Moving to Ft. Myers, safe boundaries (Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres: apartments, crime, townhouse)

[Moving from Ohio]

We are considering a move to Ft. Myers, FL, and after hunting online for apartments to visit, as we will be on vacation there, I would like some feedback from those who live in the area.

As with any city, there are good and bad areas. Ohio is no different, so when one considers moving to an area, some homework is needed to determine the safety factor.

Can anyone tell me what the neighborhood along Colonial Boulevard (Cobblestone on the Lake) is like? Also, the area near Bayside Pointe (Bay Breeze) and also, Sonoma Drive (The Palms of Monterrey)?

How hard hit by hurricanes are these areas? They look nice, but I know nothing of what they suffer. Thank you.

[FLKitties]

Don't know anything about those specific complexes but can comment on the overall areas for some. Not familiar enough with the Bay Breeze location to comment but I think it's probably fine. Cobblestone on the Lake area is fine, too, as is The Palms of Monterrey area. As you mentioned, all cities have bad areas but those 3 mentioned are not in what I would call the "bad" parts of Fort Myers by any means. We have friends that live in Villa Medici (near your #3) and they've never said anything bad about the area. Hopefully someone else will respond with more insight into those specific communities for you.

[chiluvr1228]

Stay south of Colonial for the most part. Avoid anything in zip code 33916 and be wary of 33901 and 33905. The Daniel's Parkway corridor is safe as is Gateway, Estero and some parts of San Carlos. Definitely stay away from Westchase Apartments and anything near the Edison Mall. Good luck on your search. My son lived in Bay Harbor for a few years and while they are nice apartments they are not well insulated and he complained about hearing the neighbors all the time even though he was in a townhouse.

[Kim in FL]

Palms of Monterey are noisy. Your can hear your neighbors on all sides. Would drive me batty for sure, but some people don’t mind.

[FireStation46]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

Stay south of Colonial for the most part. Avoid anything in zip code 33916 and be wary of 33901 and 33905. The Daniel's Parkway corridor is safe as is Gateway, Estero and some parts of San Carlos. Definitely stay away from Westchase Apartments and anything near the Edison Mall. Good luck on your search. My son lived in Bay Harbor for a few years and while they are nice apartments they are not well insulated and he complained about hearing the neighbors all the time even though he was in a townhouse.

Agreed!

[Moving from Ohio]

Thank you everyone who wrote with your advice. We just returned a few days ago, still without a committment. It was a challenge driving around and getting to know the streets. We got lost trying to find cobblestone on the lake apartments, so i stopped into an antique store. The owner told me to stay away from that area, because, and i quote: "it's very, very, very bad." as for palms of monterrey, as attractive as they looked outside, they were dire need of updating and good paint jobs. The lanai had gobs of dead bugs. They are not promoting their property going that route. Bay breeze was lovely. However, it would be great if apartments took out the "work station" in kitchens and used that space for a pantry! I truly thank all of you for your thoughts and will make notes on what you said. Enjoy your summer!

[FireStation46]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

anything near the Edison Mall.

We went furniture hunting a few months back. We thought driving to a Macy’s may work out. The mall is in decline and the area is bad. We wont go near there again

[FLKitties]

If you have a smart phone, I'd recommend getting a free Google/Gmail account and downloading Google Maps to your phone. This way you can get directions based on your GPS location which makes getting around new areas a bit easier. You also have the option of saving your location history and viewing it later to see what parts of town you were in in relation to points of interest which could help you remember which areas you liked and which you didn't.

As others mentioned, there are definitely parts to avoid. Definitely large sections around the Edison Mall, areas like Tice, parts of Lehigh Acres, etc. If you go to the Trulia site to look for properties they have a crime map overlay you can use to get a better idea about other areas you might want to avoid.