucies12]

It could be described as up-and-coming, if plans move forward for a couple of projects in the area.

For several years there has been a plan to build an Academic Village at the corner of Del Prado and Kismet, across from the new Publix. You can find the plans for this here: City of Cape Coral (broken link)
Undergraduate and graduate classes offered possibly through a partnership with various colleges, an academic library, a performing arts center, green space, fountains, etc. I live about a mile away from the site, and the thought of this being so close makes me drool.

There is also supposed be a 400 acre regional park developed, Yellow Fever Creek Preserve, to the north of the Publix. Click here to see these plans: http://www.leeparks.org/2020/docs/lsp/YFCP_draft%20.pdf (broken link). Hiking and equestrian trails, camping, a historic farm, a dog park.

Both projects would be of enormous benefit to the area, but funding and the usual Florida red tape is getting in the way. I live in the NE Cape, and would desperately love to have a large park and a college campus nearby. To hell with assessments--if they could bring these in, I'm not sure I'd ever leave!

[Michalski480]

I have lived in the Cape for 29 years, I plan on staying here because all of my family is here. I do like the fact that the beach is within 30 minutes, minus the traffic. I have owned my home in NE Cape for 13 years, I haven't had any problems with crime or any neighbors so far, thank goodness. My oldest son attended from kindergarden Diplomat Elemenatry onto Middle school and did very well in both schools. I believe they are rated A/B and have since they opened. Along the North end of Del Prado is an alternitive learnig center for kids, that is an eye sore. I can't tell you for sure what the city is planning there but I will say it is cluster of mobile homes, along our major road.

We have been looking for a larger home, we have three boys, there are some great deals out there if you like the area. I find the north Cape to be rather boring to look at but do appreciate the fact that so many new places are coming in. Our biggest concerns are the rise in taxes if we do move and the assesments, still waiting for those to come. Yesterday I found a beatiful home in NE area 3/2and 1/2. pool on the water $320 taking offers, shop around alot of people need out due to unemployment (which is huge here) assesments and second mortgages.

I have also been looking into Bella Vida, it looks like the perfect choice for our large family. I like the fact that there are so many things for the boys to do such as the pool, billards, basketball, softball, gym ect. The homes are very nice, a needed change, not so much the typical cookie cutter homes as most homes are here. If anyone has any info, especially someone who lives in Bella Vida, I would really appreciate it.

[degor]

I live in Bella Vida and have been here for 3 years. If you like low quality landscapers, an HOA that collects money for "bad debt" but does nothing about any real problems or enforcing community ordinances no matter how severe It gets, and dog feces in your lawn no matter which property you're on, move right in. The gate is broken more than half the time, mail service is awful, the pool is often not properly cleaned or heated, and the builder backed right out. The quality inside the newer homes has gone to the lowest bidder and it shows. The area is not up and coming, there have been many "ideas" thrown around by the corrupt cape government, but like the swim center, never follow through. Looks so nice from the outside, that's how I got stuck here...

[equalrightsforeveryone]

Take a look at it on Google maps the satellite pics are not even a year old. I checked and the pics have our vehicles in the drive way and show some of the plantings I did last May. so it is a good indicators of how built up the area is, it looks pretty empty to me in the north of CC. I know nothing about gated communities I would never live in one TOO many meddlers.