Best kid friendly neighborhoods close to downtown (Fort Myers, McGregor: appointed, real estate)

[NewToFtMyers]

First post here!

I have been reading a lot of previous post and I have tried to do my research in this website (lots of great info!) and the usual real estate websites. I would like to hear from people who live in the area about good neighborhoods close to downtown Ft Myers.

A little about me:
I will be moving from out of state to Ft Myers in July. I have three kids (6,5 and 1). I have been looking at schools and have narrowed it to St Francis Xavier and Evangelical Christian. (tips and opinions about these are greatly appreciated. Any publics that are highly recommended?). I will be working on Winkler Ave, close to Edison Mall.

I want to minimize my commute -let say less than 20 minutes, to both work and schools.
I want to live in a kid friendly community, ideally gated. I want to spend less than 600k for a 4bd +pool.

I have looked at Forum, Reflection Lakes, the Heritage Palms area...
Anything I should know to focus my search a little more?

Thanks for all your help!!!

[Tamika929]

Oh check out colonial commons, sienna lakes is nice as well. What rent price do you want.

[NewToFtMyers]

Originally Posted by Tamika929

Oh check out colonial commons, sienna lakes is nice as well. What rent price do you want.

Thanks for this info.
I was looking at these, but seem too small for my family.
I am looking at something larger, either a 4bed or 3+den.
I am still in the debate of renting vs buying! exploring both avenues.

Budget: Buy 600K obviously less is better and I would be thrilled if I find something in the 400k range
Rent 3K

[Tamika929]

Oh rent a brand new home in fort Myers. Seriously I was looking at homes in fort Myers and the brand new ones look so so nice. You will not be disappointed with fort Myers.

[NewToFtMyers]

Originally Posted by Tamika929

Oh rent a brand new home in fort Myers. Seriously I was looking at homes in fort Myers and the brand new ones look so so nice. You will not be disappointed with fort Myers.

Any communities you recommend?

[Tamika929]

Well you have to come down and see it for yourself. Fort Myers has people that are really very nice.

[chiluvr1228]

Exactly how close do you want to be to downtown because that is a high crime area. When we hear there has been a shooting in Fort Myers, we all know it has probably been in that area. There really isn't that much to do downtown except for the occasional art fest, food tasting, etc. We keep hearing about all the things the city wants to do but so far they have run into obstacles. Not really much for small kids to do downtown. There is The Skatium which is downtown which has also been the scene of violence including just last week when someone was shot and ran into that establishment while kids were there.


If you want to be close to downtown and have the $$$ for it, I would look at the area between McGregor and the River. That is a beautiful area, one of my favorites in Fort Myers and one of few nice areas where the homes are not controlled by a Homeowners Association. Mostly every new house these days is in an HOA, some gated, some not. You will naturally pay HOA fees every month which can run $125 to over $700 in some places.


The Gateway community in Fort Myers is 9 miles from downtown and is a beautiful area with lots of shade trees and sidewalks and it has a very residential "up north" feel to it. It is not that close to Winkler however and the problem you might find with Gateway is the traffic on Daniel's Parkway during snowbird season, especially as the baseballs teams will start their spring training next week. Probably closer to 30 minutes commute.


I went to St. Francis Xavier but that was many, many years ago. Also not in a great area anymore. I personally wouldn't feel safe going to any after school activities after dark there. The Forum is closer to downtown than even Gateway but I don't know much about the community.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

The Gateway community in Fort Myers is 9 miles from downtown and is a beautiful area with lots of shade trees and sidewalks and it has a very residential "up north" feel to it. It is not that close to Winkler however and the problem you might find with Gateway is the traffic on Daniel's Parkway during snowbird season, especially as the baseballs teams will start their spring training next week. Probably closer to 30 minutes commute.

I would second Gateway. The area around downtown is not good and wandering a few blocks away from the few nice areas can be an adventure. I would stay away from there, especially with small kids. If you are working around Edison Mall, it would be best to take Gateway Blvd. to its north terminus and take Colonial west to Winkler. There is still a good deal of traffic, especially around Six Mile Cypress, but would be faster (and a more direct route) than taking Daniels. You could get a very nice home with a pool and spa on the golf course for $600K. Actually, you could get that for less.

Also, Lee County has something called school choice. Research it carefully because your kids could be bused a long way even if you are near a good school.

[NoSnow4me]

If by "kid friendly", you mean your kids getting into friendly gang shootouts, then any neighborhood near downtown Fort Myers will do. Otherwise, you might want to consider a different area of town.

[NewToFtMyers]

Originally Posted by NoSnow4me

If by "kid friendly", you mean your kids getting into friendly gang shootouts, then any neighborhood near downtown Fort Myers will do. Otherwise, you might want to consider a different area of town.

As I said before, I don't want to live in downtown, I want to live within 20-30 minutes of downtown.