Moving to Ft Myers In December Advice on High School and Apartments? (Cape Coral: high crime, credit)

[SettlingIn]

Hello,
I am moving with my two teens to the Ft Myers December 1st. We are considering Westchase Apartments, The Park at Veneto and Lexington Park at Forum. What are your thoughts on the complexes? I also have a question about High Schools. Is is your choice of schools? How do you choose and how is transportation provided? Thank You I tried to read find the information but I could not find it clearly but it was fuzzy. I thank you in advance.

[chiluvr1228]

If you like bullets whizzing by your head and sometimes in your apartment, by all means go to Westchase Apartments. They are in a high crime area. I had an acquaintance who had to move out shortly after moving in because bullets come flying into her son's bedroom. A pizza delivery man was murdered there making a delivery. Lexington Park at the Forum may be okay, I'm not familiar with them or The Park at Veneto but keep in mind some of the less desirable apartments change their name and/or owners frequently. Go onto apartmentratings.com for more info.


Stay south of Colonial. Rents have gone up tremendously in Lee County in the last two years. Expect to pay at least $1000+ for a 2 bedroom.


We have School Choice, which was Lee County's answer to desegregation. The school bus will transport kids all over the county (unless you live within 2 miles of the school). Personally if I still had teens I wouldn't be moving down here.


Oh and did you hear about hurricane Irma? Nine days later and many are still without power. It's lots of fun when the temperature is in the 90's with high humidity to live without electricity. Do yourself a favor, move elsewhere, maybe NC, SC, GA or TN, just not near the coast or any rivers.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

If you like bullets whizzing by your head and sometimes in your apartment, by all means go to Westchase Apartments. They are in a high crime area. I had an acquaintance who had to move out shortly after moving in because bullets come flying into her son's bedroom. A pizza delivery man was murdered there making a delivery. Lexington Park at the Forum may be okay, I'm not familiar with them or The Park at Veneto but keep in mind some of the less desirable apartments change their name and/or owners frequently. Go onto apartmentratings.com for more info.


Stay south of Colonial. Rents have gone up tremendously in Lee County in the last two years. Expect to pay at least $1000+ for a 2 bedroom.


We have School Choice, which was Lee County's answer to desegregation. The school bus will transport kids all over the county (unless you live within 2 miles of the school). Personally if I still had teens I wouldn't be moving down here.


Oh and did you hear about hurricane Irma? Nine days later and many are still without power. It's lots of fun when the temperature is in the 90's with high humidity to live without electricity. Do yourself a favor, move elsewhere, maybe NC, SC, GA or TN, just not near the coast or any rivers.

I see from some of your recent posts that the recent hurricane has shaken you. keep in mind all areas of the country experience natural disasters. There was a point that I lived in Massachusetts. In a 6 month period we had a tornado, hurricane, and a snowstorm. all had knocked out power for at least a week. Each disaster had it's own issues which crippled the area. Down trees, houses leveled, roofs caved in. all super markets were closed, all gas stations were closed, all atms were down and you couldn't travel in many instances due to being snowed in or having trees completely blocking miles of roadway.
Hurricanes seem to pack the biggest punch (widespread) but have just about the longest forward warning. If living in a hurricane impacted area (which most of the east coast and gulf states are) I would focus on the preparation vs waiting til the last minute and being unprepared.
Blizzards are virtually hurricanes that have snow vs rain and typically leave people without heat vs hurricanes living without A/C they both have the ability of destruction and shutting a town down but the snow gives the added issue of weight on rooftops in the tons. I would take either over tornados they give little to no warning and if they hit their destruction is like nothing you have ever seen. The west coast of US deals with earthquakes, mudslides, and fires and the threat of a super volcano in yellow stone erupting. So pick your poison

[chiluvr1228]

I once googled "which city & state has the least natural disasters" and it gave me someplace in Ohio. Ah, no thank you. Living without power is tough when you are in a colder climate, it's downright unbearable when you live in southern Florida. Between the heat, humidity and flooding that followed Irma many houses are going to start growing mold and mildew.


Hurricane Irma did shake me because I've lived here since right after Hurricane Donna in 1960 and I never saw or heard anything like Irma. Charley hit just north of us and we had a brand new house built to the latest hurricane codes plus hurricane shutters and we had not a lick of damage. However the power went out for 3 days and by that 3rd day I thought I would lose my mind with the heat. Weirdly enough I didn't lose my electricity where I am but my brother, who lives about 5 miles away, is still without power 10 days after Irma. Those first few days the stores had little to offer in the way of water, bread, peanut butter, canned goods, etc. and it was scary going out because none of the traffic lights were working and we have crazy drivers down here when the signals ARE working. In my 62 years I have never experienced anything so scary and nerve-wracking as Irma.


I've lived through ice storms when I was on Long Island and we had no power for days but we had a fireplace, a barbeque for heating water for tea and making food and plenty of coats, blankets, etc. to stay warm. You could be stark naked here and you're going to be hot. Irma caused all of us complacent people to rethink a lot of things and I know when I move into my house next month I am buying a generator and plywood. It may sit in my garage for years but I will have it.


If I hadn't just bought a house I would have seriously packed up and moved to NC or TN. I can't imagine anybody watching what happened with Irma actually choosing to still come down here.

[Samiamnh]

If I were you I'd find a place in Cape Coral if schools are an issue.Much safer too

[don1945]

I just noticed your reference to West Chase............NO !!!!! As the previous poster said, it is one of the worst with respect to crime in the area. We, at one time, managed it, and also it's sister property, Westwood, it was one of the worst experiences in my life. It is a tax credit property (government subsidized) and I slept with a loaded .38 at night. Doors were kicked in, and cops would not even come in there without back up.

[SettlingIn]

Thank You!

[Sweetbottoms]

I would cross Ft. Myers off your list period. Its high crime for the most part, unless you're in the very expensive areas. If you MUST live there I wouldn't go any further than Estero. You still have to deal with school choice (essentially you have to raffle to get into a school of your choice and HOPE the county pulls your number to go there. If not you could live in Estero and your kids could get shipped to North Fort. Myers for school). Honestly your better bet is Naples if you have kids. Barron Collier, Gulf Coast High, Naples, High are your first choices for high schools

[peta2013]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

I would cross Ft. Myers off your list period. Its high crime for the most part, unless you're in the very expensive areas.

Haven’t lived there in years. Is the area on the river side of McGregor Blvd from Edison Home to colonial still decent?

[chiluvr1228]

Yes of course that area is still decent. It's where the rich people live. Years ago we lived on Shriver Drive off McGregor. We had an older home right on the river, probably close to at least 1/2 acre. My family sold it for $29K back around 1971. It's now worth over a million.