Where to the young professionals live? (Relocating from NYC for a job) (Miami: renting, HOA fees)

[Kdubs1987]

Originally Posted by logybogy

Ft. Myers isn't great but it's a lot better than Naples, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Bradenton and many othet parts of Florida for young professionals. Also, since you are getting married and presumably starting a family soon, you are moving on from the young professional demographic to family demographic. Bars, clubbing and partying are going to be the least of your concerns with a couple babies to take care of. Also, the biggest complaints are towards young singles and finding partners. Again, that doesnt apply to you. There's 725,000 people in Lee County and thats growing by 25 to 30 thousand a year. Within 10 years, the population will overtake Jacksonville approaching 1 million. It's a high growth area with many career opportunities, especially in real estate, development, construction and remodeling/contractor services. It will be an area in transition from retiree to more diversified as retirees look elsewhere because of overcrowding and more job opportunities attract working age populations. It's a predictable pattern. 30 years ago Miami Beach was a retirement paradise. The retirees died off and never came back replaced by younger demographics.

The sun, water and warm winter temps will always attract people to Florida. Ignore the haters.

Thank you! It definitely seems like a changing area, and that is exciting to be apart of in the early stages as it changes!

[Kdubs1987]

Originally Posted by chinotto_21

I'm 33 years old and moved to Fort Myers 15 months ago for a job. I also moved down here from up North. The area mostly caters to retirees. Even though it is getting diversified as more and more people relocate here from cities with high costs of living, at the end of the day, it still is a retirement mecca. I was even discriminated against at the Barbara B Mann for being young, if that can give you an idea!

I would have a hard time recommending you a particular area according to your wants.

Out of curiosity (and you certainly don't have to respond if this is too personal), do you regret the decision to make the move? I would love your perspective since we are in a similar boat!

[Kdubs1987]

Originally Posted by FOV

My daughter moved to Ft Myers from Boston in December. She is 23. SW FL is not at all what she was looking for but the job was worth it.

She lives in a condo in Gateway (2BR $1,100/mo.) Golf course view. It's a quiet community of mixed ages. Very few children but some young professionals. The condo has monthly social events and one of them was to discuss "end of life". They invited a crematorium, traditional funeral home and a place that composts your body. Yup, population is old, haha!

Pros:
1. She walks to work every day.
2. She can walk to a shopping plaza with a grocery store, restaurants, hair salon etc... Being able to walk places was very high on her list and she goes days without using her car.
3. She can walk to Fort Myers Brewery (although there are no sidewalks). They have a very well attended Trivia Night. She loves going there! Good food trucks on certain nights. Average age here is prob 35+, but a good mix of young and old. Not uncommon to see families here.
4. Norman Love Chocolates. Divine!
5. Naples is ~40 mins away and they have some nice (non-chain) restaurants. That's where we usually go when I visit.
6. She has never felt unsafe in Ft Myers but doesn't venture into high crime neighborhoods. As stated above, she walks as much as possible so she feels very comfortable.
7. Super cheap flights! She flies a lot to visit friends in other parts of the country and the airfare is much less than what I pay from Boston.
8. Drive over the bridge to Sanibel and you are 1,000 miles away.

Cons:
1. Population is old. I'm 52 and I feel young when I visit.
2. Everything is a chain. Not a lot of mom and pop establishments. Downtown Ft Myers has some non-chain restaurants but that is ~30 min drive. Same with Ft Myers Beach.
3. Almost all communities are gated and separated by highways. If your friend lives 0.5 mile away you'll probably have to drive there. My daughter is lucky she lives in one of the more walkable areas.
4. Sometimes the rules are a bit old-fashioned. For instance, the gym in her condo closes at 8pm even though you access it with a FOB and there are no attendants.

My daughter doesn't love FL and only plans to stay for 2 years but she's making it work. Home is where you make it. Good luck!!

Thank you! This post so was helpful! We went down for a visit last week to get the lay of the land and looked at a lot of your recommendations! The brewery was so cool! I really appreciate your pros and cons, it helped to guide alot of the place we checked out!

[Kdubs1987]

Originally Posted by don1945

What I find funny is that so many of you have negative things to say about this area, but you continue to stay and people are moving in and staying every day of the week.

Like I mentioned, I have lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, and now Florida, and each area had pluses and minuses, just the way it is. But, for all the negatives here, there are certainly a lot of positives. If it wasn't such a great area, our population wouldn't swell to triple or more every season. Must be some things people find attractive about being here.

Yes, there are totally alot of positives to the area! Your totally right, every area has its pros and cons, just depends on your personal tastes and interests

[Kdubs1987]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

My son is a young, gay professional and him and his partner find plenty to do. They go to the dog beach, the dog park, parties, etc. They are renting a luxury 2 bedroom apartment for $1700 a month. For $2500 a month you could probably get a nice house with a pool.


My biggest complaint with this area is the long, very long, hot and humid summers. I could deal with it much better if it wasn't so long. Even in the winter you may still need a/c because we don't hit fall or winter and the temperature suddenly stays below 80. But I have a house with great cross ventilation so as long as it's not humid I leave my windows open a lot during our winter & spring.


However I remember well the long, dreary winters up north when everything looked so dreary and depressing and it got dark at 4:30 p.m. I also remember this past winter, right here in Florida, walking the dog after work when it was in the 40's and saying to myself "I will never complain about the heat again after this cold snap". Well, we all see how that went.

Haha yes, the weather is definitely the most debated point of the area! But I would take a 90 degree day over 6ft of snow anyday ahaha!

[Maryjo90]

My boyfriend lived in Florida for 27 years, so this isn't a situation where we wanted to move to a vacation spot, we want to move to be closer to family. He is in a very niche career so not many companies offer his role so unfortunately, not a ton of options in Florida. We were originally looking closer to Brandon/Tampa area but no such luck

[chinotto_21]

Originally Posted by Kdubs1987

Out of curiosity (and you certainly don't have to respond if this is too personal), do you regret the decision to make the move? I would love your perspective since we are in a similar boat!

I don't regret my decision of moving to Florida. However, I regret moving to Fort Myers. I'm actually in the process of relocating to St. Pete.


Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad place to live. If you make a decent amount of money, you will live pretty well. I just found the area to be lacking and never really fell in love with it. It really depends on your expectations. I personally prefer St Pete and Ft Lauderdale. Good luck with your move! Message me in private if you have more questions.

[sg8910]

awesome kdubs, glad you got to check it out. I am going to check out Austin, texas for my next city. here its walkable, healthy, economic opportunity and lots to do, people seem nice too, which makes life alot easier
sg

[kroeran]

The gated Townhomes in Paseo are a good starting point for year round professional young couples from the north. Not cheap but lots of first rate facilities. Close to airport and 75, super safe area, but not too close. Very strong on tennis and resort style Tiki bar by one of the many pools. Like anywhere, rent before you buy. We generally find post war architecture in a Florida to be depressing, but not so for Paseo which is a version of New Urbanism.

https://www.mypaseo.life/gallery/facilities/

[nickc925]

Let me first start off and say the stats Sweetbottoms has given you are far off. The City of Fort Myers (MLK, Dunbar) is crime ridden, but getting better, not worse than 4 years ago and doesn't even break the top 50 in the USA. I lived in FM 20 years. I'm 22. Yes its still a very older population retirement community but its gotten wayyy better. In fact it is the youngest city/area on the west coast of Florida aside from the Tampa Bay area. It's way younger than Sarasota and way way younger than Naples. Trust me. Gartner employs hundreds of college students and interns each year and Gateway is predominantly family oriented and not retirees at all. The Fort Myers area is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, which means more jobs. The college is growing, the airport is growing, the private job sector is growing, and its not just retirees. There are definitely places to go out and have fun, that are comparable to big cities. Places younger with virtually no crime, that you should consider are the downtown River District (but its expensive, but entertainment at your fingertips. Check out Oasis which I hear is mostly young professionals) Gateway area/Daniels corridor. Treeline (E of 75) from Daniels to Colonial. 6-Mile (W of 75) Daniels to Colonial, All of Estero, McGregor is very family oriented, and community oriented, most of Cape Coral, and areas around bell tower. Steer clear of Lehigh Acres, and North Ft Myers is mostly retirees and trailer parks. The nicest house you will rent in Fort Myers is equivalent to a shack in Naples, not to mention the food and entertainment prices. All and all, the area is NOT the worst area in Florida and will have tremendous opportunity in the next year. I wish you luck.