How is the overall weather in Ft. Myers area? (Miami: for sale, renting)

[lifexponential]

Hi folks, been looking at various states.
Can you fill me in on the weather year round in Ft. Myers area as well as the livability?
How is traffic? shopping? crime? people?
Thanks.

[don1945]

I've lived in various States, from up North to California, and no place is perfect. However, I will never leave Florida. We do suffer a little in the Summer heat, but the rest of the year being gorgeous makes up for it.

Traffic is tough, especially in the Winter season when all our Northern residents return, but it is manageable. Shopping is fine, a lot of diversity and plenty of choices.

Crime is crime, and it is everywhere, but I still have no concerns when I go out anywhere, don't feel like one of these people who feel they have to carry a loaded pistol on them 24/7, and I feel safe in my home.

As for people, I think the people on the West Coast of Florida are some of the nicest. I have lived in other parts of Florida, and have traveled all over the State, and I settled here because if you ask someone directions, they will take the time to actually help you. In some places, they can not be bothered.

You will hear good and bad reports from various people, but this area would not be growing as it is if people didn't like it. Come on down !

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by lifexponential

Hi folks, been looking at various states.
Can you fill me in on the weather year round in Ft. Myers area as well as the livability?
How is traffic? shopping? crime? people?
Thanks.

That is a loaded question that will be split down the middle... Personally the weather in SWFL sucks... I lived there for 34 years and this past April visiting will be the last time I go back probably for at least a decade. Relentless heat, humidity, heat, humidity... heat..... unbearable.. heat indexes will reach triple digits for 7-8 months a year.. they were already over 100 the first week of April when I was there and it will still be unbearable come Halloween. Several years we took our daughter trick or treating and it was a heat index of 98+. Make up just melting off the kids and people handing out ice pops and water...misery. Even when its not "hot" the dew point will stick above 70s or 80's making it sticky and gross outside nearly all year.



SWFL is getting hotter and hotter. Back in the 80's we would be frost every single year. We'd open our windows from Oct/April no problem.. the past decade its not cooled down much in winter other than the few times this past winter. But they got Irma so... hardly enjoyable when months before you went 3 weeks with sewage in your water and no a/c in 100+ degrees.



Traffic is god awful and then when season comes its unbearable.. The population is old (we're talking average age of 60's)... shopping is strip mall after strip mall. Theres nothing of any interest in the ways of culture.. there are not museums to really speak of and such. Mostly just small craft fairs in the "winter" months.



Crime: its been on the list as one of Americas most dangerous cities more than once the past few years. It was dubbed Mini Miami and has been found to be some of the highest violent crime rate in the nation...


others will rave about it... most of them moved there from somewhere else and so they don't know it how it used to be vs. now..



"For Fort Myers, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon"


Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

[nhkev]

rating the weather is difficult. because if someone hates the cold they will think it's perfect . If someone likes cold weather, cold water, and dislikes hot days they will say it is hell. I have lived in new Hampshire and would regularly see minus 18 degrees at night during the winter and the cold never really bothered me. In Florida during the summer it is regularly 91 degrees and the heat doesn't bother me.
I think in both instances your body acclimates to it. I find the weather October thru May to be perfect. the months of June and July I find are enjoyable if you can wake up early, do your walks, bike riding, gardening, yardwork etc by 10am. during the rest of the day if you either live on the water, have a boat, or a pool life is great. If you have to spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun then life can be difficult. Most summer days it rains in the afternoon/ early evening and cools things down to 74 degrees. Evening walks and activities is fine.
No seeums can be bad if you are not wearing bug spray specific to them.
food and restaurants are good. People in general are extremely pleasant .
I live on the atlantic side but frequent cape coral on the weekends and vacations. I prefer the gulf side over atlantic side in just about every area except public schools.
Crime..... It's all about where you come from. Ft Myers is comparable to places like Worcester or Springfield Mass but not on par with places like Detroit, Chicago, St Louis or most other rust belt cities. yes per capita Ft Myers has high violent crime but it is small in actual number (about 30 murders a year) it is pretty concentrated in a couple neighborhoods, is almost always drug, gang or domestic violence related. If you stay out of bad areas you will be fine.

I hear people say it lacks culture... that is such BS it has a clear beach culture , some think culture means museums and theatre but that's one type of culture. SWFL has a clear sub tropical, Islander, beachy feel.... that's it's culture. If you like fishing , boating, beaching, dining, it's a great place.

The area does skew older demographics. especially during winter season. since they are not all year round primary residence it changes greatly from season to off season

[don1945]

When I read some of the negative comments about this area, I have to laugh. If it was a horrible as some people claim, why do more and more people come here every year ? And more importantly, why are the people who are so miserable here staying ?

Last I saw, there are not fences keeping people from leaving.

[FireStation46]

Originally Posted by don1945

When I read some of the negative comments about this area, I have to laugh. If it was a horrible as some people claim, why do more and more people come here every year ? And more importantly, why are the people who are so miserable here staying ?

Last I saw, there are not fences keeping people from leaving.

Yep!

[chiluvr1228]

This morning at 6:56 a.m. it was 80 degrees and with the humidity factored in, the "feel like" temperature was already 90. Many years we have had the a/c on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. It feels odd to me when I'm putting up the Christmas tree and I have on shorts & a tank shirt and it's 80 degrees. But some people say you can wipe off sweat easier than you can wipe off goose bumps.


Like anywhere else Florida has its pros and cons. People keep talking about the crime rate but my family has lived here since 1960 and none of us has been the victim of a crime. The traffic IS terrible during season but depending on where you are coming from, it may seem like nothing.


Most of the people are nice and there is loads of shopping both in Lee County and Collier.


Rents have gotten crazy but most of us advise renting for a year to make sure you can deal with our summers. There are people who move here, buy a home and within a year or two they put it up for sale and move back "up north" because they can't deal with the long, hot, humid summers which start around May and don't end under November many years.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

This morning at 6:56 a.m. it was 80 degrees and with the humidity factored in, the "feel like" temperature was already 90. Many years we have had the a/c on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. It feels odd to me when I'm putting up the Christmas tree and I have on shorts & a tank shirt and it's 80 degrees. But some people say you can wipe off sweat easier than you can wipe off goose bumps.


Like anywhere else Florida has its pros and cons. People keep talking about the crime rate but my family has lived here since 1960 and none of us has been the victim of a crime. The traffic IS terrible during season but depending on where you are coming from, it may seem like nothing.


Most of the people are nice and there is loads of shopping both in Lee County and Collier.


Rents have gotten crazy but most of us advise renting for a year to make sure you can deal with our summers. There are people who move here, buy a home and within a year or two they put it up for sale and move back "up north" because they can't deal with the long, hot, humid summers which start around May and don't end under November many years.

9 am in the morning... already trip digits with unreal humidity and dew point... meanwhile I currently have my windows open this am... I know which one I'd rather have!

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

9 am in the morning... already trip digits with unreal humidity and dew point... meanwhile I currently have my windows open this am... I know which one I'd rather have!

Aren’t you now moving to England?

[Florida Paradise]

The heat is awesome even in the hottest of the season (summer) but remember it is personal preference. The hotter the better for me. If it isn’t near 95 + it’s not a true beach day And thus why I don’t come down December-March. Again, personal preference.

Since I don’t come down during “busy season” in the winter, I don’t really experience the traffic people talk about Dec-March... but I know it’s pretty bad. The rest of the year it’s not bad at all.

Crime is kinda bad within city limits, but I don’t go North of College Parkway

People are friendly enough where I come across them. Although there is a homeless population near Ft. Myers beach and some of them are crazy. I did experience a crazy mean homeless guy who threatened me early in the AM near the public bathhouse.